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And-Ones: D-League, Clippers, Beal, Draft

January 18th, 2016 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

The recent call-ups of J.J. O’Brien by the Jazz and Keith Appling by the Magic could represent a new trend in how NBA teams use the D-League, according to D-League Digest. They are the first call-ups of the season directly from a franchise’s minor league affiliate, and their familiarity with the parent teams’ systems made them an easy fit. With 10-day contracts limiting the amount of instruction time for new players, it helps to have someone who already understands how a team approaches the game.

There’s more news from around the basketball world:

NBA veteran Henry Sims is one of three D-League centers identified as top prospects by Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor. Undrafted out of Georgetown in 2012, Sims played 121 games with New Orleans, Cleveland and Philadelphia. He is currently averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 rebounds for the Grand Rapids Drive. Also on Reichert’s list are 28-year-old Alex Stepheson of the Iowa Energy and 26-year-old Jordan Bachynski of the Westchester Knicks.
Dennis Wong, a former college roommate of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, has bought a small percentage of the team, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. The sale amounts to less than 4% of the franchise.
Bradley Beal is slowly easing back into the Wizards‘ rotation and hopes to have his minutes restriction raised soon, writes J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic. Beal, who is headed toward free agency, recently admitted that he may have to deal with restricted playing time for the rest of his career.
California’s Ivan Rabb, Vanderbilt’s Wade Baldwin and Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield were the biggest risers in the latest mock draft from Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, as Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv details. His top five remains the same with Ben Simmons of LSU, Brandon Ingram of Duke, Dragan Bender of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Kris Dunn of Providence and Skal Labissiere of Kentucky.

And-Ones: Simmons, Bickerstaff, D-League

January 6th, 2016 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

LSU combo forward Ben Simmons is getting lots of attention as the No. 1 prospect for the 2016 draft, but it’s much too early to declare him a lock for the top pick, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress said to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports on “The Vertical” podcast (audio link at one-hour, one-minute mark). Duke small forward Brandon Ingram, No. 2 in Givony’s rankings, has fans in high places. “I think Ingram is absolutely still in the mix,” Givony said. “I know a lot of teams that have a real split in their front office right now. Some of them, you love the productivity of Simmons, he’s a safe pick, he’s an easy guy, you know he’s going to be a very, very good NBA player, while some of them say, ‘Hey, I love the upside of Brandon Ingram.’ Who knows what this kid can become three to four years from now? Is he going to be a Giannis Antetokounmpo, or someone like that, who just continually improves physically and skillwise and just becomes this devastating, 6’10” small forward who can score from all over the floor?”

Here’s more from around the league:

The players on the Rockets enjoy watching interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff grow into his new role with the team, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle notes. “He is growing and learning … it’s like any rookie,” small forward Trevor Ariza said. “They have to take their bumps and bruises. You learn from them. He has done a great job learning – he is here all the time. He has improved game by game and day by day.” Ariza also noted that he appreciates Bickerstaff’s level of communication with the team, Creech adds. “He asks for everyone’s input on how we feel, what’s working, what we see and he puts his own twist on it to make us better,” Ariza said.
If the NBA D-League is to continue to grow without diluting the available talent pool significantly, the league’s players may need to unionize in order to make salaries more competitive with overseas clubs, Adam Johnson of D-League Digest posits. D-League players don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the NBPA and player contracts are signed directly with the D-League while teams dictate which salary tier players are allotted, Johnson notes. While the pay in the D-League may not be significant, the showcase it provides for prospective NBA suitors is still a major benefit for players, the D-League Digest scribe adds. “Everyone wants to point to the salaries as being an issue, and while it is a valid criticism you can’t put a price on the level of exposure the league provides,” an NBA scout told Johnson.
For the latest on the business relationship between LeBron James and Browns quaterback Johnny Manziel, check out our sister site, Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors on Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: D-League, Durant, Ingram

December 22nd, 2015 at 2:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

The addition of extra roster spots for “two-way contracts” that would allow NBA teams to stash players in the D-League while still keeping their NBA rights is indeed an idea the NBA is tossing around, commissioner Adam Silver said to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com on “The Lowe Post” podcast (audio link; transcription via James Herbert of CBSSports.com). The idea is those players would make $80-100K, though no specifics are set, Silver added. Players and agents wouldn’t like such a change, as Chris Reichert of Upside & Motor speculates (Twitter link), since it would limit their market to sign full NBA contracts. See more from around the league:

Kevin Durant has given precious few clues about his upcoming free agency, but he seemed to indicate this weekend that winning a title with the Thunder would indeed make staying in Oklahoma City more attractive, The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel observes. “I mean, there’s still some guys that stay with one team,” Durant said. “There’s some guys that move. Kobe [Bryant]‘s done it [stayed with one franchise]. Tim Duncan‘s done it. Just as far as staying in one organization, you win a title and it makes it easier for you to ride it out. That’s what those guys have done. Dirk [Nowitzki], guys like that. It’s good to see a few players that’s on the way out that’s had a long career and is still doing it pretty well.”
A 6’10” frame and 7’3″ wingspan plus encouraging data about his shooting make Duke small forward Brandon Ingram an intriguing candidate to become the first player drafted after Ben Simmons, but Ingram’s frailty and poor defensive rebounding could hold him back, observe Chad Ford and Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com in an Insider-only story.
The maturation of some patient, shrewd rebuilding efforts, strong coaching and interconference free agent defections are all factors in the resurgence of the Eastern Conference, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt examines. The result has pleased the commissioner, as he said on a recent Trail Blazers telecast, Zillgitt notes.

And-Ones: Union, Tucker, Labissiere

December 21st, 2015 at 4:14pm CST by Chuck Myron

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are on solid footing with each other, commissioner Adam Silver and union president Chris Paul indicate to Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Both sides reportedly want to make significant progress toward a new collective bargaining agreement over the next year.

“I’m not going to rank the relationship, as compared to other times,” Silver said to Bontemps. “I would only say that the relationship, from my standpoint, is very healthy right now between the league and the players’ association.”

Less than a year remains before the December 15th, 2016 deadline for either side to exercise its mutual option to terminate the existing collective bargaining agreement after next season. See more on the players union amid the latest from around the NBA:

The union has filed a multimillion dollar countersuit against former executive director Billy Hunter, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Hunter is seeking $10.5MM in damages as part of his suit, and while the union didn’t specify how much it’s looking for, Berger suggests the number is in excess of $6MM. A new collective bargaining agreement between the union and the NBA is likely to come before resolution on the Hunter matter, Berger contends.
P.J. Tucker is drawing interest from many teams around the league, as TNT’s David Aldridge indicates within his Morning Tip column for NBA.com, one that suggests a series of trade ideas. The Suns small forward is making $5.5MM this season but has only $1.5MM guaranteed for next year.
Kentucky forward/center Skal Labissiere‘s draft stock continues to fall, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress slots him at No. 5 in his latest mock draft and rankings, having dropped him from No. 1 to No. 3 earlier this month. LSU combo forward Ben Simmons tops Givony’s latest list, with Duke small forward Brandon Ingram and power forward Dragan Bender of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv to follow.

And-Ones: Jones, All-Stars, Draft Picks, Inglis

December 5th, 2015 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves have assigned rookie point guard Tyus Jones to the D-League, the team tweeted tonight. The former Duke star was drafted 24th overall by the Cavaliers in June and then shipped to Minnesota in a draft-night trade. He has played just 14 minutes in two games with the Wolves, with 1 point, 1 rebound and 1 assist. Minnesota officials had previously announced their intention to have Jones spend part of the year in the D-League to get more playing time. Jones will be sent to the Idaho Stampede, the affiliate of the Jazz. Wolves GM Milt Newton will address the situation Sunday, according to a tweet from the team.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

Pistons center Andre Drummond heads a list of most likely first-time all stars compiled by Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders. With Drummond averaging more than 18 points per game and leading the league in rebounds, Brigham considers the fourth-year center a shoo-in for the February 14th contest in Toronto. Potentially joining him from the Eastern Conference are Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, the Hornets‘ Kemba Walker, the Celtics‘ Isaiah Thomas and the Heat’s Hassan Whiteside. Brigham’s five picks for the Western squad are the Warriors‘ Draymond Green, the Spurs‘ Kawhi Leonard, the Suns‘ Eric Bledsoe and/or Brandon Knight and the Jazz’s Derrick Favors.
LSU’s Ben Simmons looks like the clear No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft, Brigham writes in a separate story analyzing the top six contenders for that honor. Brigham cites the Australia freshman’s versatility on offense, where he possesses the skills of a point guard but the 6’10” frame of a power forward. Also on Brigham’s list are Kentucky freshman Skal Labissiere, California freshman Jaylen Brown, Duke freshman Brandon Ingram, Providence junior Kris Dunn and Utah sophomore Jakob Poeltl.
The Bucks recalled Damien Inglis from the Canton Charge of the D-League, tweets Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He was sent to Canton on November 22nd.
The Raptors recalled Bruno Caboclo and Delon Wright from Raptors 905, the team tweeted today. Neither was active for today’s game with the Warriors.

And-Ones: Brown, D-League, Simmons

December 5th, 2015 at 4:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The burden of the Sixers‘ long rebuilding process is weighing on coach Brett Brown, who believed the franchise would be further along than it currently is, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com writes. “I do feel the enormity of it from time to time,” Brown told Lowe. “I wouldn’t be telling you the truth if I said that I had thought in year three, this was the group I’d be coaching. I didn’t realize the roster would play out like it has — that last year would be almost a redshirt year, with Joel Embiid and Dario Saric.”

Philadelphia’s plan of bottoming out and rebuilding through the draft has rankled more than a few executives around the NBA, though no further discussions regarding reforming the draft lottery process are expected to take place until the next session of collective bargaining between the league and the NBPA occurs, which will not happen until 2016 or 2017, Lowe notes in the same piece.

Here’s what else is happening around the league:

The Pistons have assigned Spencer Dinwiddie and Darrun Hilliard to their D-League affiliate in Grand Rapids, the team announced. The moves were first reported by David Mayo of MLive.com (via Twitter).
LSU forward Ben Simmons tops the latest 2016 NBA draft rankings from Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. Simmons overtook Kentucky center Skal Labissiere, who is now third on Givony’s draft board, with Duke swingman Brandon Ingram now slotted second.
Former Warriors center Andris Biedrins, who last played in the NBA with Utah during the 2013/14 season, said he wasn’t sure if his playing career was officially over during an interview with Leta.lv (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). “I am staying in shape, nothing crazy, but I work out three-four times per week,” Biedrins said. “It’s tough to say if I have put basketball aside. At the moment I don’t have the wish to play. Maybe after half year or a year I will want to play, but not now.” Biedrins also noted he was a big fan of Knicks rookie, and fellow Latvian, Kristaps Porzingis. “Kristaps Porzingis? How you cannot follow him? I am very happy for Porzingis, he has been fantastic. I know how difficult it is. I hope he keeps up like that,” Biedrins added.
The Thunder have assigned point guard Cameron Payne to their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.

And-Ones: Stokes, Ingram, Huestis

November 24th, 2015 at 10:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Duke swingman Brandon Ingram has struggled early in his freshman campaign, and despite the lofty expectations that preceded his arrival on campus, it will take the young player some time to reach his potential, writes Josh Newman of SNY.tv. “In a couple of years, if he can do what he did in high school, which remains to be seen, preseason picks and ratings are not worth the paper they are printed on,” an NBA scout told Newman. “He is on the biggest stage in college ball, so if he performs at the highest level consistently, he will move up the draft charts. Right now, he is just learning the college game. He has to adjust to playing with big, strong boys before he looks at the men’s league. Remember, NBA stands for ‘No Babies Allowed.’” Ingram is currently the No. 3 ranked prospect by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, while ESPN’s Chad Ford slots him fourth overall.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Heat have assigned power forward Jarnell Stokes to their D-League affiliate, the team announced. This is the first trek to the D-League of the season for Stokes, and the 21-year-old also becomes the first player assigned to Sioux Falls this season.
The Thunder assigned Josh Huestis to their D-League affiliate, the team announced (via Twitter). This will be Huestis’ third trip to the D-League of the season.
Trail Blazers big man Meyers Leonard has missed the last seven games after suffering a dislocated shoulder during a contest against the Spurs on November 11th, but the 23-year-old is close to returning to action, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian relays. “It’s hard to put a timeline on it,” Leonard said. “But I’m hoping in the next few games that I’ll have a chance to get back.“

And-Ones: Simmons, Cuban, McHale

November 19th, 2015 at 10:21pm CST by Eddie Scarito

A major reason Kevin McHale was fired by the Rockets on Wednesday was the front office’s belief that he had lost the locker room, Chris Mannix of SI.com relays in response to a reader’s mailbag question. Mannix also notes that McHale’s strength as a coach is not in devising strategies or calling plays, but rather in his ability as a motivator. Houston swingman Corey Brewer has gone on record defending McHale, and emphasized that his former coach did not lose the team, and instead placed the blame for the Rockets’ slow start on the players.

Here’s more from around the league:

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, with an assist from three NBA scouts, ran down the top 10 hoops prospects for the 2015/16 season, including Ben Simmons (LSU), Skal Labissiere (Kentucky), and Brandon Ingram (Duke). The top of next year’s draft could be filled with more international players than usual, Spears notes. “The top three picks might not be from the United States next year,” an NBA scout told Spears. “Blame AAU basketball in America for that.”
Simmons had the opportunity to play overseas this season rather than in college, but the talented forward wanted to get a head start on acclimating to the U.S. as well as the style of basketball played here, Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News writes. “I felt like it helped me develop my game more,” Simmons says. “I was able to get the chance to experience different teams, different playing styles. For me it was just more going to high school and competing against the best players every day. It helped me mature, living by myself in Orlando while my parents were back home. A lot of different things come into it: new team, new coaches, different style, system, and living in a different country.”
Mavs team owner Mark Cuban, who isn’t one to mince words, acknowledged that last season’s trade for Rajon Rondo was a risk that didn’t work out as planned for the team, Ben Rohrbach of WEI 93.7 FM relays. “[Expletive] happens, right? There are a lot of risks I’ve taken that have worked out just fine. They’re not all going to work,” Cuban said.
Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant, speaking about his potential retirement during a radio appearance on SiriusXM, said, “If something changes I’ll come back and play next season. If something doesn’t change this is it for me,” Frank Isola of the New York Daily News relays (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Timberwolves, Draft, Hornets

November 13th, 2015 at 2:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Former Grizzlies front office chief Jason Levien isn’t involved in Steve Kaplan’s bid to own a partial share of the Timberwolves, as Zach Harper of CBSSports.com reports, and his name hasn’t come up in discussions with Wolves officials, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter links). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported earlier that Levien was partnering with Kaplan as part of his effort to get into position to eventually assume full control of the Wolves if owner Glen Taylor relinquishes that. Taylor currently has no plans to sell the team, but he’s preparing for that time to come, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

“It just seems to me if I’m a responsible owner of a team, I should go out there, find someone who is really interested, bring them in and see how it works,” Taylor said. “So if I would die or be in a position where I can’t run it, they’d be in a position to take over and make a smooth transition. I just think it’s something I owe the state because I have the ownership.”

The purchase of a minority ownership, whether by Kaplan or another bidder, doesn’t necessarily guarantee they’ll become majority owners at any point, Krawczynski adds (on Twitter), though the idea of Kaplan owning more than 20% of the team has come up in the talks, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. See more from around the NBA:

LSU small forward Ben Simmons tops the rankings of draft prospects that Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) and Chris Mannix of SI.com compiled for college basketball’s opening day, though disagreement exists beyond that. Ford has Kentucky center Skal Labissiere, Croatian power forward Dragan Bender and Duke small forward Brandon Ingram as his next three, while Mannix’s list goes Ingram-Labissiere-Bender.
Simmons isn’t the next LeBron James, but his game is stylistically similar to the four-time MVP’s, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com writes in an Insider-only piece that draws comparisons between some of the top prospects and their NBA counterparts. Labissiere is like LaMarcus Aldridge and Ingram resembles Tayshaun Prince, Goodman posits.
Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams, a pair of Hornets poised to become free agents next summer, are off to strong starts, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders observes in a story that looks at 15 soon-to-be free agents and how they fared during the season’s first two weeks.