Pacers sign Amida Brimah to a two-way contract, waive Brian Bowen II
Pacers sign Amida Brimah to a two-way contract, waive Brian Bowen II
With several centers injured, the Pacers called up Brimah from the Mad Ants.
Desperate for depth in the frontcourt, the Pacers made another late-season signing. They added 6-foot-11 center Amida Brimah (Ah-MEAD-Ah BRI-ma), who was in camp with them the last two seasons, on a two-way contract.
Brimah does not need to quarantine for a week and is available to play on Saturday against the Pistons, a source told Fieldhouse Files. That’s notable because with seven players unavailable last game, including all three centers, they need him to suit up immediately.
Oshae Brissett, another former Mad Ant, was required to quarantine in an Indy hotel for a week before signing with the Pacers for the first time on April 1.
With Brissett playing 42 minutes, and nobody over 6-foot-7 available, the Pacers allowed the Thunder to score 76 points in the paint on Wednesday.
With a full 17-man roster, the Pacers had to waive a player to free up a roster spot. Guard Brian Bowen II was waived. He appeared in just six games this season and played a total of 15 minutes.
Brimah couldn’t play last season after he suffered a torn right ACL while working out. He then played 10 games with the Mad Ants in the G League bubble this season, starting in nine of them. He averaged 8.0 points. 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game.
Brimah, 27, becomes the fifth Mad Ants player called up by the Pacers.
“Let’s go Amida!,” Mad Ants GM Brian Levy tweeted. “Lots of ups and down to get here. Make the most of it!”
Internally, Brimah has focused on being patient and ready for an opportunity like this.
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides,” he wrote on Instagram in the offseason. “You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. Patience.”