The Pelicans and Timberwolves each made a roster cut on Saturday, waiving Markquis Nowell and Stephen Thompson, according to NBA.com’s official transaction log.
Both guards had recently been on non-guaranteed training camp deals, and both could end up in the G League. Nowell is a possible fit for the Laketown Squadron, while Thompson could land with the Iowa Wolves, the affiliate teams for New Orleans and Minnesota.
If those contracts included Exhibit 10 language, each player would be in line for a bonus of up to $91K after spending at least 60 days with his NBA G League club. That money would come on top of the player’s base salary.
Nowell’s path has already included a strong college finish and an NBA stop. The 26-year-old point guard earned AP All-America third-team honors as a fifth-year senior at Kansas State in 2022/23, then spent most of his rookie NBA season in ’23/24 on a two-way contract with Toronto after going undrafted.
The 5’7″ guard played overseas last season with Baskonia, where he posted 5.7 points and 3.0 assists across 28 EuroLeague games. He averaged 14.4 minutes per contest in Spain.
Thompson, 29, has taken a different route since going undrafted out of Oregon State in 2019. He has played in Italy, Israel, Puerto Rico and the G League, and for the past three seasons he has split time between the Bucks’ G League affiliate and Vaqueros de Bayamon in Puerto Rico’s Baloncesto Superior Nacional.
Last season with the Herd, Thompson appeared in 45 games and put up 15.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.0 APG and 1.2 SPG while shooting .463/.414/.713. If he is to suit up for Minnesota this season, Iowa first has to obtain his rights from Wisconsin.
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