Former Kansas Jayhawks point guard Devon Dotson to open 2023-24 season in G League

Former Kansas point guard Devon Dotson will begin the 2023-24 NBA regular season with the Washington Wizards’ G League team, hoopsrumors.com reported Saturday.

Dotson, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound, 24-year-old Chicago native, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Wizards on Thursday then was waived two days later. If Dotson stays with the G League’s Capital City Go-Go for 60 days, he’ll be entitled to a $75,000 bonus, according to hoopsrumors.com.

He confirmed to The Star in a direct message on social media site X that the plan indeed is to open the campaign with the Go-Go.

Exhibit 10 contracts, according to hoopsrumors.com, “are one-year deals worth the minimum salary. They don’t come with compensation protection, but can include an optional bonus worth as little as $5K and — in 2023/24 — as much as $75K.”

Dotson — he played at KU in 2018-19 and 2019-20 prior to entering the 2020 NBA Draft (where he was not selected in a draft delayed five months because of Covid) — appeared in 11 games for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls in both 2020-21 and ’21-22 and appeared in six games for the Wizards in ’22-23.

In his 28 games with the Bulls and Wizards, Dotson has averaged 2.0 points and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 42.6% from the field.

Dotson appeared in 29 games for the Go-Go last season, averaging 14.8 points, 6.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals a game. He hit 52.6% of his shots, including 39.2% of his threes. He averaged 31.7 minutes per game.

He was asked by the Charlotte Observer in August if he was tempted to begin a career overseas.

“I’m young right now. I’m 23. I’m just not ready to pack up things and go over there,” Dotson said, noting overseas basketball could be an option in three or four seasons if he hasn’t made it in the NBA.

He noted that the defending Eastern Conference champs, the Miami Heat, had seven undrafted players on the team a year ago.

“Just adds to the motivation. ... I mean these seven guys weren’t drafted and they’re in the NBA Finals making an impact with the team. So it’s definitely possible. It’s not impossible. I’m close, I’ve just got to get over that hump,” Dotson told the Observer.

Svi Mykhailiuk to survive Celtics roster cuts?

It looks as if former KU wing Svi Mykhailiuk will make the opening-night roster of the Boston Celtics.

The 6-foot-7, 26-year-old Mykhailiuk, who has been with seven NBA teams in his six NBA seasons since being selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2018 Draft. According to NBCsportsboston.com, Mykhailiuk is likely to open the season as 11th man on a roster that will likely include 14 players on opening night.

Mykhailiuk in September signed a one-year, partially guaranteed contract worth $2.4 million. According to spotrac.com, he received $200,000 upon signing the deal. Spotrac.com has reported that if he makes the opening night roster he will be guaranteed $1.2 million. The contract would become fully guaranteed if he’s with the team on Jan. 10, 2024.

Mykhailiuk averged 10.6 points per game in 19 games (eight starts) with the Charlotte Hornets last season. In his last 10 games with Charlotte he averaged 16.0 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game. He hit 45.2% of his shots in those games including 39.4% from 3.

His career averages: 6.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

“While Mykhailiuk is virtually a lock to make the team, I don’t necessarily agree with The Athletic’s Jared Weiss assessment that he is on his way to earning rotational minutes,” wrote Daniel Benjamin of lastwordonsports.com. “Mykhailiuk has never been a true rotational player despite owning an average of 16 minutes of playing time a game for his career. Most of those minutes have come in starts for bad teams. Plus, he has not played more than 56 games in his career.

“Moreover, Mykhailiuk struggles with ball-handling and on the defensive end. Additionally, the Celtics have Sam Hauser and Lamar Stevens on the roster. Both are better defenders,” Benjamin added.

Chris Forsberg of nbcsportsboston.com writes: “The 26-year-old Mykhailiuk must show he can hold up on the defensive end. His offensive skills are undeniable. That shooting and secondary playmaking will fit nicely in (coach) Joe Mazzulla’s offense but Mykhailiuk must not be a targetable defender.

“Mykhailiuk has had a positive net rating differential in all but one season in the NBA, per Cleaning the Glass data. The Hornets were nearly seven points better per 100 possessions with Mykhailiuk on the court. (His -0.5 on-court net rating was actually the best for lowly Charlotte by more than two points).”