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Northwest Notes: Thunder, Rubio, Wolves, Jazz

December 12th, 2016 at 10:27am CST by Luke Adams

Not every NBA team has a D-League affiliate, and the 22 teams that do have their own NBADL squads use those affiliates in a variety of ways. Perhaps no NBA club has been more creative than the Thunder when it comes to making use of the D-League, writes Chris Reichert of The Step Back. As Reichert details, Oklahoma City has made a habit out using second-round picks – or even late first-round picks – to draft players who will be amenable to playing for the OKC Blue.

While those players accept modest salaries by agreeing to play on D-League contracts rather than overseas, the Thunder have shown that they’re willing to reward that loyalty down the road, with players like Josh Huestis and Semaj Christon now having earned spots on the team’s 15-man NBA roster. Dakari Johnson, the 48th overall pick in 2015, and Daniel Hamilton, this year’s No. 56 pick, are among the current OKC Blue players seeking an eventual call-up to the Thunder.

Here’s more from around the Northwest division:

  • The Timberwolves are tied for the second-worst record in the NBA, and Ricky Rubio isn’t happy with the team’s effort, telling reporters after a recent loss to Detroit that played with no “heart” or “desire.” Rubio, who is considered a possible trade candidate, said over the summer that he wants to play with a winning team, expressing optimism at that time that the Wolves could turn into a winner. That certainly hasn’t happened early on in the 2016/17 campaign.
  • Timberwolves head coach and team president Tom Thibodeau is still getting accustomed to his dual role in Minnesota, telling Rod Beard of The Detroit News that he has looked at Stan Van Gundy in Detroit as a model for how to handle and delegate those responsibilities.
  • The Jazz have spent several years rebuilding their roster, and are starting to come into their own, but with so many players eligible for extensions or nearing free agency, the team could soon face a turning point, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. We recently took a closer look at Utah’s extension candidates in a Community Shootaround discussion.
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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/11/16

December 11th, 2016 at 10:45pm CST by Will Joseph

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

  • Jazz forward Joel Bolomboy was assigned to the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz’s D-League affilitate, the team announced via its website. This marks the fourth assignment this season for Bolomboy.
  • The Pistons recalled forwards Stanley Johnson and Henry Ellenson and guard Michael Gbinije from the team’s D-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit announced in a press release. That was Johnson’s first D-League stint and it lasted one day.
  • The Bulls announced via press release that guard R.J. Hunter was recalled from the Windy City Bulls.
  • The Lakers recalled Ivica Zubac from their D-League affiliate, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets.
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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/10/16

December 10th, 2016 at 10:59pm CST by Luke Adams

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.
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Ferrell Clears Waivers, Returns To D-League

December 10th, 2016 at 7:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

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.

 

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

December 9th, 2016 at 10:30pm CST by ChrisCrouse

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

December 8th, 2016 at 10:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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

December 7th, 2016 at 10:41pm CST by Luke Adams

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.
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McCullough, Caboclo Leaders In D-League Assignments

December 7th, 2016 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

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.

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

December 6th, 2016 at 6:55pm CST by Luke Adams

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.
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