Forward Joirdon Nicholas has been signed to an Exhibit 10 training camp contract with the Atlanta Hawks — and quickly waived, too, prior to the official start of training camp, per RealGM . This likely will set him up to sign an affiliate deal with Atlanta’s G League affiliate club, the College Park Skyhawks. Should he stay rostered for at least 60 days, the 6-foot-9 forward will become eligible for a signing bonus worth up to $77,500.
A former standout with the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBAGL squad, the South Bay Lakers, Nicholas is clearly seeking his fortune elsewhere. He went unselected in the 2023 NBA Draft coming out of Texas Southern University, and quickly latched on with South Bay for 2023-24. He posted averages of 8.2 points, 5.8 boards and 1.3 dimes in 39 regular season and Showcase Cup appearances, starting 16 games. He also played in 19 games for Zonkeys de Tijuana, a pro team in Mexico, last year. Nicholas averaged 10 points on 41.4 percent shooting from the floor and 64.7 percent charity stripe shooting, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 dimes a night. All of Atlanta’s 15 standard roster openings and all three of their two-way slots are filled, so waiving Nicholas with a means to make him an affiliate player always seemed the most likely option.
Nicholas was honored as an All-SWAC Teamer during his final season with the Tigers in 2022-23. He began his collegiate career at Montana, transferred to Stephen F. Austin in 2018-19, and finall arrived at Texas Southern in 2020-21 (COVID-19 disrupted the 2019-20 season, and he did not play)…