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Grizzlies Rule Grayson Allen Out Indefinitely, Recall Josh Jackson

January 27th, 2020 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

Another Grizzlies bench player will be sidelined for the foreseeable future, as the team announced today in a press release that Grayson Allen will be out indefinitely with a hip injury. According to the club, the injury – which occurred when Allen fell awkwardly on his left leg during Friday’s game vs. Detroit – will require “offloading” to heal.

A first-round pick in 2018, Allen was acquired by Memphis in last summer’s Mike Conley blockbuster. The second-year shooting guard has been limited to 30 games this season due to health issues, but has had a fairly regular rotation role when healthy. He was averaging 7.2 PPG on .494/.375/.833 shooting in the 16 games leading up to his injury.

The Grizzlies are now down three roster players, with Bruno Caboclo on the shelf due to a knee injury and Andre Iguodala away from the team while he awaits a trade. Jae Crowder also missed Sunday’s game with knee soreness, though there’s no indication that’s a major issue.

To add some depth to their rotation, the Grizzlies have recalled former No. 4 overall pick Josh Jackson for the first time this season, according to the team (Twitter link). Jackson, also acquired in a trade last summer, has spent the entire 2019/20 campaign in the G League, averaging 20.3 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.5 BPG, and 1.4 SPG in 26 games for the Memphis Hustle.

As Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian observes (via Twitter), the Grizzlies had been reluctant to call up Jackson to the NBA roster without a clearer path to playing time. It remains to be seen whether or not he’ll be inserted into the rotation with Allen out, but at the very least, he’ll travel with the team for now and provide emergency depth.

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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/26/20

January 26th, 2020 at 6:43pm CST by JD Shaw

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

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Cameron Payne Leaves CBA For G League

January 26th, 2020 at 1:49pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After appearing in just two games in the Chinese Basketball Association, point guard Cameron Payne has departed the Shanxi Loongs for the G League, according to Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Payne joined the Loongs in November. He has been claimed off waivers by the Mavericks’ Frisco-based affiliate, the Texas Legends.

The former NBA point guard was drafted at the tail end of the 2015 NBA lottery with the No. 14 pick by the Thunder. The 6’3″ Murray State alum spent his four NBA seasons on the Thunder, Bulls and Cavaliers.

Over the course of his NBA career, Payne averaged a slash line of 6.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, and 1.8 RPG, while shooting 33.1% from three-point range on 2.4 attempts. He started in just 28 of a possible 153 games.

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Knicks Notes: Branding, Oakley, Dotson, Udrih

January 26th, 2020 at 12:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks need more than a brand agency to help improve their image with fans, writes Steve Popper of Newsday. On Thursday, Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg broke the news that the team will be partnering with Steve Stoute’s Translation agency, which helped create a positive image for the Nets. Stoute will serve as a special adviser to the Knicks and will use data and analytics to develop public relations campaigns.

“We have a ways to go,” Stoute told Soshnick. “People can say what they want, but the world knows when you get it right — when the New York team is winning — basketball is better. When the New York Knicks are right, the NBA is a better place. That is the opportunity.”

Popper contends there’s little the franchise can do to improve its image as long as it’s putting a losing product on the court. He adds that the basketball side of the Knicks brand is “poison” because of a “culture of fear and backstabbing” that has executives and coaches afraid to speak out about the problems that are holding back the organization.

There’s more out of New York:

  • The new marketing effort could result in the return of Knicks legend Charles Oakley to Madison Square Garden, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. A source tells Berman that Oakley and Stoute are friends, and the power forward tweeted a congratulatory message this morning. Oakley has been a vocal critic of team owner James Dolan, particularly since being evicted from the Garden in 2017. Oakley claims the incident has caused some players to decide they don’t want to play for the Knicks.
  • Damyean Dotson‘s improved play has helped make up for the loss of RJ Barrett, who is sidelined with a sprained ankle, observes Greg Joyce of The New York Post. Dotson made seven of 10 shots and scored 21 points Friday night. “We find the minutes for the guys that need to be playing,” interim coach Mike Miller said. “As they’re out they’re playing, Dot’s playing well, so he played the whole fourth quarter.”
  • Beno Udrih has joined the coaching staff for the Knicks’ G League affiliate in Westchester, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Udrih spent 13 years in the NBA, including a brief stop in New York.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/25/20

January 25th, 2020 at 8:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

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

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And-Ones: 2020 Draft, Powell, Trade Market, Reed

January 24th, 2020 at 9:16pm CST by Dana Gauruder

A trio of guards — Georgia’s Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and North Carolina’s Cole Anthony — top The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie’s latest draft board. Another guard, 18-year-old Killian Hayes, made the biggest move among the top 20 prospects. Hayes, who is playing in Europe, jumped from No. 16 to No. 7.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • The Nuggets’ Malik Beasley, the Spurs’ Lonnie Walker and the Celtics’ Robert Williams are among five buy-low trade targets for teams seeking to fortify their benches, according to ESPN’s Mike Schmitz.
  • Dwight Powell‘s season-ending Achilles injury was not only a major setback for the Mavericks but also Team Canada, Michael Grange of SportsNet Canada notes. Powell was expected to be a foundation piece for Canada’s Olympic push and his size, smarts, and athleticism will be hard to replace, according to Grange.
  • Veteran center Willie Reed has signed with the G League and returned to the Salt Lake City Stars, Hoops Rumors’ JD Shaw tweets. Reed, 29, was playing in Greece but parted ways with Olympiacos earlier this month.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/24/20

January 24th, 2020 at 6:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the league:

  • The Sixers recalled Zhaire Smith from the Delaware Blue Coats, Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets. Smith has appeared in six NBA games this season, averaging 6.7 PPG in 18.5 MPG. He provides depth at the shooting guard spot with Josh Richardson sidelined by a hamstring strain.
  • The Rockets assigned guard Chris Clemons to their Rio Grande Valley affiliate, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets. The undrafted rookie has appeared in 25 games with Houston but only three this month.
  • The Jazz assigned forward Juwan Morgan to the Salt Lake City Stars, according the G League transactions log. The rookie forward has appeared in 10 games with the NBA club this season.
  • The Nets assigned guard Theo Pinson to their Long Island affiliate, according to the G League transactions log. He has appeared in 26 games with Brooklyn this season, averaging 4.5 PPG in 12.5 MPG.
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/23/20

January 23rd, 2020 at 9:22pm CST by ChrisCrouse

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

  • The Warriors have assigned Jacob Evans to the Santa Cruz Warriors, the team announced on Twitter. Evans has appeared in 22 NBA contests this season.
  • The Jazz have recalled Juwan Morgan from the Salt Lake City Stars, per the G League’s assignment log. Morgan signed with Utah in late November and is not eligible to be traded before the deadline, as I mentioned in the franchise’s Trade Deadline Primer for SLAM Magazine Newswire.
  • Keldon Johnson has been recalled by the Spurs. Johnson was selected with the No. 29 overall pick in this year’s draft.
  • The Heat have sent Chris Silva to the G League, the team announced on its website. He’s expected to be back with the NBA club before Miami’s contest against Orlando on January 27.
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Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Raptors, Pelle, Anderson

January 23rd, 2020 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks management didn’t make any public statements during the preseason suggesting they expected to make the postseason, but Ian Begley of SNY.tv hears that the front office privately conveyed to players that anything less than a playoff spot would be a disappointment. According to Begley, Knicks players who can become free agents in 2020 were told they’d be judged more heavily on the team’s win-loss record than on their individual play.

As Begley explains, management may have been trying to motivate a roster that consisted of mostly young players or newcomers. If that was the plan, it has backfired, as the Knicks have fallen well short of those expectations.

Begley’s article is worth checking out in full for more details on the pressure the coaches and players have felt this season and how those preseason expectations influenced the decision to fire David Fizdale. In my view, if Steve Mills and Scott Perry legitimately believed the Knicks should be a playoff team, that should be more of an indictment of their ability to build and evaluate a roster than of the coaches’ or players’ performances.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • While there has been speculation since Kawhi Leonard‘s departure last summer that the Raptors could become sellers due to their expiring veteran contracts, their success this season has made that increasingly unlikely. President of basketball operations Masai Ujiri essentially confirmed as much this week when he said the Raps will “die trying” to defend their title, as Julia Kreuz of Sportsnet.ca relays. “If we do something (on the trade market), it’s out of the fact that we think this is giving us a chance, or a bigger chance, and right now I think we have that chance, if we continue to play ball and continue to figure it out,” Ujiri said.
  • Sixers two-way player Norvel Pelle reached his 45-day NBA limit when he was active on Wednesday night vs. Toronto, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pelle is unsure what’s next for him, suggesting he’ll leave that up to his agent and the team. If he’s not converted to a standard contract – perhaps after the trade deadline – he won’t be eligible to suit up for the 76ers until after the G League regular season ends in late March.
  • The Nets‘ and Raptors‘ G League teams swapped a pair of players with NBA experience, as the Raptors 905 traded swingman Justin Anderson to the Long Island Nets for big man Henry Ellenson. Ellenson was a two-way player for Brooklyn earlier in the season, while Anderson was on a 10-day contract with the Nets this month. Kelsea O’Brien of Raptors Republic first reported the deal (via Twitter).
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NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 1/22/20

January 22nd, 2020 at 8:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the league:

  • The Pacers recalled guard Victor Oladipo from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team’s PR department tweets. Oladipo practiced with the Mad Ants as part of his rehab. He’s expected to make his season debut with Indiana next week.
  • The Spurs recalled rookie swingman Keldon Johnson and forward Chimezie Metu from their Austin affiliate, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. Johnson has made two cameos with the NBA club this season while Metu, a 2018 second-round pick, has played in 11 games.
  • The Jazz assigned rookie guard Miye Oni to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to the G League transactions log. Oni has appeared in three games with Utah.
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