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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/3/16

December 3rd, 2016 at 7:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Knicks assigned forward Maurice Ndour to the Westchester Knicks and he will play against the Erie Bay Hawks tonight, the team’s PR staff tweets. The power forward has appeared in 10 NBA games this season, averaging 2.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8.1 minutes.
The Celtics assigned forward Jordan Mickey to their D-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, the team tweets. The second-year power forward has appeared in eight games with Boston this season, averaging 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 8.3 minutes.
The Thunder recalled forward Josh Huestis from the Oklahoma City Blue, the team announced in a press release. In four games with the Blue this season, Huestis is averaging 9.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.00 blocks in 31.8 minutes. He has yet to make his season debut with the Thunder.
The Spurs assigned Davis Bertans and Dejounte Murray to their D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website. Both players are available tonight for Austin’s game against the Salt Lake City Stars.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/7/16

November 7th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA

10:00pm:

The Nets have recalled Chris McCullough from the Long Island Nets, according to a press release issued by the team. Brooklyn sent the 21-year-old forward to the D-League earlier today, as noted below.

2:46pm:

After assigning them to the Austin Spurs on Sunday, the Spurs have recalled Bryn Forbes, Danny Green and Dejounte Murray today, the club announced in a press release. Green appears to be on the verge of returning from the quad injury that has sidelined him so far this season.
The Knicks assigned Willy Hernangomez, Maurice Ndour, and Marshall Plumlee to their D-League affiliate today, allowing the trio to practice with the Westchester Knicks, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link). They’re expected to be back with New York tomorrow.
The Mavericks assigned A.J. Hammons to the Texas Legends today, then recalled him a few hours later, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com (Twitter links).
Former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo was sent to the Raptors 905 by the Raptors today, according to Toronto’s D-League affiliate (via Twitter). Caboclo has yet to appear in an NBA game this season, so the Raptors have been getting him work with their D-League squad when possible.
The Nets assigned Chris McCullough to their D-League team, the Long Island Nets, the team announced today (via Twitter).

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/5/16

November 5th, 2016 at 9:35pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the league:

The Knicks assigned Ron Baker, Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee to their D-League affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, earlier today so they could practice with the team, according to their Twitter feed. New York has since recalled all three players.
The Pistons have assigned Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije to the Grand Rapids Drive, the team’s D-League affiliate, according to a team press release. Ellenson has only appeared in two games for Detroit, while Gbiniji has only seen action in one.
The Thunder assigned Josh Huestis to the Oklahoma City Blue earlier today so he could participate in practice, per a team press release. The practice has commenced and the team has subsequently recalled the forward.

Knicks Notes: Ndour, Randle, Rose, Amundson

October 23rd, 2016 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Defense was behind the Knicks’ decision to keep Maurice Ndour over Chasson Randle, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. The 6’9″ Ndour provides a defensive presence with the bench unit, something coach Jeff Hornacek felt was important after watching the team in preseason. “He’s an activity guy when we need to mix it up,’’ Hornacek said of Ndour. “You saw in some of the preseason games when he face-guarded a point guard and ran around to deny him the ball. He creates havoc out there. He’s done a nice job with the second group. His activity of cutting to the basket, moving around, we liked that energy.’’ Ndour, a Senegal native, first impressed the Knicks while playing for their 2015 summer league team. He appeared in six games this preseason, averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds.

There’s more news out of New York:

Randle is examining his options, but Hornacek would like to see him join the Knicks’ D-League affiliate in Westchester, Berman relays in the same piece. Randle is recovering from an orbital fracture and is expected to be sidelined for another month. He has a $100K guarantee, and it’s possible that he could be brought back to the roster when he’s healthy in place of Ron Baker. “He’s done a great job for us,’’ Hornacek said of Randle. “We hope all these guys get other jobs and another team picks them up, but our hope is if he doesn’t go to another team, he stays with our organization. We really like what he did for us.”
Derrick Rose rejoined the Knicks Saturday after missing nine practices and five preseason games because of a sexual assault civil trial in Los Angeles, Berman writes in another story. Rose, who played in just one preseason game, is excited to be able to concentrate solely on basketball. “I’ve been preparing for this for a long time,” he said. “Ever since I didn’t make the playoffs last year, I’m still chasing something right now. I just want to hoop and let my game speak for itself.”
New York’s frontcourt depth worked against veteran Lou Amundson, who was among five players waived Friday, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The 33-year-old power forward has been in the league for 10 years and spent most of the past two seasons with the Knicks. New York decided to part ways with Amundson even though he is guaranteed more than $1.5MM for this season. “Lou, it came down to a matter of how many bigs we have,” Hornacek said. “We have a lot of bigs on the team. So that was a tough one.”

Knicks Cut Chasson Randle, Lou Amundson, Others

October 21st, 2016 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have waived point guard Chasson Randle, according to multiple reports, including one from Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). In addition to parting ways with Randle, the team has also cut big man Lou Amundson and shooting guard J.P. Tokoto, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The team confirmed those three cuts and announced two more, tweeting that small forwards Cleanthony Early and Damien Inglis have also been released.

New York had been carrying 15 guaranteed salaries on its roster, along with five non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals, so its roster decisions had looked fairly simple on the surface. However, Randle and Ron Baker – two players without guaranteed deals – had impressed the team in training camp, complicating those decisions. The Knicks also had to weigh the fact that Randle is set to miss the next few weeks due to a left orbital fracture.

Marc Berman of The New York Post had speculated earlier today that Randle and Baker would both make the cut for the 15-man roster, with the Knicks cutting a pair of guaranteed salaries – Amundson and Maurice Ndour – along with Tokoto. While the team did eat Amundson’s guaranteed contract, it appears Ndour is safe, given Randle’s release. The Knicks are down to 15 players, so their regular-season roster seems set.

Among today’s cuts, Tokoto and Randle each had partial guarantees of $100K on their contracts, so the Knicks will carry that money on their cap. Both players are candidates to join the D-League’s Westchester Knicks, as are Early and Inglis. Randle may also receive consideration to re-sign with the Knicks when he gets healthy — Baker’s salary won’t become fully guaranteed until January 10, so the club will have some flexibility with that final roster spot.

Atlantic Notes: Pleiss, Seraphin, Stackhouse, Green

September 11th, 2016 at 11:31am CST by Arthur Hill

German center Tibor Pleiss received an invitation to work out for the Nets, but seems likely to sign overseas, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. Pleiss is finalizing a deal with the Galatasaray team in Turkey. He will take the place of former NBA player Nenad Krstic, who has a lingering knee injury and is expected to retire (Twitter link). Pleiss was waived by the Sixers last week after being acquired in a trade with the Jazz. The 7’3″ center appeared in 12 games for Utah last season, but spent most of the year in the D-League.

There’s more news out of the Atlantic Division:

The Knicks were outbid in their attempt to re-sign reserve center Kevin Seraphin, according to Mark Berman of the New York Post. Seraphin agreed to join the Pacers last week and signed a two-year, $3.6MM contract on Thursday, with the second year as a team option. The deal starts at $2MM for next season, which topped the Knicks’ offer of $1.2MM, the minimum for a player who has been in the league for six years. It will still be a pay cut for Seraphin, who signed for the $2.8MM cap exception last season. The Knicks were hoping to keep Seraphin, who averaged 3.9 points in 48 games in 2015/16, as a backup to Joakim Noah. Berman expects Kyle O’Quinn to get a larger role with Seraphin’s departure, with Willy Hernangomez, Marshall Plumlee and Maurice Ndour as other options.
Jerry Stackhouse sees his new job as coach of Toronto’s D-League affiliate as the next step toward becoming an NBA head coach, writes Chris O’Leary of The Toronto Star. Stackhouse was named to the position Friday after spending last season as an assistant with the Raptors. With 18 years as an NBA player, Stackhouse hopes to use that experience to help some of the players with Raptors 905. “I spent just about as much of my life on the struggle that you’re watching some of these [D-League players] … making whatever they make, 25, 30 grand, but it’s a destination,” he said. “It’s where you want to get, it’s the sacrifices you have to make. I’m excited about it, I really am.”
The return of Gerald Green will give the Celtics a prolific scorer off the bench, writes Taylor C. Snow of NBA.com. In a look at Boston’s wing players, Snow notes that Green, who left the Heat for the Celtics this summer, can score the ball in a variety of ways.

Knicks Sign Maurice Ndour To Two-Year Deal

July 14th, 2016 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

JULY 14, 8:54am: The Knicks have officially signed Ndour, the team announced today (via Twitter).

JULY 13, 12:27pm: Only the first year of Ndour’s deal with the Knicks will be fully guaranteed, a source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post.

11:12am: The Knicks have agreed to bring another player stateside from a European team, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has reached a two-year deal with Real Madrid forward Maurice Ndour. The pact, which figures to be for the minimum salary, will be guaranteed, per Pick.

Ndour went undrafted out of Ohio University in 2015, but he made a strong impression as a Knicks summer-leaguer last year, averaging 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per contest across five appearances. The Knicks tried to get Ndour to back out of the commitment he made to the Mavs, who formally signed him about a week after his final summer league game, but were unable to convince him.

Ndour ultimately ended up being waived by Dallas and found his way to Real Madrid for the 2015/16 season. A year later, the Knicks finally have their man, adding him to a group of free agent signees that includes Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas. The club also locked up draft-and-stash prospect Willy Hernangomez, a Spanish center.

Since Kuzminskas got the Knicks’ room exception, and the team doesn’t have any cap room left, the minimum-salary exception is the only way New York can continue to add free agents. Ndour would earn $1,448,720 on a two-year, minimum-salary contract.

Maurice Ndour To Play In Spain

December 4th, 2015 at 12:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

Maurice Ndour is joining Real Madrid, reports Carlos Sánchez Blas of Radio Marca in Spain (Twitter link; translation via Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Blas indicates that Ndour has already put pen to paper, though the team has yet to make a formal announcement. The power forward signed a contract with the Mavericks in the summer that included a season and a half of guaranteed salary, but he suffered a stress reaction in his left leg, and Dallas waived him amid a roster crunch at the end of the preseason, a move owner Mark Cuban described as difficult. International journalist David Pick tweeted shortly thereafter that Ndour was scheduled to resume action at the end of November and that he was canvassing interest from the NBA and overseas. Chema de Lucas of Gigantes del Basket first reported Madrid’s interest in the first-year pro (translation via HoopsHype).

Ndour went undrafted out of Ohio University in June, but he made a strong impression as a Knicks summer-leaguer in July, when he averaged 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per contest across five appearances. The Knicks tried to get him to back out of the commitment he made to the Mavs, who formally signed him about a week after his final summer league game, as Marc Berman of the New York Post reported, but Ndour declined to imitate DeAndre Jordan‘s infamous flip-flop. New York has maintained an open roster spot since the start of the regular season, but it has seemed unlikely that Ndour would fill it, as Berman reported in late October.

It’s unclear how much Ndour will make on his deal with Madrid, but if he earns more than $845,059, it would be possible for the Mavericks to slightly trim the amount they owe him for this season, thanks to the NBA’s rule regarding set-off rights. Dallas is currently on the hook to Ndour for more than $525K this season and in excess of $437MM for 2016/17.

Should an NBA team have pounced on Ndour before he decided to play overseas instead? Leave a comment to tell us.

Jack Cooley Signs To Play In Spain

December 4th, 2015 at 8:28am CST by Chuck Myron

FRIDAY, 8:28am: The deal is official, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).

WEDNESDAY, 8:51am: Former Jazz and Cavs big man Jack Cooley has reached agreement to play the remainder of the season with Unicaja Malaga of Spain, reports Adolfo Romero Arana of the Spanish outlet Solobasket. A formal signing is close, according to a HoopsHype translation, and the club is expecting Cooley to put pen to paper shortly, according to a translation from Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. Unicaja Malaga chose him over former Mavs power forward Maurice Ndour, another big man the team targeted, according to Arana. Cooley signed a contract with the D-League affiliate of the Jazz last month, so he’ll have to pay a buyout of $40-50K to escape that deal, unless the D-League team waives that fee.

Cooley finished last season on the NBA roster for the Jazz, who inked him to a pair of 10-day contracts that preceded a multiyear deal. The 6’9″ power forward from Notre Dame saw action in 16 regular season games, but his playing time was sharply limited, and he posted only 1.7 points in 5.4 minutes per game. His deal didn’t include any guaranteed salary for this season, and the Jazz waived him in mid-October. The 24-year-old hooked on with the Cavs shortly thereafter as Cleveland sought a big man to compensate for Tristan Thompson‘s holdout, but Thompson’s signing shortly before opening night spelled the end for Cooley’s time in Cleveland, and the Cavs cut him before the start of the regular season.

It’s unclear whether the deal for the Pensack Sports Management Group client includes an NBA out, but the path from an overseas team to the NBA is usually more difficult than it is from the D-League to the NBA. It’ll be the second time Cooley will have played in Europe, as he spent 2013/14, his first pro season, with Trabzonspor of Turkey.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, ‘Melo, Ndour, Nets

October 27th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Raptors made a concerted effort to upgrade their defense during the offseason, though the offense is now showing holes, as Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun details. In any case, new free agent arrival DeMarre Carroll believes the Raptors can indeed show the sort of defensive improvement this season that the franchise was going for, as Ganter relays.

“A lot of guys aren’t capable of playing defense,” Carroll said. “Sometimes you’re a guy that just can’t play defense. They just don’t have the effort to play defence. All of these guys are capable of playing defense. Kyle Lowry, I think he’s a great defender. He’s underrated. Just bringing me in and bringing more guys in like Bismack [Biyombo] and Cory [Joseph], we can kind of help guys. We can kind of feed off them, and they can feed off us.”

See more from the Atlantic Division:

Carmelo Anthony admits in no uncertain terms that living in New York comes with some degree of frustration, as a Vice Sports video makes clear (objectionable language warning), but ‘Melo isn’t backing away from his enthusiasm about the Knicks, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
The Knicks aren’t expected to reunite with summer-leaguer Maurice Ndour, even though they have an open roster spot and Ndour is on waivers from the Mavs, Berman writes in the same story. New York reportedly tried to convince Ndour to break his deal with Dallas this summer. In any case, New York is ineligible to claim Ndour off waivers, since his Mavs deal was for three years and the Knicks can’t claim anyone on more than a two-year contract.
The YES Network and the Nets reached a new local television rights deal, the team announced. The agreement, which will kick in for the 2017/18 season, will give the team “substantially more” than $40MM a year and repair a revenue stream that lagged far behind local TV deals for other large-market teams, reports NetsDaily. The deal carries well into the 2020s, NetsDaily adds.
The Nets allowed a trade exception worth $1,120,920 to expire when they failed to use it by the end of Saturday, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It was a vestige of the deal that sent Marquis Teague to the Sixers.