Grizzlies Sign Four Players

September 6, 2024

The Memphis Grizzlies have signed forward/center Armando Bacot, guard Yuki Kawamura, guard Miye Oni and forward Maozinha Pereira, the team announced in a press release.

While details weren’t revealed, it’s highly likely all four were signed to training camp deals so that the Grizzlies could obtain their G League rights.

Bacot, 24, is 6-foot-11 and went undrafted out of North Carolina this past summer. He appeared in 169 games over his five-year collegiate career with the Tar Heels, averaging 13.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 blocks.

He is North Carolina’s all-time leader in games played, total rebounds (1,715) and double-doubles (87), earning four All-ACC selections and helping guide UNC to the 2022 NCAA national championship game.

Kawamura, 23, is 5-8 and spent the past five seasons in the Japanese B.League, where he was named the 2022-23 Most Valuable Player as a member of the Yokohama B-Corsairs. He went undrafted in 2023 after starting all 56 games for Yokohama and averaging 20.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists.

Kawamura has represented Japan at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Oni, 27, is 6-5 and has appeared in 80 regular season games (one start) and has averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 8.4 minutes over three seasons with the Utah Jazz. He was selected with the No. 58 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

He has also played a total of 71 showcase and regular season games for the G League’s Salt Lake City Stars and Osceola Magic. The 2018-19 Ivy League Player of the Year while at Yale, Oni represented Nigeria in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Pereira, 24 is 6-8 and appeared in seven games for the Grizzlies as a rookie last season, averaging 6.9 points and 5.3 rebounds, shooting 51.4 percent from the field.

Before signing consecutive 10-day contracts with Memphis, he played a total of 40 showcase and regular season games for the G League’s Mexico City Capitanes. He has also played parts of three seasons in the Brazilian NBB and most recently represented Brazil at the 2024 Paris Olympics.