DJ Steward’s basketball path is taking another turn.
After spending the past season overseas with Dolomiti Energia Trento in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A, the former Duke guard is now on the move again. Steward, a 24-year-old Chicago native, used the opt-out in his contract this week, opening the door to a new destination.
According to Sportando’s Alessandro Maggi on Tuesday, “His future is expected to be in Spain, with Saski Baskonia mentioned as his likely next destination,” Maggi wrote. “The move would give Steward the chance to test himself in EuroLeague after his debut season in European basketball.”
Steward’s first year in Europe was a productive one. Across 44 games for Dolomiti Energia Trento in LBA and EuroCup play, he put up 14.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 0.8 steals per contest while logging 27.7 minutes a night. He shot 46.1 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from three and 86.3 percent at the line.
Before heading overseas, Steward was a full-time starter at Duke. He averaged 13.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists for a Blue Devil team that went 13-11 and did not reach the NCAA Tournament. He then entered the 2021 NBA Draft, went unselected and eventually spent time with several NBA organizations through Exhibit 10 and two-way contracts, though he has never appeared in a regular-season NBA game.
Now he’s back in the mix in Las Vegas.
Steward will suit up for the Portland Trail Blazers in NBA Summer League, starting with a matchup against the Phoenix Suns at 11 p.m. ET Friday on ESPNU. That game also puts him opposite another former Duke player, Khaman Maluach.
He’s one of eight ex-Duke players scheduled for Summer League action. The group also includes 2025-26 Blue Devils Cameron Boozer with the Memphis Grizzlies, Isaiah Evans with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Maliq Brown with the San Antonio Spurs, along with Maluach, Sion James with the Charlotte Hornets, Cam Reddish with the Orlando Magic and Trevor Keels with the Miami Heat.
After Friday’s opener, Steward and Portland will have at least three more games in Vegas: against Reddish and the Magic at 7 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPNU, against Evans and the Timberwolves at 11 p.m.
ET Monday on ESPNU, and against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, July 16, at 10 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
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Black, one of the fastest-rising names in the class, has already drawn a recent Duke offer and arrived with the kind of family basketball background that tends to keep bluebloods paying attention. Knueppels outing was quieter than usual, but the bigger takeaway for Duke was simply being in the building for a matchup that also fit into a wider 2027 search, with Adan Diggs and Lewis Uvwo among the other names on the staffs radar. [Read more 🡒]