Hornets sign and waive Ty-Shon Alexander, among other roster moves

The Charlotte Hornets have signed guard Ty-Shon Alexander to a non-guaranteed contract, per The Observer’s Rod Boone.

As Boone stated above, Alexander played in 15 NBA games with Phoenix two seasons ago and spent part of last season in Italy. He averaged 8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.6 steals per game across five appearances with the Hornets at the 2022 NBA 2K23 Las Vegas Summer League. In three college seasons at Creighton, Alexander was a two-year starter and one of the best three-and-D guards in the nation, peaking at 16.9 points, 5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 39.9 percent on 6.5 three-point attempts per game in an All-Big East senior season.

Given the deal is non-guaranteed, there’s a chance Alexander signed an Exhibit 10 and will be waived and routed to the Greensboro Swarm using affiliate player rights. Greensboro’s potential guard depth has been shored up quickly following the Alexander and Theo Maledon signings, plus Jalen Crutcher is still in the fold.

Boone also reported that the Hornets waived Anthony Duruji and Jaylen Sims on Friday to cut the roster to 18 players, and now Alexander and Maledon would bring it back to 20. All NBA teams must be in compliance with the 15-man regular season roster restrictions by Monday, so there’s still time for general manager Mitch Kupchak to move some pieces around.

UPDATE: The Hornets announced later in the day that the team had waived Alexander, LiAngelo Ball, Crutcher and Xavier Sneed, bringing the roster to 16 — 13 guaranteed contracts, Two-Way players Maledon and Bryce McGowens, and the non-guaranteed deal of Dennis Smith Jr.