Sacramento Kings give Boogie Ellis a chance after he has better Summer League than Bronny James

Last season, at the University of Southern California (USC), it wasn't Bronny James – son of the NBA's all-time leading scorer – LeBron James or Isaiah Collier (consensus five-star recruit) that led the Trojans in PPG. It was Boogie Ellis, who averaged 16.5 PPG while also averaging 41.8% on his 7.2 3-point attempts per contest.

Unfortunately for Ellis, he watched as the Utah Jazz selected Collier with the 29th overall pick, and then the Los Angeles Lakers chose James with the 55th pick. At the end of the event, after all 58 picks were called, Ellis never heard his name – making him an undrafted rookie.

However, that didn't stop Ellis from continuing his pursuit of making it to the big leagues. Despite going undrafted, he was able to crack the Sacramento Kings' Summer League roster (man, are they starting to develop an eye for undrafted talent). And boy, did he make the most of his opportunity – outplaying James and posting comparable numbers to Collier (Collier's counting stats were higher, but Ellis was much more efficient).

Hard Work Pays Off

Now, Ellis is being rewarded for his impressive performance. On Saturday, it was announced that the Kings and Ellis have agreed to a deal that will give him a chance to compete for a roster spot in training camp this Fall.

Judging from the situation and the wording in NBA Insider Shams Charania's tweet, it appears that this is what is known as an Exhibit 10 deal. For those who are unaware, these are one-year deals that are worth the veteran minimum salary (in Ellis' case, that would be worth about 1.2 million dollars) but are not guaranteed like a regular minimum contract.

It looks from their recent signings as though the Kings already have the full roster they want to start the regular season with. Still, even if he doesn't crack the team, he should have a chance to develop his game further on the Stockton Kings (Sacramento's G-League Affiliate).

Before spending three years at USC, Ellis played two seasons with the Memphis Tigers. Ellis will turn 24 one month into the 2024-25 NBA regular season.