Lead an NBA team in scoring one day, find yourself looking for work less than a week later.
Such is the tough-luck life on the fringes of NBA rosters, which Miles Kelly experienced this week.
The 6-foot-5, second-year guard out of Auburn dropped 28 points in the Warriors’ preseason loss to the Trail Blazers last Wednesday. He came off the bench, drained six 3-pointers and posted a team-high plus-14 — the second-best on/off margin of any player — despite Golden State losing the game 123-118.
And, on Sunday, he was unceremoniously released.
Golden State opted to free up a roster spot to bring in Tyler Burton on a non-guaranteed deal — known as an Exhibit 10 — that can be converted into a two-way or minimum contract. Burton, a 6-foot-7 wing who went undrafted out of Villanova after a five-year college career, averaged 10.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 10 games with the Grizzlies last season.
Burton provides more depth at a position of need for the Warriors, who are stocked full in the back court but will be without their top two wings, Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, for the first portion of the season.
Still, the move may have come as a surprise for Warriors fans who watched Kelly’s impressive performance. Then again, anybody who tuned in would have been aware that Golden State was on the second night of a back-to-back and playing without seven of their typical rotation pieces.
Kelly scored six points in six minutes off the bench the previous night against the Lakers. He sank both his 3-point attempts and shot 8-for-15 from deep in three preseason games.
However, coach Steve Kerr apparently saw all he needed and left Kelly on the bench in the Warriors’ 111-106 exhibition win over the Kings on Saturday.
The next day, they cut bait.
