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Several With NBA Ties Enter D-League Draft

October 31st, 2015 at 10:37am CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA D-League Draft is set for today, and a whopping total of 290 players are eligible for selection during this annual event. The D-League posted the full list of eligible participants, which can be viewed here, and it contains a number of notable players with NBA ties.

The two names that immediately jump out off the list are Jimmer Fredette, who was waived by the Spurs last week, and Perry Jones III, whose fully guaranteed deal was cut loose by Boston. Fredette’s chances of catching on in the NBA appear to be dwindling rapidly, though I do expect that there is a better than average chance he will be selected No. 2 overall by Westchester, the Knicks’ D-League affiliate. If that is indeed the case, then Fredette may have a shot at catching on with the Knicks at some point during the course of the 2015/16 campaign, given New York’s lack of backcourt depth.

As for Jones, his is likely to be the first named called by Idaho, Utah’s affiliate, when the draft commences, though that is merely my speculation. Jones, a former first-rounder, hasn’t been able to get on the court consistently over the course of his three years in the league. This was partly due to the depth and talent ahead of him while with the Thunder, but his lack of a consistent outside shot and defensive limitations also held him back from carving out a place in the team’s rotation. It was a bit of a surprise to see Boston cut him loose, but Jones was the victim of a numbers crunch with the Celtics, who had 16 fully guaranteed deals on their roster heading into the October 26th deadline to cut rosters to the league maximum of 15 players.

We’ve sorted through those 290 names to pare it down to a list of all D-League draft-eligibles who were in NBA camps this year or on NBA regular season rosters in 2014/15. The last NBA team with which they were under contract is in parentheses.
*Note that since the recent camp cuts among the names listed above are entering the D-League draft, they’re not affiliate players whose D-League rights were claimed by their former NBA teams.
These are NBA veterans who don’t fit the criteria for the above list but are otherwise noteworthy:

The current order for the first round of the 2015 NBA D-League Draft is as follows:

1. Idaho
2. Westchester
3. Iowa (from Los Angeles)
4. Iowa (from Reno)
5. Delaware
6. Texas
7. Grand Rapids
8. Delaware (from Santa Cruz via Erie)
9. Iowa
10. Rio Grande Valley
11. Raptors 905
12. Rio Grande Valley (from Fort Wayne)
13. Oklahoma City
14. Sioux Falls
15. Canton
16. Austin
17. Bakersfield
18. Santa Cruz
19. Maine

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Bulls Waive Jake Anderson, Stefhon Hannah

October 13th, 2015 at 4:14pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Bulls have waived point guards Jake Anderson and Stefhon Hannah, the team announced via a press release. Both players were in camp on non-guaranteed deals, so Chicago won’t be on the hook for any funds as a result of these moves. The Bulls’ roster count now stands at 17 players, including 13 with full guarantees.

Anderson, 28, began his professional career in the NBA D-League after going undrafted back in 2009. He spent 2014/15 with the Gateway Steam for the inaugural season of the Midwest Professional Basketball Association. In 21 games for the Steam Anderson averaged 16.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

The 6’1″ Hannah averaged 5.9 points, 2.1 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game in 22 D-League appearances last season, when he split time between the affiliates of the Kings and the Pistons. The 30-year-old had won back-to-back D-League Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2012 and 2013.

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Central Notes: Rose, Ilyasova, Hammond, Crawford

September 30th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

It’s not yet clear how long Derrick Rose will be out with his latest injury, an orbital bone fracture suffered during practice, but it’s poor timing, given that new Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg must implement his system in camp without him, and Rose’s recent comments about free agency, opines Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The point guard is well-known for his frequent injuries, but he also makes a habit of remarks that antagonize him to fans, Berger notes. The latest such slip of the tongue came Monday when he talked about all the money he could make when he hits free agency in 2017, the summer the cap is projected to hit $108MM. David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune takes Rose to task for coming across as “a tone-deaf millionaire,” though Rose insists he’s just making prudent plans for the future.

“I’m trying to prepare myself and my family,” Rose said, according to Haugh. “It’s all for my son, even though we’re comfortable. You talk about ‘X’ amount of dollars, it raised everybody’s eyebrows. There’s nothing wrong with being overprepared.”

See more on the Bulls and their Central Division rivals:

  • Ersan Ilyasova was discontented with the revolving door of coaches he had with the Bucks and has already taken to Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, who traded for him this past summer, as the stretch four tells Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Van Gundy is entering the second season of a five-year deal. “Me and Stan had this conversation by phone,” Ilyasova said. “It’s a really good thing. I played for a lot of coaches; I never see a coach like this who really cares about you and when you see something like that, you want to give even more. On some level, coach and player, is going to be always issues. The communication is a key all the time and it’s really important. If you have a coach like this, Stan, who is going to explain to you, it helps.”
  • Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens said Monday that he felt it important to align the end of GM John Hammond‘s contract with that of coach Jason Kidd, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The deals for both Hammond and Kidd are set to expire in the summer of 2017 following the one-year extension the Bucks granted Hammond earlier this month.
  • The non-guaranteed contract that Jordan Crawford signed with the Bulls is for the minimum salary and covers only one season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Camp invitees Jake Anderson and Marcus Simmons are also on one-year, non-guaranteed deals for the minimum salary, according to Pincus.
  • Cavaliers coach David Blatt bristled last season whenever someone mentioned that he was a rookie NBA head coach, but he admitted Monday that he didn’t realize how much he had to learn about coaching in the league, observes Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Blatt  survived apparent early-season doubts from Cavs brass about his performance before guiding the team to the Finals.
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Bulls Sign Marcus Simmons, Jake Anderson

September 28th, 2015 at 1:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls have signed former USC shooting guard Marcus Simmons and former Iowa State point guard Jake Anderson, the team announced via press release. The moves, combined with the official signing of Jordan Crawford, give the Bulls 18 players, including 13 with fully guaranteed contracts.

Simmons, 27, has played overseas and in the D-League since going undrafted in 2011. He was a reserve for the D-League Fort Wayne Mad Ants this past season, averaging 4.0 points in 16.7 minutes per game across 41 appearances and shooting just 28.8% from three-point territory.

Anderson played under new Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg in 2010/11. The 28-year-old also has a history with the Bulls organization, having played on Chicago’s summer league squad in 2012. Like Simmons, Anderson went undrafted in 2011, spending his first pro season in the D-League before heading overseas.

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