According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, former NC State star DJ Burns has agreed to a Summer League deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Burns will now have to work his way onto the team, potentially earning a full-time or two-way contract in the coming months.
A big-time opportunity for a player everybody in the country fell in love with throughout the NCAA Tournament.
“#Cavs have agreed to a deal with NC State big man DJ Burns to play for their summer league team, sources tell @clevelanddotcom,” Fedor said via X.
Burns was in college basketball for six seasons, originally beginning his career on Rocky Top with Tennessee. However, a redshirt year was followed by an entry into the NCAA transfer portal, having a short stint with the Vols. Winthrop was Burns’ next stop for three years.
Getting back on the market ahead of the 2022-2023 season, NC State won out for the center and the results paid off in a big way. Burns averaged 12.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while with the Wolfpack — the best numbers of his career.
March brings a ton of fun stories and Burns was certainly one of them in 2024. Burns was in double-figures in three of NC State’s five games, making a run to the Final Four. That includes a 29-point performance against in-state rival Duke in the Elite Eight, something fans of the program will not forget for a long, long time. However, his best game may have been against Oakland, having a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds in the second round.
“I’m looking for some more guys that I can throw the ball inside,” NC State head coach Kevin Keatts said about Burns’ portal recruitment ahead of the Final Four.
“I’ve now found out that I can have a mix of throwing the ball to a post guy and having guard play. I mean, tremendous personality. I’ve recruited him since basically when he went to Tennessee out of high school. And obviously, when he went into the portal, we looked at everybody in the portal, and we needed some size.”
Just a few Summer League fixtures have been announced thus far. Cleveland does not have a game on the schedule yet but Burns will be heading to Las Vegas to represent the Cavaliers. A nice opportunity for him despite not hearing his name called in the 2024 NBA Draft.
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