Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

sports:

Former Las Vegas high school stars sign multimillion NBA contracts in free agency

Gorman product C.J. Watson inks with Orlando; Findlay Prep’s Cory Joseph returns to Canada with $30 million deal with Toronto

CJ Watson

Associated Press

Bishop Gorman High School graduate CJ Watson of the Chicago Bulls pushes the ball up the court during the 2012 NBA season.

NBA free agents where able to sign contracts today, and two guards with Las Vegas ties received multiyear deals.

Cory Joseph, who is arguably the best player in Findlay Prep history, left the San Antonio Spurs for a four-year, $30 million contract with his hometown Toronto Raptors. Joseph spent four seasons in San Antonio, winning an NBA title in 2014 and averaging 6.8 points and 2.4 assists in 18 minutes per game last season.

The 23-year-old left Canada to attend high school at Findlay Prep in Henderson seven years ago. He also spent one season playing in college at Texas.

“As they say, there’s no place like home,” he said.

Also, Bishop Gorman High product C.J. Watson signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the Orlando Magic. Watson, 31, averaged 10 points and 3.6 assists per game last season for the Indiana Pacers. He’ll be Orlando’s backup.

He led Gorman to a pair of state championships and graduated as the school’s all-time leading scorer, (a mark since broken by Shabazz Muhammad). Watson’s No. 32 was retired by Gorman.

The free agency period was highlighted by DeAndre Jordan verbally committing to sign with Dallas, only to flip at the last hour and stay with the Los Angeles Clippers. He signed a four-year contract worth $88 million.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy