The Memphis Grizzlies remain one of the NBA's most injured teams.
On Sunday, that meant they had the bandwidth to sign a player to a hardship contract.
The guy they signed? Kobe Bufkin.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported the news.
Bufkin was currently in the NBA G League for the South Bay Lakers, the affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers.
But because of how his contract was set up, he was eligible to be signed in this scenario by Memphis to come play at the NBA level.
Bufkin was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks.
The 6-foot-4 Bufkin is a lefty from the University of Michigan.
Across 2023-24 and 2024-25, Bufkin appeared in 27 NBA games for the Hawks, averaging 11.9 minutes per contest. In that time, he scored 5.0 points per game with averages of 2.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists.
Bufkin shot just 22% in his NBA small-sample size, which is part of the reason he hasn't been able to stick around.
He was traded from the Hawks to the Nets in September, then cut by Brooklyn in October.
Bufkin signed with South Bay, but that was only a G League contract, not an NBA deal, which is why the Grizzlies could sign him now.
It'll be interesting to see if Bufkin can prove he belongs now that he's gotten another chance.
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