Former East Carolina guard RJ Felton is getting his NBA opportunity.
Felton has signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Indiana Pacers, per multiple reports. The deal is expected to be an Exhibit 10 contract, which will allow the Pacers to bring Felton into training camp and potentially convert him to a two-way deal before the regular season begins.
Exhibit 10 contracts are one-year minimum-salary deals that are utilized for players filling out training camp rosters and competing to earn roster opportunities. Felton, one of the top scorers in East Carolina history, was expected to undrafted, but an opportunity like this always made sense. He blew up as a late invite to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, becoming a name pro scouts familiarized themselves with quickly after a huge showing this spring. Felton was invited on double-digit private workouts, including with Indiana, before ultimately signing with the Pacers.
Indiana has one of the youngest and most exciting rosters in the NBA, finishing as the runner-up to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a Game 7 loss this past weekend. The Pacers drafted Marquette's Kam Jones 38th overall on Thursday in the second round before selecting Liberty guard Taelon Peter with the 54th pick later on, and eventually inking Felton to the undrafted deal.
An Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year, minimum salary agreement that isn't guaranteed. It can also include an optional bonus of up to $75,000 that will be rewarded if a player, after he's waived, spends at least 60 days with a team's G League affiliate. Each team can have up to six Exhibit 10 contracts at one time. An Exhibit 10 deal is allowed to be converted into a two-way deal, which guarantees the bonus. All NBA teams are allowed three two-way contracts, which have to be finalized prior to the start of the regular season.
Recent Pirates to sign an NBA deal straight out of East Carolina include Akeem Richmond, who signed with the Houston Rockets in October of 2014. Kentrell Barkley was also selected in the G League Draft in 2018. East Carolina has seen several former Pirates get drafted after transferring in recent years, including Elijah Hughes, Tristen Newton and Javon Small.
Felton finished his four-year East Carolina career with 1,774 career points, good for third all-time in school history and second most among Division I Pirate players. He netted 620 points this past season, good for the fourth most in the school over the course of a single year, leading the Pirates to a mark of 19-14. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound guard averaged 18.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, shooting 41.4 percent from the floor, including a 37.6 mark from 3-point range. Felton also converted 74.3 percent of his free throw shots and dished out 82 assists to 68 turnovers.
A native of Aiken, S.C., Felton showed progression throughout his collegiate career. He first arrived in 2021-22 out of Aiken High School as a member of Joe Dooley's team, before playing under Mike Schwartz the last three seasons. Felton progressed his scoring averages and shooting numbers each year in the program, culminating with his best year yet in 2024-25. Felton suited up for 124 total games in the Purple and Gold over his four years in Greenville.
The NBA Summer League will be held in Las Vegas from July 10-20, on the campus of UNLV.