- Gordon said he thought Phoenix had a better training staff and that was the reason why he signed there in 2012, as he tell Lee in the same piece. Gordon was a restricted free agent at the time and New Orleans exercised its right to match the Suns‘ offer.
Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:
- The Raptors assigned point guard Fred VanVleet and forward Bruno Caboclo to their affiliate, Raptors 905, according to the team’s Twitter feed (Twitter links). They both played against the Oklahoma City Blue on Thursday, with VanVleet scoring nine points and dishing out 12 assists, while Caboclo had 13 points. VanVleet has seen action in six games with Toronto this season, while Caboclo has appeared in three games.
- The Magic assigned guard C.J. Wilcox and center Stephen Zimmerman to the Erie BayHawks, the team announced on its website. Wilcox has played in 10 games this season with the Magic. Zimmerman has appeared in four games this season with the Magic. He was previously assigned to Erie on November 28th.
- The Suns recalled point guard Tyler Ulis and big man Alan Williams from the Northern Arizona Suns, the team tweets. Ulis, an early second-rounder, has played in 14 games with Phoenix this season. Williams has played nine games with the NBA club.
- The Jazz assigned forward Joel Bolomboy to their affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, the team announced. This marks the fifth assignment this season for Bolomboy, who has played eight games this season with the Jazz.
- The Grizzlies assigned guard Wade Baldwin IV to their affiliate, the Iowa Energy. Baldwin, who has appeared in 20 games with Memphis, played two games for the Energy last month.
- The Suns should deal Tyson Chandler in order to free up minutes for their younger frontcourt players, Keith P. Smith of RealGM contends. Smith argues that the team should be patient with its rebuild and not try to bring aboard any other veterans who don’t fit its timeline.
Here are Wednesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:
- The Suns have sent Tyler Ulis and Alan Williams to the Northern Arizona Suns, the team announced today in a press release. It will be the first D-League assignment of the season for both players, who are likely to be recalled to the NBA following tonight’s game against Santa Cruz.
- Rookie swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is back from the D-League, with the Sixers announcing his recall today in a press release. Luwawu-Cabarrot was assigned for Tuesday night’s game, and helped the Delaware 87ers get a win, posting 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
- The Rockets have recalled rookie forward Kyle Wiltjer from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, according to the team (Twitter link). Wiltjer has been the second-leading scorer for the Vipers so far this season, averaging 19.7 PPG in 10 games.
- Rakeem Christmas is headed back to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers announced today in a press release. Indiana’s D-League affiliate doesn’t play until Friday, so it’s not clear if Christmas will stick with the team for that game, or if he’s just being sent down for practice.
- Suns big man Dragan Bender is learning on the job during his first season in the league, a process he discussed with Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. “I’m just growing each and every day, trying to learn,” Bender said. “I know this is my first year and I’m 19 years old and I know it’s going to be tough for me. I’m just going to come each and every day and compete. I’ll try to go against anybody on the court. It doesn’t matter who it is in front of me. I just try to help win the games. My job is to play defense and hit the open shots and deliver the ball at the right time.”
- An opposing view comes from Suns coach Earl Watson, who as a youth saw many of his friends use marijuana as a gateway to harder drugs, writes ESPN’s Chris Haynes. “I think our rhetoric on it has to be very careful because you have a lot of kids where I’m from that’s reading this, and they think [marijuana use is] cool,” Watson said. “It’s not cool. Where I’m from, you don’t get six fouls to foul out. You get three strikes. One strike leads to another. I’m just being honest with you, so you have to be very careful with your rhetoric.”
- The Suns are willing to be patient through rookie power forward Marquese Chriss‘ growing pains, including Sunday’s bench technical, according to Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. Chriss had one of his worst game as a pro with just two points and five fouls in 10 minutes. “Bench Ts put you on the bench in the second half,” said coach Earl Watson. “So it’s an accountable moment. But he’ll learn. He knows I love him. He’ll learn. He’ll move forward.”
Former NBA guards Tony Wroten and Archie Goodwin have signed D-League contracts, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back.
Wroten, who was waived three times during the offseason, has been claimed by the Texas Legends, the Mavericks’ D-League affiliate (Twitter link). Goodwin, who has been waived by both the Suns and Pelicans in the past five weeks, is also joining the D-League (Twitter link).
Wroten, 23, spent a lot of time in the D-League during his four NBA seasons with the Grizzlies and Sixers. He played in just eight NBA games last season, all with Philadelphia, before being waived on Christmas Eve.
Wroten signed with the Knicks in March, but never played for the team. He agreed to a two-year deal with no guaranteed money, and was waived in June after New York traded for Derrick Rose. Wroten was claimed off waivers by the Grizzlies, who waived him in July, re-signed him in August, then waived him again in October.
The 25th pick in the 2012 draft, Wroten started his career in Memphis but spent just one season there before being traded to the Sixers. He is averaging 11.1 points and 3.0 assists in 145 career games.
Goodwin, the 29th pick in the 2013 draft, also made frequent trips to the D-League during his three seasons in Phoenix. A 22-year-old combo guard, Goodwin averaged 6.2 points and 1.2 assists per night in 150 games with the Suns. He signed with New Orleans on November 7th, but appeared in just three games before being released.
Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell said his left knee felt “better” Saturday as he hoisted a few set shots after practice, relays Mark Medina of The Orange County Register. Russell made his first public comments since receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection on Wednesday. He is undergoing a rehab regimen that includes poll and low-impact cardio exercises and will be re-evaluated later this week. “Definitely don’t want to force anything back,” said Russell, who will be reevalauted later in the week. “I feel like I got to be 100 percent perfect before I step back on the floor.” He will likely be out of action for two more weeks.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Clippers‘ rebuilt bench makes them a legitimate challenger to Golden State in the West, contends Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. The reserves have been a liability in the past, but the Clippers addressed that issue this summer with the signings of Marreese Speights and Raymond Felton. Add in Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford and the return of Wesley Johnson from a heel injury, and the bench seems ready to support a strong starting lineup.
- Being assigned to the D-League gave Kings rookie Malachi Richardson the chance to enjoy the thrill of hitting a game-winning shot, writes Shahbaz Khan of NBA.com. It came in Reno’s recent victory over Texas and the Kings were happy to see how Richardson responded in a pressure situation. “The great players take those type of shots,” he said, “and one day I want to be one of those players, so I decided to take it.”
- Alex Len, who will be a restricted free agent after the season, has played well as a starter, but does not mind shifting back to the Suns‘ bench because of Tyson Chandler‘s return from injury, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic relays.
Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
10:22pm:
- The Hornets have recalled Aaron Harrison from their D-League affiliate, the team announced on its website. A second-year guard, Harrison has appeared in two games for Charlotte this season.
- The Mavericks have sent rookie center A.J. Hammons to the Texas Legends, the team announced through email. Hammons has played seven games for the Mavericks, averaging 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 3.4 minutes.
2:42pm:
- The Suns assigned Derrick Jones Jr. to Northern Arizona, their D-League affiliate, according to the team’s website. This is his second D-League assignment, as Jones has averaged 15.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in two games with the NAZ Suns. The undrafted 6’7” small forward made his NBA debut on November 19th, playing three minutes against the Sixers.
- The Bulls assigned big man Cristiano Felício, and guards Jerian Grant and R.J. Hunter to their D-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, the D-League team tweets. After defeating the Sixers on Friday, the NBA Bulls have a gap in their schedule, as they don’t play again until Wednesday. The assignments will allow those three reserves to get playing time and stay sharp. All are expected to see action in Windy City’s game against Delaware on Saturday. Felicio has appeared in 11 games with Chicago, while Grant has played in 10 games — including two starts. Hunter has seen action in just two games.
- The Bucks assigned guard Rashad Vaughn to the Westchester Knicks under the flexible assignment rule, according to a team press release. Vaughn was previously assigned to Westchester from November 19-23, appearing in two games and averaging 11.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15.9 minutes. Vaughn has appeared in nine games for the Bucks, averaging 6.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 14.5 minutes.