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2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Mavericks

By | at April 29, 2016 4:36 pm

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 Dallas Mavericks, whose D-League affiliate is the Texas Legends:

The Mavs made 18 assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 20 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Dallas for the 2015/16 season:

Here is how the Mavs’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:

  • Justin Anderson: In seven D-League appearances, the swingman averaged 23.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 38.3 minutes per outing. Anderson’s shooting line was .460/.333/.792.
  • Jeremy Evans: In four contests for the Legends, Evans notched averages of 16.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 35.8 minutes per game. His slash line was .500/.389/.727.
  • Salah Mejri: The center appeared in eight D-League games on the season and averaged 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in 23.8 minutes per contest. Mejri’s shooting line was .566/.125/.875.
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2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Cavaliers

By | at April 27, 2016 10:28 pm

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 Cleveland Cavaliers, whose D-League affiliate is the Canton Charge:

The Cavs made nine assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 29 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls Cleveland made for the 2015/16 season:

Canton also had seven players assigned to it from other NBA franchises via the flexible assignment rule:

Here is how the Cavs’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:

  • Joe Harris: In 10 D-League appearances, the combo guard averaged 16.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per outing. Harris’ shooting line was .397/.323/.794.
  • Sasha Kaun: In one D-League outing, the center logged 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 30 minutes of action. Kaun made six out of his seven field goal attempts on the night.
  • Jordan McRae: The shooting guard did not see any game action for Canton while on assignment. McRae did appear in 29 contests this season for the Delaware 87ers, who are the Sixers’ affiliate, averaging 23.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 35.4 minutes per outing. His slash line with Delaware was .549/.318/.799.
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2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Bulls

By | at April 23, 2016 5:10 pm

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 Chicago Bulls, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:

The Bulls made four assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending three players to the D-League for a total of 32 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Chicago for the 2015/16 campaign:

Here is how the Bulls players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:

  • Cameron Bairstow: In five D-League appearances, the forward averaged 14.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 26.5 minutes per outing. Bairstow’s shooting line was .475/.000/.824.
  • Cristiano Felicio: In four D-League appearances this season, the big man averaged 14.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 23.7 minutes per contest. His slash line was .641/.400/.750.
  • Mike Dunleavy: The swingman was assigned to the D-League for practice/rehab purposes and didn’t appear in any games while with Santa Cruz.
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2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Hornets

By | at April 21, 2016 10:27 pm

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 the Charlotte Hornets, one of the 11 NBA franchises without their own D-League affiliate:

The Hornets made three assignments for the 2015/16 season, sending one player (Aaron Harrison) to the D-League for a total of 30 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Charlotte for the 2015/16 campaign:

Here is how Harrison, Charlotte’s lone assignee,  performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:

  • With the Oklahoma City Blue: In four games, he averaged 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists. Harrison’s slash line was .308/.167/.714.
  • With the Erie BayHawks: In nine games, Harrison averaged 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. His shooting line was .377/.300/.840,
  • Totals: In 13 combined games, Harrison notched averages of 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists. His combined slash line was .363/.265/.820.
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Eastern Notes: Lue, Johnson, Thibodeau

By | at April 20, 2016 7:55 pm

Cavaliers GM David Griffin was hesitant to say anything negative about former coach David Blatt, but the executive did contend that Blatt wasn’t the right person to lead the team’s current roster, Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer writes. “David really didn’t do anything inherently wrong,” said Griffin. “It just wasn’t the right fit. We [the players] are radically more engaged with each other [since Tyronn Lue took over as coach]. You can see it on an night-in, night-out basis just by watching the bench during games.”

When asked about the Cavs’ record being worse under Lue than under Blatt this season, Griffin responded, “I told everyone that things were likely to get worse before they got better after the change,” said Griffin. “I know the [coaching] change was somewhat unprecedented. We were going to make some significant changes, and it was going to take Ty a while to get his feet on the ground. At one point, we had 23 games in 41 days. When Ty took over, we were changing offensive and defensive schemes and there were periods where we had absolutely no practice days. We put him in a very tough spot.”

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Pistons rookie swingman Stanley Johnson has embraced the challenge of guarding LeBron James in his first-ever playoff series, which is in line with the competitive fire that made the team enamored with him in the first place, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com writes. “Stanley’s toughness and competitiveness and the fact that he’ll never back down, that’s not been a concern all year,” coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said. “What he’s got to do is play smarter, make better decisions and continue to work on his skills. I never have a doubt about his competitiveness. If you’re not a competitor, a great competitor at 19, my guess is at 22 you’re not going to be a great competitor, either. That to me is just sort of part of the personality. Now you’ll learn to play situations better, you maybe won’t make the mistakes about being nervous, you’ll have seen things more. All of those things will change, but the competitiveness to go out and play the best player in the world and not be afraid and all of that. If he didn’t have that now, I don’t think he’d have it in three years, quite honestly.”
  • The plethora of talented young defensive players the Wolves possess makes former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau the perfect choice to lead Minnesota into contention, opines Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
  • The Hawks have once again assigned swingman Lamar Patterson to the Austin Spurs of the NBA D-League, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays. Patterson will play in the deciding game of the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles D-Fenders tonight, Vivlamore notes.
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Southeast Notes: Dragic, Winslow, Thibodeau

By | at April 19, 2016 8:30 pm

The Heat have a track record of luring free agents to Miami on below-market contracts, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald notes. Center Udonis Haslem offered an explanation for the trend, saying, “It’s a first-class organization, winning organization, and you see how [team president] Pat [Riley] and [owner] Micky [Arison] work together, how the players are treated, how we love being here. And [players] see other people make sacrifices and they start to wonder, ‘Why is everybody sacrificing to be there? Why is everybody sacrificing to stay there?’ When they get a chance to be a part of it, then they buy in.”

Combo guard Goran Dragic, who signed a five-year, $90MM deal this past offseason, left millions on the table from other suitors in order to remain part of the Heat’s winning culture, Jackson relays. “When the time came and we negotiated, [agent Rade Filopovich] said we can get more somewhere else,” Dragic said. “But the most important thing for me was to be in the right place to try to win a championship. I didn’t even want to question that. Because it’s a winning culture here. Everybody wants to win, at least the players that are here. You want to put yourself in a good situation that you can develop your game, that you can get better and get the highest prize. I’m happy here. I went through some struggles but I’m really happy I’m part of this team. Everything looks good now.”

Here’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets surprised a number of draft experts when they selected Frank Kaminsky over Justise Winslow in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft. Coach Steve Clifford indicated that it was a matter of redundancy that led Charlotte to pass on Winslow, Jackson relays in a separate piece. “[The decision] was difficult, because Justise is a good player. But so much of it is need. Justise’s position, that versatile three/four, is what we have in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist [who missed most of the season with injury]. But we were really high on Frank anyway,” Clifford said.
  • The Wizards may not be a good fit for Tom Thibodeau, since the team isn’t offering organizational control to head coaching candidates, and that’s something the former Bulls coach reportedly prefers, Ben Standig of CSN Mid-Atlantic notes. Scott Brooks is the reported front-runner for Washington’s coaching vacancy, though Thibodeau has also drawn consideration from the Wizards as well.
  • The Hawks have recalled swingman Lamar Patterson from the Austin Spurs of the NBA D-League, the team announced via press release.
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Southeast Notes: Beal, Lin, Whiteside, Patterson

By | at April 18, 2016 5:02 pm

Bradley Beal is a virtual lock to elicit a max offer this summer, and “the consensus” is the Wizards will keep him, writes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Beal was somewhat vague when asked whether he plans on agreeing to an offer from the Wizards as soon as possible upon becoming a free agent in July or gauging bids from other teams, as Castillo relays. Either way, the Wizards have the right to match any offer for the soon-to-be restricted free agent. “I want to be here. I don’t know,” Beal said in response to the question. “I don’t even know what I’m getting into right now. It’s like choosing colleges again. But I’m happy where I am. Hopefully, we can agree with each other this summer and we can get it done. But if not, it’s a business at the end of the day.”

See more from the Southeast Division:

  • Jeremy Lin, who said he almost signed with the Mavericks for the $2.814MM room exception this past summer, drew an offer from the Nets for the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception but turned it down, with his camp of the belief that he could get $5MM a year, league sources tell NetsDaily (Twitter link). Lin instead signed with the Hornets for the $2.139MM biannual exception amount.
  • Hassan Whiteside says he and his representatives tried several times without success to convince the Hornets to give him a tryout before he signed with the Heat last season, as Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post relays. Whiteside, who hits free agency again this summer, is from Gastonia, North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte.
  • The Hawks have assigned Lamar Patterson to the D-League affiliate of the Spurs, Atlanta announced. The D-League Spurs are set to play tonight as they resume a postseason game that had been suspended Sunday when condensation formed on the court. Atlanta’s next playoff game is Tuesday. The Hawks are without their own affiliate but have sent players, including Patterson, to the Austin Spurs on many occasions.
1 comment Atlanta Hawks Brooklyn Nets Charlotte Hornets Miami Heat NBA G League San Antonio Spurs Washington Wizards

2015/16 D-League Usage Report: Celtics

By | at April 16, 2016 10:15 am

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 onward with the the Boston Celtics, whose D-League affiliate is the Maine Red Claws:

The Celtics made 39 assignments for the 2015/16 campaign, sending five different players to the D-League for a total of 127 days. Listed below are all the assignments and recalls made by Boston for the 2015/16 campaign:

Here is how the Celtics’ players performed while on assignment to the D-League this season:

  • Coty Clarke: The small forward appeared in a total of 44 games for the Red Claws on the year, a number that includes his outings prior to being inked by Boston. Clarke averaged 16.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists to accompany a shooting line of .513/.406/.792.
  • R.J. Hunter: The shooting guard appeared in eight games for Maine and averaged 13.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 30.8 minutes per contest. His slash line was .359/.296/.741.
  • Jordan Mickey: The power forward made 23 appearances for the Red Claws and averaged 17.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.4 blocks in 33.4 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .531/.350/.745.
  • Terry Rozier: The rookie point guard appeared in 14 games for Maine and averaged 19.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.9 steals in 33.7 minutes per night. Rozier’s shooting line was .393/.338/.776.
  • James Young: The swingman appeared in 14 games, notching averages of 15.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 28.3 minutes per outing. His slash line was .409/.350/.814.
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Southeast Notes: Morris, Whiteside, Anderson

By | at April 15, 2016 9:29 pm

Injuries limited Alan Anderson to just 13 games for the Wizards this season, but the shooting guard, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent, wants to return to Washington next season, J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes. “I wasn’t able to show a lot of what I was capable of doing,” Anderson said. “I’m definitely a totally a different player than what I’ve shown. I definitely would love to be back. I expected to be back around January, then January went to February then February went to [late February], then I came back and got hurt again. I think me not playing kind of hurt us. I didn’t travel the first two months. We had no consistency. We’d beat tough teams and we’d lose to teams we should beat. We didn’t take care of home court as good as we should have. We were just like a roller coaster. In this league you can’t be that.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

  • Markieff Morris is thrilled to be a member of the Wizards and appreciates how the team has utilized him thus far, Ben Standing of CSN Mid-Atlantic relays. “I love my position,” Morris told Standig. “I think they’re using me to the best of my abilities. I love my position they have me in now. I get to roam the floor. I get post-ups sometimes. Play pick-and-roll with John. Play the popper when John Wall and Marcin Gortat are playing pick-and-roll. I can’t wait to get to the summer and work with these guys. I’m 100% [with the system] right now. It takes a little while, but I’ve been here for a little while now. I’m comfortable with everybody.“
  • Heat center Hassan Whiteside is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but he won’t let that overshadow his excitement at being in the playoffs, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post relays. “I’m not gonna put a lot of pressure on myself,” Whiteside said. “When you start saying, ‘I gotta do this or that’… I’m just gonna play the way I’ve been playing and try to get every rebound and every block and play smart basketball. I’m not going to put pressure on myself.”
  • Magic GM Rob Hennigan noted that it was a priority for the team to sign players with experience in the league this offseason, a sentiment that was echoed by many on Orlando’s current roster, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel relays (Twitter links).
  • Hornets assistant Patrick Ewing‘s ability to relate to players is one of his strongest selling points in his bid to become a head coach, Adi Joseph of The Sporting News writes. “He’s been a tremendous help for me, personally,” Hornets combo forward Marvin Williams told Joseph. “Even though he played center, he knows the game, from the point guard to the center. So there’s been many, many times where he sees something out there, and he’ll pull me aside and help me out, whether it be offensively or defensively. He does that for a lot of guys on our team. He’ll be a fantastic head coach one day, no question.”
  • The Hawks have recalled swingman Lamar Patterson from the Austin Spurs of the NBA D-League, the team announced.
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And-Ones: Salary Cap, Draft, Jersey Ads

By | at April 15, 2016 4:15 pm

Croatian power forward Marko Arapovic will enter this year’s NBA draft, as he announced on Twitter, and the same is true for Slovenian shooting guard Blaz Mesicek, as his agent, Benjamin Stevic, told Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). Both hold a degree of intrigue, with Givony having slotted the 6’6″, 18-year-old Mesicek at No. 32 in his 2017 mock draft, though he’s not in Givony’s top 100 prospects for this year. The 6’9″, 19-year-old Arapovic is 96th among this year’s prospects, as Givony ranks them, and he’s No. 100 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com. International prospects aren’t bound to NCAA rules, so they can hire agents and withdraw from the draft as late as June 13th.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The latest official projection for next year’s salary cap is $92MM, according to a memo the NBA sent to executives around the league, notes Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link). That’s an increase on the $90MM projection reported in February, though many had already estimated the cap would wind up in the $92MM to $95MM range.
  • Owners sense the league is prosperous and the collective bargaining agreement is working, commissioner Adam Silver said today about this week’s board of governors meetings, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com relays (Twitter link). Silver remains optimistic about avoiding a work stoppage next year as negotiations with the players union progress toward a new labor deal, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.
  • The addition of jersey ads, which the board of governors have formally approved for the start of the 2017/18 season, are liable to raise the salary cap $2MM to $3MM annually based on projections circulating around the league, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Silver estimates the ads will generate $100MM in annual revenue, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • French power forward/center Mathias Lessort intends to enter the 2016 NBA draft, YouFirstBasket.com announced (via Twitter). The 20-year-old is a long shot to be selected, not appearing among the top 100 players on either Ford’s or Givony’s rankings.
  • Vanderbilt junior center Damian Jones intends to enter the draft and will sign with Austin Brown of CAA, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com relays (Twitter links). Jones is ranked as the No. 21 overall prospect by Givony and comes in at No. 43 according to Ford. Jones has long planned to go into the draft this year, having said as much in October.
  • Former Pelicans big man Jarnell Stokes was named the MVP of the NBA D-League, the Sioux Falls Skyforce announced. In 28 D-League appearances, Stokes averaged 20.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in 30.7 minutes per contest.
  • Wichita State senior shooting guard Ron Baker has signed with agent Aaron Mintz of CAA, Goodman tweets. The 23-year-old is the No. 98 overall prospect in this year’s draft according to Givony.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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