Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with any additional moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:
The Clippers have re-signed Maalik Wayns to a second 10-day contract, the team announced today in a press release. Wayns' original deal with the Clips expired last night.
Wayns, 21, appeared in just one game for the Clippers during his first 10 days with the club, recording five assists in 11 minutes in a blowout win over the Pistons. The rookie, who went undrafted last June, was signed as a free agent by the 76ers and played 21 games for the team before finding his way to Los Angeles.
The Clippers currently have 13 players on guaranteed contracts, with Wayns and DaJuan Summers on 10-day deals. The team will have the chance to re-sign Summers to a second 10-day contract when his deal expires next week, but will have to sign Wayns for the season or let him go when his new 10-day is up.
TUESDAY, 12:05pm: The Bulls have officially signed Thomas to a 10-day deal, the team announced today in a press release. The club now has 15 players under contract.
MONDAY, 1:25pm: The Bulls and Malcolm Thomas have reached agreement on a 10-day contract, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. Thomas' 10-day deal with the Warriors expired last night. The 6'9" power forward saw plenty of action while with Golden State, appearing in five games with the Warriors and one game with their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
Thomas has made plenty of stops since going undrafted out of San Diego State in 2011. He was in camp with the Lakers that year, and spent a month with the Spurs last season, appearing in three games. The Rockets signed him to a 10-day contract later in 2011/12, but he didn't make an appearance for Houston. In addition to his cameo with the Santa Cruz Warriors last week, he's also played for three other D-League teams in the past two seasons, and spent time with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
The Bulls have maintained interest in Thomas since he caught their eye in summer league this past offseason, Charania writes. The 24-year-old will occupy the final spot on Chicago's roster and give the team depth up front, where Taj Gibson is dealing with a knee injury. The Bulls had big man Louis Amundson on a 10-day deal earlier this month, but he signed with the Hornets for the rest of the season when his contract with Chicago was up.
Last Monday, Grantland's Zach Lowe reported that John Wall believes he's "definitely" worthy of a maximum-salary contract following his rookie deal. Wall will be eligible for an extension beginning this July, and according to J. Michael Falgoust of CSN Washington, "all the signals" suggest the Wizards are open to offering a max deal.
Wall, 22, has only appeared in 33 games this season after being sidelined for the first two months, but is averaging career-highs in points per 36 minutes (18.2), assists per 36 minutes (8.7), FG% (.444), and PER (18.7). If he were to reach an agreement on a long-term extension with the Wizards, the team could lock him up for as many as five seasons, on a deal that would begin in 2014/15. Speaking to CSN Washington, Wall expanded on why he believes he's worthy of the maximum salary.
"I feel like I’m a max guy, just on how I am as a person. I feel like I make my teammates better," Wall said. "I’m just a leader. I like to lead and I feel like I can change the organization. That’s the way we’re going with this team and how we've been playing lately."
Even if the Wizards and Wall don't finalize a contract extension during the coming offseason, the team will still have the opportunity to match any and all offers for Wall in the summer of 2014, when he becomes eligible for restricted free agency.
Travis Leslie's 10-day contract with the Jazz will expire tonight, and with Utah off today, Leslie's time with the club is essentially over. According to the team's official Twitter account, the Jazz have decided not to re-sign Leslie to a second 10-day deal.
Leslie, 22, didn't see any game action with the Jazz during his brief stint with the team, and hasn't appeared in a regular-season contest since last March with the Clippers. The 6'4" guard spent most of this season with the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 16.1 PPG and 7.4 RPG while shooting 51.5% from the floor in 28 games for Golden State's D-League affiliate.
The Jazz had been carrying 15 players prior to signing Leslie, releasing Raja Bell to make room. When Leslie's deal expires overnight, Utah will open up that 15th spot again, so an additional roster move won't be necessary if the club decides to add another player in Leslie's place.
Over at Grantland.com, Zach Lowe checks in with the early favorite for the week's most interesting NBA piece, delving into the SportVU camera-tracking system and explaining how it's employed by the Raptors. I highly recommend checking out Lowe's story, which includes some fascinating details that, frankly, I'm surprised the Raps were willing to share publicly. Here are a few more notes from out of the Atlantic Division:
One year ago, Alabama forward Tony Mitchell left school early to enter the NBA, and went undrafted. Now, the North Texas forward with the same name intends to declare his intent and hope for a better result. According to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com, Mitchell is expected to announce today at a news conference that he'll enter this June's draft.
Mitchell, 20, seemed to take a step back during his sophomore season at North Texas. After posting 14.7 PPG and 10.3 RPG, along with .567/.439/.739 shooting in his freshman year, he averaged just 13.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG, and .440/.300/.675 shooting this season.
Despite a disappointing year for Mitchell and North Texas (12-20), NBA executives still expect the 6'8" forward to be selected late in the first round this June, according to Goodman. That seems to match up with prospects lists by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com and ESPN.com's Chad Ford, who rank Mitchell 26th and 30th, respectively.
With a number of NCAA teams having finished their respective seasons now, and another handful to be eliminated from March Madness later this week, we should see plenty of underclassmen declare their intent to enter this year's draft over the next several weeks.
With a 15.5 game lead over the Hawks in the Southeast and a 11.5 cushion separating them from the Pacers for the best record in the Eastern Conference, the Heat could probably afford to rest on their laurels a bit down the home stretch. However, with tonight's win over the Celtics, they now hold the second-longest winning streak in NBA history at 23. Right now, the Heat aren't chasing anyone except for the 1971/72 Lakers, who won 33 consecutive games.
Of course, rattling off another eleven straight victories won't be easy, but the Heat's schedule over the next few weeks is mostly made up of lottery teams. The schedule will feature the Cavs, Pistons, Bobcats, Magic, Bulls, Hornets, Spurs, Knicks, Bobcats (again), Sixers, and Bucks. The Spurs and Knicks should be the two toughest opponents of the bunch, but the Heat downed New York earlier this month at MSG, 99-93. It's your turn to weigh in.
The Thunder have lost just twice in their last 13 outings, and one of those Ls was against the Nuggets last Monday. Kevin Durant & Co. will have their chance at revenge against Denver tomorrow night at home, where they boast a 30-4 record. Last time around, Russell Westbrook gave Oklahoma City 38 points in a losing effort. They'll look for an improved defensive effort to help top the Nuggets in their final meeting of the regular season. Here's more on the Thunder..
Sixers center Andrew Bynum is scheduled to undergo surgery on both of his knees in New York tomorrow, sources told Howard Eskin of 94WIP Radio (on Twitter). The operations, which will clean out debris in his knees, will sideline him for the remainder of the 2012/13 season.
The news means that the 76ers didn't get a minute of Andrew Bynum on the court after giving up Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless, and Nikola Vucevic this offseason. To make matters worse, Bynum will be a free agent after this season and despite his health troubles, the center could still command something near a max deal if everything checks out medically. Philadelphia could still make a play to keep the 25-year-old, but their frustration over what has happened is apparent.
If the Sixers do re-sign Bynum to a max deal, it'll cost them nearly $102MM over five years, as our own Luke Adams calculated recently. The max for another team would be $75.7MM over four seasons, which is still costly considering the immense risk a club would take on by signing him.