NBA G League Rumors | Hoops Rumors

NBA G League Pushes Back Start Of Regular Season

December 24th, 2021 at 2:44pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA G League announced on Friday that it will push back its regular season start date to January 5; the original start date was December 27. Information about games originally scheduled between Dec. 27 and Jan. 4 will be provided in the future, the league said today.

The delay will give teams a chance to replenish their rosters after the multitude of NBA call-ups, as well as safely return players to market after the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, per the league.

Veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein of Substack first noted that the delay was a possibility (via Twitter), while Shams Charania of The Athletic was the first to officially break the news (Twitter link).

The G League games that have already been played this season were part of the Showcase Cup tournament, which recently concluded with the Winter Showcase event. All results from the Showcase Cup will be reset for the regular season, which will now start Jan. 5 and run through April.

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NBA G League

And-Ones: Hall Of Fame, House, Clark, Beasley, 2022 Draft

December 23rd, 2021 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced its list of 50 nominees for 2022, including four-time NBA champion Manu Ginobili, who is eligible for the first time this year.

Chauncey Billups, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, and Mark Jackson are among the other nominees eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as players, while George Karl and Paul Westhead are two of many coaching nominees. Veteran referee Joey Crawford is also eligible for the first time this year.

The Hall of Fame will announce its 2022 finalists in February and will reveal this year’s class on April 2. The enshrinement ceremony will take place on the weekend of September 9-10.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Before Danuel House signed a 10-day deal with the Knicks, he received interest from a number of other teams, including the Sixers, Lakers, and Kings, sources tell Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Veteran forward Earl Clark, the 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft, has signed an NBA G League contract, agent Daniel Hazan tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Clark appeared in 261 career NBA games, but hasn’t played in the league since 2015.
Former No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley has been sent a G League contract and invited to join the NBAGL player pool, tweets Marc Stein. Beasley joined a Puerto Rican team in October after playing for Portland in Summer League this year.
Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report takes a look at some early-season surprises and disappointments among 2022 NBA draft prospects, while ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) published an updated version of their 2022 mock draft this week. Purdue guard Jaden Ivey has moved up to No. 4 in ESPN’s latest mock, while Jaden Hardy of the G League Ignite has slipped out of the top five.

COVID-19 Notes: Trade Market, G League, Postponements

December 22nd, 2021 at 1:51pm CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams have been so busy dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks and scrambling to find available replacement players that the trade talks which typically occur at this time of year have been put on the back burner, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Given how many teams are shorthanded, it has also been hard to get a clear sense of whether certain clubs will end up as buyers or sellers, a high-ranking Western Conference executive told Fischer.

“There have been so many injuries, so many players in health and safety protocols, and there are so many teams that are holding out hope they can make a run to that next goal, whether it be making the play-in, making the playoffs, or competing for a championship,” the executive said. “I don’t expect there to be any trade action anytime soon.”

Here are a few more COVID-related notes:

Within his look at the recent impact of the health and safety protocols, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report notes that the exodus of G League talent to the NBA has opened the door for more former NBA players to sign NBAGL contracts in the hopes of getting back into the league. Thon Maker, Marcus Thornton, and Jordan Crawford are among the players who have recently been offered G League deals, says Fischer.
Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) offers some additional details on why the Raptors‘ Wednesday game and the Nets‘ Thursday contest were postponed. As Grange explains, while the minimum number of players required for a team to play a game is eight, the NBA’s new rules say that at least five of those players must be from the club’s initial 17-man roster. It sounds as if Toronto and Brooklyn both may have dipped below five available players, not counting hardship signees.
Vaccinated players signed via hardship exceptions can play for their new teams immediately after testing negative for COVID-19, but must continue to return negative tests during each of their first five days with the club in order to enter facilities and remain active, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks (Twitter links).

And-Ones: Roster Rules, Muhammad, Faried, Prospects

December 20th, 2021 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

A handful of reporters have shared some additional details on the changes to the NBA’s roster rules as agreed upon by the league and the players’ union, which we outlined this morning.

According to Eric Koreen of The Athletic, while teams are now being required to sign replacement players if they have multiple players sidelined due to positive COVID-19 tests, a club won’t have to sign any additional replacements if it’s able to have 13 healthy players in uniform.

Meanwhile, Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link) cites multiple sources who say it won’t just be new hardship signings that don’t count against team salary for cap or tax purposes — that change will be applied retroactively to all of this season’s hardship signings. Teams, of course, will still be required to pay 10-day salaries to each player they sign, but those deals won’t have an impact on a club’s cap or tax situation.

Finally, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link), even though players on two-way contracts no longer face a 50-game regular season limit, they remain ineligible to participate in play-in or postseason games unless they’re promoted to their team’s standard roster.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Former lottery pick Shabazz Muhammad, who last played in the NBA in 2018, joined the Grand Rapids Gold – the Nuggets‘ G League affiliate – for the NBAGL Showcase, as Marc Stein reported (via Twitter). Muhammad struggled in his debut on Sunday vs. the G League Ignite, recording four points, four turnovers, and six fouls in 16 minutes of action.
CSKA Moscow and veteran NBA big man Kenneth Faried have parted ways, the Russian club recently announced in a press release. Faried signed a two-month contract with CSKA in October, but played a limited role for the team, which opted not to extend his deal to cover the entire season. “Thank you for having me, it was amazing – the organization, coaches and people of CSKA Moscow,” Faried said in a statement. “I wish I could have stayed the whole season but it’s a business and I understand that!”
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic identifies seven college upperclassmen to keep an eye on this NCAA season as 2022 draft prospects, singling out Kansas wing Ochai Agbaji, Duke wing Wendell Moore Jr., and Northwestern forward Pete Nance (Larry Nance Jr.‘s brother), among others.

Mario Chalmers Signs In G League

December 18th, 2021 at 3:44pm CST by JD Shaw

DECEMBER 18: Chalmers will join the Nuggets’ G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, and will take part in the G League Showcase from December 19-22, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

DECEMBER 14: Free agent Mario Chalmers is pursuing an NBA comeback and has signed a contract in the G League, agents Ronnie Chalmers and Jerry Dianis told Hoops Rumors. Chalmers will be free to sign with any team if he goes unclaimed on waivers over the next 48 hours.

Chalmers, 35, is one of several veterans to choose the G League in recent weeks, joining Isaiah Thomas (Grand Rapids Gold) and Langston Galloway (College Park Skyhawks). He bypassed interest from multiple teams overseas to return to the U.S. At least one G League team has already made a commitment to the point guard, his agents said.

“Finishing my career where I started would mean the world to me,” Chalmers said of possibly returning to the NBA. “I first got drafted into the NBA. I never had dreams of walking away from the game of basketball overseas, so this would be a great way to end my career. Just being back at home in front of the fans that helped me get to where I am today.”

Chalmers most recently played in Greece, appearing in 22 games for Aris Basketball Club in 2020/21. He averaged 10.5 points, 2.3 assists and 22.2 minutes per contest, shooting 46% from the floor and 37% from deep.

“This is the most expedient route for Mario to get in front of NBA eyes,” Dianis explained. “Playoff teams need players who know how to win. Mario is a proven winner with championship pedigree.”

Chalmers was the No. 34 pick in 2008 after spending three seasons at Kansas, where he famously hit a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in the NCAA championship game to force overtime and help his team win the national title.

Chalmers also started at point guard for the Heat between 2010-14, when the club won two NBA championships and made four Finals appearances. A nine-year veteran, he has made past NBA stops with Miami and Memphis, averaging 8.9 points and 3.7 assists in 22.5 minutes per game.

“I have a lot left in the tank,” Chalmers said. “I have fresh legs, a fresh body and I’m ready for that full NBA grind again. A lot of teams are fighting for those 16 playoff spots, so at the end of the day, if someone gets hurt or COVID becomes an issue, I’m ready.

“I’ve been in the gym. I catch on fast and won’t miss a beat. I’ve already been there before. At the end of the day, I know what it takes to help win a championship.”

And-Ones: Franchise Valuations, Maker, Ferrell, J. Smith

December 16th, 2021 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico has released his annual NBA franchise valuations, with the Knicks ($6.12 billion), Warriors ($6.03 billion), and Lakers ($5.63 billion) leading the way. Those three clubs are far and away the NBA’s most valuable, in Sportico’s view — no other team is valued above $3.61 billion, which is where the fourth-place Nets land, and the average league-wide valuation is about $2.6 billion.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Former NBA lottery pick Thon Maker and Hapoel Jerusalem have parted ways, the Israeli team announced earlier this week (via Twitter). Maker, who spent part of last season with the Cavaliers, is once again a free agent.
Veteran guard Yogi Ferrell recently signed with a team in Slovenia, but he remains focused on playing his way back to the NBA, he said this week on Eurohoops’ EurohooPOD podcast. “I definitely want to get back over there and still show I belong in the league,” Ferrell said.
While Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren have long been viewed as the consensus top two prospects in the 2022 draft class, John Hollinger of The Athletic says that Auburn’s Jabari Smith is making a legitimate case to be considered at No. 1.
The Bulls‘ organization is being impacted by COVID-19 at multiple levels. Like the NBA squad, the G League’s Windy City Bulls have had their schedule affected by the health and safety protocols and won’t take part in the upcoming NBAGL Winter Showcase, the league announced in a press release.

Pacers Rumors: Simmons, Turner, Sabonis, Duarte, Jackson

December 14th, 2021 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers are considered the NBA team most likely to make a significant move on the trade market, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. However, Fischer says there’s a leaguewide skepticism that Indiana will embark on a full-fledged rebuild after hiring head coach Rick Carlisle to a four-year contract just months ago.

“Carlisle is not going to allow that to happen,” one assistant general manager told Bleacher Report. “They’re going to ‘middle build.’ They’re going to go with a sense of competing.”

As Fischer observes, a deal for 25-year-old star Ben Simmons would be the sort of big move the Pacers could make if they want to look toward the future while remaining competitive in the present. But none of Indiana’s top trade chips is the kind of star the Sixers would covet as the centerpiece as a Simmons deal. If the Pacers make a serious push for Simmons, they may have to loop in a third team, Fischer writes.

Here’s more on the Pacers from Fischer:

As Shams Charania reported on Monday, the expectation among rival executives is that the Pacers will move one of their standout big men – Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis – but not both. Fischer says Indiana may ultimately make its decision based on which player commands a higher return, which suggests the team doesn’t strongly prefer one over the other.
Although Turner has been involved in trade rumors for years, the Pacers have always highly valued him, according to Fischer, who hears from sources that the club turned down a Pelicans offer that included the No. 4 pick in the 2019 draft. That pick was eventually sent to the Hawks, who drafted De’Andre Hunter.
Sabonis’ value around the NBA is mixed, but Fischer names the Trail Blazers as one team that may be interested. Fischer also mentions the Kings, pointing out that Carlisle thinks highly of Harrison Barnes, but a Monday report indicated Sacramento hasn’t pursued Sabonis or Turner at all this season.
Malcolm Brogdon can’t be traded this season after recently signing an extension. But besides Brogdon, rookies Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson are viewed by rival executives as the only Pacers players who are probably off-limits in trade talks. “Sabonis, Turner, (T.J.) Warren, (and Caris) LeVert all can be had at the right price,” another assistant GM told Fischer.
In other Pacers news, the team has assigned center Goga Bitadze to the G League for the first time this season, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. As Agness points out, Bitadze has been out of Indiana’s rotation for weeks and could use some reps with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Isaiah Thomas Signs With Nuggets’ G League Affiliate

December 13th, 2021 at 5:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 13: Thomas has signed the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets’ G League affiliate, the league’s PR department tweets. He has a close relationship with the team’s coach, Jason Terry, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets.

According to Singer, there’s a slim chance Thomas will ultimately get called up by the Nuggets. However, he remains free to sign with any NBA team if he impresses during his NBAGL stint.

DECEMBER 11: Isaiah Thomas will continue his quest for an NBA comeback in the G League, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Thomas has signed with the league and will take part in the G League Showcase from December 19-22 in Las Vegas.

The 32-year-old guard has been trying to re-establish himself in the NBA since suffering a lingering hip injury in 2017. He recently played for Team USA in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers in Mexico, leading the team with 42 total points and 13 assists in two games.

Thomas put together back-to-back All-Star seasons before being injured, but has experienced short and unsuccessful stays with five teams over the last four years. He appeared in just three games last season after signing a 10-day contract with the Pelicans in April.

Thomas said last month that he worked out for three NBA teams over the summer and was close to a deal, but nothing got finalized.

Langston Galloway To Sign With G League Team

December 12th, 2021 at 11:12am CST by Arthur Hill

DECEMBER 12: Galloway has reached an agreement to join the G League’s College Park Skyhawks, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. The Skyhawks are the Hawks‘ G League affiliate.

The Skyhawks announced the deal via their official Twitter account.

DECEMBER 11: Point guard Langston Galloway, who helped the Suns reach the NBA Finals last season, will sign with the G League, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Like Isaiah Thomas, who is also hoping for an NBA comeback, Galloway will participate in the G League Showcase set for December 19-22 in Las Vegas.

Galloway played a role off the bench for Phoenix last season, averaging 4.8 points in 40 games while shooting 44.9% from the field and 42.4% from three-point range. However, he was unhappy about playing just 11.0 minutes per night and elected to seek a new team in free agency.

He signed a non-guaranteed training camp contract with the Warriors in late September, but was waived before the season started.

Galloway, who turned 30 this week, went undrafted out of St. Joseph’s in 2014, but was able to put together a seven-year career with the Knicks, Pelicans, Kings, Pistons and Suns. He has appeared in 445 NBA games with career averages of 8.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

And-Ones: Stephenson, Popovich, Thibodeau, Africa League, Samuel

December 9th, 2021 at 5:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lance Stephenson is currently playing for the Nuggets’ G league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold. He ultimately hopes to get another chance to play in the NBA, as he told Bob Kravitz of The Athletic.

“I want to show everybody I’m a different guy and I’ll do anything I can to contribute to a team,’” he said. “My whole mindset is getting back to the NBA. I feel like I belong there. That’s my destination. And I’ll never quit trying.”

Stephenson, who is averaging 19.5 PPG and 7.4 RPG for the Gold, hasn’t appeared in the NBA game since the 2018/19 season, when he played in 63 regular-season games for the Lakers.

We have more from around the basketball world:

A successor for Gregg Popovich as Team USA’s head coach has yet to be named. Popovich said that Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau would make an excellent choice, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. “Oh sure, there are a lot of guys up here that would be fantastic and he’s one of them,” Popovich said. “I think that experience is great and the people that they’re looking at, they’re all great candidates and I think everybody is going to be happy with the final selection for sure. He also was really helpful and supportive during my last four or five years with this, talking to him about how it all goes, giving advice.”
The Basketball Africa League will have an expanded second season, according to an NBA press release. The season will begin on March 5, 2022, in Dakar, Senegal, and will include stops in Cairo, Egypt, and Kigali, Rwanda. The BAL will once again feature the to 12 club teams from 12 African countries and will expand to a total of 38 games over three months.
Seton Hall big man Tyrese Samuel has caught the eye of NBA scouts, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com writes. According to Zagoria, 25 NBA scouts from 17 teams will be in attendance on Thursday when the Pirates play Texas. There’s a chance Samuel could enter the draft after this season, depending on the feedback he gets.