- Serge Ibaka, who went to the Magic in the Oladipo deal, is looking forward to tonight’s return to Oklahoma City, relays John Denton of NBA.com. Ibaka spent seven years in OKC and helped the Thunder become one of the top teams in the Western Conference. He offered thanks to the fans at Chesapeake Energy Arena. “They gave me a lot of confidence,’’ Ibaka said. “Great things always have tough beginnings. It never starts great [and goes] to great. Big things come from small beginnings, so I have a lot of appreciation for those fans because my first year nobody knew who I was. But they gave me that trust and that’s one of the things I’m always going to appreciate them for.’’
Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA, with the D-League’s regular season underway:
10:51pm:
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet from Raptors 905, the team tweeted.
2:46pm:
- The Thunder recalled forward Josh Huestis from the Oklahoma City Blue, they announced via press release. Huestis played 31 minutes in the Blue’s opener on Friday night, notching eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes against the Maine Red Claws.
- The Mavericks assigned rookie center A.J. Hammons to the Texas Legends, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets. The 7-footer has seen spot duty in three games with Dallas. The second-round pick will be available for the Legends’ season opener Saturday night against the Red Claws.
Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA, as the D-League enters the opening weekend of its regular season:
- The Kings have assigned their three 2016 first-round picks to the D-League, announcing today in a press release that center Georgios Papagiannis, forward Skal Labissiere, and guard Malachi Richardson were all sent to the Reno Bighorns. The trio has combined to play just 29 total minutes for Sacramento so far, so it makes sense that the club would send them to Reno, where they should have a chance to log plenty of game action.
- The Thunder have assigned former first-rounder Josh Huestis to the Oklahoma City Blue, the club confirmed today in a press release. Huestis is expected to suit up for OKC’s D-League squad for its season opener Friday night against the Maine Red Claws.
- Although the Thunder are off to a good start after a tumultuous offseason, the team isn’t sitting back and relaxing, content with its current roster, writes Royce Young of ESPN.com. As Young observes, the Oklahoma City roster will likely undergo some additional changes during and after this season, as the club continues to retool around Russell Westbrook.
Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls:
10:35pm:
- The Knicks have assigned Ron Baker and Marshall Plumlee to their D League affiliate in Westchester, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets. The duo are expected to participate in the team’s scrimmage against the Nets’ affiliate on Wednesday, Begley adds.
- The Thunder have recalled Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.
2:51pm:
- The newest member of the Bulls, R.J. Hunter, has been assigned to the team’s D-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, according to a press release. Hunter signed with Chicago during the first week of the regular season after being cut by Boston, but has yet to appear in a game for the Bulls.
- For the second time in two days, the Nets assigned Chris McCullough to the Long Island Nets to practice with the D-League squad, then recalled him later in the day, the club announced in a pair of press releases. McCullough is expected to be active for Brooklyn’s game tonight against the Timberwolves.
- Josh Huestis, who recently changed agents, was assigned to the Oklahoma City Blue today by the Thunder to participate in the D-League team’s practice. The Thunder issued a press release confirming the move.
Shooting guard Dion Waiters left Oklahoma City this offseason in order to sign a team-friendly two-year pact with the Heat. The player sat down with Erik Horne of The Oklahoman to discuss a number of topics, including his departure from the Thunder and his expectations with Miami. The entire interview is worth a look, but here are a few of the highlights:
On what he believes his mission to be this season:
“Just go out there and playing every night. Playing hard. Do what I do. Just enjoy the experience as far as just learning how to be a dominant player every night, not just on the offensive end but the defensive end. Knowing I’m giving my team a chance to win every night. Being able to enjoy the good and the bad, trying to be consistent every night. Being able to have that opportunity to do those things. Every night is not going to be your night, I understand that. But I learned how to impact the game other ways and I think my defense, my playmaking ability is surprising a lot of people. I never really had many opportunities to show my playmaking ability.”
On his relationship with Kevin Durant during the 2015/16 season:
“It was special just for me and him because we opened up to one another as far as real life stuff, what happened growing up, things like that. We got kinda close. We was more alike off the court just growing up. We grew up similar. We built that relationship. That’s why I hung out with him pretty much all the time – him, A-Mo, Cam, Russ. We built that camaraderie, that loyalty. We could talk to each other on the court when everybody thinks we’re cussing each other out. In reality, we’re playing.”
On his reaction when he found out Durant signed with the Warriors:
“I don’t know to be honest with you. He made his decision as a man. He probably wanted change in his life, to do different things. He knew all that was gonna come and he left for that challenge to see how you grow, you grow as a person. I wasn’t shocked or anything, I just was like … ‘OK.’ Everyone was stealing my phone like ‘you knew you knew.’ I was like ‘no.’”
On if he was disappointed that he didn’t re-sign with the Thunder:
“At first I was but then it was like … life goes on. At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason. Once the team was pretty much broken up, I kinda figured where it was going, so I just wanted to make the best decision for me. Not for money or things like that. I wanted to go somewhere I could have fun and try to prove myself. Even though the team we had could have won it all, it is what is.”
On the extent of his negotiations with OKC this past offseason:
“We had talks but we wanted to wait it out. We talked about certain things, what was gonna happen, but it never happened. I don’t want to talk about it. It is what it is. It’s business. I ain’t gonna get into all that happened. That ain’t who I am. You’ve gotta roll with the punches.
At the end of the day, I wish they would have done whatever they were gonna do earlier. That’s my biggest thing right there. You pretty much knew. If they would have just done it earlier, I would have respected it because we had offers. A lot. I didn’t know what was going on. I was kinda in the dark. I was actually working out when that happened [when the Thunder rescinded Waiters’ offer sheet]. … But I love the fans. I love the people. They’ll always be in my heart. Some of the best fans ever, especially all year long just supporting us when I was there.”
Heat big man Chris Bosh and Thunder forward Josh Huestis each have new representation, according to various reports. Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reports (via Twitter) that Bosh has signed with Rob Pelinka of Landmark Sports Agency, while Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune tweets that Huestis has hired Andy Miller of ASM Sports.
Bosh, who was previously represented by CAA Sports, parted ways with his previous agent earlier this year. The change for Bosh came around the same time that he and the Heat were at odds over his situation in Miami, with the veteran power forward still eager to continue his playing career while the team ruled him out due to blood-clotting concerns that arose during his preseason physical.
Bosh and the Heat reportedly haven’t had much – if any – contact over the last few months, so Pelinka will be tasked with handling that situation as it develops. The Heat are widely expected to waive Bosh later in the 2016/17 league year, assuming the team can get cap relief from the move.
As for Huestis, he was previously represented by Toby Bailey and Mitchell Butler, who played a part in the decision to have their client play a year in the D-League after he was selected in the first round of the 2014 draft by the Thunder. While that was an unprecedented move, there’s no indication that it’s the reason for Huestis’ change in representation.
The Thunder recently exercised their third-year option on Huestis for the 2017/18 season, so he has a guaranteed salary for the next two seasons, and remains under contract for one more team option in 2018/19. If that option is exercised, he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency in 2019.
- The Thunder should be happy that they got their first game against Kevin Durant out of the way early, writes Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman. With the Durant distraction in the past, Tramel says the players can now focus on playing their style of basketball, which emphasizes defense to make up for an ineffective offense. Even with Russell Westbrook‘s individual brilliance, Oklahoma City ranked 28th in the league in points per possession through its first five games, yet had a 4-1 record.
Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the league:
- The Knicks assigned Ron Baker, Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee to their D-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, earlier today so they could practice with the team, according to their Twitter feed. New York has since recalled all three players.
- The Pistons have assigned Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije to the Grand Rapids Drive, the team’s D-League affiliate, according to a team press release. Ellenson has only appeared in two games for Detroit, while Gbiniji has only seen action in one.
- The Thunder assigned Josh Huestis to the Oklahoma City Blue earlier today so he could participate in practice, per a team press release. The practice has commenced and the team has subsequently recalled the forward.
It won’t get the attention that Kevin Durant‘s first game against Oklahoma City did, but Dion Waiters is preparing for his own battle with the Thunder, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Heat will travel Monday to OKC, where Waiters probably would have stayed if Durant had decided to. Instead, the Thunder opted to use Waiters’ cap space to sign Russell Westbrook to an extension, and the fifth-year guard headed to Miami. Waiters spent a season and a half in Oklahoma City and has fond memories of his time there. “The team there really turned me into a pro,” Waiters said. “I really matured there a lot. Just embracing the whole atmosphere and the city, just how much the team and everybody means to the community was huge. I mean, that’s probably the best time I had, in my experiences, and then my first time in the playoffs.”
There’s more from Miami:
- This year’s extensions put into perspective the big-money deals the Heat signed during the summer, Winderman writes in a separate piece. Miami gave center Hassan Whiteside $98MM over four seasons, which is less than the four-year, $102MM extension Rudy Gobert just got from Utah or the four-year, $100MM extension that Steven Adams received from Oklahoma City. And the four-year, $50MM offer sheet the Heat matched for Tyler Johnson is less than the deals just given to Victor Oladipo, Gorgui Dieng, Cody Zeller or Dennis Schroder. “You’re going to look back at deals like this right now later on down the line and they aren’t going to look like a whole lot,” Johnson said. “Some of these superstars are going to be up there … and it’s going to be crazy.”
- Guard Josh Richardson made his season debut Friday night, less than two months after suffering a knee injury in September, notes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Richardson missed all four of his shots and committed two turnovers, but was on the floor for his defense in the fourth quarter. “I felt fine,” he said. “I’ve got to trust my knee fully. I’ve got to find a rhythm. I told [coach Erik Spoelstra] going into halftime that I felt good. My teammates were encouraging me the whole game. I feel ready.”
- James Johnson, one of Miami’s many offseason additions, enjoyed returning to Toronto for Friday’s game, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Johnson had two stints with the Raptors and was a crowd favorite. “We made something happen last year and it was good to see the guys that we made it happen with,” Johnson said.