The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams have one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:
The Clippers made eight assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending two players to the D-League for a total of 165 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Los Angeles for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 5th: Assigned Branden Dawson (1st) [Bakersfield Jam] — Recalled November 30th
- November 5th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (1st) [Bakersfield Jam] — Recalled November 30th
- December 4th: Assigned Branden Dawson (2nd) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled December 24th
- December 16th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (2nd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled January 9th
- January 3rd: Assigned Branden Dawson (3rd) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled January 31st
- February 22nd: Assigned Branden Dawson (4th) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled March 12th
- March 6th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (3rd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled March 16th
- March 22nd: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (4th) [Canton Charge] — Recalled March 28th
Here is how the Clippers’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Branden Dawson: In 29 games, Dawson averaged 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 21.1 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .518/.444/.576.
- C.J. Wilcox: In 21 appearances, Wilcox averaged 18.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 32.7 minutes per night. His shooting line was .458/.417/.836.