Report: UCLA's David Singleton Signing UDFA Deal With Atlanta Hawks
After a night where Bruins were flying off the board, one more is set to tip off his pro career this year.
Former UCLA men's basketball guard David Singleton has agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with the Atlanta Hawks, Draft Express scouting director Jon Chepkevich reported early Friday morning. The one-year, minimum salary deal is likely to be nonguaranteed, but the team has the ability to convert it into a two-way contract.
During the predraft process, Singleton worked out for two teams – the Hawks and the Charlotte Hornets.
Singleton is following in the footsteps of a handful of his Bruin teammates who got picked in the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday night. Wing Jaime Jaquez Jr. went to the Miami Heat at No. 18 overall, while the Hornets took guard Amari Bailey at No. 41 and the Minnesota Timberwolves snagged guard Jaylen Clark at No. 53.
Point guard Tyger Campbell is now the only Bruin who is still looking for a home at the NBA or G League level.
As for other recent undrafted UCLA products, guard Johnny Juzang signed with the Utah Jazz and guard Jules Bernard signed with the Detroit Pistons last June. While the former made his NBA debut on Feb. 28, the latter got dealt from the Motor City Cruise to the Capital City Go-Go and spent the entire season in the G League.
Singleton arrived in Westwood alongside Bernard in 2018, when Steve Alford was still UCLA's head coach. Alford was fired midseason, though, and Singleton broke his foot at the tail end of his freshman year.
When Mick Cronin arrived, Singleton became an even more integral part of the Bruins' lineup. And because of the COVID-19 pandemic that hit in 2020, Singleton picked up an extra year of eligibility along the way.
Singleton played five seasons for UCLA, appearing in a school-record and Pac-12-record 164 games with 40 starts. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 5.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.7 steals in 20.2 minutes per game for his career, all while shooting 43.4% from beyond the arc.
As a super senior this past year, Singleton averaged career highs across the board with 9.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals in 28.2 minutes a night. Singleton also had the lowest turnover rate in the Pac-12 at 5.8%, in addition to ranking No. 5 in the conference in defensive win shares and No. 4 in defensive box plus/minus.
Singleton shot 42.0% or better from deep in four of his five seasons, and his 219 career 3-pointers made rank No. 3 in UCLA history behind only Bryce Alford and Jason Kapono.
It remains to be seen if Singleton will make it to the NBA level with the Hawks, but if he does, he will join a backcourt that already includes high-volume scoring guards Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Atlanta's depth behind the All-Star duo is limited, though, with fellow former UCLA guard Aaron Holiday set to hit free agency and Garrison Matthews, Tyrese Martin and Trent Forrest all on nonguaranteed deals themselves.
The Hawks – even with Young and Murray – ranked No. 28 in the NBA in 3-point attempts and No. 21 in 3-point percentage last season. Singleton could be a partial solution to that problem, considering 70.7% of his field goal attempts in college came from long range.
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