Former Wisconsin basketball star signs two-way contract with NBA team
Former Wisconsin basketball star Chucky Hepburn agreed to a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
News of Hepburn's contract arrived shortly after the second round of the 2025 NBA draft on Thursday evening, an event that welcomed another 29 newcomers to the professional stage. Hepburn's two-way deal with Toronto will enable him to split time between the Raptors and their G League affiliate, Raptors 905.
The development isn't uncommon for undrafted college standouts. Arizona's Caleb Love signed a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, St. John's RJ Luis Jr. agreed to a two-way deal with the Utah Jazz and Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard inked one with the Miami Heat, to name a few.
Prior to the draft, the Omaha, Nebraska, native participated in the G League Elite Camp before working out for the Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets, per the RookieWire's Cody Taylor. His introduction to Toronto's brass, while brief, appears to have paid off.
Following his stint in Madison, Hepburn transferred to the Louisville Cardinals and delivered his most prolific individual season of his collegiate career. In 30 games, the feisty guard averaged 16.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.4 steals per contest while shooting 43% from the field, 33% from 3 and 84.4% from the free-throw line. The output even earned him a spot on the First Team All-ACC and the 2024-25 ACC Defensive Player of the Year award.
While at UW, Hepburn morphed into a fan favorite with clutch performances and timely buckets. From 2021-2024, he averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 32.1 minutes across 103 games.
The Raptors roster includes several ball-handlers, including Immanuel Quickly, R.J. Barrett, Jamal Shead and A.J. Lawson. If Hepburn shows out with Raptors 905, he could certainly fill the team's need for an on-ball defender at the point guard position. His journey in the G League will begin in November.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Ex-NBA star Danilo Gallinari's pregnant wife bitten by shark in Puerto Rico
The pregnant wife of former NBA star Danilo Gallinari revealed on Friday that she had been attacked by a shark in Puerto Rico. Eleonora Boi posted a photo of herself in a hospital bed with her tongue sticking out on her Instagram page with an explanation of the terrifying event. She's expecting her third child with the former New York Knicks forward. She described it as the 'worst day of my life.' 'I never thought I could get attacked by a shark and I was near the shore and on a super crowded beach. Thankfully me and my baby are fine,' she wrote, according to a translation. 'I was rushed to the rescue and the surgery to fix my poor bruised leg went well. Now I just have to recover from the great scare. . . .' She joked that the shark would be hearing from her lawyer and thanked her husband for his 'courage' during the situation. She reportedly suffered a wound on her thigh. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources biologist Nilda Jiménez told El Nuevo Dia that officials were investigating the type of shark that bit Boi. 3 Eleonora Boi poses for a selfie from her hospital bed after the Puerto Rico shark attack. Eleonora Boi/Instagram 3 Boi thanked her husband, Danilo Gallinari, for his 'courage' during the situation. Eleonora Boi/Instagram 3 New York Knicks' Danilo Gallinari during a game between against the Portland Trailblazers at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 7, 2009. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post 'Based on the photographs provided to us, we believe the characteristics of the bite could be consistent with those of a shark,' Nilda told the outlet, via E! News. 'But to validate this, a series of analyses would be necessary. For this purpose, medical personnel were asked for samples, which, if available, would be analyzed promptly.' Gallinari didn't address the incident. The Italy native played in the NBA from 2008 to 2024 with eight different teams over his career. He averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 rebounds in 777 career games.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Magic Johnson Reacts To Photo Of Slimmed-Down Luka Doncic
Magic Johnson Reacts To Photo Of Slimmed-Down Luka Doncic originally appeared on The Spun. Among the many reasons that the Dallas Mavericks made the fateful decision to trade megastar Luka Doncic was his seeming inability to lose weight. So when Doncic did a magazine cover shoot looking much slimmer, everyone was stunned - including one Lakers legend. Taking to X earlier this week, Lakers icon Magic Johnson shared the photos of Doncic's incredible shoot with Men's Health and stated how impressed he is by the work Luka has done. He believes it's a sign that Doncic is more determined than ever to win an NBA title. "I love how Luka is showing his Laker teammates how serious he is about winning a championship in Los Angeles by transforming his body!" Magic wrote. NBA fans were far less impressed than Magic was though. Many took to the comments and pointed out that Luka shouldn't be praised for doing something he should have been doing to begin with: "Let's see if he shows them all season long…that's always been the issue with Luka," one user replied. "A pro athlete being in top shape is now praised. Man we fell a lot," another wrote. "The 5-game 1st round PO exit this year gave him an extra 6 weeks to work out. He has had an off season team for 3 years now and the last time he showed up close to this shape he averaged 34-10-9 and went the to Finals," a third wrote. On February 2, the Lakers pulled off one of the biggest blockbuster trades in NBA history, acquiring Doncic from the Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis and other compensation. Dallas were quickly raked over the coals for giving up on one of the world's brightest basketball stars in exchange for relatively nothing. Ironically, Dallas didn't even suffer serious consequences from it as they went on to secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and secured a potential franchise superstar in Cooper Flagg. As for the Lakers, they won their division and finished third in the Western Conference but wound up losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA Johnson Reacts To Photo Of Slimmed-Down Luka Doncic first appeared on The Spun on Jul 31, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lakers have revealed their 2025-26 City Edition jerseys
The Los Angeles Lakers have one of the most iconic uniform designs in all of sports. The design has seen some tweaks over the years, but it has largely remained the same, generally speaking, for over 50 years. Every team has four uniforms it can wear, which include the City Edition uniforms. The Lakers' City Edition uniforms for the 2024-25 season weren't well regarded, and they played so poorly in them that they stopped wearing them around midseason. This coming season, the Lakers will be recycling their City Edition uniforms from the 2023-24 campaign, per the team's official X (formerly Twitter) account. When this design was first unveiled two years ago, plenty thought it was at least somewhat uninspired and even boring. The fact that the team is simply using it again instead of coming up with a new one has led to fans expressing their disappointment. On a brighter note, the Lakers' Statement Edition uniforms have been improved. The black stripe down the sides that they had has been removed, and the team's wordmark and the player numbers are now in white with gold trim. Now, if only L.A.'s Icon Edition uniforms would go with gold instead of yellow as their primary color, the team's fans would likely be happy enough with its on-court threads. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers have revealed their 2025-26 City Edition jerseys
