NBA G League Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacific Notes: Paul, Clippers, Jackson, Kings’ Staff

May 28th, 2021 at 6:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Another ill-timed injury for Chris Paul imperils his chances of winning a championship, as ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne details. Paul has been hampered by a shoulder injury as the Suns have fallen behind the Lakers 2-1 in their opening-round series. “You control what you can control,” Paul said. “I know I do everything on a daily basis to prepare myself to be ready to play. When things happen, they happen. You’ve got to overcome it and get through it.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Clippers face a gut check heading into Dallas this weekend with a 2-0 deficit in their playoff series, according to Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. “When you’re down 2-0, it shows what you’re made of,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “Our toughness and all year, just trust, sticking together. And then this is going to show us (Friday) who we are and what we’re made of. So, I’m excited to see.”
Bobby Jackson has been named head coach of the Kings’ NBA G League affiliate, the Stockton Kings, according to a press release from the G League team. Jackson has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach/player development coach for the Kings under head coach Luke Walton.
The Kings announced staff changes within their basketball operations department via press release. Paul Johnson has been promoted to VP of player development, in addition to his current role as the Stockton Kings’ GM. Jonah Herscu has been named an assistant coach on Sacramento’s staff, while Penny Chatzis is the new director of team player development. Robbie Lemons has been named director of basketball operations.

And-Ones: G League, Olympics, NBA Africa, COVID-19

May 24th, 2021 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

As the league mulls the possibility of a midseason tournament at the NBA level, G League officials are making progress toward finalizing an in-season tournament of their own for the 2021/22 season, sources tell Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report.

According to Fischer, the plan is for the G League’s tournament to be an enhanced version of the event that took place at the league’s annual showcase in 2019. Teams would play a series of 12 or 14 round-robin games leading up to the showcase, then the top four teams would compete in a prize-money tournament at the showcase, while the rest of the NBAGL’s clubs participate in the annual event as usual.

The G League is still working to finalize the format and the reward of its potential fall/winter tournament, which would be labeled as some type of “Cup,” sources tell Fischer.

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

Team USA officials aren’t counting on any players who participate in the NBA Finals – or even the conference finals – to be available for the Tokyo Olympics this summer, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. That means getting commitments from certain players whose teams didn’t make the postseason will be a priority for the program, according to Vardon, who points to Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Pelicans forward Zion Williamson as two top targets for USA Basketball.
The NBA has announced the formation of NBA Africa, a new business investment entity that will oversee the league’s business endeavors in Africa, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Former NBA stars such as Dikembe Mutombo and Grant Hill are among the investors, as the league tries to expand its presence in key African markets.
While the worst of COVID-19’s impact on the NBA may be in the rear view, the league isn’t taking anything for granted during its non-bubble postseason, writes Marc Stein of The New York Times. “We’re optimistic that what we’ve been doing will work, but we certainly can’t relax because it’s the playoffs,” said David Weiss, the NBA’s senior VP of player matters. “We have to emphasize that it’s important to keep following the protocols and getting vaccinated.”

Celtics’ G League Affiliate Changing Name

May 24th, 2021 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Maine Red Claws will be rebranded for the 2021/22 season. The Celtics announced today that their G League affiliate will no longer be called the Maine Red Claws and will instead be known as the Maine Celtics going forward.

The team previously known as the Red Claws has been affiliated with the Celtics since 2012. However, Boston and Maine only had a hybrid affiliation for several years before the Celtics purchased the G League team outright in 2019. Maine had been one of the last independently owned NBAGL franchises before becoming the 26th club to be owned by an NBA team.

“When we purchased the Maine franchise in 2019, we immediately made that organization a part of our family,” Celtics president Rich Gotham said in a statement today. “The decision to rename the team to ‘Maine Celtics’ is the next step in that evolution, and a nod to our diehard fan base, which extends throughout the great start of Maine.”

It has become increasingly common for an NBA franchise to rebrand its G League team by giving it the same nickname as its parent club. The Nets, Clippers, Knicks, Magic, Spurs, Raptors, Lakers, Suns, Kings, and Bulls all share their nicknames with their respective G League teams, while the Timberwolves’ NBAGL affiliate is known as the Wolves.

The Maine Celtics’ new logo can be seen right here.

Scoot Henderson To Play For G League Ignite

May 21st, 2021 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Another top high school prospect has committed to the G League Ignite, as five-star recruit Scoot Henderson announced today that he’ll reclassify from the class of 2022 to the class of 2021 and will join the NBAGL’s developmental team, writes Adam Zagoria of Forbes. The G League has confirmed Henderson’s commitment.

Henderson is a 6’3″ point guard who attended Kell High School in Marietta, Georgia. He had been ranked by ESPN as the No. 7 overall prospect in the 2022 recruiting class.

According to Zagoria, Henderson decided to go the G League route rather than attending a college such as Auburn or Georgia. He also received an offer from the Overtime Elite league.

“You know how every kid has their own path?” Henderson told Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times. “My main goal was just to get to the NBA and be there for a very long time. The fact that I have an opportunity to go there and I’m one step away from it, it’s just huge. And I took that opportunity.”

Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links), who says the 17-year-old is believed to be the youngest professional player in American basketball history, hears from sources that Henderson’s G League deal will be worth $1MM — the contract will cover two years, since Henderson still won’t be draft-eligible until 2023.

Henderson will join an Ignite squad that has also received commitments from guard Jalen Hardy, forward Michael Foster Jr., and China’s top prospect, center Fanbo Zeng.

Jaden Hardy To Play In G League

May 15th, 2021 at 12:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Five-star Class of 2021 recruit Jaden Hardy plans to sign with the G League’s Ignite team, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports.

Hardy, a 6’4” shooting guard, is ranked No. 2 among his class by ESPN, behind only center Chet Holmgren, who is committed to Gonzaga.

The Henderson, Nevada product, who attends Coronado HS, was named a McDonald’s All-American even though his school did not play this past season due to the pandemic.

As a junior, Hardy averaged 30.4 PPG, 9.1 RPG and 8.4 APG. Hardy had a laundry list of top schools who offered him, including Michigan, Kentucky, LSU, Florida State, Memphis, Oklahoma and Arizona.

Thus far, Ignite has signed one other major recruit, forward Michael Foster Jr., ESPN’s seventh-ranked prospect. China’s top prospect, center Fanbo Zeng, has also committed to Ignite.

G League To Launch Franchise In Mexico Next Season

May 6th, 2021 at 5:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA G League will launch its new franchise in Mexico City next season, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The team’s nickname is the Capitanes.

Nick Lagios, who has worked for the Lakers‘ South Bay affiliate since 2016, will serve as the team’s GM, Charania adds. Lagios expressed his excitement about running the franchise in an Instagram post.

“It’s an absolute dream to be named the first GM of the Mexico City Capitanes. We will play in the (G League) starting next season,” Lagios wrote. “This is the first Mexican team ever in a USA sports league, which is an honor to be a part of. I hope we can make all of Mexico and Latin America proud and elevate basketball within central and South America. Laker family, I will miss you all but I won’t be leaving LA quite yet!!”

The original announcement that the NBA would add a G League franchise in Mexico City was made in December 2019. The pandemic pushed back the inaugural season by one year.

The Capitanes will play their home games at Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera, an arena that holds about 5,000 fans, and will spend at least the next five years in the G League. They won’t be affiliated with a specific NBA franchise.

By bringing aboard a franchise like Capitanes that has an existing infrastructure – including a home arena and an ownership group – the NBA was able to expedite the process.

Emoni Bates Decommits From Michigan State

May 1st, 2021 at 1:46pm CST by JD Shaw

Five-star prospect Emoni Bates, widely considered to be the top player in the Class of 2022, has announced that he has decommitted from Michigan State and re-opened his recruitment. Bates made the announcement in an Instagram post on Friday night.

“I would like to thank (head coach) Tom Izzo and the coaching staff at Michigan State but I have decided to reopen my recruitment,” Bates wrote. “I’m not sure what my future holds but I am keeping all of my options open, both college and pro.”

Bates, a 6’8″ forward, could attend another college, head overseas, or play in the NBA G League with the Ignite. Many industry and coaching sources believe he would be open to playing in the G League for a year, Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com reports.

The Ignite recently landed five-star prospect Michael Foster Jr. and top Chinese prospect Fanbo Zeng, with more young athletes expected to be added in the coming months. Projected high-lottery picks Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga were among those who played for the team this past season.

“Let’s just put it like this. Whatever options that are available to him, we will lay them out and present them to him, but the ultimate decision is his,” Bates’ father, Elgin, said of his son’s situation back in March, according to Adam Zagoria of Forbes.com.

“If the G League is something he wants to do, if he decides that’s what he wants to do, that’s perfectly fine. He can do the G League. If Michigan State is what he wants to do, that’s perfectly fine. If he wants to entertain going overseas, that’s perfectly fine. If he just wants to sit out and train for a year, it’s whatever he wants to do. It’s his decision.”

Bates, 17, currently projects to be the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft.

Grand Rapids To Be Nuggets’ New G League Affiliate

April 27th, 2021 at 12:18pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets will have a G League affiliate starting next season, the team announced in a press release. Denver will partner with the Grand Rapids Drive, which was previously affiliated with the Pistons.

The G League team will be a hybrid affiliate, which means the Nuggets will control basketball operations, while the Drive’s current ownership, led by Steve Jbara, will conduct business operations and community engagement. The team will unveil a new name in the next few weeks.

News of the arrangement was first reported in February.

“We are extremely excited about this partnership and look forward to what the future holds for our franchises,” said Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly. “We know that Grand Rapids is an excellent organization and the collaboration we can have with our own G League team is something that will be hugely beneficial to our players, staff and organization. It’s just a great situation for all parties involved.”

The Drive’s partnership with the Pistons ended last year when the Suns sold their G League affiliate to Detroit. The Northern Arizona Suns will move to Detroit next season and will be called the Motor City Cruise. The Drive had to search for a new affiliate and were reluctant to leave the city that they have called home since 2014.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, have sought to establish a G League team for years, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who notes that the team has considered cities like Las Vegas, Seattle, Nashville, San Diego, and Omaha. Roadblocks such as local ownership issues or building restrictions always got in the way.

The Nuggets’ new affiliate will be located several states away, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which won’t necessarily allow for constant shuttling of players back and forth between the NBA and G League teams. But it will give Denver an opportunity to develop its young players first-hand at the NBAGL level.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to announce our partnership with Denver and am excited to welcome the Nuggets to Michigan and the Grand Rapids family,” Jbara said. “This partnership is a true testament to the Nuggets’ commitment to development and we’re so happy to be able to help the team continue those initiatives in Grand Rapids for years to come.”

With today’s announcement, Phoenix and Portland will be the only NBA teams without a direct G League affiliate for 2021/22.

China’s Top Prospect To Join Ignite

April 24th, 2021 at 3:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

China’s top prospect, Fanbo Zeng, has opted to join the G League’s Ignite team, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports.

Zeng, an 18-year-old 6’10” forward, originally committed to national championship runner-up Gonzaga. He’ll now pursue his NBA dream in the Ignite program, which was designed for top prospects that didn’t want to go the one-and-done route in college.

Zeng, who will be eligible for the 2022 draft, is no stranger to the U.S. He played for Windermere (Fla.) Prep from 2018-20 after moving from China the previous year and was ranked as a four-star prospect.

He was recruited to the Zags by assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, who left Gonzaga to become Arizona’s head coach.

Zeng is the second highly-regarded forward to commit to the Ignite for next season. Five-star recruit Michael Foster Jr. signed with the Ignite on Friday.

The inaugural Ignite featured Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Green, two of the top five prospects in this year’s NBA draft. However, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie said in Charania’s story that Zeng is more of a “long-term project” than a surefire first-rounder next year.

Michael Foster Jr. Signs With G League Ignite

April 23rd, 2021 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The G League Ignite has secured its first prospect for the 2021/22 season, announcing today in a press release that 6’8″ forward Michael Foster Jr. has signed with the team.

Foster, a five-star recruit, is listed by ESPN as the seventh-best prospect in this year’s high school class. He was named a McDonald’s All-American earlier this year after averaging 32.2 points and 18.4 rebounds per game as a senior at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix.

“I’m super ready to learn the NBA game and train like an NBA player from NBA guys while playing for NBA G League Ignite,” Foster said.

Foster also considered committing to Florida State or Georgia or playing for a year overseas, but ultimately opted for the G League’s professional path, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. A source tells Spears that the young forward is expected to earn a salary in the $300K range.

The Ignite’s first season was thrown off track to some extent by the coronavirus pandemic, so we should get a better sense in ’21/22 of what a typical season will look like for the club, which will once again be made up of a combination of top prospects and veteran mentors.