The Chicago Bulls waived former Maryland basketball center Diamond Stone on Monday, marking the second NBA team that’s cut Stone since July.
Stone is the second former Maryland player to be cut by an NBA team in the past week, as the Minnesota Timberwolves waived former Terps star Melo Trimble on Saturday.
With the league’s season opener on Tuesday, Stone and Trimble can attempt to try out for other NBA teams and their G-League affiliates, or they can pursue overseas teams.
Stone, whom 247Sports ranked the No. 6 high school recruit in the 2015 class, signed a partially guaranteed two-year deal with Chicago in September. After he played a year with the Los Angeles Clippers’ D-League affiliates, they traded him in July to the Atlanta Hawks, who waived him a few weeks later.
Center Robin Lopez is expected to receive significant playing time in Chicago’s frontcourt, while the Bulls hung on to young forwards Lauri Markkanen, Denzel Valentine and Bobby Portis.
As a freshman during the 2015-2016 season, Stone averaged 12.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game with Maryland before forgoing his final three years of eligibility. The New Orleans Pelicans drafted Stone with the 40th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft before trading him to the Clippers.
