The Pacers have assigned Goga Bitadze and Alize Johnson to the Fort Wayne Mads Ants, per the team’s Twitter feed. Bitadze was the team’s first-round pick in the 2019 draft.
The Clippers have assigned Mfiondu Kabengele, Terance Mann and Jerome Robinson to the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario. Kabengele was the No. 27 overall pick in the 2019 draft.
The Hornets have sent Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels to the Greensboro Swarm, according to the team’s website. This marks Martin’s seventh trip to the G League and McDaniels’ sixth.
Here are Monday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
The Hornets recalled forwards Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels from the Greensboro Swarm, according to a team press release. Martin, an undrafted rookie, has appeared in five games for the Hornets, averaging 1.8 PPG in 6.4 MPG. Martin has appeared in 17 games for the Swarm, averaging 19.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 3.8 APG in 35.1 MPG. McDaniels, a second-round pick who has made two cameos with the Hornets, has appeared in 20 games with the Swarm, averaging 17.3 PPG and 7.7 RPG.
Point guard Chris Clemons has been recalled by the Rockets, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Clemons had a 40-point game for the Rio Grande Vipers on Sunday. The previous Sunday he racked up 16 points and nine assists for the Rockets against New Orleans.
The Mavericks assigned small forward Isaiah Roby to the Texas Legends, the team’s PR department tweets. The second-round pick has been rehabbing a foot injury.
The Suns recalled Jalen Lecque from their Northern Arizona affiliate, the team tweets. The undrafted rookie guard has yet to make his NBA debut.
The Pacers recalled star guard Victor Oladipo from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team tweets. Oladipo practiced with the Mad Ants as he continues his rehab from a right knee ailment.
The Raptors assigned Matt Thomas to Raptors 905, Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. He’ll play in a G League contest on Monday, then return to the NBA club and suit up against Portland on Tuesday, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. The shooting guard has been sidelined by a finger injury and hasn’t played for the Raptors since November 23.
Raptors forwards Stanley Johnson and Malcolm Miller have also been assigned to Raptors 905, Murphy adds in another tweet. Johnson, who asked to be sent to the G League, will also play on Monday as he works his way back from a groin injury, according to Lewenberg (Twitter link). Miller has appeared in 20 games with the NBA club this season but is only averaging 5.5 MPG.
The Lakers recalled Talen Horton-Tucker from South Bay, the G League affiliate tweets. The second-round rookie has appeared in two NBA games this season.
A year ago, four Eastern Conference teams had serious title aspirations and plenty at stake if they didn’t make deep playoff runs. The Raptors, Bucks, Sixers, and Celtics had set their sights so high that anything short of an Eastern Conference Finals berth would be considered a disappointment. And sure enough, after Philadelphia and Boston were knocked out in the Eastern Semifinals, they made major offseason changes, with Jimmy Butler, J.J. Redick, Kyrie Irving, and Al Horford all departing in free agency.
This season, the situation is a little different. Most Eastern Conference contenders have their core players locked up for the foreseeable future, so if they fall short of expectations in the postseason, that doesn’t necessarily mean roster shake-ups are coming. Still, the logjam near the top of the East’s standings will be fascinating to watch because there are now six strong contenders in the conference, with the Heat and Pacers joining the aforementioned four.
After struggling down the stretch last season when Victor Oladipo went down, Indiana has learned to win without him this season, posting a 22-13 record. It’s reasonable to assume the Pacers will be an even more dangerous team once Oladipo is back, which is expected to happen within the next month or so. As for Miami, the addition of Butler and young players like Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and Kendrick Nunn has led to an impressive bounce-back season so far for the 25-9 Heat.
The Celtics (23-8), Raptors (23-12), and Sixers (23-13) are bunched together with those two teams, and they’re all looking up at the top-seeded Bucks (31-5).
Based on how well these six teams have played so far, it’s safe to assume they’ll all enter the postseason expecting to win at least one series — and potentially more. But the math is working against them. Only four teams can make it through the first round, so at least two of these aspiring contenders will be one-and-done in the playoffs.
That brings us to today’s poll question: Which of the East’s top six teams won’t make it through the first round this spring?
Vote for two teams below in our poll, then head to the comment section below to explain your picks and to weigh in on which teams you expect to make deep postseason runs.
While multiple executives believe the Pacers will eventually trade one of either Domantas Sabonis or Myles Turner, the team itself remains content with its “old-school” frontcourt duo, according to Pincus.
There’s “fresh optimism” that the Cavaliers will be able to deal power forward Kevin Love before next month’s trade deadline, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Love recently expressed frustration regarding his long-term status with the franchise. Love is in the first year of a four-year, $120.4MM extension. He’s averaging 16.5 PPG and 10.6 RPG in 30.6 MPG this season.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
The Sixers let point guard T.J. McConnell walk in free agency but the Pacers reserve doesn’t harbor ill will toward his previous team, Mark Monteith of the Indianapolis Star relays. McConnell signed a two-year, $7MM with Indiana, though his salary for next season isn’t guaranteed. McConnell recorded his first double-double of the season against his former club with 11 points and 10 assists on Tuesday. “Nothing but respect,” he said of Philadelphia’s organization. “I would never hold any grudges.”
Celtics fans should not expect a trade to upgrade the frontcourt, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. It’s unlikely they’ll find a deal for a quality big man that doesn’t involve moving one of the team’s top five players, Forsberg continues. They could add a proven role player before the trade deadline but they might be better off waiting to see which players wind up in the buyout market, Forsberg adds.
The Raptors’ quick start puts them in a tricky position regarding the trade market, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated notes. It was generally assumed that Toronto would be a seller with the ability to dangle the expiring contracts of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. The one-year extension handed to Kyle Lowry was done in part to make the veteran point guard more tradeable. But now there’s a window for the club to make a run at another championship, Mannix adds.
Pacers center Myles Turner has a new agent, tweets Grant Afseth of Original Turner’s. A league source tells Afseth that Turner signed with Bill Duffy of BDA Sports Management.
Here are Tuesday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
The Pacers assigned Alize Johnson to their affiliate in Fort Wayne, then recalled him and Victor Oladipo later in the day, the team announced in a pair of tweets. Oladipo has been practicing with the G League team as he rehabs from a quad injury he suffered last season.
The Warriors recalled Alen Smailagic from Santa Cruz, according to a press release. Smailagic is averaging 16.8 points and 5.9 rebounds in 12 G League games.
Reportssurfaced this week that the Knicks and Warriors are among the teams monitoring Karl-Anthony Towns‘ situation in Minnesota, but the Timberwolves have no interest in trading their star center, Marc Stein of The New York Times writes in this week’s newsletter. Stein adds that team officials have told him repeatedly that they are building “everything” around Towns, and a trade is the last thing the organization is considering.
The Wolves have tumbled into 12th place in the West after a 10-8 start, and Towns’ injury is part of the reason for the slide. He is in the first season of a five-year, $190MM extension and there’s a new front office team in place run by Gersson Rosas, so there’s no hurry to make major changes.
Executives around the league expect Rosas to be active around the trade deadline, but that’s mostly because of his background with the traditionally aggressive Rockets. Stein notes that teams continue to express interest in acquiring swingman Robert Covington.
There’s more from Stein’s latest piece:
Stein has been skeptical that the Russell Westbrook–James Harden pairing could work, but states that the Rockets were forced to make a move because their relationship with Chris Paul was “irretrievably broken” after last season’s playoff ouster. Westbrook was one of the few available options whose contract matched up well with Paul’s.
Stein predicts the Pelicans will give serious consideration to keeping Zion Williamson sidelined for the entire season if he’s not healthy enough to return in January. There have been encouraging signs that he might be ready to suit up soon, and New Orleans would like to see how he fits alongside Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram before making long-term decisions on both players. However, Stein states that if Williamson goes another month without playing, the safest option may be to skip his entire first season and make sure he’s ready for training camp.
Among other 2020 predictions, Stein expects the Pacers‘ Malcolm Brogdon and the Nets‘ Spencer Dinwiddie to be first-time All-Stars, the Bucks to fall short of 70 wins, the NBA Board of Governors to approve an in-season tournament as well as a play-in tourney for the final two playoff spots in each conference and Gregg Popovich to retire after coaching the U.S. Olympic team.
December 30th, 2019 at 8:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder
Here are Monday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:
Pacers star Victor Oladipo was assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants as he continues his rehab from a quad injury, the team’s PR department tweets. Oladipo, who reportedly could make his season debut in approximately one month, joined the Mad Ants for practice.
The Wizards recalled rookie forward Admiral Schofield and guard Justin Robinson from the Capital City Go-Go, the team’s PR department tweets. Schofield posted 19 points and seven rebounds in Capital City’s game on Sunday, while Robinson had 22 points and six assists. The Wizards, who have been riddled with injuries, played the Heat on Monday.
The Celtics assigned rookie guard Carsen Edwards to the Maine Red Claws, the team tweets. Edwards has appeared in 24 Celtics games, averaging 3.4 PPG in 10.2 MPG.
The Timberwolves recalled rookie center Naz Reid from the Iowa Wolves, according to a team press release. Reid is averaging 18.4 PPG, 9.8 RPG and 1.9 BPG in 16 games for Iowa.
December 29th, 2019 at 3:43pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
A pair of road losses on a Friday-and-Saturday back-to-back, to the elite Heat and the bottom-dwelling Pelicans, have revealed that the Pacers appear able to play up or down to the level of their competition, according to J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star. Michael suggests that this trend could become dangerous should it continue.