Summer League PG Zavier Simpson Agrees to Magic Deal
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic and Zavier Simpson are celebrating after coming to a contract agreement on Friday. Yahoo! Sports was the first to report the news.
Simpson appeared in every game for the Magic during Summer League, averaging 8.2 points per game.
Simpson's timing comes at an ironic time at the end of "Shark Week," considering he appeared on the ABC show "Shark Tank" earlier this year.
Simpson, who played in college at the University of Michigan, is one of the founders of The Player's Trunk, a company that partners with college athletes to help sell items based on their name, image and likeness (NIL). Recently, the NCAA allowed college athletes to make money off of their NIL after years of not being able to do so.
Simpson and The Player's Trunk appeared on 'Shark Tank' this past May, and the company received appreciation from Dallas Mavericks owner and investor Mark Cuban.
Cuban tells The Magic Insider that he liked Simpson's pitch, but he ultimately did not choose to invest in the business.
According to their website, Simpson, along with fellow Michigan Wolverine Charles Matthews and basketball team managers Jason Lansing, Austin Pomerantz, and Hunter Pomerantz, founded the company to provide a platform for former college athletes to capitalize on the gear they earned during the duration of their college career.
The organization has partnered with hundreds of athletes, including Magic forwards Mo and Franz Wagner, both of whom also played for Michigan.
While Simpson works on The Player's Trunk, he also has a side gig as an NBA point guard. Last season, Simpson played for the Oklahoma City Blue in the G-League and earned a contract with the Thunder at the end of the season. He played in four games for the Thunder, averaging 11 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Now, he takes his talents to Orlando to try and catch on with the Magic during training camp.
