Admiral Schofield

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/8/19

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

  • The Bucks assigned power forward Dragan Bender to the Wisconsin Herd, according to a team press release. Bender, a major disappointment since the Suns used the No. 4 overall pick on him in 2016, has yet to appear in a game for the Bucks this season. He’ll play in the Herd’s season opener against the Windy City Bulls.
  • The Clippers assigned center Mfiondu Kabengele and guard Derrick Walton Jr. to the Agua Caliente Clippers, the team’s PR department tweets. The duo also practiced with the G League team on Thursday and were recalled. They could see action in Agua Caliente’s season opener on Saturday.
  • The Wizards recalled forward Admiral Schofield and guard Justin Robinson prior to their game against Cleveland, the team’s PR department tweets. Schofield, a second-round pick, has appeared in five games during his rookie campaign while Robinson, an undrafted rookie, has seen action in three games.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/5/19

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

  • The Mavericks have reassigned rookie forward Isaiah Roby to the Texas Legends, the team’s PR department tweets. The 6’8″ Nebraska product has yet to play for the Mavs in the regular season.
  • For the third time this season, the Jazz have assigned rookie guard Miye Oni, the 58th pick in 2019 out of Yale, to the Salt Lake City Stars, according to a tweet from the team’s PR department. Miye has not yet seen regular season court time for Utah.
  • The Wizards have assigned rookies Justin Robinson and Admiral Schofield back to the Capital City Go-Go, the Wiz PR department tweets. Robinson, an undrafted guard from Virginia Tech, has seen sparse action over three regular season contests, averaging just four minutes per. The forward Schofield, drafted with the 42nd pick this summer out of Tennessee, has played in five games, and is currently averaging 4.4 points and 1.6 rebounds.

NBA G League Assignment/Recalls: 10/29/19

Every night during the NBA G League season, Hoops Rumors provides the assignments and recalls by each team. With training camps now open, here are Tuesday’s assignments and recalls from around the G League:

  • The Wizards have assigned Admiral Schofield and Justin Robinson to the Capital City Go-Go, according to a team press release. Schofield has appeared in all three games for the Wizards this season, while Robinson saw time in one.
  • The Lakers have assigned Talen Horton-Tucker to the South Bay Lakers, per the team’s Twitter feed. Horton-Tucker was No. 46 overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Wizards Notes: Starting SF, Bryant, Wall

Who will be the starter at small forward for the Wizards when the regular season opens up one week from today? According to the candidates laid out by Candace Buckner of The Washington Post, the race is down to three – Isaac Bonga, Admiral Schofield, and Jordan McRae – after Justin Anderson was waived earlier today.

With Bradley Beal and Ish Smith set in the backcourt and rookie first-rounder Rui Hachimura and big man Thomas Bryant likely to start up front, it’s down to Bonga, Schofield, or McRae to join that foursome in the starting lineup with both Troy Brown Jr. and C.J. Miles out injured.

“It’s still open,” head coach Scott Brooks said. “We got a lot of guys that are fighting for opportunities and, like I said, it’s not just talk — it’s wide open. Especially with all of the injuries, it’s really wide open.”

As Buckner notes, the Wizards should really opt to go with Bonga or Schofield if they are serious about a youth movement. But McRae is a scrappy veteran used to fighting for a roster spot, so it will be interesting to monitor the small forward position moving forward in Washington.

There’s more from the Wizards:

  • As Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington notes, the Wizards’ best chance to improve on defense lies with the aforementioned Bryant. The 22-year-old youngster hasn’t been much of a rim protector previously, but he possesses some natural abilities that suggest he has the potential to become one. Said Bryant, “I have to be one of those guys to make a big difference. A big man can be the anchor for the defense. I have to take that responsibility to heart every day, whether it’s in practice or the game.”
  • In another piece for NBC Sports Washington, Hughes relays that injured point guard John Wall suffered another infection after his Achilles surgery that delayed him getting out of his walking boot. “For me to be where I’m at right now, with all the setbacks and infections and then finding out my Achilles was ruptured and then going through another infection, it was like ‘man, when can I ever get past that point of just getting out of the boot and walking?'”
  • And in yet another article, Hughes writes how Wall is embracing his role as an assistant coach while out injured. Wall says this season will give him an idea of whether he wants to get into coaching someday. “I think this year will tell me whether I can be a coach or not… I think you have to have a lot of patience and you’ve gotta know how to interact with every player. Every player’s attitudes and character and mood swings are totally different. I learned from when a coach tried to coach me when I was young and I wasn’t the guy to coach.”

Wizards Notes: Anderson, Schofield, Smith

Justin Anderson is hoping to make the Wizards‘ roster and knows the role he has to play to get there, as I wrote on SLAM Newswire.

“I’m not a guy that’s going to iso and score buckets. That’s not my game. My game is to play a role, fill a void, play defense, play hard, play passionately,” Anderson said.

Washington has 13 players under guaranteed deals, but Anderson is not one of them, meaning he’ll likely compete with a handful of players for the last two spots on the roster, as our own Luke Adams detailed earlier today. Anderson, who is from Virginia and played his collegiate ball at the University of Virginia, would love the opportunity to play for the Wizards, with his family close by.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “We see Kawhi and Paul George, they get to go back home. You see it happen on all levels. Everyone is excited to go back home.

Here’s more from training camp in Washington:

  • Second-round pick Admiral Schofield was forced out of a scrimmage today with what appeared to be a leg injury. There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury.
  • Earlier in the week, Ish Smith compared playing alongside Bradley Beal to his time playing alongside Blake Griffin. “Shooting the basketball when I’m open, cutting sometimes, mixing it up and playing it off the catch,” Smith said of the style he expects to play while on the court next to Beal. With Isaiah Thomas and John Wall sidelined, Smith is the favorite to open the season as the team’s starting point guard.
  • The two starting forward positions are also up for grabs during camp. Rui Hachimura and Davis Bertans could end up with those spots, though that would leave one of the two players playing out of his best position. Thomas Bryant and Beal are the only two starters that are essentially set in stone.
  • As we passed along earlier today, Ian Mahinmi will miss at least six weeks with a strained Achilles. Of the Wizards’ 13 players with guaranteed deals, five are currently injured.

Contract Details: Celtics, Matthews, T. Harris, Lyles, More

The Celtics stretched Guerschon Yabusele‘s $3MM+ cap hit for 2019/20 when they waived him last week in order to create a little extra room under the cap, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. While that decision may seem curious, it helped allow Boston to complete a couple less glamorous signings.

For one, the Celtics’ new two-year deal with French center Vincent Poirier isn’t worth the minimum, but rather has a value of $4.65MM over two years, per Siegel (Twitter link). Poirier’s deal starts at around $2.27MM, which wouldn’t have been possible without cap space, since the team has already committed its full room exception to Enes Kanter.

Meanwhile, second-round pick Carsen Edwards also benefited from the Celtics’ leftover cap room. According to Siegel (Twitter link), the former Purdue standout will earn $1,228,026 in his rookie season, rather than the rookie minimum of $898,310. By using their cap room, the C’s were also able to lock up Edwards to a four-year contract.

Here are some details on a few more contracts that were recently made official:

  • Wesley Matthews‘ new minimum-salary contract with the Bucks includes a second-year player option, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link).
  • Tobias Harris has a trade bonus in his five-year contract with the Sixers, according to Siegel (Twitter link). That bonus will be worth either $5MM or 5% of the remaining money left on his contract (whichever is lesser). The bonus can’t exceed Harris’ maximum salary.
  • Trey Lyles‘ two-year, $11MM contract with the Spurs has a partial guarantee of just $1MM for the second year, tweets Siegel.
  • No. 42 overall pick Admiral Schofield got a three-year contract from the Wizards with the first two years guaranteed and a $300K guarantee on year three, tweets Siegel. According to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), Schofield’s deal starts at $1MM in his rookie season.
  • The three-year, minimum-salary contract for Raptors second-round pick Dewan Hernandez has a $500K partial guarantee on year one, and is non-guaranteed for years two and three, tweets Siegel.

Admiral Schofield Signs Rookie Deal With Wizards

JULY 14: Schofield’s signing is official, the Wizards confirmed on Twitter.

JULY 12: Second-round pick Admiral Schofield has agreed to a three-year contract with the Wizards, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The Wizards acquired the 6’5” Schofield in a draft-night deal with the Sixers. The University of Tennessee product averaged 16.5 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 31.8 MPG during his senior year. He shot 38.7% from long range during his four years with the Vols.

He has averaged 8.0 PPG in 20.8 MPG during four summer league in Las Vegas. He’ll likely spend most of his rookie campaign in the G League with the Capital City Go-Go.

Wizards Notes: Hachimura, Schofield, Simmons

Washington concluded a three-day minicamp today in which several notable players participated in full-court scrimmages and drills. No. 9 overall pick Rui Hachimura and No. 42 overall pick Admiral Schofield were among the prospects participating in drills for the Wizards. Schofield believes the two rookies can play well together, as he told Hoops Rumors and other media members in attendance.

“I can play multiple positions. So can [Hachimura],” Schofield said. “He can play the wing and the forward. That’s going to make us pretty lethal. We just have to get used to the [NBA level] and how things are done here, understanding from the vets how to pace ourselves and how to play the game the right way.”

Schofield, whose rights were traded to the Wizards in the Jonathon Simmons deal on draft night, initially thought he was going to Philadelphia. The 22-year-old said he actually found out about his draft spot through Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter, as I recently passed along.

“[My agent] told me I was going to get picked…but I saw the tweet before my agent called, which was pretty cool. Woj is elite,” Schofield said.

Here’s more from Washington:

  • The Wizards and Jonathon Simmons have agreed to move back the guarantee deadline on his deal from July 1 to July 8, sources confirm. Fred Katz of The Athletic was the first to report the news.
  • While no definite decision has been made, last year’s second-round pick Issuf Sanon is likely to spend another season abroad, a source tells Hoops Rumors. The organization is impressed by the progress Sanon is making. “He came back lighter,” assistant coach Robert Pack said during a session with the media. “He’s playing with a little more confidence.”
  • Hachimura said undrafted free agent Justin Robinson has helped him adjust to living in Washington D.C., as he told Hoops Rumors and other media members in attendance. “He’s from [the area],” Hachimura said. “Justin’s great…we talk a lot.” Robinson, who has been referred to by the team as the 61st pick in the draft, is expected to play for the team’s G League, as Candace Buckner of The Washington Post recently wrote.

Draft Notes: Blazers, Hawks, Hunter, Samanic, Kings, Warriors

The Trail Blazers, who hold just one pick – No. 25 overall – in this year’s draft, brought in a total of 24 prospects for workouts, according to Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com.

In addition to the 12 prospects whose names we previously relayed, the Trail Blazers also brought in David Crisp (Washington), Matur Maker (Slovenia), KZ Okpala (Stanford), Samir Sehic (Tulane), Jaylin Walker (Kent State), Cameron Young (Quinnipiac), Vic Law (Northwestern), Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan), Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State), Louis King (Oregon), Admiral Schofield (Tennessee), Rayjon Tucker (Little Rock) over the last week.

Not all of those players are candidates to be selected 25th overall, so the Trail Blazers were also doing their homework on potential undrafted free agent signings — or possibly even second-round picks, if Portland opts to trade back into the draft.

Here are a few more draft-related notes and rumors worth rounding up:

  • The Hawks are “very high” on Virginia forward De’Andre Hunter, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link). Sources tell Givony that Atlanta is the only team Hunter has worked out for, though if the Hawks want to secure him, they may have to trade up from No. 8. The Hawks are also said to like Jarrett Culver.
  • Croatian forward Luka Samanic isn’t interested in becoming a draft-and-stash player, sources tell Givony. That might cause his stock to fall a little, since he’s still “raw and inexperienced,” Givony writes. Some teams may be reluctant to guarantee him a roster spot until he’s a little more NBA-ready.
  • The Kings worked out Kyle Guy (Virginia), Jaylen Hands (UCLA), Rayjon Tucker (Little Rock), Miye Oni (Yale), Daulton Hommes (Point Loma), and Kenny Wooten (Oregon) on Monday, per James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).
  • The Rockets are among the teams that brought in Purdue Fort Wayne’s John Konchar for a pre-draft workout, tweets ESPN’s Jordan Schultz.
  • Jordan Poole (Michigan) and Jarrell Brantley (Charleston) auditioned for the Warriors today, per Gery Woelfel and Adam Zagoria, respectively (Twitter links).

Central Draft Notes: Pacers, Cavs, Bucks, Pistons

Holding the 18th and 50th overall picks in the 2019 NBA draft, the Pacers should have a wide variety of options available to them in both the first and second rounds, so they’re doing plenty of homework in the weeks leading up to the draft.

On Wednesday, the Pacers held a pre-draft workout that featured Shizz Alston Jr. (Temple), Ky Bowman (Boston College), Tacko Fall (UCF), Mfiondu Kabengele (Florida State), Juwan Morgan (Indiana), and Elijah Thomas (Clemson), according to the team. Fall’s ability to participate in that session was limited after he rolled an ankle, as we noted yesterday.

Today, the Pacers are working out six more prospects, announcing that Luguentz Dort (Arizona State), Kyle Guy (Virginia), Amir Hinton (Shaw), Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State), Cody Martin (Nevada), and Josh Reaves (Penn State) are in town.

The Pacers will audition six more prospects on Friday, per the club’s latest press release. Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan), Jon Elmore (Marshall), Aric Holman (Mississippi State), Luke Maye (UNC), Miye Oni (Yale), and Admiral Schofield (Tennessee) will attend that session.

Here are more updates on pre-draft workouts from around the Central: