NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/5/20
Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Bucks recalled D.J. Wilson from the Wisconsin Herd, according to a release from the team. In five games with the Herd, he is averaging 18.8 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 3.4 APG in 30.5 MPG.
Lakers Notes: Waiters, LeBron, Howard
After waiving Troy Daniels on Sunday to free up a roster spot, the Lakers went ahead and reached a deal with guard Dion Waiters for the remainder of the 2019/20 season.
Waiters worked out for the team earlier this week and reportedly made a good impression during his visit. The 28-year-old veteran shooter should give the Lakers a solid perimeter scoring option off of the bench.
Before Los Angeles decided on signing Waiters, the team also worked out J.R. Smith earlier this week. Additionally, former Lakers guard Nick Young injected himself into the conversation, commenting on an Instagram post to say that L.A. should sign him instead.
Young spent four seasons in Los Angeles (2013-17), where he averaged 13.1 PPG and shot 37.7% from three-point range. After his tenure with the Lakers, he spent the 2017/18 season with the Warriors and four games last season with the Nuggets.
Here’s more out of Los Angeles:
- All-Star forward Anthony Davis put on a show for the Staples Center crowd on Tuesday in the Lakers’ 120-107 win over the 76ers, recording 37 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, two assists, and two blocks. That type of performance is why LeBron James wanted to get him to L.A. last year, as he tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “It’s everything I expected and more,” James said of Davis. “Obviously, that’s why I wanted him here. When you get a generational talent like that, and you got an opportunity to get him, you just try to do whatever you can to get him.”
- There’s something different about how James has approached this season with Los Angeles, writes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Windhorst takes a closer look at James’ adjustment to the point guard position, his in-season strategy, and his front office relationship with the Lakers.
- Earlier this week, Lakers team owner Jeanie Buss was asked about why Dwight Howard‘s first stint was not a success in 2013. She didn’t mince words, placing blame on former Lakers and current Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni. Howard was asked about this on Wednesday night and took a different approach. “I don’t want to dig up anything from the past,” Howard said (Twitter link via McMenamin). “… I love Coach D’Antoni. The system that he had, he thought that was going to work for us. So we bought into it. I just didn’t happen the way it was supposed to happen.”
Northwest Notes: Clarkson, Mudiay, Beasley, Dort
Earlier this season, the Jazz traded former first-round pick point guard Dante Exum and a pair of second-round picks to the Cavaliers in exchange for guard Jordan Clarkson.
While Clarkson was already a proven commodity as a veteran scoring option off the bench, he has also been labeled as a “ball stopper” or a subpar defender by critics in the past, writes Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders. In Utah though, the combo guard has done a good job immersing himself into the Jazz’s culture, working hard to fit into the team’s system on both ends of the court, as Dowsett details.
In 31 games this season with the Jazz, Clarkson is averaging 15.8 PPG, while shooting 48.3% from the field and 38.2% from three-point range.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- Staying with the Jazz, backup point guard Emmanuel Mudiay is happy in Utah and feels like his game has gone to another level, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. The former first-round pick returned to Madison Square Garden this week after the Knicks decided not to re-sign him last offseason.
- It looks like the Timberwolves might’ve found a gem in Malik Beasley, suggests Michael Rand of the Star Tribune. Minnesota acquired Beasley from the Nuggets just days before the trade deadline in a massive four-team trade. In 11 games this season with the Wolves, he is averaging 21.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG, while shooting an impressive 43.9% from three-point range.
- Rookie guard Luguentz Dort has now elevated himself into cult hero status with the Thunder fanbase, writes Logan Meyer of Daily Thunder. The undrafted guard out of Arizona State was signed to a two-way deal this summer but could be on the verge of signing a standard NBA deal soon. If the Thunder were to add him officially to the 15-man roster, he would able to participate in the postseason.