After waiving Kobe Stewart on Monday, the Hornets have filled the open spot on their 21-man offseason roster by signing guard No Mbengthe team announced today (via Twitter).
Mbeng, who went undrafted out of Yale in 2025, was named the Ivy League Player of the Year in his final college season and earned the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year honor for a third straight year. The 6’4″ shooting guard spent most of last season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, averaging 6.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.9 steals in 27.4 minutes per game over the course of 41 outings for Miami’s G League affiliate.
Mbeng earned a call-up to the NBA in March, signing a pair of 10-day contracts and then a rest-of-season deal with the Jazz. The 23-year-old played big minutes for a tanking Utah team down the stretch, contributing 8.1 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3.8 RPG, and 2.3 SPG in 15 appearances (32.8 MPG). He made 63.8% of his field goal attempts from inside the arc during that stretch, though he converted just 19.4% of his three-pointers and 64.0% of his free throws.
The Hornets signed and waived several players last week with an eye toward having them play for the Greensboro Swarm in the G League this season. That’s probably the plan for Mbeng too, which means his deal is likely an Exhibit 10 contract that would pay him a bonus worth up to $91K if he’s waived by Charlotte and then spends at least 60 days with the Swarm.
However, the Skyforce still control Mbeng’s NBAGL returning rights, so Greensboro would need to make a trade to acquire them.