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The Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday signed guard/forward D.J. Stephens to a two-way contract and waived forward Ismaila Kane.
Stephens (6-5, 188) played professionally last season in France, where he competed in 46 games (nine starts) and averaged 9.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in 21.3 minutes to help guide Le Mans Sarthe Basket to the French LNB Pro A championship and earn the league’s Sixth Man of the Year Award. Most recently, he appeared in seven games for the Grizzlies during MGM Resorts NBA Summer League 2018 in Las Vegas, his second summer league stint with the Grizzlies.
The 27-year-old saw action in three NBA regular season games for the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2013-14 season and split the 2015-16 season with the NBA G League’s Canton Charge and Iowa Energy (now Wolves). He holds NBA G League career averages of 10.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.03 steals and 1.26 blocks in 24.0 minutes in 38 games (29 starts). Stephens was named the NBA G League Performer of the Week on March 28, 2016 and competed in the 2016 Slam Dunk Contest as part of 2016 NBA G League All-Star Weekend.
Stephens went unselected in the 2013 NBA Draft following a four-year collegiate career at the University of Memphis, where he was named the 2012-13 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. The Killeen, Texas native also has played professionally in Ukraine (2016-17), Puerto Rico (2016-17), Russia (2014-15), Greece (2013-14) and Turkey (2013-14).
Kane (6-9, 200) was signed by the Grizzlies on September 24 and made one preseason appearance, logging two minutes on October 5 vs. Atlanta. The Senegal native went unselected in the 2018 NBA Draft after playing 13 games last season for Atlanta Metropolitan of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).
