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Bryce Alford

Bulls Sign, Waive Bryce Alford

October 14th, 2021 at 4:18pm CST by Luke Adams

OCTOBER 14:  The Bulls have waived Alford, according to NBA.com’s transactions log. The guard is a potential candidate to join the Windy City Bulls, Chicago’s G League affiliate.

OCTOBER 13: The Bulls are signing free agent guard Bryce Alford to a training camp contract, a league source tells our JD Shaw (Twitter link). The deal is official, per RealGM’s transactions log.

Alford, who played his college ball at UCLA, spent two years in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue to begin his professional career in 2017-19. He has since made stops in Germany and Portugal.

The Bulls have two openings on their preseason roster after waiving Daniel Oturu and Ethan Thompson on Monday, so no corresponding move will be necessary to complete the signing of Alford.

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And-Ones: Fans In Arenas, W. Chandler, 2021 Draft, More

December 11th, 2020 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

For the time being, only five teams – the Jazz, Pelicans, Magic, Rockets, and Grizzlies – are continuing with their plans to have some fans in arenas when the regular season begins, sources tell David Aldridge of The Athletic.

The Mavericks and Heat each confirmed today that they won’t have fans for their preseason games, per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami also won’t host fans for its Christmas Day game, as Chiang notes.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The NBA intends to administer a daily point-of-care, rapid coronavirus testing system for the 2020/21 season, according to Shams Charania and Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter links). Those tests would return results within 30 minutes in teams’ home markets and within 90 minutes on the road. In the event of invalid results, the player would undergo another rapid test at least 30 minutes after the first one and could participate in team activities while awaiting the result, sources tell The Athletic.
  • Veteran forward Wilson Chandler is expected to leave Zhejiang Guangsha, his team in China, a source tells Sportando. Chandler, who finished the 2019/20 season with Brooklyn, signed to play in the Chinese Basketball Association in the fall. It’s unclear whether or not his reported exit is related to an NBA opportunity.
  • ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz have published their first list of the top 100 prospects for the 2021 NBA draft. Oklahoma State point guard Cade Cunningham leads the way, followed by USC’s Evan Mobley and Jalen Green of the G League Ignite.
  • Speaking of Green and the Ignite, they’re scheduled to scrimmage on December 15 and 17 against a group of veteran G Leaguers, according to Givony (all Twitter links). It’s unclear whether or not those games will be streamed, but NBA teams will get access to the film, according to Givony, who says Isaiah Briscoe, Tariq Owens, and Bryce Alford will be among the vets scrimmaging against the Ignite.
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Thunder Waive Alford, McDaniels, Solomon

October 10th, 2018 at 9:51am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have waived three players from their preseason roster, the team confirmed today in a press release, announcing that guard Bryce Alford, forward K.J. McDaniels, and center Richard Solomon have been released.

Although Alford, McDaniels, and Solomon joined the Thunder for training camp and the preseason, they were never considered likely to make the club’s regular season roster. However, they could end up playing in the G League for the Thunder’s affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, assuming they clear waivers.

After today’s roster moves, the Thunder now have 17 players under contract, including 14 on guaranteed salaries and two on two-way contracts.

While Oklahoma City could technically carry its current squad into the regular season, the club will likely leave its 15th roster spot open to start the season to avoid increasing its projected tax bill. Still, the team’s final non-guaranteed player – Abdul Gaddy – remains on the roster for now.

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Northwest Notes: Thunder, Roberson, Curry, Gibson

September 29th, 2018 at 3:06pm CST by clarkcrum

With a mammoth luxury tax bill looming at the end of the year, the Thunder plan on sticking with 14 players on their roster to begin this season, reports Erik Horne of The Oklahoman.

“Right now we’re going with what we have,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “If something changes, I’ve always said this with Sam (Presti) and Troy (Weaver), they’re always looking to improve, make our team better all the time… that would be something that if Sam decided to do that, we’d probably talk about that.”

As Horne notes, the decision to keep the roster at fourteen makes sense considering the Thunder would face major luxury tax implications with the signing of a fifteenth player.

Right now, both Bryce Alford and K.J. McDaniels are on training camp contracts with the Thunder, so they’ll ultimately be waived if Horne’s report is accurate unless one of them impresses enough to force the Thunder into waiving someone with a guaranteed salary.

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • In another piece for The Oklahoman, Horne writes that Thunder swingman Andre Roberson has been looking good in practice despite not yet being cleared for contact. Because he’s still rehabbing, he’s mostly limited to shooting drills at this point.
  • Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports that all indications out of Trail Blazers practice is that new addition Seth Curry is looking good. Teammates are praising his jump-shooting and playmaking ability, while coaches are impressed with his basketball intelligence and versatility.
  • According to Nick Friedell of ESPN, Timberwolves forward Taj Gibson was surprised at Jimmy Butler‘s trade demand, saying, “I worked out with him all summer, so when I said what I meant, it was like a right hook. I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t know. I thought — it looked like from everything things were going good.”
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Thunder Sign Four Players To Camp Roster

September 23rd, 2018 at 7:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have released their roster for training camp, and the list includes four new names beyond the players we already knew were under contract. According to the club (Twitter link via Brett Dawson), Abdul Gaddy, K.J. McDaniels, Richard Solomon, and Bryce Alford have also signed contracts.

Oklahoma City already had 14 players on guaranteed deals, plus two more on two-way pacts, so the four newly-added players almost certainly received non-guaranteed contracts for training camp. While it’s possible that one of those players could earn the team’s 15th roster spot for the regular season, the Thunder will likely carry just 14 players to start the year to avoid accruing additional tax penalties.

Of the four new additions, McDaniels has the only NBA experience, having appeared in 148 total regular season games for the Sixers, Rockets, and Nets from 2014 to 2017. The 25-year-old swingman averaged 5.3 PPG and 2.2 RPG in those games (14.1 MPG).

As for the others, Gaddy – a point guard – has played primarily in international league since going undrafted out of Washington in 2013. Former Cal big man Solomon – who has also played overseas – and ex-UCLA guard Alford have each spent time in past seasons with the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

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Team USA Announces Camp Roster For September World Cup Qualifiers

September 3rd, 2018 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Fourteen players will participate in a Las Vegas training camp beginning this Thursday, USA Basketball announced today in a press release. Of those 14 players, 12 will be named to Team USA’s roster for the club’s upcoming qualifying games for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

This set of games – the first window for the second round of qualifiers – will take place later this month. Team USA will face Uruguay on September 14, then play against Panama on September 17.

The following players will be vying for Team USA roster spots for these qualifying contests:

In the first round of qualifying games for the 2019 World Cup, Team USA was made up predominantly of G League players. That’s the case to some extent again this time, with guys like Hearn and Warney returning. However, many of the players this time around are currently under contract with NBA teams, including Bacon (Hornets), Ellenson (Pistons), Hicks (Knicks), Mason (Kings), Trice (Bucks), and White (Spurs).

“With our September second-round games marking the start of the most critical part of the World Cup Qualifying, I think it is imperative for us to look for players who possess mental fortitude, who are tough, and who have experience,” said Team USA head coach Jeff Van Gundy. “All of our second-round games are going to very, very difficult and competitive battles. Argentina, Panama and Uruguay are all really good and well coached.”

The second round of the World Cup qualifiers will take place over three windows of competition in September, November, and February. Team USA will play two games apiece vs. Argentina, Panama, and Uruguay during that stretch.

Having posted a 5-1 record during the first round of qualifiers, Team USA is tied for first with Argentina in Group E, which is made up of six teams. If Team USA remains in the top three of the Group E standings by the end of February’s games, the squad will qualify for the 2019 World Cup, which will take place in China next September.

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Thunder Waive Alford, Brown, Thomas

October 11th, 2017 at 12:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have waived three players from their preseason roster, announcing today in a press release that guard Bryce Alford, guard Markel Brown, and forward Rashawn Thomas are no longer part of the squad.

Alford, Brown, and Thomas all received training camp invitations from the Thunder, but didn’t appear in a game during the preseason. There’s a good chance that the trio will end up playing for the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate. Alford and Thomas are particularly well positioned to head to the Blue, since they’re rookies whose G League rights haven’t been claimed by another team.

Following today’s roster moves, the Thunder still have 17 players under contract, with one of those 17 on a two-way deal. The club will have to make at least one more cut to its NBA roster before the regular season begins, and that decision figures to come down to Isaiah Canaan or Semaj Christon.

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Thunder Sign Markel Brown, Finalize Camp Roster

September 25th, 2017 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder have announced their 20-man roster for training camp, confirming a few previously-reported agreements and announcing one new deal. The following players are now members of the Oklahoma City roster, according to the team:

Brown, the 44th overall pick in the 2014 draft, spent two seasons with the Nets from 2014 to 2016, averaging 5.3 PPG on an unimpressive .382/.297/.781 shooting line. Unable to find an NBA job last season, Brown signed with Russian club Khimki for the 2016/17 campaign. Now, he’ll get a chance to head to camp with the Thunder.

The signing of Brown signals that the Thunder won’t bring center Yannis Morin to camp at this point. Multiple outlets reported in July that Morin had reached an agreement with OKC, but the French big man isn’t listed on the team’s training camp roster.

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Thunder Will Reportedly Sign Bryce Alford

July 30th, 2017 at 9:47pm CST by Austin Kent

The Thunder will reportedly sign guard Bryce Alford, Erik Horne of the Oklahoman writes. The UCLA product, Horne relays, stated as much in an Instagram post earlier today.

While there has been no formal verification, it’s not unlikely that the club added the point guard via a non-guaranteed to deal in order to get a good look at him at training camp. The addition of Alford brings Oklahoma City’s roster to 16 players.

The Thunder are in the market for a reliable backup point guard. After playing 2016/17 with Semaj Christon manning the position behind Russell Westbrook, Sam Presti has brought veteran Raymond Felton on board and now Alford, a volume three-point shooter that put up 7.5 triples per game in his senior season with the Bruins.

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Central Notes: Pistons, Bucks, Wade, Pacers

June 14th, 2017 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of Michigan prospects are among the players to work out for the Pistons this week, with both Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin getting a look from the club. Walton was part of a Tuesday workout group that also included Tony Bradley (UNC), Melo Trimble (Maryland), Davon Reed (Miami), Peter Jok (Iowa), and Luke Fischer (Marquette) (Twitter links via Rod Beard of The Detroit News and Keith Langlois of Pistons.com).

Meanwhile, Irvin’s pre-draft workout will take place today, as the Pistons audition a group that also features Tyler Lydon (Syracuse), Marcus Keene (Central Michigan), Bryce Alford (UCLA), Derek Willis (Kentucky), and T.J. Cline (Richmond), per Langlois (Twitter link).

As Detroit weighs its draft options, let’s round up a few more items from around the Central division…

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