Alfonzo McKinnie

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/6/17

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

  • The Spurs have assigned veteran point guard Tony Parker back to the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Parker, recovering from quadriceps surgery, has been back and forth between San Antonio and Austin as part of his rehab process.
  • Rookie big man Zhou Qi is headed to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets announced today (via Twitter). Zhou appears likely to suit up for the Vipers tonight against the Wisconsin Herd.
  • The Raptors have sent rookie forward Alfonzo McKinnie to the G League, according to the team (via Twitter). McKinnie has played very limited minutes in three games so far for Toronto.
  • The Clippers recalled second-year power forward Brice Johnson from the G League on Sunday, per the team. Johnson helped lead the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario to a Saturday win, piling up 25 points and 11 boards.

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Hornacek, Holmes, Morris

The Sixers could still have $40MM in cap space next season despite agreeing to a five-year, $148MM extension with center Joel Embiid, ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out. Embiid’s starting salary of $25.3MM is $7MM more than his $18.3MM cap hold for the 2018/19 season, Marks continues. Philadelphia still has just $57MM in guaranteed contract commitments for next season, Marks adds.

In other developments around the Atlantic Division:

  • The current Knicks roster puts head coach Jeff Hornacek in a no-win situation, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News argues. The front office has stressed improvement in effort and stops but recent acquisitions Tim Hardaway Jr., Michael Beasley, Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott won’t improve the defense, Bondy continues. Hornacek will have the unenviable task of trying to develop a system to mask those defensive shortcomings, Bondy adds.
  • Injured Sixers power forward Richaun Holmes doesn’t believe he’ll require surgery on his injured wrist, Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia tweets. Holmes suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left wrist during a preseason game on Friday.
  • Celtics forward Marcus Morris needs to drops about seven pounds and work on his conditioning but he plans to play the regular-season opener, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston reports. Morris missed a portion of training camp while on trial in Phoenix for an assault charge. He was acquitted.
  • Forward K.J. McDaniels and Alfonzo McKinnie are likely fighting for the final spot on the Raptors’ opening-day roster, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. There’s room for both but GM Bobby Webster has expressed a desire to leave a spot open, Smith continues. Raptors coach Dwane Casey told Smith and other media members that the competition between the two is close. “There’s right now no clear-cut favorite going into this week,” he said.

Atlantic Notes: Hernangomez, Dinwiddie, McKinnie

The Knicks have a glut of centers on their roster and this season could go a long way toward figuring out who their big man of the future might be. A solid summer with Spain’s national team has helped 23-year-old Willy Hernangomez shore up his case for the position, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.

Hernangomez will presumably compete with Enes Kanter for the Knicks’ starting gig but teammates Kyle O’Quinn and Joakim Noah have value in their own ways as well. The Spanish import and close friend of franchise star Kristaps Porzingis, will look to build upon a rookie season in which he averaged 8.2 points and 7.0 boards in just 18.4 minutes per game.

Hernangomez says that he learned a lot from brothers Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol this summer, things that should serve him well as opponents learn more about him after he seemingly came out of nowhere in 2016/17. Whether or not that’s enough to convince the team to commit to him as their center of the future remains to be seen.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Heading into his fourth season and second with the Nets, second-round pick Spencer Dinwiddie has slowly started to make a name for himself. Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson sees what the guard is capable of and wants to get him more minutes in 2017/18. “As well as he is developing, I’m really excited about him,” Atkinson told Alex Squadron of the New York Post. “I think he’s going to have a really good year.”
  • In his first season with the Raptors, G League standout Alfonzo McKinnie has been a revelation, Mike Gardner of the Toronto Sun writes. The forward has shown versatility, length and an ability to knock down three-pointers that the club could use.
  • Recently acquired forward Allen Crabbe finally made his debut for the Nets. As Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes, Brooklyn had been looking to bring Crabbe aboard for a while now, stretching all the way back to last offseason.

Atlantic Notes: Embiid, Knicks, McKinnie

Healthy and, in his mind, ready to play in actual game situations, Sixers star Joel Embiid is itching to suit up for a preseason contest, Sarah Todd and Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer write. That may not necessarily happen soon, however.

I would like to play preseason because last year it helped me get in a groove,” Embiid said.

The 23-year-old big man has been held out of the Sixers’ first two preseason games despite the fact that he’s been cleared for full-court, 5-on-5 action. The team has expressed a desire to work slowly with the center who played just 31 games last season and isn’t ready to pinpoint an exact return date yet.

In scrimmages through training camp, the 2016/17 Rookie of the Year candidate has shown what he’s capable of as a fearsome interior defender and sharp-shooting big man.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

  • With the Carmelo Anthony trade now in the rearview mirror, the Knicks are embarking on their own version of The Process, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. “You try to not sacrifice what you’re trying to do to build just to win some games. Obviously you want to win, but you have to find that balance,” head coach Jeff Hornacek said. “You can’t get frustrated. You got to keep the team going, and when teams are going through that process, it’s hard, but you got to stay positive.”
  • There are several big name additions to the Celtics but one of the team’s wildcards this year could be backup point guard Terry Rozier, A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston writes. The reserve will see an opportunity to shine in light of the trade that sent Avery Bradley to the Pistons.
  • A solid preseason has helped Alfonzo McKinnie make a case for staying with the Raptors through the regular season, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes. The forward has looked far more advanced than perennial project Bruno Caboclo and will be able to be locked up at an affordable rate.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Simmons, Carroll

The Raptors have four players on non-guaranteed deals effectively auditioning for the final two guaranteed slots on their roster, Josh Lewenberg of TSN writes. Given the number of veterans the team lost over the offseason, the individuals who end up in the 14th and 15th spots on the squad could actually see meaningful minutes in 2017/18.

Among those battling for one of the final openings on the lone Canadian team’s roster is Canadian national team forward Kyle Wiltjer. Wiltjer didn’t make much of an impact on the playoff-bound Rockets last season but serves as a potent deep ball threat, not unlike outgoing Raptors forward Patrick Patterson.

Wiltjer will face stiff competition making the Raptors, especially from the versatile K.J. McDaniels who failed to stick with the Nets last season but has otherwise shown promise as an incredibly versatile, Swiss army knife of a forward.

Also vying for the final two spots will be Kennedy Meeks and Alfonzo McKinnie, the latter of whom Lewenberg mentions along with McDaniels to be the ones to watch as training camp begins and the Raptors inch closer to finalizing their roster.

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Contract Details: Teodosic, Curry, Durant, Harden

Milos Teodosic‘s new contract with the Clippers is worth $6MM in year one and $6.3MM in year two, with the team using a chunk of its mid-level exception to complete the signing, per Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). As Pincus explains, however, the deal isn’t quite that simple. It also features a 15% trade kicker, a partial guarantee of $2MM in year one, a partial guarantee of $2.1MM in year two, and a second-year player option (Twitter links).

What does that mean in practical terms? Well, Teodosic’s first-year salary will become guaranteed in a matter of days. It only features a partial guarantee initially so that a partial guarantee could be included on the second year as well. That second year will now function as a mutual option of sorts — if Teodosic picks up his option, the Clippers would still have a window to waive him and only be on the hook for a third of his salary ($2.1MM of $6.3MM).

Here are more details on new contracts from around the NBA, with all information via Pincus:

Western Conference:

  • The new super-max contract signed by Stephen Curry (Warriors) includes a 15% trade kicker and has no options (Twitter link). Kevin Durant‘s two-year deal with the Warriors also features a 15% trade kicker, though he’s even less likely than Curry to be dealt (Twitter link).
  • As for James Harden‘s super-max extension with the Rockets, the final year of that deal (2022/23) is a player option (Twitter link).
  • The Rockets signed undrafted rookie Cameron Oliver to a two-year, minimum salary contract that includes $300K in guaranteed money (Twitter link).
  • George Hill‘s deal with the Kings is frontloaded, with a $20MM cap hit in year one and $19MM in year two. Hill’s third-year salary of $18MM is only guaranteed for $1MM (Twitter link).

Eastern Conference:

  • J.J. Redick would earn an even larger salary on his one-year contract with the Sixers if he’s traded this season. The $23MM pact includes a 15% trade kicker (Twitter link).
  • The Magic signed Shelvin Mack to a two-year contract worth an even $6MM annually, but only $1MM is guaranteed in year two (Twitter link).
  • Undrafted free agent Alfonzo McKinnie signed a two-year, minimum salary contract with the Raptors that features a $100K guarantee (Twitter link).

Alfonzo McKinnie Agrees To Deal With Raptors

4:50 PM: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.

9:30 AM: The Raptors will sign Alfonzo McKinnie to a multi-year contract with a partial guarantee, according to Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic.

A 6’8″ forward out of Green Bay, McKinnie is currently playing for Toronto’s team in the Las Vegas Summer League. He spent all of last season with the Bulls’ G League affiliate, averaging 14.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in 50 games.