2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Clippers
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 Los Angeles Clippers, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:
The Clippers made eight assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending two players to the D-League for a total of 165 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Los Angeles for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 5th: Assigned Branden Dawson (1st) [Bakersfield Jam] — Recalled November 30th
- November 5th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (1st) [Bakersfield Jam] — Recalled November 30th
- December 4th: Assigned Branden Dawson (2nd) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled December 24th
- December 16th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (2nd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled January 9th
- January 3rd: Assigned Branden Dawson (3rd) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled January 31st
- February 22nd: Assigned Branden Dawson (4th) [Grand Rapids] — Recalled March 12th
- March 6th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (3rd) [Canton Charge] — Recalled March 16th
- March 22nd: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (4th) [Canton Charge] — Recalled March 28th
Here is how the Clippers’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Branden Dawson: In 29 games, Dawson averaged 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 21.1 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .518/.444/.576.
- C.J. Wilcox: In 21 appearances, Wilcox averaged 18.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 32.7 minutes per night. His shooting line was .458/.417/.836.
Atlantic Notes: Ferrell, Hield, Scola
The Knicks don’t own a pick in this year’s NBA draft, but the team is looking to acquire one from another franchise, Ian Begley of ESPN.com notes. One player New York may be targeting is former Indiana University point guard Yogi Ferrell, who has a workout scheduled with the team on June 10th, Begley notes. Ferrell is a potential second-rounder, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him No. 66 overall, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com rates him 99th. The Knicks still have up to $3.3MM that they can spend to purchase a draft pick if they are unable to swing a deal involving a player for one.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers have an interview scheduled with former Oklahoma shooting guard Buddy Hield for this evening and one on Thursday with Duke freshman small forward Brandon Ingram, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Team personnel will also sit down and speak with Syracuse freshman swingman Malachi Richardson on Friday, Pompey tweets.
- Despite not having a pick in this year’s draft, the Nets have sent a large contingent of personnel to the scouting combine in Chicago, NetsDaily relays (Twitter link). Like the Knicks, Brooklyn could be looking to swing a deal to acquire a pick, the scribe notes.
- Raptors power forward Luis Scola is struggling to find his place in the team’s playoff series versus Miami, which has been made more difficult by both teams going with smaller lineups due to numerous injuries, writes Bruce Arthur of The Toronto Star. “It’s not fun,” Scola admitted. “It’s not fun. I’m positive. I believe that you have to do the right thing every day, regardless of the situation. When it’s going well, it’s easy. Now it’s a little bit more difficult. It’s part of the challenge, it’s part of the growth, it’s part of the process. And to stick with it, to turn it around, it’s one of the things you enjoy as an athlete, as a professional basketball player.” Scola earned $2.8MM this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Northwest Notes: Stotts, Faried, Adams
The Trail Blazers successfully transformed their identity after the departure of LaMarcus Aldridge to the Spurs in free agency last summer, with the franchise focusing on adding players who would complement Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Ian Thomsen of NBA.com writes. “Free agency was like the draft for us — we were looking for the best players available, high talent, character, chemistry,” GM Neil Olshey said. “We were going to acquire players that were going to be with us long-term that we can grow and develop in our system, no different than if we had drafted them. It speaks to the confidence we have in [coach] Terry [Stotts] and our staff, that we can take guys that were not finished products and know that if we got the evaluation right, that this coaching staff would help them attain and reach that ceiling.”
Here’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Stotts squeezed every bit of production he could out of his roster this season and has built Portland into a solid offensive team, Thomsen writes in the same piece. “Terry is really good,” Olshey said. “This is our fourth year, and there are very few team players who have been through here who haven’t maximized their abilities, especially on the offensive end. He has found a way to make it work.” Small forward Al-Farouq Aminu credits Stotts’ confidence in him with the improvement in his outside shooting, Thomsen notes. “I’ve been in places where they told me from Day One not to shoot one jump shot. They said, ‘We don’t want you to shoot,”’ Aminu said. “That definitely wasn’t the coaching here. It allowed me to grow.”
- Given his poor fit in the Nuggets offense and the team’s ample frontcourt depth, Denver would be wise to explore the trade market for power forward Kenneth Faried, Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders writes. Though Faried’s $12,078,652 salary for 2016/17 is likely to end up below market value after the salary cap increases this summer, the situation could become problematic if Faried is forced into a reserve role, Dowsett notes.
- Thunder center Steven Adams‘ improved defense and ability to assist in guarding players on the perimeter have made a huge difference in how the team has performed this postseason, Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman observes. Adams becomes extension-eligible this summer heading into the final season of his rookie scale contract.
Western Notes: Hollins, Parsons, Booker
The obvious choice as to who should become the Grizzlies new head coach is Frank Vogel, whom the Pacers dismissed last week, Geoff Calkins of The Commercial Appeal opines. Vogel has the track record of success and experience with younger players that the organization is seeking, Calkins writes. However, there should be some concerns regarding Vogel’s offensive acumen, which was one of the franchise’s issues with former coach Dave Joerger, and it isn’t clear if the former Indiana coach would be interested in joining a team that may well be on the decline, Calkins adds.
The scribe also notes that while GM Chris Wallace and Lionel Hollins met Monday night at a Memphis restaurant, it would be very surprising if the team were to rehire its former coach. After the issues the front office reportedly had with Joerger, it’s doubtful Memphis would hire another coach who butted heads with the front office during his tenure with the team, Calkins adds. The Grizzlies went 214-201 in parts of seven seasons under Hollins.
Here’s more from out West:
- Despite showing that he is capable of being a building block for the Mavericks, Chandler Parsons‘ injury history should give the team pause if the forward opts out of his deal and Dallas looks to re-sign him this summer, Bobby Marks of The Vertical writes in his offseason primer for the club. The Mavs would be wise to put in injury-protection language pertaining to Parsons’ balky knee in his next contract, Marks adds, but it may be difficult to get the forward to agree to that given the amount of teams with ample cap space that are likely to compete for his services.
- The Suns highly value the predraft interview process and believe that how a player performs under that type of pressure carries over to how well he responds to adversity on the court, writes Matt Petersen of NBA.com. The team was extremely impressed last year when it spoke with Devin Booker, whom it selected with the No. 13 pick, assistant GM Pat Connelly told Petersen. “He definitely stuck out in the interview,” Connelly said of Booker. “It’s not an easy thing to go into a room with a bunch of people you don’t know. We’re just one of the teams there. We had our early prep feel for Devin, but he came in and he was very confident. He answered questions really well, never got flustered in a situation. Some of the stuff you saw on the court with him now – walking into a new situation or being put in a new situation and looking like he was comfortable – it was the same thing there.”
Community Shootaround: Coaches In Jeopardy
One of the most difficult aspects of being an NBA coach is that they have frighteningly very little job security. The pay is certainly good, but in a player-driven league, the first person to shoulder the blame when things head south for a team is its coach. In fact, there have been 11 franchises that have made a change since we last ranked NBA head coaches by the length of their respective tenures this past August. On Monday, Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors ran down the list of the longest-tenured coaches in the league, which for convenience, I’ve posted below:
- Gregg Popovich, Spurs: December 1996
- Erik Spoelstra, Heat: April 2008
- Rick Carlisle, Mavericks: May 2008
- Dwane Casey, Raptors: June 2011
- Terry Stotts, Trail Blazers: August 2012
- Mike Budenholzer, Hawks: May 2013
- Steve Clifford, Hornets: May 2013
- Doc Rivers, Clippers: June 2013
- Brad Stevens, Celtics: July 2013
- Brett Brown, Sixers: August 2013
- Stan Van Gundy, Pistons: May 2014
- Steve Kerr, Warriors: May 2014
- Quin Snyder, Jazz: June 2014
- Jason Kidd, Bucks: July 2014
- Billy Donovan, Thunder: April 30th, 2015
- Scott Skiles, Magic: May 29th, 2015
- Alvin Gentry, Pelicans: May 31st, 2015 (remained Warriors assistant through playoffs)
- Fred Hoiberg, Bulls: June 2nd, 2015
- Michael Malone, Nuggets: June 15th, 2015
- Tyronn Lue, Cavaliers: January 22nd, 2016
- Earl Watson, Suns: February 1st, 2016
- Kurt Rambis, Knicks: February 8th, 2016 (interim coach)
- Kenny Atkinson, Nets: April 17th, 2016 (Hawks assistant through Atlanta’s playoff run)
- Tom Thibodeau, Timberwolves: April 20th, 2016
- Scott Brooks, Wizards: April 26th, 2016
- Luke Walton, Lakers: April 29th, 2016 (Warriors assistant until end of Golden State’s season)
- Dave Joerger, Kings: May 9th, 2016
Note: The Grizzlies, Pacers and Rockets head coaching posts have yet to be filled.
For today’s topic: Which current NBA coach do you believe is likeliest to be fired next?
Take to the comments section to share with us and your fellow readers which NBA coach you believe will be the next to be issued his walking papers, justified or not. We look forward to what you have to say.
And-Ones: Schröder, Harris, Selden
Hawks point guard Dennis Schröder was amenable to a reserve role this season but reiterated his desire to be the starter going forward, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com relays. “In the future, I want to be a starting point guard,” Schröder said. “Everybody knows it. But in the situation I was this year, I was fine with it. I played my minutes, and I just tried to get better. When the coaching staff and everybody decides I get the team [and start], I’m going to be ready for it.”
When coach/executive Mike Budenholzer was asked about the possibility of Schröder displacing Jeff Teague as Atlanta’s starter, Budenholzer was diplomatic in his response, the ESPN scribe notes. “We value both Jeff and Dennis,” Budenholzer said. “They have both been incredibly good for us. Part of the reason we have had success is we have had two really good point guards. I am not ready to say anything other than how much we love them both. They are a big part of why we have been successful.” Teague was reportedly in high demand from a number of teams prior to February’s trade deadline.
Here’s the latest from around the league:
- Point guard Devin Harris underwent successful surgery today to repair damage to his left big toe and left thumb, the Mavericks announced. No timetable was given for Harris’ return to basketball-related activities. Harris appeared in 64 games this season and averaged 7.6 points, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 20.0 minutes per outing. His contract runs through the 2017/18 season with a partially guaranteed salary for the final year.
- Kansas junior combo guard Wayne Selden won’t participate in draft combine workouts this week after undergoing surgery to repair a small meniscus tear in his right knee, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports. Selden, who is the No. 44 overall player according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, will still participate in the interview portion of the event with Miami senior shooting guard Sheldon McClellan taking his place on the court for the scrimmage portion of the combine, Charania notes.
2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Pacers
The NBA’s relationship with the D-League continues to grow, and this season a total of 19 NBA teams had 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 are recapping the D-League-related activity for the 2015/16 campaign for each team and we’ll continue with the Indiana Pacers, whose D-League affiliate is the Fort Wayne Mad Ants:
The Pacers made 13 assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending four players to the D-League for a total of 294 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Indiana for the 2015/16 campaign:
- November 2nd: Assigned Rakeem Christmas (1st) — Recalled December 31st
- November 2nd: Assigned Shayne Whittington (1st) — Recalled December 27th
- December 11th: Assigned Joe Young (1st) — Recalled December 14th
- December 27th: Assigned Glenn Robinson III (1st) — Recalled December 28th
- December 27th: Assigned Joe Young (2nd) — Recalled December 28th
- December 28th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (2nd) — Recalled December 31st
- January 1st: Assigned Rakeem Christmas (2nd) — Recalled January 30th
- January 25th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (3rd) — Recalled January 25th
- January 30th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (4th) — Recalled February 3rd
- February 2nd: Assigned Rakeem Christmas (3rd) — Recalled April 3rd
- February 8th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (5th) — Recalled March 15th
- March 16th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (5th) — Recalled March 16th
- March 20th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (6th) — Recalled April 3rd
Here is how the Pacers’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:
- Rakeem Christmas: In 48 appearances, Christmas averaged 13.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 30.1 minutes per night. His shooting line was .473/.250/.732.
- Glenn Robinson III: The forward appeared in one contest and scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out two assists in 41 minutes of action.
- Shayne Whittington: In 41 appearances, Whittington averaged 12.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 30.8 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .429/.310/.816.
- Joe Young: In three appearances, Young averaged 24.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 34.9 minutes per game. His shooting line was .433/.636/.933.
Central Notes: Van Gundy, Novak, Shaw
The success that Stan Van Gundy has had since joining the Pistons in the dual role of coach and executive opened the doors for other joint arrangements around the league, Keith Langlois of NBA.com writes. When asked if he felt pressure to make his arrangement in Detroit work so it could open up similar avenues around the league for his coaching brethren, Van Gundy told Langlois, “Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. Actually, yeah. I don’t know about pressure, but you certainly feel — I don’t want to say the word obligation, either. I don’t know what the word would be. But you do feel a responsibility to do well and to show that coaches can do these things.” Since Van Gundy was hired by the Pistons, the Hawks (Mike Budenholzer) and Timberwolves (Tom Thibodeau) have made similar dual-role arrangements, Langlois adds.
Here’s more from out of the Central Division:
- Despite his loyalty to former Pacers coach Frank Vogel, Brian Shaw would welcome the opportunity to become Indiana’s next head coach, Scott Agness of VigilantSports relays. “I spent two seasons there under Frank Vogel as the associate head coach and I’m familiar with some of the players on that team and the way that they do business there,” Shaw said. “With that being said, it’s a bittersweet situation to be in, position to be in, because I have so much respect for Frank Vogel. I think he did a great job, especially with what he’s had to go through over the last couple of seasons with Paul George’s injury last year, losing David West and Roy Hibbert and Lance Stephenson, guys who were critical parts of the two teams that went to the Eastern Conference finals. Obviously, that is the goal of any coach to want to run their own system and be the head guy in charge of trying to put things together.” Shaw is reportedly one of a number of candidates that team executive Larry Bird is considering to replace the fired Vogel.
- In response to a fan-posed question on their official Twitter account, Bucks co-owner Jamie Dinan indicated he would like to re-sign unrestricted free agent combo forward Steve Novak for next season. Novak only appeared in three games with Milwaukee before a sprained left MCL prematurely ended his season, but the veteran has expressed his desire to re-sign with the franchise this summer.
- With the Cavs struggling down the stretch of the regular season, Kevin Love credits a talk coach Tyronn Lue gave to the team for sparking the recent hot streak Cleveland has been on, Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com writes.
Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Jackson, DeRozan
The Sixers are still awaiting one of their recent lottery picks to step forward and emerge as a star, but the team does believe the potential still exists for that to occur, Brian Seltzer of NBA.com relays. “There’s some good, young, developing talent,” GM Bryan Colangelo said. “It’s just right now, we’re still looking for someone to step forward and become a star. That’s not to say that they’re not there, there’s not the potential for one of those pieces to do so. What we’re looking to do is build. There’s a lot of good pieces in place. What we have more than anything, we have resources and picks to move forward and try to add some of those pieces.”
Philadelphia has a 26.9% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft lottery, but the franchise also believes it can find value late in the first round, Seltzer notes. “You can look at this draft and say back at 24 [via Miami] or 26 [via Oklahoma City], where our later first-round picks reside, there’s going to be an opportunity there to pull a player,” Colangelo said. “Or, to take that pick and do something else with it, maybe defer to the future, because we may not want to add too many young players to an already young core of talent. I think it all depends on what [is] there, and what happens ahead of us.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks president Phil Jackson‘s lack of urgency to settle on a new head coach is hurting the franchise as a number of solid candidates are already off the board, having filled other vacant posts around the league, opines Chris Mannix of The Vertical. The question also exists regarding just how committed Jackson is to his job, with the executive not a sure bet to finish out his five-year contract, Mannix adds. Jackson has the ability to opt out of his deal next summer.
- Despite his pronounced struggles in this year’s postseason, Raptors swingman DeMar DeRozan should have little difficulty landing a maximum-salary deal in free agency this summer, Michael Lee of The Vertical opines. With a pronounced drop off in the free agent class after Kevin Durant and the jump in the salary cap providing multiple teams with ample camp space, the 26-year-old should have no problem securing a lucrative pact, Lee adds. DeRozan has a player option for 2016/17 that is worth $10.15MM, which he is likely to decline in order to land a larger payout this offseason.
Divac: Kings Won’t Trade Cousins This Year
The Kings don’t intend to trade volatile center DeMarcus Cousins this offseason, Sean Cunningham of KXTV-TV relays (via Twitter). According to team executive Vlade Divac, the organization intends to hang onto the big man, with Divac saying, “He’s not going to be traded — this year for sure.”
There was a sense within the Kings organization that Divac would be willing to gauge the market for Cousins this summer, having become increasingly frustrated with the mercurial big man, according to an earlier report from Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. In April, Divac wouldn’t directly answer when asked whether the firing of George Karl meant he’s committed to Cousins. “Anything about the players and how we are going to do in the summer,” Divac said, “I don’t want to talk about right now because our focus is to find a new coach.”
Divac’s phrasing about not dealing Cousins is certainly interesting, and it’s unclear if his indication that the center wouldn’t be traded “this year” means the entirety of the 2016/17 campaign or merely the calendar year of 2016. If it was the latter, then that still leaves the door wide open for speculation that Cousins is a candidate to be flipped by next February’s trade deadline. It remains to be seen if new head coach Dave Joerger will be able to reach Cousins and earn his respect, which will certainly be a major determining factor for whether the big man remains in Sacramento, though that is merely my speculation.
Cousins is certainly one of the most talented centers in the NBA, though his disciplinary problems and frequent outbursts often overshadow his immense physical skills. After the ouster of Karl, with whom the center was seemingly in conflict from day one of his coaching tenure, Cousins indicated that he’d prefer to remain in Sacramento. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve grown an attachment to the city, like, the way these people treat me, the love they give out to me, and vice versa,” Cousins said. “I feel like I have an attachment, and it’s something that I do owe to this city. I want to be the person to bring this city back to the glory days. I want to grow myself and this city all together. I want to bring us back to those glory days. So, that’s where I’m at with it. This is like a personal vendetta for me.”
The 25-year-old has two seasons remaining on his current deal. He’s scheduled to earn $16,957,900 next season and $18,063,850 in 2017/18. He appeared in 65 games this past season for the Kings and averaged 26.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 34.6 minutes per outing.