The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams have one-to-one affiliations with D-League clubs. Those NBA organizations without their own affiliates were required to assign players to D-League clubs associated with other NBA franchises. D-League teams could volunteer to take on the assigned players, and if no volunteers emerged, the players were assigned at random.
This significant change from the 2014/15 season came about after the Pacers purchased the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and turned them into their one-to-one partner for the 2015/16 campaign. Other NBA teams have interest in following suit in the years ahead, and the NBA’s ultimate goal for the D-League is for all 30 NBA franchises to have their own D-League squads. You can view the complete list of D-League affiliates here.
We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team, and we’ll continue with the the Charlotte Hornets, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:
The Hornets made three assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending one player (Aaron Harrison) to the D-League for a total of 30 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Charlotte for the 2015/16 campaign:
- January 21st: Assigned Aaron Harrison (1st) [Oklahoma City Blue] — Recalled January 23rd
- February 1st: Assigned Aaron Harrison (2nd) [Oklahoma City Blue] — Recalled February 8th
- March 13th: Assigned Aaron Harrison (3rd) [Erie BayHawks] — Recalled April 3rd
Here is how Harrison, Charlotte’s lone assignee, performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- With the Oklahoma City Blue: In four games, he averaged 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists. Harrison’s slash line was .308/.167/.714.
- With the Erie BayHawks: In nine games, Harrison averaged 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. His shooting line was .377/.300/.840,
- Totals: In 13 combined games, Harrison notched averages of 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists. His combined slash line was .363/.265/.820.