Point Guard Spot Depleted, Kilpatrick Fills In
- The Nets are scrambling because of injuries to their top point guards, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. With Jeremy Lin sidelined by a left hamstring strain injury and rookie Isaiah Whitehead recovering from a concussion, the club is using shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick at the point out of desperation, Lewis continues. The Nets waived injured Greivis Vasquez and his one-year, $4.35MM deal this week and called up undrafted rookie Yogi Ferrell from the D-League.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/10/16
Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Knicks have recalled guard Ron Baker and center Marshall Plumlee from Westchester, the club announced today (via Twitter). The duo participated in a D-League exhibition game on Wednesday against Brooklyn’s affiliate, with Baker scoring 26 points en route to a Knicks win.
- The Celtics have assigned rookie guard Demetrius Jackson to the Maine Red Claws, the club announced today (via Twitter). Like most assignments so far this season, Jackson’s will likely be a brief one, designed to get him some extra practice time.
- The Pelicans have assigned forward Cheick Diallo to the Austin Spurs via the flex assignment rule, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back.
- The Nets assigned forward Chris McCullough to the Long Island Nets, the club announced via press release. McCullough has appeared in three games for Brooklyn this season, averaging 0.7 points and 2.0 rebounds in 5.7 minutes per game.
Nets Playing Faster; Whitehead Has Concussion
- Kenny Atkinson’s motion offense is making a difference for the Nets, according to NetsDaily. Through its first seven games, Brooklyn has increased its pace of play more than any other team and is leading the league with 333 passes per game. Per 48 minutes, the Nets are averaging 6.2 more possessions each game than they did a year ago. Atkinson has also placed a greater emphasis on shooting 3-pointers, and the Nets are now taking 39.5% of their shots from long distance, compared to 21.8% last season.
- Nets rookie point guard Isaiah Whitehead was diagnosed with a concussion, the team announced today. Whitehead will go through the NBA’s concussion protocols and will be sidelined until his symptoms are gone. Losing Whitehead was part of the reason that the Nets re-signed Yogi Ferrell this afternoon.
Nets Cut Greivis Vasquez, Re-Sign Yogi Ferrell
3:22pm: The Nets have officially re-signed Ferrell, the team announced this afternoon in a press release. According to international basketball journalist David Pick (via Twitter), the rookie will get a two-year deal — details on a potential guarantee aren’t yet known.
12:34pm: The Nets are making a roster move at point guard, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that the team is re-signing Yogi Ferrell and waiving Greivis Vasquez. Brooklyn’s roster count will remain at 15 players when the pair of moves becomes official. For now, Vasquez’s release is official, having been announced by the club in a press release.
Vasquez, who will turn 30 in January, signed a one-year contract with the Nets this summer as an unrestricted free agent, but has only appeared in three games for the team due to an ankle injury. According to Wojnarowski, that ankle injury will require surgery, so Brooklyn likely felt the need to add some immediate help at the point guard spot, where Jeremy Lin is also sidelined.
“Greivis did everything we asked of him and more to try to get back on the court at full strength,” said Nets GM Sean Marks said in a statement issued by the team. “The passion, grit and perseverance he has shown since he joined the team have been remarkable. We are thankful to Greivis for all of his efforts and wish him well in the future.”
While Vasquez will become a free agent later this week, he’ll continue to receive pay checks from the Nets, since his deal with the team was fully guaranteed. The veteran point guard will count for $4,347,826 against Brooklyn’s cap this season, but the club can afford to eat that money — total team payroll will remain in the $76MM range after Ferrell’s signing, which is still well below the 2016/17 salary floor.
As for Ferrell he signed with the Nets this summer as an undrafted free agent, but was waived by the club last month. A starter for the entire course of his college career at Indiana, Ferrell averaged 17.3 points, 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game in his senior season. During the preseason, the 23-year-old played sparingly for the Nets, appearing in three exhibition games and getting on the floor for a total of 28 minutes in those contests.
Ferrell had joined the Long Island Nets, so his signing represents the Nets’ first D-League call-up of the season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/8/16
Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls:
10:35pm:
- The Knicks have assigned Ron Baker and Marshall Plumlee to their D League affiliate in Westchester, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets. The duo are expected to participate in the team’s scrimmage against the Nets’ affiliate on Wednesday, Begley adds.
- The Thunder have recalled Huestis from their D-League affiliate, the team announced via press release.
2:51pm:
- The newest member of the Bulls, R.J. Hunter, has been assigned to the team’s D-League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, according to a press release. Hunter signed with Chicago during the first week of the regular season after being cut by Boston, but has yet to appear in a game for the Bulls.
- For the second time in two days, the Nets assigned Chris McCullough to the Long Island Nets to practice with the D-League squad, then recalled him later in the day, the club announced in a pair of press releases. McCullough is expected to be active for Brooklyn’s game tonight against the Timberwolves.
- Josh Huestis, who recently changed agents, was assigned to the Oklahoma City Blue today by the Thunder to participate in the D-League team’s practice. The Thunder issued a press release confirming the move.
New York Notes: Rambis, Randle, Foye, Nets
As we passed along earlier today, Knicks president Phil Jackson is reportedly unhappy with the team’s offense, which hasn’t incorporated many elements of the triangle. While Jackson and some of the Knicks players appear to be at odds over the triangle, it’s the team’s defense that has been the real problem — New York ranks dead last in the NBA in points allowed per 100 possessions, and hasn’t held any of its opponents under 102 points in a game so far. We’ve got some details on how the Knicks plan to tackle that area of concern, along with some other notes out of New York:
- The Knicks have put assistant coach – and former interim head coach – Kurt Rambis in charge of their defense, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter links). According to Stein, the club’s assistants weren’t assigned any specific areas of emphasis to start the season, but have asked Rambis to focus on defense after a troublesome start.
- Point guard Chasson Randle was “all but assured” of a regular-season roster spot with the Knicks, but a fractured orbital bone last month led to his preseason release. Marc Berman of The New York Post takes a closer look at the current situation for Randle, who says he has contemplated playing overseas but still hopes to return to the Knicks when he’s healthy.
- Summer signee Randy Foye received a modest one-year contract from the Nets and wasn’t necessarily viewed as a significant addition. However, with Jeremy Lin and Greivis Vasquez sidelined, Brooklyn will be very happy to see Foye return from a hamstring injury and make his Nets debut, writes Howie Kussoy of The New York Post. “It just gives us some stability, some leadership, defense and I think it’s gonna help us [and] help our young guys,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said on Monday. “He looked good in practice. [It’s] welcome news.”
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/7/16
Here are today’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA
10:00pm:
- The Nets have recalled Chris McCullough from the Long Island Nets, according to a press release issued by the team. Brooklyn sent the 21-year-old forward to the D-League earlier today, as noted below.
2:46pm:
- After assigning them to the Austin Spurs on Sunday, the Spurs have recalled Bryn Forbes, Danny Green and Dejounte Murray today, the club announced in a press release. Green appears to be on the verge of returning from the quad injury that has sidelined him so far this season.
- The Knicks assigned Willy Hernangomez, Maurice Ndour, and Marshall Plumlee to their D-League affiliate today, allowing the trio to practice with the Westchester Knicks, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link). They’re expected to be back with New York tomorrow.
- The Mavericks assigned A.J. Hammons to the Texas Legends today, then recalled him a few hours later, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com (Twitter links).
- Former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo was sent to the Raptors 905 by the Raptors today, according to Toronto’s D-League affiliate (via Twitter). Caboclo has yet to appear in an NBA game this season, so the Raptors have been getting him work with their D-League squad when possible.
- The Nets assigned Chris McCullough to their D-League team, the Long Island Nets, the team announced today (via Twitter).
Harris Enjoying Freedom With Nets
- Joe Harris has been a pleasant surprise for the Nets thus far this season and he credit the team’s coaching staff for giving him the room to develop, something that he was afforded during his time with the Cavs, Bryan Fonseca of NetsDaily relays. “Looking back at my time in Cleveland, it was really valuable in a lot of ways,” Harris said. “Just being around some really high level players, guys that have had a lot of success, I’ve learned a lot from them just by watching. [Cleveland’s] emphasis wasn’t necessarily on letting guys learn through mistakes. It was more so, ‘you come in, and you help impact the game’ because they’re trying to win championships. I feel like the vibe here is a little bit more, ‘if you make a mistake, so be it, you’ve got to learn through it.’ It’s different to be a guy like where I was in Cleveland chasing after spots with guys in front of me like Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith and Richard Jefferson.”
Players With Incentive Bonuses For 2016/17
According to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, there are 33 players around the NBA who can potentially earn incentive bonuses this season based on their own durability or performance, or based on how their team performs. Although Marks doesn’t identify all 33 players who have incentives included in their 2016/17 contracts, he discusses over half of them, passing along a number of interesting tidbits about those potential bonuses. Here are some of the highlights:
Minutes/games played bonuses:
NBA bonuses are deemed either “likely” or “unlikely,” using the previous season’s statistics as a benchmark, so if a player didn’t appear in many games during the previous year, a team can include a games-played benchmark and call it an unlikely incentive. For instance, John Henson‘s contract with the Bucks features incentives if he plays 60 games or 75 games this season. He appeared in just 57 contests in 2015/16, so neither of those marks is viewed as likely.
Miles Plumlee (Bucks), Luis Scola (Nets), Greivis Vasquez (Nets), and Deron Williams (Mavericks) are among the other players who have incentives in their deals for games played or started.
Individual statistic bonuses:
The Trail Blazers got creative with Maurice Harkless‘ new contract this summer, including an incentive bonus in the deal that can be triggered based if he keeps his three-point percentage above a certain level. Jeremy Lin, meanwhile, not only has a three-point percentage incentive, but also has bonuses linked to assists, turnovers, and threes and free throws attempted per 36 minutes.
Individual achievement bonuses:
Players like Bismack Biyombo (Magic), Evan Fournier (Magic), and Will Barton (Nuggets) have incentives related to their individual performances as well, but they’re related to awards and honors, rather than raw statistics. Biyombo gets a bonus if he makes the NBA’s All-Defensive team, Fournier gets some extra money for an All-Star appearance, and Barton would get $250K if he wins the Sixth Man of the Year award.
Of course, some of these incentives are more realistic than others. For instance, Thaddeus Young (Pacers) probably shouldn’t be counting on the $500K incentive bonus that he’d earn if he wins the league’s MVP award.
Team performance bonuses:
Several players, including Fournier, Jon Leuer (Pistons), and Joe Ingles (Jazz) have bonuses related to their teams making the playoffs. Many of those postseason incentives are tied to another condition. For example, for Taj Gibson to earn his bonus from the Bulls, he must appear in at least 60 games, play in at least 75% of Chicago’s playoff games, and average 25 or more minutes per game during the regular season.
Some players also have incentives linked to their teams’ win total, and once again, some are more attainable than others. For example, Nikola Mirotic could earn an extra $800K, but he’d need the Bulls to win 65+ games, so there’s a good chance his shot at that bonus will disappear about halfway through the season.
Be sure to check out the full breakdown from Marks for many more details on players who could earn incentive bonuses in 2016/17.
Nets Notes: Lopez, Lin, Whitehead, Kilpatrick
Brooklyn center Brook Lopez may see his production go down while point guard Jeremy Lin is sidelined with an injured hamstring, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The Hornets packed their defense in the paint Friday to limit Lopez’s effectiveness, and he can probably expect to see more of the same. The Nets are reportedly listening to calls from teams interested in trading for Lopez, but are not actively looking to deal him. “It’s a huge adjustment [without Lin], no question, because he brings so much to our team,” Lopez said. “It was just a matter of giving Isaiah [Whitehead] confidence and letting him know that we’re all out there with him and have trust in him. It’s not just one of us on the floor.” Lin’s condition will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
There’s more news out of Brooklyn:
- The Nets have point guard concerns beyond Lin’s injury, according to NetsDaily.com. Randy Foye has been out with a pulled hamstring and hopes to return Tuesday. Greivis Vasquez is having ankle problems and the team hasn’t said when he might be able to play again. Brooklyn has Yogi Ferrell and Boris Dallo on its new D-League affiliate, but neither is considered ready for the NBA.
- The injuries have created a “trial by fire” for Whitehead, writes Bryan Fonseca of NetsDaily. The second-round pick made his first career start on Friday, putting up eight points and three assists in 23 minutes. “I think I’m getting much more comfortable, it’s just a matter of time,” he said. “Just getting better and better every time I get on the court. [It’s] just [about] reducing turnovers, just really getting everybody involved – it’s a tough process but I think I’ll get there.”
- Sixth man Sean Kilpatrick is off to a strong start in his first full NBA season, notes Reed Wallach of NetsDaily. A D-League callup last season, Kilpatrick is adapting to coach Kenny Atkinson’s motion offense, averaging 17 points and four rebounds per night.“Sean likes to think of himself as a scorer, and I know he scored in the D-League,” Atkinson said. “But our player emphasis is to help him get better defensively. I think he can be better than he already is. He has size, and he’s got toughness.”