ORLANDO MAGIC SIGN ROY DEVYN MARBLE

There had been some rumors to the effect that the Magic had signed Devyn Marble after his strong showing at NBA Summer League earlier this summer (21 minutes per game, 9.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.2 apg), but we could find no official confirmation of said rumors.  Today we got that confirmation:

The Magic have signed rookie @DevMarble. DETAILS: http://t.co/Nu1Xsok5U0

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) July 24, 2014

Congrats, Dev!

The official release doesn't contain any details, but Josh Robbins, a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel was able to dig up a few more details:

The contract will be for three seasons, according to an industry source familiar with the terms of the contract.

Marble's rookie season will be fully guaranteed.

His second and third seasons are non-guaranteed but would become guaranteed if Marble remains on the roster after specified trigger dates on the calendar.

Grantland's Zach Lowe wrote a bit more on the nature of NBA rookie contracts -- and the differences between contracts for R1 and R2 picks -- today; it's a good read, so give it a look.  To clarify one point: when Lowe says that "Second-rounders are guaranteed $0 of NBA contract money," I believe he means that NBA teams are not required to offer a contract containing a pre-determined amount of guaranteed money to draft picks.  Conversely, NBA teams are required -- as part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement -- offer first-round draft picks a contract containing a pre-determined amount of guaranteed money (those amounts are all rigidly defined by draft slot).

So the Magic weren't required to offer Marble any guaranteed money; since they apparently did, it seems safe to assume that they were quite happy with his performance.  Marble now has a leg up on most second-round picks when it comes to actually making an NBA roster and playing in NBA games.  That said, as Orlando Pinstriped Post notes, this contract doesn't mean that Marble is guaranteed to play for the Magic; he could also play for the Eerie Bayhawks, Orlando's new D-League affiliate.  It simply means that Marble is under contract for the Magic and has guaranteed money for the first season.  For a guy drafted late in the second round, that's a solid accomplishment. And, frankly, playing in the D-League for a bit might not be a bad thing for Marble at all -- playing time is more valuable than logging minutes on an NBA bench and if he's more likely to get PT in Eerie than Orlando, then suiting up for the Bayhawks wouldn't be a bad thing at all.  It's not as if he isn't used to being a Hawk...

Anyway, congratulations again to Dev for officially signing his contract with the Magic and becoming the first new Iowa player to join the Association in a very long time.  It's about time we had a new reason to follow the action in the NBA.  Best of luck in Orlando, Dev.