Kendall Marshall

Kendall Marshall Finished With G League

Kendall Marshall, who played for four teams in four NBA seasons, has decided to retire from the G League, tweets Chris Reichert of 2 Ways and 10 Days. It’s not clear if this means Marshall is just leaving the league or if he is done with basketball completely, although 26 would be an early age to retire for someone with no recent major injuries.

The point guard was waived by the Bucks in early October and has been playing for the Agua Caliente Clippers. He appeared in three games, averaging 4.0 points and 2.7 assists in 14.2 minutes. Marshall has previous G League experience in Bakersfield, Delaware and Reno.

The 13th selection in the 2012 draft, Marshall was never able to find a long-term NBA home. He spent a year with the Suns before being traded just before the start of the 2013/14 season to the Wizards, who waived him three days later. He was picked up by the Lakers, then spent partial seasons with the Bucks and Sixers. The Jazz traded for Marshall and waived him on the same day in August of 2016, and he hasn’t found an NBA job since.

Marshall was part of the U.S. team that captured the gold medal at this summer’s FIBA AmeriCup tournament.

Bucks Waive Kendall Marshall

11:02am: The Bucks confirmed the move in a tweet.

10:46am: The Bucks have waived veteran point guard Kendall Marshall, tweets Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Velazquez noted Marshall’s absence from this morning’s Fan Fest scrimmage, as the team only had 19 players participating.

Marshall, 26, signed a training camp deal with Milwaukee last month. He was a lottery pick in 2012, but hasn’t been able to find an NBA home, going through brief stays with the Suns, Lakers, Bucks and Sixers. He put up good numbers with the Reno Bighorns last season and may be heading back to the G League.

This is the third roster move of the week for Milwaukee, which waived James Young Wednesday and signed Xavier Munford Thursday. Y0ung officially become a free agent after clearing waivers Saturday.

Bucks Sign Kendall Marshall To Camp Deal

The Bucks have signed Kendall Marshall to a contract, the team announced today in a press release. The club classifies the agreement as a training camp deal, meaning it likely includes little to no guaranteed money.

Marshall, 26, was a lottery pick back in 2012, coming off the board 13th overall to the Suns. However, he has bounced around the NBA and the G League since then, spending time with the Lakers, Bucks, Sixers, and – last season – the Reno Bighorns. Although Marshall’s career NBA numbers are modest – 5.0 PPG and 4.9 APG in 160 games – he played well in the G League in 2016/17, averaging 15.1 PPG and 9.0 APG in 21 contests for Reno.

Most recently, Marshall was selected to be a member of the U.S. team that competed in the FIBA AmeriCup tournament a few weeks ago. Marshall was the club’s starting point guard and helped Team USA win a gold medal.

With Marshall under contract, the Bucks are now carrying the maximum 20 players on their offseason roster, including 14 with fully guaranteed salaries.

USA Basketball Announces AmeriCup Roster

After taking 17 players to training camp, USA Basketball has narrowed that group down to 12 players for its official AmeriCup roster, the program announced in a press release. The players representing Team USA in next week’s AmeriCup tournament will be as follows:

The five players who missed the cut for the final roster were Rod Benson, Will Davis II, Ra’Shad James, Darius Morris, and Derek Willis.

“All 17 guys that came to camp in Houston had a strong case that they could have made that they should have been selected, but unfortunately, we could only take 12,” said U.S. coach Jeff Van Gundy. “It was very, very difficult getting down to that number, but we feel very happy with the guys that we have selected. We feel we have positional versatility, we have a good balance between size and quickness, so it will be interesting for us to go to Uruguay and see what we can do.”

As we detailed in an earlier story, FIBA has changed its format for qualifying for marquee events like the World Cup and the Olympics, and many of the qualifier tournaments will now take place during the NBA season. For those events, Team USA intends to primarily use players who have been spending time overseas and in the G League, with the bigger-name players taking over for the main events in 2019 and 2020.

Team USA doesn’t need to win the AmeriCup to qualify for the next World Cup and Olympics, but it’s a tournament the U.S. must participate in to eventually play in more crucial events. Van Gundy’s squad will participate in preliminary round games in Uruguay starting next Monday. If Team USA wins its group – which also includes Panama, the Dominican Republic, and host Uruguay – it would advance to the semifinals in Argentina in early September.

The program won’t face real pressure to win until November, when Team USA need a top-three finish in a pool that includes Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Cuba in order to start advancing to later qualifiers. For more in-depth details on how those qualifiers work, be sure to check out FIBA’s breakdowns for the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics.

17 Players Vying For Spots On USA’s AmeriCup Roster

USA Basketball has begun the process of selecting its roster for the AmeriCup 2017, the first of a series of qualifying tournaments under FIBA’s new format. As Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press details, Team USA doesn’t need to win the AmeriCup to qualify for the next World Cup and Olympics, but it’s a tournament the U.S. must participate in to eventually play in more crucial events.

Because upcoming qualifiers will take place during the NBA season, Team USA is putting together a roster primarily made up of G League players and veterans who have been playing overseas, as we previously learned. With training camp set to begin on Thursday, 17 hopefuls are suiting up for Team USA, with the program poised to eventually pare that group down to a 12-man roster.

Here are Team USA’s training camp participants, via USA Basketball:

Although there are no high-profile names in this group, several players have some NBA experience. Hilliard is currently a free agent, but appeared in 77 games over the last two seasons for the Pistons. Drew, Munford, and Plumlee have all played in at least a dozen NBA games.

Marshall, Morris, and Reggie Williams are perhaps the most notable names on the list, having played regular rotation roles for various NBA teams in recent years. Marshall was a lottery pick in the 2012 draft, while Williams has appeared in more than 200 NBA games since 2010.

None of the players on Team USA’s training camp roster are currently under contract with an NBA club, but Willis – the only player of the group who has yet to play professional ball – has reportedly agreed to a training camp deal with the Pistons.

The club will be coached by Jeff Van Gundy, an international rookie himself, and will eventually participate in preliminary round games in Uruguay later this month. If Team USA wins its group – which also includes Panama, the Dominican Republic, and host Uruguay – it would advance to the semifinals in Argentina in early September.

As Mahoney outlines in his report, Team USA won’t face real pressure to win until November, when the club need a top-three finish in a pool that includes Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Cuba in order to start advancing to later qualifiers. For more in-depth details on how those qualifiers work, be sure to check out FIBA’s breakdowns for the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics.

Latest On Grizzlies’ Point Guard Situation

With Mike Conley expected to miss at least six weeks of action due to fractures in his lower back , the Grizzlies have a major hole to fill at point guard. It was relayed earlier that Memphis could look to sign Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole or Xavier Munford to boost its depth at the one spot, and now Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical has added a few potential targets to that list — Kendall Marshall, Toney Douglas and Will Bynum. Also, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com has thrown some cold water on the possibility of the Grizzlies signing Chalmers, since the guard is not physically ready to play at this time.

Marshall, who turned 25 this past summer, has played for the Suns, Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers since entering the NBA as a lottery pick in 2012. He was sent from Philadelphia to Utah in an offseason trade, and was promptly cut by the Jazz in August before his salary for 2016/17 became guaranteed. Marshall, who has averaged 5.0 PPG and 4.9 APG in 160 career NBA contests, has been a free agent since then, and is currently playing in the D-League after being claimed by the Reno Bighorns.

Douglas began his NBA career in 2009 with the Knicks. After spending three seasons in New York, the point guard has bounced around, playing for the Rockets, Kings, Warriors, Heat, and Pelicans. The 30-year-old averaged 8.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.1 SPG, to go along with a shooting line of .411/.399/.848. He was waived by the Cavs during the preseason to clear a roster spot for the re-signing of J.R. Smith.

Bynum, 33, has appeared in 360 total regular season NBA games for three different teams since 2005, though, he hasn’t played in a regular season contest since the 2014/15 season. For most of the last two seasons, Bynum has played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China. He averaged 17.8 PPG and 6.5 APG for the CBA club in 2015/16. The guard was among the Hawks’ final preseason cuts this year.

Kendall Marshall, Jordan Adams Claimed By D-League Teams

A pair of former first-round picks have entered the NBA D-League player pool and have been claimed, according to a pair of reports from D-League Digest (Twitter links). Sources tell D-League Digest that the Reno Bighorns have claimed point guard Kendall Marshall, while the Oklahoma City Blue have claimed shooting guard Jordan Adams.

Marshall, who turned 25 this summer, has played for the Suns, Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers since entering the NBA as a lottery pick in 2012. He was sent from Philadelphia to Utah in an offseason trade, and was promptly cut by the Jazz in August before his salary for 2016/17 became guaranteed. Marshall, who has averaged 5.0 PPG and 4.9 APG in 160 career NBA contests, has been a free agent since then, and it appears he has decided to play in the D-League while he continues to seek another NBA opportunity.

Marshall will be joining the Kings’ D-League affiliate in Reno, which is somewhat interesting. There’s no indication that Sacramento’s NBA club has any interest in signing Marshall, but the Kings aren’t particularly stacked at point guard, with Darren Collison and Ty Lawson in the final year of their respective contracts. If Marshall plays well for the Bighorns, perhaps Sacramento will want to take a flier on him.

As for Adams, he was one of several Grizzlies players waived as the team reduced its roster to 15 players at the end of the preseason. The UCLA product was the 22nd overall pick in 2014 and is still just 22 years old, but he has been plagued by injuries since entering the NBA, appearing in just 32 total games for Memphis, so the team was willing to cut its losses and eat his guaranteed salary. Adams, who is still earning $1.221MM from the Grizzlies this season, is set to join the Thunder’s D-League affiliate.

Nets Hold Informal Free Agent Workout

The Nets currently have 18 players under contract, including 15 with fully guaranteed deals, which means the team still has two available training camp spots it could fill. Brooklyn may be moving toward maxing out its preseason roster, holding workouts today for unrestricted free agents P.J. Hairston, Jorge Gutierrez and Kendall Marshall, NetsDaily reports. A league source told NetsDaily that the trio were at the team’s facility just to get some court time and that no decisions have been made on any of them. But, it’s also possible, even likely, that there were others present in what amounted to a last minute free agent mini-camp, NetsDaily writes.

The presence of the two point guards (Gutierrez and Marshall), could indicate that Greivis Vasquez, who is slated to back-up starter Jeremy Lin, may not be fully recovered in time for opening night from surgery to repair a bone spur, the scribe notes. This may also mean that rookie Isaiah Whitehead could be called upon to provide meaningful minutes earlier than anticipated, NetsDaily adds.

Hairston, 23, appeared in 66 games last season split between the Hornets and Grizzlies, averaging 6.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 19.9 minutes per outing. The former No. 26 overall pick’s shooting line on the campaign was .355/.290/.781. Hairston reportedly worked out for the Lakers back in Au.gust.

Gutierrez, 27, made 12 appearances in 2015/16 for the Hornets, averaging 1.8 points, 0.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 5.3 minutes per night. His shooting line was .545/.000/.909. The point guard also made 22 appearances for the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s D-League affiliate, averaging 11.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG and 5.7APG.

Marshall’s best season as a pro came in 2013/14, when he averaged 29 minutes per game in 54 contests for the Lakers. The former UNC standout averaged a career-high 8.0 PPG and 8.8 APG that year, while shooting 39.9% on three-point attempts. Marshall has taken a step back since then, though he was off to a solid start as a backup for the Bucks in 2014/15 before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury. He made 30 appearances for the Sixers last season, logging averages of 3.7 points and 2.4 assists in 13.3 minutes per contest.

Southeast Notes: Marshall, Hornets, Ibaka

The Wizards could be a suitor for Kendall Marshall, Ben Standig of Comcast Sportsnet speculates. Marshall was traded to the Jazz and subsequently waived on Friday. Washington could look to add depth at the point guard position with John Wall still recovering from knee surgery. The team added former first round pick Trey Burke via trade this offseason and the Michigan product will likely get the first shot at backing up the team’s franchise player.

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets made several under-the-radar moves to improve this offseason, such as signing Ramon Sessions to a team-friendly deal, and they should be considered the biggest challengers to Cleveland for the Eastern Conference crown, Ben Dowsett of Basketball Insiders argues. Dowsett also praises the decision to bring Roy Hibbert aboard on a one-year, $5MM deal.
  • The Magic acquired Serge Ibaka on draft night and they hope the big man can help lead them back to the playoffs, however, Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders is pessimistic about Ibaka’s chances of having a strong 2016/17 campaign. Greene notes that Ibaka’s production, including his points, rebounds and blocks per game, has decreased over the past several seasons. His field goal percentage has also dwindled, going from 57.3% during the 2012/13 season to 47.9% last year.

Jazz Waive Kendall Marshall

As expected, the Jazz have waived newly-acquired point guard Kendall Marshall, the team announced today in a press release. Utah’s tweets announcing the trade for Marshall and the point guard’s release came 25 minutes apart, so the former 13th overall pick was officially a member of the Jazz for less than a half-hour.

Marshall’s $2MM+ salary for 2016/17 would have become guaranteed within the next few days if he had remained on an NBA roster. By acquiring him in a deal for Tibor Pleiss, who has a guaranteed $3MM salary, Utah created $3MM in cap room and avoided paying any salary, though the team did send the Sixers some cash in the deal.

Marshall, who turned 25 last Friday, has played for the Suns, Lakers, Bucks, and Sixers since entering the NBA as a lottery pick in 2012, and will now be seeking a new home for the 2016/17 campaign. This is the third time he has been traded and subsequently waived — it also happened in 2013 and 2015.

Despite the fact that Marshall has failed to stick with an NBA team for more than a single season since his debut, several league executives believe there’s still a spot in the league for the former lottery pick as a backup point guard, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.

Marshall’s best season as a pro came in 2013/14, when he averaged 29 minutes per game in 54 contests for the Lakers. The former UNC standout averaged a career-high 8.0 PPG and 8.8 APG that year, while shooting 39.9% on three-point attempts. Marshall has taken a step back since then, though he was off to a solid start as a backup for the Bucks in 2014/15 before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury.