Duke in the NBA: Curry, Dawkins and Jones look to make most out of training camp contracts

With training camp just getting underway for most NBA teams, we take a look at the statuses of the former Blue Devil standouts with a chance to make some noise this year, starting with the three players on temporary training camp contracts.

Seth Curry, Orlando Magic: After going undrafted in 2013, Curry signed with the Golden State Warriors last summer but was relegated to the D-League’s Santa Cruz Warriors where he flourished. He averaged 19.7 points and 5.8 assists for the season, where he helped the Warriors to the D-League Finals. He made two NBA appearances last season with the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This summer, Curry played for the Phoenix Suns and the Orlando Magic and after a strong summer showing was given the training camp invite to the Magic. Curry will look to stick with a Magic team that is deep at combo guard, with Victor Oladipo the incumbent starter and Elfrid Payton the drafted rookie. He will try to use his space-making and shot creation abilities to stick on the team. NBA General Managers are looking for combo guards that can come off the bench, run the floor and create shots, so Curry will hope to impress Magic General Manager Rob Hennigan in the coming days before the season starts. Orlando opened training camp Tuesday.

Andre Dawkins, Miami Heat: After a very strong showing in the summer league with the Heat, Dawkins was signed to a training camp contract to try and make a new look Heat squad after the departure of LeBron James. Dawkins’ will bring his three-point stroke to a Heat team that has a history of utilizing three point specialists such as Ray Allen, Mike Miller and James Jones. Miller and Jones followed James to Cleveland, opening up regular season roster spots for other guards.

After making 231 3-pointers in his Duke career, good for eighth on the all-time list, Dawkins played in the NBA Summer league with the Heat. Despite only averaging 19 minutes a game, he averaged 12.3 points a game and nailed 40 percent of his 3-pointers. This performance was good enough to earn a training camp contract with the Heat and now he is out to prove he can provide a spark off the bench. Dawkins will compete with three other shooting guards—Shannon Brown, Reggie Williams and Tyler Johnson—for the right to back up Dwayne Wade this upcoming season. It will be an interesting training camp battle and one to keep an eye on for sure. The team opened camp last Saturday, Sept. 27.

Dahntay Jones, Utah Jazz: Unlike Curry and Dawkins, Jones is a wily veteran who was brought in to provide competition and guidance to a much younger Jazz team. The 33-year old Jones, who last played for Dallas and Atlanta in the 2012-13 season, has averaged 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists over his 10-year career in the NBA with six different teams.

The high effort defensive specialist brings 3-point shooting skills and a tenacious streak to the Jazz. With young, first-round draft picks Dante Exum, Rodney Hood and Trey Burke looking to establish themselves in the backcourt, the Jazz coaching staff wanted to bring in a veteran presence to set a good example. It has been since 2010 with the Pacers that Jones has seen any meaningful minutes, but the Jazz could use a strong veteran presence, so it will be interesting to see how Jones fares with his new squad. The team opened camp Monday led by Duke alum and current head coach Quin Snyder.