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The Orlando Magic came to an agreement Friday morning with big man Amile Jefferson. The deal is reported (by multiple media outlets) to be a “two-way” contract.
Free agent forward Amile Jefferson has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Orlando Magic, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2019
Jefferson agreeing to a two-way contract with the Magic now fills both of the organization’s two “two-way” contract opportunities for next season. It was announced yesterday that Orlando also came to a two-way contract agreement with point guard Josh Magette.
Jefferson has been a part of the Orlando organization since last summer, when he originally agreed to a two-way contract with the Magic for the 2018-2019 season. The former Duke forward/center played 34 games for the Lakeland Magic last year, averaging 18.1 points and 11.3 rebounds in 33.2 minutes per game. The Philadelphia-native finished in the top-10 in the G-League (last season) in offensive rebounds, rebounds per game, player efficiency rating, offensive rating, and win shares per/48 minutes.
The Magic issued Jefferson a qualifying offer back in late June, making the big man a restricted free agent. Oddly enough, the organization rescinded Jefferson’s qualifying offer earlier this week, before ultimately agreeing to a two-way contract with the former NCAA Champion earlier today.
The Orlando Magic have withdrawn the qualifying offer for Two-Way player Amile Jefferson. Jefferson is now an unrestricted free agent.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 13, 2019
The 25 year-old appeared in 12 contests with Orlando last season, averaging 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 5.7 minutes per game. He also played earlier this month for Orlando’s Summer League team in Las Vegas, averaging 16.4 points and 9.6 rebounds (5 games).
Jefferson went undrafted in 2017 and played for the Iowa Wolves (Minnesota Timberwolves G-League affiliate) during the ‘17-’18 season.
As of this moment, the Magic have 13 players with guaranteed contracts for the 2019-2020 season on their roster. That number does not include Jefferson, Magette, or their ‘19 first round draft pick Chuma Okeke - who has yet to officially agree to a rookie contract with the Magic.