St. Cloud-native Nate Wolters has cleared waivers following his release from the Milwaukee Bucks last week.
Wolters was waived last week when the Bucks signed 37-year-old Kenyon Martin to a 10-day contract.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, despite an attractive minimum contract that’s fully unguaranteed for next season and plenty of teams in need of a point guard, Wolters sits unclaimed.
“Lousy teams like the Knicks and 76ers should be seeking young talent to audition for the rest of the season. A better team, the Pelicans, badly needs a backup point guard. The Clippers could have used Wolters’ salary to facilitate an Austin Rivers trade, a deal that will require more salary-cap gymnastics than most have acknowledged (though the Clippers would have to wait 30 days to deal Wolters).
Wolters, 23, hadn’t been in the rotation for Bucks’ coach Jason Kidd much this season. He had played in just 11 games and averaged 2.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.
Nate Wolters has cleared waivers, according to sources. He is now an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any NBA team.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) January 13, 2015
He had a much more significant role for the Bucks last season, as a rookie. The 6-foot-4 combo guard averaged 7.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 22.6 minutes a game. He played so well that he received 20 votes for the NBA’s 2014 All Rookie Team.
Pro Basketball Talk notes that since Wolters wasn’t claimed he isn’t likely to get a rest-of-the-season contract from any team. Instead the site thinks he might be a candidate for a 10-day deal.
Wolters, a 2009 graduate of St. Cloud Tech High School, was a standout at South Dakota State University, where he was a four-year starter with the Jackrabbits and eventually led SDSU to its first ever NCAA tournament appearance as a senior.
He was named a 2012 third-team All-American by the Associated Press — the first player ever from the Summit League to earn such an honor.
