The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had 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 are recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Miami Heat, whose D-League affiliate is the Sioux Falls Skyforce:
The Heat made 8 assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending two players to the D-League for a total of 55 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Miami for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 25th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (1st) — Recalled November 29th
- December 3rd: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (2nd) — Recalled December 15th
- December 25th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (3rd) — Recalled January 3rd
- December 30th: Assigned Josh Richardson (1st) — Recalled January 3rd
- January 5th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (4th) — Recalled January 16th
- January 5th: Assigned Josh Richardson (2nd) — Recalled January 11th
- February 4th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (5th) — Recalled February 7th
- February 10th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (6th) — Recalled February 15th
Here’s how Miami’s players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Josh Richardson: In four appearances Richardson averaged 23.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 38.2 minutes per contest. His shooting numbers were .473/.393/.706.
- Jarnell Stokes: In 28 appearances Stokes averaged 20.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 30.7 minutes per outing. His shooting line was.665/.444/.667.