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Report: Former Gonzaga guard Malachi Smith inks 10-day deal with NBA’s Brooklyn Nets

Former Gonzaga guard Malachi Smith takes the floor with the Portland Trail Blazers during a 2023 NBA Summer League game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Smith recently signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

Another member of Gonzaga’s 2022-23 Elite Eight team will have an opportunity to make his NBA debut with the Brooklyn Nets.

Malachi Smith, who’s posted impressive numbers for the G League Long Island Nets this season, reportedly agreed to a 10-day deal with the NBA franchise in Brooklyn, according to HoopsHype.

The Nets haven’t publicly announced the transaction, but Smith acknowledged it on his social media pages, reposting the report on X with a caption that read “Thank you GOD” with a praying hands emoji. Smith and his agency, Sports International Group , both shared the news on Instagram Friday.

Smith fills a roster spot for Brooklyn after forward Grant Nelson, a former Alabama player who’d been on a 10-day contract, suffered a season-ending patellar tendinitis injury.

The 6-foot-4 Smith has bounced around the G League since going undrafted in 2023, but could make his debut in the upcoming days. Brooklyn plays at Philadelphia on Saturday before returning to the Barclays Center for games on Monday and Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Former Gonzaga teammate Drew Timme was elevated from Long Island to Brooklyn last year and played in his first NBA game on March 28, spending the remainder of the season with the Nets before being waived in the offseason.

Smith has played in 39 games for the G League Nets this season, averaging 14.4 points, 5.6 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals. He’s shooting 52% from the field and 42% from 3-point range. Over his last 10 games, Smith is averaging 18.5 ppg, 7.8 apg and 5.9 rpg while making 57.9% from the field and 50% from behind the arc.

The guard transferred to Gonzaga from Chattanooga, where he was the Southern Conference Player of the Year and Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year, for his final college season in 2022-23. Smith was selected as the West Coast Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 8.7 ppg and 3.6 rpg while shooting 53.6% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line. He came through for the Zags in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 11 points in a Round of 32 game against TCU before adding 16 in a comeback win over UCLA in the Sweet 16.

After going undrafted, Smith signed a Summer League deal with the Portland Trail Blazers and started his professional career with Portland’s G League team, the Rip City Remix. He then had stints with the G League Wisconsin Herd (Milwaukee Bucks) and Memphis Hustle (Memphis Grizzlies) before being traded to Long Island last September.