We'll track today's D-League moves, including assignments and recalls, right here, with any new items added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- Josh Selby, who was released by the Cavaliers over the weekend, has been acquired by the D-League's Maine Red Claws, according to RealGM.com. The Celtics' affiliate sent a 2013 D-League draft pick to the Canton Charge in exchange for Selby.
- Darius Morris and Robert Sacre have been assigned to the D-League by the Lakers, the team announced today in a press release. It's Sacre's third assignment and Morris' first assignment with the D-Fenders this season.
- The Thunder have re-assigned DeAndre Liggins and Daniel Orton to the Tulsa 66ers, according to a team release. Liggins was recently assigned to the D-League along with Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones, but for Orton, it's his first assignment since being recalled in late January. Both players are expected to be active tonight for Tulsa's game against the Iowa Energy.
- Curtis Jerrells, who had been playing in Turkey, is set to join the Maine Red Claws, tweets David Pick. The former Baylor point guard has never appeared in an NBA regular-season game, though he has spent time with the Spurs and Hornets.
The Cavs have waived Josh Selby, the team announced on its website. The swingman had yet to appear in a game for Cleveland after coming over as part of a three-for-one deal with the Grizzlies in January. Instead, he spent time with the Cavs' D-League affiliate, notching 15.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 32.9 minutes per game over 11 contests with the Canton Charge.
The move leaves the Cavs with a 14-man roster, enabling them to bring in players on 10-day contracts. Last year Cleveland brought in Ben Uzoh, Lester Hudson and Manny Harris on 10-day deals, eventually signing Harris for the rest of the season. Cleveland could also use its open spot to bring in a bigger name, as they've been linked to Greg Oden and Donte Greene of late.
The 6'2" Selby, a second-round pick by Memphis in 2011, has seen little playing time in his two NBA seasons. He's appeared in 38 career games, all of them for the Grizzlies, averaging 2.2 PPG and 7.8 MPG. Still, the Kansas product has shown flashes of his promise, sharing Las Vegas Summer League MVP honors with Damian Lillard this past offseason.
Selby had been making the one-year veteran's minimum salary of $762,195, a figure that will remain on Cleveland's books unless he's claimed off waivers. In the unlikely event he signs elsewhere for more money this season, the Cavs will get to subtract a portion of his salary using set-off rights. Selby's contract includes a minimum-salary team option for next season, but that will disappear unless another team submits a waiver claim.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com has posted his latest Weekend Dime column, which features updates on a variety of trade-related topics from around the NBA. Here are the highlights:
- GMs around the league view the Celtics as likely to make a move. They have interest in J.J. Redick, and executives speculate that they may finally decide to move Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo.
- Some GMs believe a three-team trade is possible that would send Pierce to the Grizzlies, Rudy Gay to the Lakers, and Pau Gasol to Boston.
- After their trade with the Cavs this week, the Grizzlies' roster is down to 11 players and they have 14 days to sign at least two players to meet the minimum requirement of 13. Memphis looked at Delonte West but decided against signing the veteran guard, Stein reports.
- Stein notes that Memphis received three separate trade exceptions in the trade. Marreese Speights landed them an exception worth $4.2MM, while Wayne Ellington's was worth $2MM and Josh Selby's was worth $762,195.
- Although the Cavaliers think highly of Speights and have wanted him for years, the forward is already drawing interest from other teams and could be moved before the February 21 trading deadline. Stein identifies Daniel Gibson and Omri Casspi as the other two Cleveland players most likely to be traded.
- The Suns are said to be shopping Jared Dudley, Marcin Gortat, and Luis Scola in light of the team's struggles this season. It should be noted that Scola, having been claimed after being waived with the amnesty clause, cannot be traded until after this season.
- Stein's column also featured a Q&A with 28-year-old former lottery pick Rashad McCants, who is playing with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League in hopes of eventually making another run at an NBA career.
Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with additional moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:
- The Cavaliers have assigned newly-acquired Josh Selby to the Canton Charge, according to a team release. Selby was one of three players the Cavs landed from the Grizzlies, along with Marreese Speights and Wayne Ellington, in exchange for Jon Leuer.
- Involved in his third transaction in the last two days, Cory Joseph has been re-assigned to the Austin Toros, the Spurs announced today in a press release. When Joseph was assigned to the D-League yesterday, I noted that the timing was unusual, considering the Spurs were set to be without Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard last night. The team apparently reached the same conclusion, quickly recalling Joseph in time to dress against the Hornets, though he didn't appear in the game.
The Grizzlies and Cavaliers have offically finalized a deal that sends Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby and a protected first-round draft pick to Cleveland in exchange for Jon Leuer, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The Cavaliers have waived Jeremy Pargo to clear room on their roster for the incoming players.
Memphis has been at the center of a number of trade rumors this
month, a result of the team's reported desire to get below the tax line.
While most of those rumors have involved more expensive players like Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph, I noted last week
that Speights was another candidate to be dealt, since moving his $4MM+
salary would be enough to get the Grizzlies out of the tax. That's
essentially what Memphis is doing in this deal with the Cavs, moving Speights along with Ellington's $2.08MM expiring contract. Selby and Leuer are a wash, earning identical $762,195 salaries.
Cleveland has the room to absorb Ellington's and Speights' salaries under the cap, while the Grizzlies will move below the tax line for 2012/13. Memphis should also obtain a handful of trade exceptions in the transaction, worth the amount of Speights', Ellington's, and Selby's salaries -- $4,200,000, $2,083,042, and $762,195 respectively.
Speights, 25, was a productive rotation piece for the Grizzlies last year after the team acquired him from the 76ers, starting 54 contests for the club and averaging 8.8 PPG and 6.2 RPG. However, he has seen a reduced role in Memphis this season, with his minutes being reduced from 22.4 per game to 14.5. Because he was playing on a one-year contract (excluding his second-year player option) following his rookie deal, the forward had the rights to veto a trade, but he agreed to be dealt to the Cavs due to that lack of playing time in Memphis, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link).
For the Cavaliers, Selby and Memphis' pick act as sweeteners to compensate the Cavs for taking on salary, including Speights' $4.52MM player option for 2013/14. Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld wrote yesterday that Selby, who excelled in the Summer League in July, was waiting for an opportunity to try to translate that success to the regular season. He figures to have a better chance to receive that opportunity in Cleveland.
Meanwhile, the first-rounder heading to the Cavs is protected from 1-5 and 15-30 in 2015 and 2016, before being top-five protected in 2017 and 2018 and unprotected in 2019. Like the first-rounder that was traded by the Raptors to the Rockets (and eventually to the Thunder) over the summer, the unique protection makes it a likely lottery pick.
Despite clearing Speights from next year's books, the Grizzlies still project to be likely taxpayers in 2013/14 and '14/15, so as Grantland's Zach Lowe points out (via Twitter), the club could explore more cost-cutting deals in the summer. The trade also brings the Grizzlies' roster to 11 players, two below the NBA minimum, so free agent signings will be required. Memphis is currently considering Delonte West and Bill Walker, among others.
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links), Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter links), Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld (all Twitter links), and Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link) were all involved in breaking various details of the story.
Today's D-League assignments and recalls...
- The Celtics announced they have assigned Kris Joseph to the Maine Red Claws for a fourth time this season. In his previous stints in the D-League, the 6'7" rookie has averaged 20.9 points and 6.0 rebounds over seven contests. He may be back with Boston as early as Sunday, since he expects to join the Celtics on their upcoming road trip, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com (Twitter link).
- The Rockets made their recall of Scott Machado official, according to a release from the team.
- The Grizzlies have recalled Josh Selby from the Reno Bighorns, tweets Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Selby looked sharp in his two-game D-League stint, averaging 22.0 points, 7.0 assists and 6.5 rebounds after he was assigned to Reno on Monday. Rookie Tony Wroten will likely be sent to the Bighorns in place of Selby for the next eight games, according to Tillery (Twitter link).
- The Rockets will recall Scott Machado from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers today, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). The 6'1" guard averaged 12.0 PPG and 7.1 APG for the Vipers in eleven games.
- The Nets announced that they have recalled Toko Shengelia and Tyshawn Taylor from the Springfield Armor of the D-League. The two rookies were assigned to Springfield yesterday.
Neither player has seen significant playing time for the Nets this season. Taylor showed off his offensive skills last night for the Armor when he posted 32 points off of 13-28 shooting. Shengalia had a triple-double with 22 points, 12 dimes, and ten boards.
Mavericks beat writer Eddie Sefko, from the Dallas Morning News, answered questions today in a chat. Among the topics Sefko touches on: why
O.J. Mayo may not be in Dallas long, why the Mavs
must build through free agency, why
Tyreke Evans would be a good fit in Dallas and
what the Mavs offseason looks like. The Mavs host the 76ers tonight, and the Spurs and Hornets are also in action. Here are some other things going on in the Southwest division:
We'll keep track of today's D-League news right here..
- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Iman Shumpert could also head to the D-League when he's healthy again, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
- The Rockets have recalled Donatas Motiejunas from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced. The 7'0" rookie was assigned on Friday to the Vipers for the second time this season, and he averaged 23.0 points and 12.0 rebounds in two weekend contests.
- The Knicks have also assigned Chris Copeland and James White to the BayHawks so that they can practice with them in Westchester, New York, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Copeland, White, and Stoudemire will be called back up tomorrow.
- Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace told Sports 56 WHBQ that Josh Selby will return from the D-League after two games, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). When Selby returns, Tony Wroten will be sent back to Reno.
- Avery Bradley said the Celtics have talked with him about a D-League stint, but he plans on traveling west with the C's on their post-Christmas trip, tweets Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
- The Knicks announced that they have assigned Amare Stoudemire to the Erie BayHawks of the Developmental League so that he can get practice reps before returning to the Knicks this weekend. Coach Mike Woodson disclosed yesterday that Stoudemire would practice with the BayHawks, but it wasn't clear if he would be formally assigned to them.
We'll keep track of all the day's D-League comings and goings with this post. Catch up on all the season's D-League movement with our roundup here.
- The Grizzlies have assigned Josh Selby to the Reno Big Horns and recalled Tony Wroten from the team, Memphis announced in a press release. Selby has seen only 15 minutes of action in five games with the Grizzlies, while Wroten, a rookie, has logged even more scant playing time — eight total minutes in three games.
- Miles Plumlee is back in the NBA after the Pacers recalled him from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team announced via Twitter. The 6'10" Plumlee, the 26th pick in the draft this year, has appeared in just four games for a total of 16 minutes, and has been passed over in the team's big man mix in favor of Jeff Pendergraph, among others.
- The Spurs have assigned Cory Joseph to the Austin Toros for the third time this season, the team announced. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News noted via Twitter a few minutes prior to the announcement that the team planned to send the second-year guard down so he can get some playing time. He's logged 65 total minutes over nine games for the Thunder this season, averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 assists per game.
- The Thunder have brought back Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton from their D-League assignments, the team announced via Twitter (hat tip to John Rohde of The Oklahoman). They were sent down on Friday, and both appeared in back-to-back games for the Tulsa 66ers this weekend. Lamb notched 24 and 26 points, respectively, in the two outings while Orton averaged 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in the pair of D-League contests. Oklahoma City has made liberal use of relaxed D-League assignment rules this season, as this represents the third time both Lamb and Orton have been sent down and recalled this year.
Let's check in on a few Wednesday updates out of the Southwest Division....