NBA G League

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/10/16

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

10:59pm:

  • The Magic have recalled center Stephen Zimmerman from their Erie affiliate, the team posted on its website. Zimmerman spent four games with Erie, averaging 21.8 points and 15.5 rebounds per game. He has appeared in two games with Orlando.

3:05pm: 

  • The Pistons have assigned Stanley Johnson, Henry Ellenson, and Michael Gbinije to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Ellenson and Gbinije have already spent some time in Grand Rapids this season, but it’ll be Johnson’s first D-League stint of the season. According to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link), the 2015 eighth overall pick discussed the move with Stan Van Gundy, and will return to the Pistons after playing tonight with the Drive.
  • Jerian Grant and Paul Zipser have been recalled from the D-League by the Bulls, the club announced in a press release. Both players contributed to the Windy City Bulls’ victory over Canton on Friday night, with Grant making the game-winning shot. R.J. Hunter remains on assignment with the club.
  • The Hawks don’t have their own D-League affiliate, but they’ve assigned DeAndre’ Bembry back to the Salt Lake City Stars, per Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. In a one-game stint with the Stars earlier this season, Bembry poured in 16 of 22 shots and racked up 35 points.
  • A day after being assigned to the D-League to practice with the Salt Lake City Stars, Joel Bolomboy has been recalled by the Jazz, according to a team release.
  • The Lakers have sent rookie big man Ivica Zubac back to the D-League, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Zubac will suit up tonight for the Los Angeles D-Fenders in their game against Austin.

Ferrell Clears Waivers, Returns To D-League

Rookie point guard Yogi Ferrell, who was released by the Nets on Thursday, has cleared waivers and rejoined the team’s D-League affiliate in Long Island, tweets Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders.

The Nets also waived Ferrell during the preseason, but re-signed him November 9th after a rash of injuries at point guard. He appeared in 10 games during his month in Brooklyn, all as a reserve, and averaged 5.4 points and 1.7 assists in 15.1 minutes per night. He played two games for Long Island earlier this season.

Ferrell’s contract with the Nets was a two-year deal at minimum salary with just $100K guaranteed before January 10th. The second season was non-guaranteed.

 

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/9/16

Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

10:30pm:

  • The Nuggets assigned guard Malik Beasley to the Sioux Falls SkyForce of the NBA D-League, the team announced via press release. The rookie has appeared in in nine games this season for Denver, averaging 2.9 points in 6.0 minutes per outing.
  • The Hawks confirmed via press release that Scott was recalled from Delaware. The forward was there on a rehab assignment as he continues to make his way back from a knee injury.

1:26pm:

  • The Nets have assigned Chris McCullough to their D-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, according to a team press release. McCullough is averaging 19.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for Long Island this season.
  • The Bulls have assigned Jerian Grant, R.J. Hunter and Paul Zipser to the Windy City Bulls, according to a team press release.
  • The Hawks have recalled Mike Scott from the D-League, Chris Vivlamore of Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Atlanta doesn’t have its own affiliate, so Scott played his two games for the Delaware 87ers, the affiliate of the Sixers.
  • The Jazz have assigned Joel Bolomboy to their D-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the team’s website. This will be Bolomboy’s third assignment of the season.
  • The Lakers have recalled Ivica Zubac from the Los Angeles D-Fenders, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link).

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/8/16

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

  • The Warriors recalled rookie center Damian Jones from their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, according to a press release. During his most recent assignment, which began Nov. 30, Jones averaged 2.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 19.3 minutes.
  • Ivica Zubac was assigned by the Lakers to their D-Fenders, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets.  That allowed him to get some game action against Reno. The 7’1” rookie center has appeared in four games with the Lakers.

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

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.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/7/16

Here are Wednesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

11:41 pm

  • The Bulls have recalled R.J. Hunter, Doug McDermott and Paul Zipser from their D-League affiliate, according to a team press release. Zipser and Hunter were assigned to the Windy City Bulls just hours ago, so the duo presumably joined Chicago’s affiliate for practice.
  • The Nets have recalled Chris McCullough from the Long Island Nets, the team’s D-League affiliate, per a team press release. He scored 19 points and 13 rebounds in Long Island’s game today.

12:21 pm

  • Rookie forward Cheick Diallo, who had been assigned to the Austin Spurs, has been recalled from the D-League by the Pelicans, the team announced in a press release. New Orleans doesn’t have its own D-League affiliate, so Diallo has been playing for San Antonio’s D-League squad, averaging 12.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.1 BPG in nine games for Austin.
  • The Hornets have sent Aaron Harrison and Christian Wood back to the D-League on assignments, according to a press release issued by the club. Harrison and Wood, who have played very sparingly for Charlotte, should get a chance to suit up and see some action for the Greensboro Swarm in Wednesday night’s game.
  • The Nets have once again assigned Chris McCullough to Long Island, according to a team release. The Nets’ D-League affiliate plays this afternoon, so McCullough could be recalled after the game for Brooklyn’s Wednesday evening contest against Denver.
  • R.J. Hunter and Paul Zipser have been assigned to the D-League, the Bulls announced today in a press release. Chicago’s affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, doesn’t play until Friday, so it’s not clear how long Hunter’s and Zipser’s assignments will last.

McCullough, Caboclo Leaders In D-League Assignments

More NBA teams than ever have their own D-League affiliates in 2016/17, with three expansion D-League clubs joining the mix this year to bring the league’s count to 22 total teams. The NBA’s other eight teams can still send players to the D-League using the flexible assignment rule, but they may not be as inclined to do so as the clubs that operate and control their affiliates.

As expected, during the first month of the D-League’s season, the NBA teams most frequently assigning and recalling players from their affiliates generally met two criteria:

  1. They have young players on their roster who aren’t necessarily ready for regular NBA minutes, or can’t crack the NBA rotation.
  2. They’re geographically adjacent to their D-League affiliates, making it easy to send a player down for a practice, then recall him later in the day.

As Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily wrote last week, no team has taken advantage of the close proximity of a D-League affiliate quite like the Nets, who are temporarily sharing venues with the Long Island Nets, their new D-League squad. Long Island’s new building won’t be ready until the 2017/18 season, so when both teams are playing at home, it’s very easy for Brooklyn to send players back and forth between the NBA and the D-League. Chris McCullough has been the player most frequently affected, having already been assigned to Long Island nine times this season.

Like the Nets, the Raptors have a D-League affiliate that plays nearby — the Raptors 905 are based in Mississauga, a city in the Greater Toronto Area. And like McCullough with the Nets, Bruno Caboclo has been shuttled back and forth nine times between the NBA and D-League already this season, as Toronto takes advantage of having its D-League affiliate in the area.

While many NBA teams have established D-League teams – or relocated them – to ensure that sort of geographical proximity, not every club has done so. The Heat, for instance, might be more willing to assign and recall players from their D-League club more frequently if it wasn’t located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The distance between American Airlines Arena and the Sanford Pentagon (where the Skyforce play)? Over 1,800 miles.

Here are the players with the most D-League assignments early on in the 2016/17 season:

Information from RealGM.com was used in the creation of this post.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/6/16

Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

6:55pm

  • The Hawks have assigned forward Mike Scott to the Delaware 87ers of the NBA D-League via the flexible assignment rule, the team announced via press release. “Mike has worked extremely hard to return to full health after missing training camp and the early part of the season. In discussing with Mike how he could get himself back in game shape and contributing to the team faster, we agreed that the best way would be to do an assignment with Delaware where he could play meaningful, competitive minutes,” coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said.
  • Sheldon McClellan is also headed to the 87ers via the flexible assignment rule, with the Wizards wanting him to get some solid playing time, Candace Buckner of The Washington Post relays (Twitter links). The guard is expected to remain in Delaware for several games, Buckner adds.

3:14pm

  • The Celtics have recalled rookie guard Demetrius Jackson from the D-League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Jackson hasn’t seen much action in Boston, but has been very effective for the Maine Red Claws, averaging 19.6 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 5.9 RPG in eight contests.
  • The Rockets have assigned rookie forward Kyle Wiltjer to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the club announced today (via Twitter). Even with Donatas Motiejunas not reporting to the team, the Rockets have more than enough depth at power forward, and can afford to have Wiltjer practice and play in the D-League.
  • Rookie forward Georges Niang, the 50th overall pick in the 2016 draft, has been assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to a press release issued by the Pacers. Indiana’s D-League affiliate doesn’t play until Thursday, but the squad’s next five games are at home, so it’ll be interesting to see how long Niang’s assignment lasts.

Central Notes: Rondo, Smith, LeBron

Rajon Rondo was in street clothes during the Bulls‘ Monday night loss to the Blazers due to a one game suspension by the team resulting from a a “heated exchange” the point guard had with an assistant coach. Rondo’s teammates are ready to move on from the incident, with veteran guard Dwyane Wade telling Nick Friedell of ESPN.com that Rondo understands what he did wrong and that the team still has full confidence in the playmaker’s leadership. “Let’s play,” Wade said when asked what he told Rondo. “He’s going to have enough messages. Our job is to say, “Let’s go, let’s play.” We got to win the game [Tuesday]. This is about basketball. All those things, it’s not my job to stay on him about. He’s been disciplined, they’ve talked about it, he understands and we’ve moved on.

He’s going to have fresh legs,” Wade continued. “Whatever happened, the organization took care of it. As players, we support each other and back each other. It’s an emotional game and guys have emotional moments. [The team] handled it the way they thought was best. Now we move on.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

  • LeBron James has no desire to sit down with Knicks president Phil Jackson to discuss comments the executive made during a recent interview about the Cavs forward, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com relays. “Didn’t affect me, just know how much further we still have to go and how far we still have to go as African-Americans, even in the light of today,” James said about Jackson’s opinions. “For me, I’ve built my career on and off the floor on the utmost respect, and I’ve always given the utmost respect to everyone — all my peers, people that’s laid the path for me and laid the path for coaches, players, things of that nature. I’ve always given respect to them, and it’s always, like I told you before, it’s always shade thrown on me, so. It means we got a lot more work to do, myself and the team.
  • The Cavaliers received some good news regarding J.R. Smith, who exited Monday night’s contest against the Raptors after suffering a left knee injury in the first quarter. Smith underwent an MRI today that showed no damage and the guard’s status is considered day-to-day, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter).
  • Bulls training camp cut and D-League affiliate player,D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, has been waived by the Windy City Bulls, Chris Reichert of The Step Back reports (Twitter link). The 23-year-old made six appearances for Windy City, averaging 3.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 11.1 minutes per outing while sporting a slash line of .269/.091/.600.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/5/16

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

10:54pm:

  • The Nets have recalled guard Yogi Ferrell and forward Chris McCullough from their Long Island affiliate, the team announced in a press release. McCullough led the D-League team with 24 points and eight rebounds in today’s win over Sioux Falls. Ferrell is averaging 5.4 points and 1.6 rebounds in nine games with Brooklyn.

3:33pm:

  • Bulls forward Doug McDermott has missed the team’s last nine games due to a concussion, but he may be nearing a return. The club announced today in a press release that McDermott has been assigned to the Windy City Bulls, presumably to practice with the D-League squad before he rejoins the NBA team.
  • The Nets sent guard Yogi Ferrell back to the Long Island Nets for the team’s afternoon contest against Sioux Falls today, according to the club (Twitter link). Long Island lost the game, and Ferrell barely showed up on the score sheet, scoring four points on nine shots in 12 minutes of action.
  • The Lakers have recalled 2016 second-rounder Ivica Zubac from the D-League, the team announced today (Twitter link). Zubac hasn’t seen much action with the NBA club so far in his rookie year, but has played well for the L.A. D-Fenders, averaging 17.3 PPG and 8.5 RPG in six contests.
  • Jordan Mickey has returned to the Celtics, having been recalled from the Maine Red Claws, according to the team (via Twitter). Mickey was fairly quiet on Sunday, but had a huge game for Maine on Saturday, putting up 22 points, 15 boards, four assists, four steals, and four blocks.