D-League Notes: Dinwiddie, Vonleh, Suns
The D-League is becoming an integral part of the NBA’s process of developing younger players, as well as a source for locating hidden gems to bolster rosters during the course of the season. You can easily stay on top of which players are coming and going from the D-League all season by checking out our 2014/15 D-League Assignments, Recalls tracker, which is updated daily. You can also find this page anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.”
Here are the latest D-League moves:
- The Pistons have assigned Spencer Dinwiddie to the Grand Rapids Drive, their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Dinwiddie has appeared in eight games for Detroit this season, averaging 3.0 points and 12.4 minutes per game.
- The Suns have recalled Tyler Ennis, T.J. Warren, and Archie Goodwin from the Bakersfield Jam, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This was the second trip to Bakersfield of the season for Ennis and Warren, and Goodwin’s inaugural journey.
- Noah Vonleh has been recalled from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the D-League, the Hornets have announced. Vonleh saw action in two games with the Mad Ants, averaging 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 block in 13.0 minutes per game. With Al Jefferson set to miss at least a month, Vonleh will likely see increased action with Charlotte.
- Toure’ Murry has been assigned to the Idaho Stampede, the Jazz‘s D-League affiliate, the team has announced. This will be Murry’s second sojourn of the season to the D-League. In six games for the Stampede, Murry has averaged 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.3 steals in 31.5 minutes of play.
And-Ones: Richardson, Mekel, Jenkins
Sixers guard Jason Richardson said that he expects to return to the court in late January after being sidelined for nearly two years, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports. Richardson last played in an NBA game on January 18th, 2013 before knee and ankle maladies sidelined him. “It will mean a lot to come back,” Richardson said. “I thought I was done playing. I really did. But seeing my son play AAU over the summertime, seeing his love for the game, it made me get the love back for the game. My thing is to always walk away on my own terms. I understand that things happen. Me having this knee injury, fading away like that is not the way I wanted to go out. Retirement is three or four years away from now.”
Here’s more from around the league and abroad:
- Michael Jenkins has signed a deal with the Turkish club Istanbul BSB, David Pick of Eurobasket.com reports (Twitter link). Jenkins was in training camp this season with the Thunder prior to being waived.
- NBA scouts and executives are essentially in agreement that Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker are better pro prospects than fellow Kentucky backcourt studs Andrew Harrison and brother Aaron Harrison, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who writes in his weekly chat. Booker is No. 35, Ulis is No. 48, Andrew is No. 65 and Aaron is No. 67 in Ford’s prospect rankings.
- Gal Mekel is still hoping to land with an NBA team after being released by the Pelicans earlier this month, Allon Sinai of The Jerusalem Post writes. “After I was released by New Orleans I received several offers from Europe and Israel,” Mekel said. “I wanted to give them the respect they deserve and listen to them all. It is no secret that I really want to remain in the NBA and I believe with all my heart that I can succeed in this league. But I also really want to play, lead and realize my potential.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Cavs Granted Disabled Player Exception
The NBA has granted the Cavaliers a disabled player exception in response to the season-ending injury suffered by Anderson Varejao, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The exception will be valued at approximately $4.85MM, or half of Varejao’s $9,704,545 salary for the 2014/15 season. Cleveland has until March 10th to use this exception on a player whose price tag fits into that allotment, whether it be through free agency or trade.
The Cavs were reportedly seeking a rim protecting big man prior to Varejao suffering a torn Achilles. Cleveland currently has the league maximum 15 players on their roster, including 12 players with fully guaranteed deals. This means that the Cavs would need to deal or release a player prior to signing or acquiring another body via trade. Cleveland has been in talks with the Celtics in recent days about Boston’s willingness to participate in a trade as a third team, though no deal appears to be imminent.
Varejao had started 26 games this season, averaging 9.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while playing 24.5 minutes per contest. His slash line was .555/.000/.733.
Kings Notes: Corbin, Heslip, Cousins
Tyrone Corbin says the Kings have lifted the interim tag from his job title, as he told reporters from The Associated Press and other outlets today, essentially confirming an earlier report that he’s signed a new deal to be the team’s head coach for the rest of the season. However, the Kings didn’t use the term “interim” when they announced earlier this month Corbin would replace the fired Michael Malone.
Here’s more out of Sacramento:
- DeMarcus Cousins hasn’t looked happy since the Kings fired Malone, and the Kings have asked Corbin to coach “essentially 14 angry men,” argues Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (All five Twitter links here).
- The deciding factor for why Brady Heslip chose to pass on signing with Banvit of Turkey was that his agent had reached out to a number of NBA GMs and had received enough positive feedback about his client to warrant remaining in the U.S., Gino Pilato of D-League Digest reports (Twitter link). The Kings and Clippers have reportedly held interest in adding the sharpshooter to their NBA rosters.
- The Kings neglected to inform their players that Corbin would coach the team for the rest of the season, something that may not sit well with the team’s star, Cousins, DeAntae Prince of The Sporting News writes. “I didn’t know,” Cousins said. “I didn’t know officially until [Monday] night, either. That’s when a lot of us found out.”
- If Sacramento hopes to keep Cousins for the long term, the team will have to show marked improvement, Prince adds. Contrary to some of his past statements, Cousins said that he believes that the responsibility for turning around the franchise rests with the players, not with the head coach, Prince notes. “Honestly, at the end of the day, it’s on us no matter who the head guy is on the bench,” Cousins said. “At the end of the day, we go out there and play the games. It’s time for us to stop looking for excuses, stop trying to make excuses. We’ve got to man up and play basketball. We know what we need to do on a nightly basis. We know we need to defend and we know we need to share the ball and come out and play hard. I believe with those three things that 70% of the job is done. It doesn’t matter, we’ve got to go out and do our jobs.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Clippers, Smith, Blair
TNT’s David Aldridge had relayed on Monday that the Clippers‘ players weren’t getting along with each other, but Spencer Hawes disagrees with that report, Rowan Kavner of NBA.com writes. “Any team over the course of any season, there’s going to be stuff like that,” Hawes said. “But as far as I’m concerned, this team, off the court, on the court, gets along with each other as well as any that I’ve been a part of. I think there’s a lot of competitive guys, a lot of guys that just want to win. Sometimes you see that side of it, but you don’t see the everyday of how we get along with one another.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Rockets‘ newest addition, Josh Smith, is ecstatic to get the opportunity to play for coach Kevin McHale, Jenny Dial Creech of The Houston Chronicle writes. “Being able to play for a guy who is a Hall of Fame player, who was a dominant player at his position is great,” Smith said. “I love being able to get bits and pieces off of him. Always great for an NBA player’s game.”
- DeJuan Blair expected to see more playing time than the 4.6 minutes per game that he is currently receiving from the Wizards when he agreed to a sign-and-trade deal this summer, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post writes. “I don’t know what’s going on,” Blair said. “I don’t know. I just show up and wait for my name to be called.” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said that Blair is handling the situation as well as can be expected, Castillo notes. “He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing,” Wittman said. “He’s doing a good job. Stays ready. Practices hard. Understands, I think, the situation. That’s what you have to do. That’s what any player that doesn’t play — the opportunity’s going to come. It’s going to happen. We all know that. We’ve seen it throughout and when that opportunity comes be ready.”
- Carmelo Anthony said that he still remains in contact with former Knicks coach Mike Woodson, Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes. “It was a tough season [2013/14], it was a tough situation to be in at that point in time,” Anthony said. “I know how much work he put in as a coach and with all the guys with the team. I know how much he meant to a lot of guys on the team, especially me. So to see him go out the way he went out, for me as a person it was sad to see that.”
Al Jefferson Out For Minimum Of Four Weeks
Hornets center Al Jefferson has been diagnosed with a strain of an adductor muscle in his left groin and is expected to miss a minimum of four weeks, the team has announced. Jefferson initially injured his groin last weekend but aggravated it during Monday night’s contest against the Bucks. Initial estimates had Jefferson likely to miss a few games, but an MRI taken earlier today confirmed the strain, though no tear was revealed, which is good news for both the player and the team.
In 32 games this season, Jefferson leads the Hornets in scoring and rebounding with averages of 18.0 points and 8.2 rebounds in 32.2 minutes per game. The 6’10” center has scored in double figures in 28 of 32 games this season and has a team-high 10 double-doubles. Jefferson’s career numbers are 17.0 PPG, 9.1 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His career slash line is .500/.103/.713.
The Hornets currently have the league maximum 15 players on their roster, 14 of whom have fully guaranteed pacts. This means that Charlotte would need to trade or release a player if it wanted to bolster its frontcourt depth in the wake of Jefferson’s absence. The lone player on the roster with a non-guaranteed deal is Jason Maxiell, and he’ll likely be counted on to absorb some of Jefferson’s minutes, which would not make him an ideal candidate to be released if Charlotte chooses to add another big, though that is just my speculation.
The player that will most directly benefit from a prolonged absence to Jefferson is Bismack Biyombo. The former lottery pick is only averaging 14.0 minutes per game in 25 appearances this season. Biyombo was mentioned in trade rumors prior to the season, and has also been noted as a possible trade target for the Cavs, who are desperately seeking a rim protecting big man. A strong showing from the 22-year-old could increase the demand for his services and his perceived value in advance of the February trade deadline. Biyombo is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season, so his play will also have an impact on his next contract as well.
Eastern Notes: Cavs, Granger, Heat
The Cavs‘ big men have left quite a bit to be desired in their performance thus far this season. Cleveland currently ranks 22nd in blocks per game, 26th in rebounds, and 22nd in overall defense. It’s for these reasons that the Cavs have been searching for a rim protecting center all season, and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders runs down ten possible targets for GM David Griffin to try and bolster his frontcourt with, including Timofey Mozgov (Nuggets), Brandan Wright (Celtics), Jordan Hill (Lakers), and Samuel Dalembert (Knicks).
Here’s more from the East:
- Danny Granger never expected to retire as a member of the Pacers and he doesn’t harbor any ill feelings toward the franchise despite being dealt to the Sixers last season, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel writes. “I didn’t think I would,” Granger said of eventually retiring with Indiana. “I mean, the time I spent there was very unusual. I didn’t want to get too wrapped up in the fact that I could have possibly been there my whole career. I knew that I wanted to. But I knew that the way the NBA is, and the type of business it is.“
- Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has done his best to juggle Miami’s rotation in light of all the injuries that the team has had to deal with but this season has quickly become humbling for the proud franchise, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes. “We’re 30 some games in. It’s enough talking,” Chris Bosh said. “We’ve talked enough. It’s about getting the job done. We’re not doing it right now. It’s been up and down for the whole season. It’s not going to change until each person makes it change. Coach has a bunch of decisions to make. He has to do his job and figure things out just like we have to do our job and figure things out. He’s going to put the best group he feels needs to be out there. We have to respond as players. We haven’t done a very good job of that.”
- James Anderson signed an extension that includes a raise with Lithuania’s Zalgiris Kaunas, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Anderson, who started 62 games for the Sixers last season, inked a one-year deal with Kaunas over the summer. That deal included an escape clause, but he decided against triggering it to sign the extension, which covers the rest of the season, Pick tells Hoops Rumors.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southeast Notes: Wizards, Napier, D-League
One major factor contributing to the Wizards‘ success this season is their excellent team chemistry, Jenny Dial Creech of the Houston Chronicle writes. Trevor Ariza was one of the team’s veteran leaders last season, but when he signed a free agent deal with the Rockets this past summer Washington acted quickly to replace that void by signing Paul Pierce, Creech notes. “You always have a contingency plan for that and that’s what we did,” coach Randy Wittman said. “Nothing ever really surprises you anymore in this league. It was a situation where we would have loved to have Trevor stay. We wanted to make sure we didn’t lose anything in that area with a guy like Trevor. We are trying to move on. We have Paul who has come in here and really moved into that spot.”
Here’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- The Hawks have assigned John Jenkins to the Idaho Stampede, the team announced in a press release. Jenkins is headed to Idaho as part of the flexible assignment rule since Atlanta is without a one-to-one partnership with a D-League team. In one previous stint in the D-League Jenkins appeared in five games, averaging 19.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.8 minutes.
- Adreian Payne has been assigned to the Austin Spurs, the Hawks have announced. This will be Payne’s fourth trek to the D-League this season, and in 11 games Payne has logged 13.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 28.4 minutes per contest.
- The Heat have assigned Shabazz Napier to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, their D-League affiliate, the team has announced. Napier has appeared in 25 games with the Heat this season, averaging 5.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 21.0 minutes while shooting 42.5 percent from the field. This will be Napier’s second sojourn of the season to the D-League.
Heat Granted Disabled Player Exception
The NBA has granted the Heat a disabled player exception in response to the season-ending injury suffered by Josh McRoberts, Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald reports (Twitter link). The exception will be valued at approximately $2.65MM, or half of McRoberts’ $5.3MM salary for the 2014/15 season, Goodman notes. Miami has until March 10th to use this exception on a player whose price tag fits into that allotment, whether it be through free agency or trade. The Heat currently have 15 players on their roster, which means that they would have to waive or deal someone prior to adding another player.
McRoberts parlayed a career year with Charlotte last season, on in which he averaged 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 30.3 minutes per game, into a four-year, $22.652MM contract with Miami this summer. The Heat gave him a deal equivalent to the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception with the hope that he would become useful rotation piece. McRoberts had passed up a comparable deal from the Hornets that the team had made in response to Miami’s offer to the big man.
Offseason toe surgery slowed McRoberts to begin the regular season, and after missing the first seven contests, he only managed 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game for the Heat prior to suffering a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee. McRoberts’ career averages are 5.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 2.1 APG. His career slash line is .478/.345/.707.
Western Notes: Heslip, Black, Smith
D-League standout Brady Heslip is considering a jump to Europe if he doesn’t secure an NBA deal soon, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Heslip, who appeared on the Wolves’ Summer League roster after going undrafted out of Baylor, is averaging a blistering 27.1 PPG for the Reno Bighorns while completing 49.4% of his shots from beyond the arc. The Kings were close to signing the sharpshooting guard, according to Stein (Twitter link), but that was before Mike Malone was dismissed as coach. Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi hears Heslip has an offer from Baskonia of Spain.
Here’s more from out West:
- Tarik Black wasn’t surprised when he was waived by the Rockets in order to accommodate Josh Smith’s signing, as Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston details. “You got an undrafted free agent and you got Josh Smith, superstar,” Black said. “I think most GMs would have taken him. It happens. It’s business… I’m so thankful to the city of Houston. I still love this team.“
- Rockets coach Kevin McHale said that he would determine exactly how Smith would be used over time, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle writes. “I hate to put guys out there until they’re comfortable,” McHale said. “He’ll get some run. We’ll play everything by ear. All that stuff takes care of itself moving forward. He’s been a quality player in this league for a lot of years. I see him continuing to be a quality player.”
- Smith was pursued by a number of contending clubs, but he chose the Rockets over the Grizzlies, Mavericks, Heat and Kings because when considering his skills and Houston’s style of play, the Rockets were the best fit, Feigen adds. “I just feel like with the guys they have along on the roster, all the talent, and the opportunity to do something special for the rest of this year and in the postseason, this was the most attractive place to be,” Smith said.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.