NBA G League

Bucks’ G League Team Claims Brandon Jennings

1:13pm: The Bucks’ G League affiliate – the Wisconsin Herd – has claimed Jennings off waivers, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). Jennings began his NBA career with Milwaukee back in 2009.

10:21am: Veteran NBA guard Brandon Jennings has signed a G League contract, league sources tells Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days (Twitter link).

Having signed a G League deal, Jennings will be available on waivers, with the Wisconsin Herd – Milwaukee’s affiliate – currently holding the No. 1 priority, Johnson notes (via Twitter). If no G League teams places a claim for Jennings, he would enter the league’s available player pool, freeing him up to sign with any club.

Jennings’ decision to play in the G League comes on the heels of his comments indicating that he’s looking to get back into the NBA. As we detailed on Monday, the 28-year-old sounds open to returning to the league in any way possible, suggesting he’d be happy to sign a 10-day contract. Signing a G League deal signals that Jennings wants to go out and prove he’s worthy of a spot on an NBA roster, rather than waiting around for a team to call.

Prior to going down with a torn Achilles in January 2015, Jennings had averaged 16.6 PPG in over 400 career regular season games. However, he didn’t look like the same player after the injury, recording just 7.0 PPG in part-time roles for the Pistons, Magic, Knicks, and Wizards.

Jennings, who says he has fully recovered from that Achilles injury, spent the 2017/18 season in China, posting 27.8 PPG, 6.8 APG, and 5.1 RPG for the Shanxi Brave Dragons. He has returned stateside now that Shanxi’s season is over.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/12/18

Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Timberwolves have recalled rookie center Justin Patton from the G League, according to the team (Twitter link). Patton has yet to make his NBA debut, but looked good for the Iowa Wolves on Sunday, scoring a team-high 21 points.
  • Newly-acquired Raptors shooting guard Malachi Richardson has been assigned to the G League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Richardson doesn’t figure to get much run for a Toronto team with a deep bench, but he should have a chance to play major minutes for the Raptors 905 against Maine on Monday night.
  • The Bulls assigned a trio of players to the G League today, according to the club (Twitter link). Kris Dunn, Cristiano Felicio, and Noah Vonleh were sent to the Windy City Bulls for practice and will be recalled after that, the team announced.
  • Patrick McCaw, who has been spending time in the G League to get more minutes, was recalled by the Warriors today, the team confirmed in a press release. The Santa Cruz Warriors scored 131 points on Sunday, but McCaw had just six of them, on 2-of-11 shooting.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/11/18

Here are Sunday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA.

10:04pm: 

  • The Warriors have assigned Patrick McCaw to their affiliate in Santa Cruz, the team announced (Twitter link).

2:52pm:

  • The Grizzlies have assigned forward Brice Johnson to their G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, the team announced in a press release. Johnson was acquired by the Grizzlies prior to the trade deadline on Thursday. In 24 G League games this season, Johnson has averaged 13.4 PPG and 9.5 RPG.
  • The Thunder have recalled guard Terrance Ferguson and center Dakari Johnson from their G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, the team announced in a press release. Ferguson has appeared in 41 games with the Thunder this season while Johnson has racked up 24 appearances.
  • The Pacers recalled center Ike Anigbogu from their G League affiliate in Fort Wayne, the team announced on its website. While the rookie has played sparingly with the big league club, he’s averaged 6.3 PPG, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 12 games with the Mad Ants this season.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/10/18

Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA.

10:26pm: 

  • The Warriors recalled Patrick McCaw from their Santa Cruz affiliate, the team announced in an email. The second-year guard has played 49 NBA games this season and averages 3.7 points and 1.4 assists per night.

8:12pm:

  • The Thunder have assigned Terrance Ferguson and Dakari Johnson to OKC Blue, tweets Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. The G League squad plays tonight, and both are expected to be recalled for Sunday’s game against the Grizzlies.
  • The Bucks recalled rookie power forward D.J. Wilson from the Wisconsin Herd, the team announced on its website. The first-round pick is averaging 14.9 PPG and 5.2 RPG in nine G League games.

And-Ones: Free Agent Market, Payne, Perkins, Booker

The bull market for free agents has ended and there will be few free-spending teams this summer, according to Brian Windhorst and Bobby Marks of ESPN. Many organizations are paying the price for the huge contracts that were handed out in 2016 as cap issues are forcing much of the league to take a more frugal approach.

This season, five teams are on pace to pay the luxury tax, which kicks in with a payroll topping $119MM. Twelve teams are projected to be in tax territory for 2018/19 and several more are in danger of getting there just by re-signing their own free agents. The authors list the Bucks as one team that will cross the line if they hold onto Jabari Parker.

“The luxury tax was not designed for this many teams to pay it,” a league executive told Windhorst and Marks. “Many of those owners probably didn’t think they’d be paying it. Quite a few of those teams are probably going to take steps to get out of the tax or limit new spending.”

When teams were handing out big contracts in the summer of 2016, they were expecting a salary cap in the range of $108MM for next season. That projection has been revised down to $101MM, leaving many in an unexpected dilemma. Only seven teams — the Lakers, Sixers, Bulls, Hawks, Mavericks, Suns and Nets — will have more than $10MM available to chase free agents, and virtually all of those teams are in rebuilding mode.

NBA agent Mark Bartelstein expects the situation to improve in 2019 and 2020 when those 2016 contracts start to expire.

There’s more NBA-related news this morning:

  • Max and “supermax” deals are the reason more stars seem to be on the trade market, writes Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer. Clippers consultant Jerry West had been urging owner Steve Ballmer to trade Blake Griffin ever since Chris Paul let the team know he wouldn’t be re-signing. Ballmer was convinced after Griffin’s latest injury, recognizing the risks of paying him $171MM over five years, including nearly $39MM in the 2021/22 season when he will be 32. Teams are taking stock of their future and weighing whether maxing out a star is worth giving up financial flexibility. O’Connor predicts fewer mid-sized deals, like the approximately $17MM the Magic are giving to Bismack Biyombo and Evan Fournier, in favor of more non-taxpayer midlevel exceptions, which are valued at $8.4MM an will rise to about $10MM before the current CBA expires.
  • Adreian Payne, who was waived by the Magic last month in the wake of the Michigan State scandal, had signed to play in Greece, relays the Associated Press. Payne had a two-way contract and played just four games for Orlando.
  • Veteran center Kendrick Perkins has decided to leave the G League Canton Charge, tweets Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated. Several teams have contacted him about signing after the deadline, and he may consider playing in China or Japan next year, depending how the rest of this season turns out, adds Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Perkins officially “retired” from the G League so the Charge can receive compensation, according to 2 Ways & 10 Days.
  • Sixers forward Trevor Booker has changed agents in advance of his upcoming free agency, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Booker has signed with Jim Tanner’s Tandem Sports + Entertainment.
  • Lavoy Allen, who played 61 games for the Pacers last season, has joined the Northern Arizona Suns of the G League, the team tweeted.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/5/18

Here are Monday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Pacers assigned swingman Glenn Robinson III to their Fort Wayne affiliate on a rehab assignment and then quickly recalled him, according the team’s website. Robinson has appeared in two G League games and is close to returning after suffering a left ankle injury during the preseason.
  • The Bulls assigned guard Cameron Payne to the Windy City Bulls, the team tweets. Payne has not played for either team this season due to a right foot injury.
  • The Lakers assigned center Thomas Bryant to the South Bay Lakers, according the G League team’s Twitter feed. Bryant has already appeared in 22 games with South Bay, averaging 19.3 PPG and 7.0 RPG.
  • The Blazers recalled rookie forward Caleb Swanigan from the Canton Charge, The Oregonian reports. Swanigan has posted averages of 14.2 PPG and 11.9 RPG in 14 G League games.
  • The Spurs recalled rookie guard Derrick White from the Austin Spurs, according to a team press release. He’s averaged 15.7 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 2.6 APG in 13 games with Austin.
  • The Warriors assigned center Damian Jones to their Santa Cruz affiliate, per team release. Jones has started all 33 games for the G League team, averaging 15.3 PPG and  8.0 RPG.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/4/18

Here are Sunday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Hawks have recalled Tyler Cavanaugh from their G League affiliate, the Erie Bayhawks, according to a press release from the team.
  • The Pacers have recalled swingman Glenn Robinson III from their G League affiliate in Fort Wayne, the team announced. He was on a rehab assignment after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in October. Robinson has yet to play in the NBA this season.
  • The affiliate-less Trail Blazers recalled Caleb Swanigan from the G League, the team announced on its website. The big man played 14 games with the Cavs affiliate in Canton and averaged 14.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/3/18

Here are Saturday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Pacers have assigned swingman Glenn Robinson III to their G League affiliate in Fort Wayne, the team announced on its website. He is on a rehab assignment after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in October. Robinson had a career-best season for the Pacers last year, averaging 6.1 points in 69 games. He has yet to play in the NBA this season, but did score 12 points for the Mad Ants on Thursday.
  • The Bucks assigned rookie power forward D.J. Wilson to their Wisconsin affiliate, according to the team website. He has appeared in 18 NBA games, but is averaging just 3.3 minutes per night.