Lamar grad James signs standard contract with Suns
Published 3:50 pm Friday, December 8, 2017
Phoenix Suns guard and former Lamar standout Mike James has been upgraded to a standard NBA contract.
The team officially announced the contract Thursday. James, 27, who starred at Lamar from 2010-12 and won a Southland Conference tournament championship as a senior, had been a two-way player this season after spending the previous five years overseas. ESPN reported James is the first NBA player to go from a two-way contract to a standard contract, meaning his deal with the Suns’ team is guaranteed and results in bigger pay. In a two-way contract, a player can spend up to 45 days with an NBA team and must spend the rest of the season in the G-League, the Gatorade-sponsored farm league formerly known as the NBA Development League.
The Suns, however, did not announce terms of the deal.
James signed with Phoenix on July 3 and has played in all 26 of the Suns’ games.
On Friday, the Suns announced they signed former Houston and Texas A&M star Danuel House. The second-year pro played 15 games with the G-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers this season.
About I.C. Murrell
I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
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