The Orlando Magic are finalizing a two-way contract with former Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Adreian Payne that will pave the way for Payne to spend most of the upcoming season playing for the Magic's G League affiliate in Lakeland, Fla., a source with knowledge of the situation told the Orlando Sentinel.
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, each NBA team may sign up to two players to two-way contracts. Two-way players spend the majority of their time in the G League, but the players can spend up to 45 days on their NBA parent team's roster during the NBA regular season. Two-way players may also be on the parent team's roster before the start of G League training camps and after the G League regular season.
NBA teams also have the right to convert two-way contracts into standard NBA minimum-salary contracts.
Last season, Payne played in 18 games for the Timberwolves.
Now 26 years old, Payne played his college basketball at Michigan State under coach Tom Izzo.
Stan Heath, the Lakeland Magic's head coach, used to work for Izzo as an assistant coach at Michigan State during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The Magic's negotiations with Payne were first reported by journalist David Pick.
