The Charlotte Hornets announced that second round pick Amari Bailey is signing a two-way contract.

NBA teams are allotted three two-way spots this season, up from two for the first several years of the function’s existence. Leaky Black signed to one after the draft, and Theo Maledon seems destined to take the other once his restricted free agency is resolved.

Two-way contracts are effectively development contracts where a player splits his time between the NBA club and their G League affiliate, which in this case would be the Greensboro Swarm. Players on two-way contracts are eligible to be active for up to 50 games with the NBA team. In practice, we typically see two-way players activated when the NBA club is dealing with injuries or other absences. Otherwise, two-way players spend most of their time and get most of their minutes in the G League.

The Hornets got a lot of mileage out of their two-ways last season. Maledon appeared in 44 games for the Hornets and played very well for an emergency point guard. Bryce McGowens started last season on a two-way deal and earned himself an NBA contract by season’s end.

Bailey has been okay in the summer league thus far. He’s been active defensively and had some big dunks in transition. He has a lot of work to do as a scorer in the half court, but the tools are there.