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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/15/16

December 15th, 2016 at 9:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:

The Raptors assigned point guard Fred VanVleet and forward Bruno Caboclo to their affiliate, Raptors 905, according to the team’s Twitter feed (Twitter links). They both played against the Oklahoma City Blue on Thursday, with VanVleet scoring nine points and dishing out 12 assists, while Caboclo had 13 points. VanVleet has seen action in six games with Toronto this season, while Caboclo has appeared in three games.
The Magic assigned guard C.J. Wilcox and center Stephen Zimmerman to the Erie BayHawks, the team announced on its website. Wilcox has played in 10 games this season with the Magic. Zimmerman has appeared in four games this season with the Magic. He was previously assigned to Erie on November 28th.
The Suns recalled point guard Tyler Ulis and big man Alan Williams from the Northern Arizona Suns, the team tweets. Ulis, an early second-rounder, has played in 14 games with Phoenix this season. Williams has played nine games with the NBA club.
The Jazz assigned forward Joel Bolomboy to their affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, the team announced. This marks the fifth assignment this season for Bolomboy, who has played eight games this season with the Jazz.
The Grizzlies assigned guard Wade Baldwin IV to their affiliate, the Iowa Energy. Baldwin, who has appeared in 20 games with Memphis, played two games for the Energy last month.

Grizzlies Forward Deyonta Davis Out 6-8 Weeks

December 15th, 2016 at 8:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Grizzlies rookie big man Deyonta Davis is out 6-8 weeks with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal tweets.

The early second-round pick, who was selected 31st overall in June by the Celtics and then shipped to Memphis, has appeared in 21 games this season. He’s averaging 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in 7.9 minutes.

Boston sent Davis and the 35th pick, Serbian swingman Rade Zagorac, to Memphis in exchange for the Clippers’ 2019 first-rounder that the Grizzlies owned.

The 6’10” Davis, who can play either power forward or center, played one season at Michigan State before entering the draft. He has made a favorable impression on his veteran teammates, as Tillery recently reported. “I like him very much. His upside is tremendous,” Marc Gasol told Tillery. “He cannot be satisfied with one play or one quarter or one season. He’s got to be more and more. He’s got to be hungry. That’s the mindset he’s got to have and I’m going to help him. He can help me win and I’m going to help him be better.”

Memphis liked Davis enough to sign him to a guaranteed three-year, $4MM deal in July, the largest ever for an American-born second-round pick.

The Grizzlies have plenty of depth at power forward but Brandan Wright, essentially another power forward, is the only other backup listed behind Gasol at center.

Grizzlies Waive Toney Douglas

December 15th, 2016 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies are waiving Toney Douglas, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that three of Memphis’ injured players are getting close to returning. Douglas was signed by the Grizzlies using a hardship exception, which allowed the team to add a 16th man to its roster since four players were sidelined for an extended period.

We had already heard that James Ennis, one of those four injured Grizzlies players, was nearing a return, but Wojnarowski says that two others – Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons – have also made significant progress (Twitter links). According to Wojnarowski, Conley could get back on the court as soon as this weekend, which would be a surprisingly fast turnaround. When the veteran point guard went down with a back injury, reports indicated he would be re-evaluated in a month and would likely miss at least six weeks — that was just over two weeks ago.

Up until his injury, Conley had been one of the NBA’s most valuable players, so there were some questions about how the Grizzlies would perform without him. Since he went down, however, Memphis has played some of its best ball of the season, putting up a 7-2 record, with wins against the Warriors and Cavaliers. The team’s only two losses in that stretch came against Cleveland and Toronto, the two top teams in the East.

While Douglas didn’t play a ton during his time with the Grizzlies, he saw 17.8 minutes per game in six contests, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.7 RPG. Assuming he’s officially waived today, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent this weekend, while Memphis will carry a cap hit of just over $100K for him, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Fizdale Deserves Credit

December 14th, 2016 at 10:31pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Grizzlies are winning games despite a slew of injuries and Colin McGowen of RealGM believes coach David Fizdale deserves credit for his effective communication and aggressive defensive scheme. Memphis leads the league in defensive efficiency, as I noted in this week’s edition of Fantasy Hoops.

Grizzlies Expect James Ennis Back Soon

December 12th, 2016 at 6:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

Grizzlies forward James Ennis, who has been sidelined for three weeks by a Grade 2 right calf strain, should be ready to play in a few days, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.

Ennis was a participant in most of today’s practice and is showing substantial progress. His return may happen as soon as Friday’s game against the Kings, but seems more likely next week (Twitter link).

Memphis signed Ennis over the summer to a two-year, $6MM deal. He had started 13 games for the Grizzlies before suffering the injury last month and was averaging 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per night.

And-Ones: Rockets, Parsons, Sixers, Stern, Cavs

December 8th, 2016 at 8:03pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Coach Mike D’Antoni said there’s “always an open door” in regards to Donatas Motiejunas playing for the Rockets, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle passes along. “We can’t wait to have him if that works out,” D’Antoni said on Wednesday. “He will definitely be a positive. No negatives there.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Chandler Parsons, who signed a max contract with the Grizzlies over the summer, is the biggest disappointment in the league this season, Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders contends. Parsons has been limited to only six games this season because of a knee injury and he’s averaging a pedestrian 7.7 point per contest.
The Sixers should deal Nerlens Noel, whom Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors profiled as a trade candidate recently, to the Bulls for Nikola Mirotic, Brigham argues in the same piece. The scribes believes Noel could anchor Chicago’s bench unit and Mirotic could turn his season around with more playing time in Philadelphia.
Former commissioner David Stern said he never canceled the proposed 2011 trade of Chris Paul from New Orleans to the Lakers because the GM at the time, Dell Demps, wasn’t authorized to make it, RealGM.com relays via Sports Business Radio. The league had assumed control of the New Orleans franchise, called the Hornets at that time and now the Pelicans, giving Stern the authority to nix it. “The GM was not authorized to make that trade,” Stern said. “And acting on behalf of owners, we decided not to make it. I was an owner rep. There was nothing to ‘void.’ It just never got made.”
John Holland, whose rights are owned by the Cavs’ D-League franchise in Canton, has returned to D-League, international journalist David Pick tweets. The 6’5” swingman was one of Cleveland’s final training camp cuts in October.

Rookies Proving A Point Without Conley

December 8th, 2016 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rookies point guards Andrew Harrison and Wade Baldwin are doing a respectable job replacing injured Mike Conley for the Grizzlies, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. Their decision-making can be frustrating to the coaching staff at times and Harrison’s outside shot has been inconsistent but overall, coach David Fitzdale is pleased with the way they’ve performed, Tillery adds. “I’ve got to live with what these younger guys are doing on the court whether it’s good or bad,” Fizdale told Tillery. “In the long run, it’s going to help us. At the end of the year, they won’t be as young anymore.”

Grizzlies Extend Three In Front Office

December 8th, 2016 at 3:53pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Grizzlies have agreed to multi-year extensions with GM Chris Wallace, VP of Basketball Operations John Hollinger and VP of Player Personnel Ed Stefanski, according to a team press release. The terms of the three deals were not disclosed, per the team’s policy.

“I am pleased to announce that our Basketball Operations executive team, led by General Manager, Chris Wallace, will continue to lead our franchise for years to come,” controlling ownder Robert Pera said. “Chris, John and Ed bring a wealth of NBA experience and success, and have done a tremendous job establishing the strong culture that I believe is necessary to ensure sustained success in this ultra-competitive environment. More importantly, I am confident that the toughness, resilience, discipline and unselfishness that are embedded in the fabric of our culture will continue to serve as a point of pride for Memphis, the surrounding region and all Grizzlies fans.”

Wallace joined the organization back in 2007 and the team believes the culture he helped established has been a major factor in attracting players in free agency as well as retaining its own free agents.

Hollinger joined the Grizzlies in 2012 and he is best known for his work in the field of basketball analytics. Stefanski, who is a graduate of University of Penn’s Wharton School of Business, has been with the team since 2014.

Zach Randolph Returns; Ennis, Parsons To Be Re-Evaluated In 7-10 Days

December 6th, 2016 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Zach Randolph, who has missed the last seven games following the death of his mother, has returned to the Grizzlies and is expected to suit up for the team tonight against Philadelphia, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.
Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal provided an injury update for a pair of Grizzlies players on Monday, tweeting that James Ennis and Chandler Parsons will be re-evaluated in a week to 10 days.

Report Of Surgery For Chandler Parsons Denied

December 5th, 2016 at 6:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

6:55pm: Sportando is calling the report a “mistake” and is apologizing to Parsons for the erroneous story. (Twitter link)

6:50pm: Parsons has responded directly to Cauchi’s report with the message, “This isn’t true. Get your facts straight.” (Twitter link)

6:23pm: Sources close to Chandler Parsons are denying a report that the Grizzlies forward will need surgery on his left knee and may miss the rest of the season, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN.com.

The original report came from Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi, who wrote that an operation is expected “in the coming weeks.”

Team sources tell Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com that Parsons’ rehab work on the knee is progressing as expected and that further surgery is not being considered (Twitter link).

Parsons underwent an operation in March to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. He signed a four-year, $94MM deal with Memphis in July, but has appeared in just six games. He was still recovering from surgery when the season began, then suffered a bone bruise on his left knee shortly after returning.