We'll track today's D-League assignments and recalls right here, with any additional moves added to the top of the list throughout the day:

• Lester Hudson has joined the Austin Toros of the D-League, HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy tweets. The former NBA guard spent most of the season playing in China, where he averaged 27.5 points and 6.6 rebounds in 15 games for the Dongguan Leopards. The 28-year-old Hudson is a veteran of three NBA seasons, and played a total of 16 games for the Cavs and Grizzlies last year.
• In a piece on Delonte West, who's expected to make his debut this weekend for the D-League's Texas Legends, Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside notes Chris Douglas-Roberts has continued to work with officials from the Legends and their NBA parent club, the Mavericks, after the Mavs waived him in January. Douglas-Roberts isn't on the roster of the Legends or the Mavericks.

Earlier updates:

• Aron Baynes and Nando De Colo have been assigned to the Austin Toros, the Spurs announced in a press release. Both players will be on their third D-League assignments of the season, and will be in uniform for the Toros' game tonight against the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
• The Nets have assigned Tornike Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Both players have excelled in their brief stints with the Springfield Armor this season, as Shengelia has posted 26.8 PPG and 9.2 RPG in six D-League contests, while Taylor has averaged 26.5 PPG and 7.5 APG in four games with the Armor. Based on the players' previous assignments, this one likely won't last long, but both guys will be in uniform tonight against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

The commissioner is in attendance at Golden State's game against the Rockets tonight, but David Stern's comments about the fate of the Kings overshadowed talk of the other team in Northern California. Nonetheless, there's plenty of Warriors-related news this evening, as we share here:

• Sources told Grantland's Bill Simmons that the Thunder and Warriors talked about a James Harden deal last year, but Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group hears differently, tweeting that he was told the rumor wasn't legitimate.
• The Warriors were considering Maalik Wayns, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Josh Childress, Dominic McGuire, Chris Wright (the forward from Dayton, not the guard from Georgetown) and Mickell Gladness before they decided to sign Malcolm Thomas to a 10-day contract, reports Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. Some of those names could conceivably resurface if the W's don't keep Thomas around, though Wayns signed a 10-day deal with the Clippers.
• Monta Ellis has benefited from the trade that sent him from the Warriors to the Bucks a year ago, as Thompson writes, while fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Tim Kawakami ponders what might have happened if the Warriors had held on to Ellis and Jeremy Lin.

The Dallas Mavericks have waived Chris Douglas-Roberts, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The guard appeared in six games for the Mavs since being called up from the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League. He averaged 2.8 PPG in those games.

MacMahon reports that the Mavericks will look to sign a player to a 10-day contract with the roster spot created by releasing Douglas-Roberts. One player the team may look at is Mike James, who played for the Bulls last season.

The Clippers erased a 19-point deficit to the Jazz to win their 16th straight game tonight, but the NBA's best team still only has a one-game lead for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Thunder are tied in the loss column with the Clippers, and the Spurs are just a game and a half back of L.A. As usual, the West is stacked at the top. Here's more on the Clips and the teams trying to chase them down.

• Clippers forward Matt Barnes believes he was "stuck in a bad situation" under former Lakers coach Mike Brown, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times writes. "Last year, playing with the Lakers, I was told when I could shoot. If I made mistakes, I'd come out of the game," Barnes said. "This year Vinny (Del Negro) has installed a lot of trust in me.  He lets me go out there and play my game. If I mess up, he still sticks with me and that goes a long way with any player."
• New Mavericks swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts, writing on his Tumblr account, chronicles his experiences in training camp with the Lakers this fall. He also reveals his decision to turn down a seven-figure contract from a team overseas to play in the D-League, which he felt offered the fastest route back to the NBA (hat tip to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com).
• Royce White's grandfather told Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that White expects to work out with the Rockets next week (Twitter link). It's unclear whether that means he'll be formally returning to the team. 
• JaVale McGee is playing less than 20 minutes per game after re-signing with the Nuggets for four years and $44MM this summer, but coach George Karl said the team doesn't regret committing so much money to him, HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram tweets. 
• Michael Scotto of RealGM.com chronicles the journey of Mavs rookie and former Air Force Staff Sergeant Bernard James, including his early experiences in the NBA. 

SUNDAY, 11:25pm: The Mavs officially announced the signing of Douglas-Roberts, via press release.

SATURDAY, 5:34pm: HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram (via Twitter) acknowledges a source close to the situation that says Fisher will opt for retirement due to the strain on his body and family. 

4:44pm: The Mavs have officially waived Fisher, according to a press release from the team. The release does not mention Douglas-Roberts.

4:12pm: Derek Fisher has told the Mavericks he wants them to let him go, and the team is honoring his request and will put him on waivers, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. In his place, the team will sign Chris Douglas-Roberts. The Mavs signed Fisher to a minimum-salary deal in November.

Douglas-Roberts has been averaging 27.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Texas Legends of the D-League, and was widely viewed as the best talent available in that circuit, Stein writes. Texas is the affiliate of the Mavs, and Dallas signed Douglas-Roberts toward the end of training camp and quickly released him so they could retain his affiliate rights, which allowed the Mavs to place him on the Legends.

Fisher started all nine of the games he played with the Mavericks, and according to Stein, the team appealed to him to allow them to find another point guard after he requested the release a few days ago. However, the 6'7" Douglas-Roberts is a shooting guard, not a point guard. Fisher strained his patellar tendon against the Sixers on Tuesday and has missed the team's last two games, but the Mavs don't believe the injury is serious. As Stein writes, Fisher released a statement that said the recovery time from the injury will be about two weeks, and that he wants to return home to be with his family. Fisher, 38, also hinted at retirement.

"I have made decisions in the past, leaving money and opportunity on the table, and I will need to do that again," the statement said. "My family is my priority and that is where I choose to be. I won't close the possibility that I will play again, however for now my family and being close to them remains the priority."

As Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com notes via Twitter, Fisher's offseason home is in L.A. Stein pointed out earlier this season that Fisher is eligible to sign with the Lakers, who dealt him to the Rockets at the trade deadline last year. The Lakers are reportedly still considering an upgrade to their backcourt, though Fisher, who excelled in the triangle offense, might not be the prototypical point guard coach Mike D'Antoni favors for his up-tempo system.

It was never confirmed whether Fisher's deal was guaranteed, but his statement indicates that he's leaving money on the table, so perhaps the contract was either non-guaranteed or Fisher and the team negotiated a buyout. Otherwise, the Mavs would be on the hook for his salary the rest of the season.

Ever since the Wolves released Josh Howard following news of his ACL tear yesterday, we've heard plenty about potential replacements, as a roster spot on a team contending for a playoff spot has many NBA hopefuls salivating at the opportunity. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN has provided many of the updates via Twitter, and he's collected those rumors along with plenty of other Wolves-related scuttlebutt in his latest piece. We'll round up the highlights here. 

• Wolfson earlier today mentioned former Sonic Mickael Gelabale as one of the players reaching out to the Wolves about the open roster spot, and Gelabale's agent has contacted all 30 teams about a return to the NBA for his client, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. Charania also hears that the Wolves are unlikely to sign any wing player until after Christmas. 

Earlier updates:

• Minnesota would be "heavily" in the mix for J.J. Redick if the Magic decide to put him on the market. Derrick Williams' name has come up in connection with Redick in the past, but it'll take more than Williams to get a deal done, Wolfson hears. Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game listed the Wolves among a handful of likely trade partners earlier this week.
• Kevin Love made a few hearts jump in Minnesota earlier this month when he questioned his future with the franchise, but according to Wolfson, no teams have called the Wolves' front office to ask about Love's availability.
• Anderson Varejao is still "very much on the Wolves' trade radar," but Tyreke Evans is not, Wolfson writes.
• The Wolves aren't thinking of signing Chris Douglas-Roberts, who's been the second-leading scorer in the D-League this season at 22.7 points per game after the Mavericks waived him at the end of training camp.
• Though Howard's minimum-salary contract was non-guaranteed, he'll recoup some money from an insurance policy.
• The Wolves own the draft rights to Serbian power forward Nemanja Bjelica, and the Wolves are entertaining the possibility of bringing him to the NBA next season. Wolfson provides a scouting report from an executive who likes his offense better than his defense.

Jason Quick of the Oregonian looks at the friendly rivalry between the Trail Blazers' Nicolas Batum and the Nuggets' Danilo Gallinari that has stemmed from their days as young Euroleague stars hoping to make it into the NBA. Most notably, Quick mentions that Batum's salary negotiations this past summer were influenced by the type of deals that Gallinari, Marvin Williams, and Arron Afflalo had received with their respective teams. With that aside, here are a few more rumblings from around the Association tonight:

• Derrick Rose took part in the non-contact portion of Bulls practice today, although coach Tom Thibodeau has not yet placed a timetable on the superstar's return (Seth Gruen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports).  
• Despite a strong start to the season, the Warriors' upcoming stretch against teams that have a notable inside presence will help determine if their interior defensive struggles against the Kings were either minor or a sign of a major problem, writes Marcus Thompson II of MercuryNews.com.
• Rookie Royce White is "hopeful" that he'll play for the Rockets again sometime this season (Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets).
• 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson confirms earlier speculation via a team source that Timberwolves guard  Malcolm Lee will be sidelined for the rest of the year (Twitter link). 
• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweeted that Chris Douglas-Roberts is another top option available for the Timberwolves in addition to Michael Redd. 
• In his Nuggets Mailbag, Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post discusses why he thinks Gallinari has shown the capability of being a clutch All-Star type of player, why Carmelo Anthony isn't necessarily the clear-cut MVP right now, and the Nuggets' decision to commit to a long-term deal with Ty Lawson.

• Once touted a possible NBA first-round pick, University of Texas sophomore guard Myck Kabongo has been suspended by the NCAA for providing inaccurate information about receiving improper benefits during an investigation (Pat Forde and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports report).  
• In another unfortunate setback for the Timberwolves, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reports that guard Malcolm Lee could require season-ending surgery.   
• Celtics Talk on CSNNE.com wonders if Jason Terry's shot attempts will substantially decrease once Avery Bradley returns from injury. 

After a Thanksgiving Thursday that didn't feature any NBA games, the season resumes in earnest tonight, with 12 games on the slate. Perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the evening involves the Lakers, still finding their rhythm under new coach Mike D'Antoni, traveling to Memphis to face the Grizzlies.

Yesterday, I suggested that the Grizzlies, Clippers, and Knicks have all shown signs of being ready to make the leap and become legit title contenders this season. The poll results are still very tight, but for now, the Clippers narrowly edge the Grizzlies as your choice for the club most ready to take that next step.

Here are a few of Friday's updates out of the Western Conference:

• The Timberwolves signed Demetris Nichols and Troy Hudson late in October and quickly cut them, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter links). The purpose of the moves was to ensure that the T-Wolves' D-League squad could add Nichols and Hudson as "affiliate" players. Sure enough, both guys are currently on the Sioux Falls Skyforce roster.
• Chris Douglas-Roberts was another player whose D-League affiliate rights were acquired by the Mavericks toward the end of the preseason. Douglas-Roberts, who is now a member of the Texas Legends, Dallas' affiliate, spoke to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News about the D-League experience: "Sometimes, the NBA isn’t just about basketball. It’s about business and it’s about being in the right place at the right time and the right system at the right time. I feel I’m an NBA player. So instead of going overseas and chasing the money, I’m going to be here for however long I’m here."
• Kendrick Perkins still gets emotional when the Thunder head to Boston to play the Celtics, as Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. "Going against guys that you played with for a long time, won rings, went through wars with, still brothers over there," Perkins said. "But at the end of the day, we're still trying to win games."
• Jake Appleman of the New York Times examines the future of the Kings in Sacramento.

The Mavericks have waived Melvin Ely and Chris Douglas-Roberts, the team announced via press release. The moves come on the heels of a report that team officials have convinced owner Mark Cuban to waive suspended guard Delonte West, whose roster spot Ely and Douglas-Roberts appeared to be competing for. Instead, it seems that spot will go to Eddy Curry. Ely and Douglas-Roberts, like Curry, were on non-guaranteed deals.

It's the second time Douglas-Roberts has been waived this week, as the Lakers let him go Tuesday after he averaged 4.0 points in 8.3 minutes per game over four preseason contests with L.A. Ely is a veteran of eight NBA seasons, but didn't play in the league last year, instead catching on for five games in Puerto Rico. Neither player appeared in a preseason game for the Mavs after signing Thursday. 

Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com believes both will wind up with the Texas Legends, the D-League affiliate for the Mavs, as the Legends hold their rights in that league.

SATURDAY, 1:05pm: The Mavericks have confirmed the moves via press release.

THURSDAY, 7:51pm: Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas reports that the Mavericks have agreed to sign Melvin Ely and Chris Douglas-Roberts to non-guaranteed contracts. Both additions are expected to compete with Eddy Curry for the 15th and final roster spot. 

Ely last played in the NBA during the 2010-11 season for the Nuggets, averaging 2.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 12.2 MPG in 30 games. He had most recently played for Brujos de Guayama of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional in Puerto Rico, where he averaged 8.0 PPG and 5.6 RPG in five games after signing with the team in March. 

Douglas-Roberts was recently waived by the Lakers after appearing in four pre-season games, averaging 4.0 PPG and 45.5% shooting in 8.3 MPG.