Yale Athletics

Former Yale men’s basketball star John Poulakidas ’25 will be taking his talents to San Diego this season. 

A cornerstone of Yale’s recent successful men’s basketball teams, Poulakidas averaged 19.4 points per game in his senior season, according to statistics compiled by Yale Athletics. He was a career 40.2 percent three-point shooter, and he made 83 percent of his free-throw attempts. His elite shot combined with his highlight-reel NCAA tournament performances garnered attention from around the nation.

He has now made the San Diego Clippers’ training camp roster, per a recent Instagram announcement. The San Diego Clippers, an affiliate of the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Clippers, play in the NBA G League, the NBA’s developmental league. 

Poulakidas, who was not selected in the NBA draft in June, played in the NBA Summer League for the Los Angeles Clippers and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with them on Sept. 26. As a part of the Clippers’ signing of TyTy Washington Jr. to an Exhibit-9 deal, the Clippers waived Poulakidas on Oct. 14.

Exhibit 9 and 10 deals are both non-guaranteed minimum-salary contracts stipulated by the league’s collective bargaining agreement. They are designed to allow NBA teams more roster flexibility on the margin and provide more opportunity to fringe talent.

If a player is waived on an Exhibit 10 contract, the team may designate them an affiliate player. This means the waiving organization will have exclusive G League rights to that player. If the player then joins the G League club and stays rostered for 60 days, he will be entitled to an $85,300 bonus — the situation in which Poulakidas currently stands. 

Waived two weeks ago, Poulakidas was subsequently designated as an affiliate and sent to the San Diego Clippers. 

The G League Clippers’ season begins Nov. 8 at the Stockton Kings.