Kalin Lucas

NBA G League Announces 2018/19 All-NBAGL Teams

After being named the G League’s Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2018/19 season on Monday, Raptors 905 big man Chris Boucher – now a member of the Toronto Raptors – headlines the All-NBA G League first team, as the league announced today in a press release.

Boucher was joined on the All-NBAGL first team by teammate Jordan Loyd, as well as Capital City Go-Go guard Jordan McRae, Long Island Nets big man Alan Williams, and Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario center Angel Delgado. All four players are currently on two-way contracts with NBA teams.

That’s a common theme for this year’s All-NBAGL teams, as most of the 15 players named to the three squads aren’t currently NBA free agents, having signed two-way or NBA contracts.

The complete list of the 2018/19 All-NBA G League teams, along with the All-Rookie and All-Defensive squads, is below. Players currently on a 15-man NBA roster are marked with an asterisk (*), while players on two-way contracts are noted with a caret (^).

All-NBAGL First Team:

  • Chris Boucher (Raptors 905) *
  • Angel Delgado (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
  • Jordan Loyd (Raptors 905) ^
  • Jordan McRae (Capital City Go-Go) ^
  • Alan Williams (Long Island Nets) ^

All-NBAGL Second Team:

All-NBAGL Third Team:

NBAGL All-Rookie Team:

  • Chris Chiozza (Capital City Go-Go) *
    • Note: Chiozza wasn’t on an NBA contract for most of the season, but was recently called up by the Rockets.
  • Angel Delgado (Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario) ^
  • Yante Maten (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^
  • Theo Pinson (Long Islands Nets) ^
  • Duncan Robinson (Sioux Falls Skyforce) ^

NBAGL All-Defensive Team:

The All-Defensive team is the only squad that features players who are currently NBA free agents — Brimah and Pelle haven’t been on an NBA roster this season, while Payton only briefly spent time with an NBA team, signing a 10-day contract with the Wizards in January.

Pistons Add Kalin Lucas On Two-Way Deal, Waive Zach Lofton

The Pistons have signed Kalin Lucas to a two-way contract, waiving Zach Lofton in the process, Rod Beard of The Detroit News relays (Twitter feed). The now team has a bounty of guards after adding Isaiah Whitehead on a separate two-way deal earlier today.

Behind Reggie Jackson, the team has veterans Ish Smith, Langston Galloway, and Jose Calderon on the payroll. The Pistons also have rookie Khyri Thomas, who has seen court time in each of the last three games after playing sparsely in just seven of the franchise’s previous 39 contests.

After the Lucas signing, seven of the team’s 17 players man the point guard position. It’s possible that the club is preparing to make a trade and while that’s merely my speculation, the calculated roster imbalance suggests the Pistons are strategically planning something. It could be more lineups with two point guards or it could be a more drastic measure like shipping Jackson to a new team.

Detroit entered the day 10th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 18-24, just a game-and-a-half behind the eighth-place Hornets. Adding Lucas, who has appeared in just one NBA game since leaving Michigan State, won’t likely impact the team’s win total. However, with Lucas and Whitehead in the fold, the team has great depth at the position and it can now more easily swap a floor general for some needed wing support.

Kings Release Kalin Lucas, Cameron Reynolds

The Kings announced today that they have waived guards Cameron Reynolds and Kalin Lucas, per an official media release. Sacramento’s roster now stands at 15 players on standard contracts and one player on a two-way contract, Wenyen Gabriel.

Reynolds, 23, appeared in four preseason games for the Kings, averaging nine minutes per contest. The Tulane product was also a member of the Kings’ Summer League squads in the Sacramento and Las Vegas leagues in July. As we relayed back in September, Reynolds will be joining the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate, so his release comes as no surprise.

Lucas, 29, also averaged nine minutes per game with the Kings this preseason. The Michigan State product has an NBA season under his belt, appearing in one game for the Grizzlies back during the 2014-15 season. He may join Reynolds in Stockton now that he’s been waived.

Kings Waive Brandon Austin

The Kings have waived training camp invitee Brandon Austin, tweets James Ham of NBC Sports. Austin signed with the team on Thursday after appearing in 15 games with the team’s G League affiliate Reno Bighorns last season.

Austin, who went undrafted out of Northwest Florida State in 2016, is a 6-foot-6 guard who’s shown flashes of potential on both ends of the floor. He’ll likely rejoin the Bighorns for the upcoming season, according to Sean Cunningham of ABC10.

Following the decision to waive Austin, the Kings now have 19 players on their active roster. This includes the two-way contract of Wenyen Gabriel, along with the non-guaranteed salaries of Cameron Reynolds, Jamel Artis and the recently added Kalin Lucas.

Kalin Lucas Signs With Kings

Michigan State alum, point guard Kalin Lucas, has signed with the Kings, per RealGM’s transaction log. The signing’s imminence was first reported by Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.

Lucas, 29, appeared in one game for the Grizzlies back during the 2014-15 season, but has not played in the NBA since. He spent last season with Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League after being waived by the Magic in October. He also played in the G League for the Iowa Energy on two separate occasions.

Lucas may be a candidate to return to the G League and play for the Stockton Kings if he is waived, or he may return back overseas, because it’s unlikely he makes the Kings’ roster with De’Aaron Fox, Yogi Ferrell, and Frank Mason all on guaranteed contracts.

Magic Waive Damjan Rudez, Kalin Lucas

The Magic have released Damjan Rudez and Kalin Lucas, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.  The decision brings Orlando’s roster down to 15 players.

Rudez, a 31-year-old veteran of three NBA seasons, played 45 games for the Magic last year but had a negligible impact on the court. Had Rudez managed to secure a spot with the team, it would have likely been because of his positive influence in the locker room.

Lucas, a 28-year-old point guard out of Michigan State last saw NBA action back in 2014/15 when he played a single game for the Grizzlies.

With Rudez and Lucas out of the picture, it appears as though Khem Birch will stick with the team through the start of the regular season.

Magic Sign Kalin Lucas

The Magic continue to fill out their roster for training camp, announcing today in a press release (Twitter link) that they’ve signed free agent guard Kalin Lucas to a contract. The announcement from the team also confirmed the signing of Troy Caupain, which we covered earlier this month.

Lucas, 28, went undrafted out of Michigan State back in 2011 and has played in a number of professional leagues and countries since then. In addition to spending time with clubs in Greece and Turkey, Lucas has extensive G League experience, having averaged 17.7 PPG and 4.9 APG with a .448/.391/.842 shooting line in 112 career G League contests.

Lucas was signed and waived multiple times by the Grizzlies in 2014, and ultimately saw his only NBA experience with Memphis during that 2014/15 season. His stint in the NBA was brief — he played in just one game and saw the floor for six minutes.

Having played for the Erie BayHawks last season, Lucas is a good bet to join the Lakeland Magic to start the 2017/18 campaign. Those teams are technically one and the same — the Orlando Magic bought the BayHawks and relocated the G League franchise to Florida for the coming season.

The Magic now have 18 players officially under contract, with an agreement also reportedly in place with undrafted rookie Rodney Purvis — when Purvis’ deal becomes official, Orlando would have just one open spot left on the team’s 20-man offseason roster.

Southwest Notes: Howard, McCallum, Lucas

After being the most coveted free agent on the market in 2013, the RocketsDwight Howard is generating little buzz with his potential 2016 free agency, writes Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel. Howard signed a four-year deal with Houston worth more than $87MM, but has a player option for 2016-17. With the salary cap expected to soar next summer, he will likely test the market once again. Schmitz argues that the lack of excitement about Howard’s availability signals either that he’s a lock to stay in Houston or that other franchises don’t want to make a large investment in a soon-to-be 30-year-old center with a history of back and knee problems. The columnist speculates that Houston would prefer that Howard sign a short-term contract, but probably will have to give him a long-term deal in excess of $100MM to keep him on the roster.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • Ray McCallum could be an important addition for the Spurs if Tony Parker has another injury-plagued season, writes Buck Harvey of The San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio acquired McCallum in a July 9th trade, sending a 2016 second-round pick to Sacramento in return. Harvey notes that the Spurs don’t believe McCallum is as good a defender as Cory Joseph, the man he replaced, but they think he can effectively run the team if anything happens to Parker.
  • Kalin Lucas, who made a brief appearance with the Grizzlies last season, will spend another season with Kolejliler Ankara of the Turkish Basketball League, according to Enea Trapani of Sportando. Lucas played in just one game with Memphis before being waived November 20th.
  • Despite starting all six games in summer league, the MavericksJustin Anderson has a long way to go to earn playing time in Dallas, writes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. The first-round pick out of Virginia says the summer experience was beneficial, but he understands the learning curve ahead. “They know exactly what I’m capable of, and I want to be really good at things I’m already pretty good at,” Anderson said. “So, I just want to take that next step, being good defensively on the ball and off the ball, rotating and then being able to operate out of those corners, because that’s where I think our front office and coaching staff think I can be effective.”

Western Notes: Claver, Lucas, Jazz

Forward Victor Claver, who spent the last three seasons as a member of the Trail Blazers, officially has an offer on the table from the Spanish club Baskonia, the team announced (translation courtesy of Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Valencia currently owns Claver’s rights in Spain and the team has five days to match the contract offer made by Baskonia to Claver, Carchia notes. Claver has appeared in 80 NBA contests and has averages of 3.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists, and he owns a slash line of .398/.293/.585.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • Kalin Lucas, who appeared in one game for the Grizzlies last season, auditioned for the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association, but was not offered a contract by the team, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter).
  • The Jazz announced today that the team promoted Mark McKown to director of sports science/assistant coach and Isaiah Wright to head strength and conditioning coach.
  • The Blazers aren’t quite starting over as a franchise, but the loss of LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency to the Spurs has forced executive Neil Olshey to invest in intriguing but unproven talent this offseason, Michael Lee of The Washington Post writes. “That’s one of things I’m looking forward to, is what this team is going to become,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “The way Neil has constructed the roster, it’s a strong plan with a lot of young players that have a lot of room to grow. I think it’s a plan that is going to be challenging, fun and very rewarding.

Kalin Lucas To Sign With Turkish Club

TUESDAY, 7:25am: Lucas is heading to Turkey’s TED Ankara, not Turk Telekom, Pick now says (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 10:59pm: Kalin Lucas has signed with the Turkish team Turk Telekom on a deal that will cover the remainder of the NBA season, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter), although the team has yet to make an official announcement. Lucas had been playing with the Iowa Energy, the Grizzlies’ D-League affiliate, but will now head overseas as the 2014/15 season begins to wind down.

The Michigan State product went undrafted in 2011 and played with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League following his four years as a Spartan. He hooked up with the Grizzlies for training camp this past autumn, and although he was cut before opening night, he eventually re-signed with the team twice during the regular season, appearing in a single contest.

There hasn’t been much chatter surrounding Lucas, as his rumors page shows, so it isn’t surprising to see the 25-year-old guard head overseas. Still, he was able to put up an impressive mark of 19.3 points per night and a sharp 43.1% three-point field goal percentage in the D-League this season, so it’s possible he could draw NBA interest again this summer.