Southeast Notes: D-League, Payton, Wizards
D-League president Malcolm Turner foresees two new D-League teams for 2016/17, a signal that he expects the circuit to remain at 18 teams next season, observes Adam Johnson of D-League Digest, though that may be a conservative estimate. The Hawks are once more determined to strike up a one-to-one affiliation, according to Johnson, and the Raptors are in advanced talks about an affiliate of their own, too. The league appears ready to plant teams in the southeastern United States, where there are none now, Johnson writes, and at least one more Southeast Division team has its eyes on securing a one-to-one affiliate soon, as we pass along:
- The Hornets today formally announced their intention to own and operate a one-to-one affiliate by 2016/17, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer first reported. Conversely, the Wizards haven’t made much progress toward a one-to-one affiliate, a source tells Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post (Twitter link). The Heat and Magic already have one-to-one affiliates in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Erie, Pennsylvania, respectively.
- Rookie Elfrid Payton showed a surprising level of toughness as he exceeded expectations for the Magic this season, excelling as a passer and rebounder, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel observes. He struggled with his shooting, though that was no shock, as Robbins details about the point guard whose rights the Magic traded for on draft night last June.
- Drew Gooden was out of the league at midseason last year, and at the same time Otto Porter languished outside the rotation for the Wizards. Now, they’re key parts of a Wizards team that’s 5-0 in the playoffs, as Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post examines.
Southeast Notes: Magic, Vucevic, Hornets
The slow pace of the Magic’s coaching search may be tied to the Bulls’ Tom Thibodeau, according to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando hasn’t interviewed anyone for the opening since the season ended, and Robbins notes that many speculate the Magic are waiting to see if Chicago fires Thibodeau after its playoff run ends. The Nuggets are the only other NBA team with a coaching vacancy, and many league insiders say the Magic’s job is considered more attractive in coaching circles. So there is little pressure to fill the job right away, but that could change soon if Dwane Casey is fired in Toronto.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The four-year extension Nikola Vucevic agreed to in October should be a bargain for the Magic once the new television deal takes effect, Robbins contends in a separate story. Vucevic’s contract can be worth up to $53MM, which could be cheap for a productive center with the expected jump in the salary cap. The deal could eventually make Vucevic, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, an attractive trade piece, but Robbins said he’s definitely in Orlando’s immediate plans. “They signed me here for the future, and that’s a responsibility I wanted: to be one of these leaders on the team,” Vucevic said.
- An early-season ankle sprain was a bad omen for the Magic’s Kyle O’Quinn, writes Ken Hornack of Fox Sports Florida. The third-year player missed nearly a month with the ankle and was limited to just 51 games for the season. He will become a restricted free agent in July after making slightly more than $900K this year. “I don’t think that’s the biggest thing I have to worry about right now,” he said about free agency. “My biggest thing is being a better player, becoming more of a student of a game, getting back to where I need to be.”
- The Hornets would like to own and operate their own D-League franchise, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer. Eight teams currently have that arrangement with their D-League affiliates, while eight others fund the franchise and handle the basketball — but not the business — side of the operation. Charlotte officials have targeted seven cities in the Carolinas: Asheville, Charleston, Columbia, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Greenville (S.C.) and Raleigh. “We think this is a great opportunity for our basketball people to have complete autonomy and control of how that part of the business is run,” said team president Fred Whitfield.
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Lakers
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Lakers utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Los Angeles D-Fenders
Affiliation Type: One-to-one
D-League Team Record: 17-33
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 4
Total D-League Assignments: 9
Player Stats While On Assignment
- Jordan Clarkson: 5 assignments, 5 games, 22.6 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 7.8 APG. .500/.222/.810.
- Xavier Henry: 2 assignments, 2 games, 26.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 3.0 APG. .455/.500/.895.
- Tarik Black: 1 assignment, 1 game, 23.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 3.0 APG. .643/.500/.833.
- Ryan Kelly: 1 assignment, 1 game, 30.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.0 APG. .444/.333/.917.
D-League Signings
- Vander Blue (L.A. D-Fenders-Lakers affiliate): Signed for the remainder of season on April 13th.
- Dwight Buycks (Oklahoma City Blue-Thunder affiliate): Inked a 10-day pact on April 3rd.
- Jabari Brown (L.A. D-Fenders-Lakers affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on March 10th; inked 2nd 10-day deal on March 21st; signed multiyear deal on April 1st.
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 15th: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled November 16th)
- November 15th: Assigned Xavier Henry (Recalled November 16th)
- Novermber 22nd: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled November 23rd)
- November 22nd: Assigned Xavier Henry (Recalled November 23rd)
- December 6th: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled December 7th)
- December 18th: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled December 19th)
- January 3rd: Assigned Jordan Clarkson (Recalled January 4th)
- January 3rd: Assigned Tarik Black (Recalled January 4th)
- January 30th: Assigned Ryan Kelly (Recalled January 31st)
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Pacers
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Pacers utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Affiliation Type: Shared
D-League Team Record: 28-22
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 1
Total D-League Assignments: 2
Player Stats While On Assignment
- Shayne Whittington: 2 assignments, 1 game, 5.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 APG. .500/.000/.500.
D-League Signings
- None
Assignment/Recall Log
- January 27th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (Recalled January 30th)
- April 8th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (D-League Playoffs)
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Clippers
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Clippers utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Affiliation Type: Shared
D-League Team Record: 28-22
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 1
Total D-League Assignments: 1
Player Stats While On Assignment
- C.J. Wilcox: 1 assignment, 5 games, 13.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.6 APG. .531/.450/.556.
D-League Signings
- Dahntay Jones (Fort Wayne Mad Ants – shared affiliate): Inked 1st 10-day contract on January 14th; signed 2nd 10-day pact on January 24th; signed for remainder of season on February 3rd.
- Jordan Hamilton (Reno Bighorns – Kings affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day deal on February 24th; inked 2nd 10-day pact on March 6th; signed multiyear deal on March 20th.
Assignment/Recall Log
- January 6th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (Recalled January 21st)
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Rockets
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Rockets utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Affiliation Type: One-to-one
D-League Team Record: 27-23
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 3
Total D-League Assignments: 11
Player Stats While On Assignment
- Clint Capela: 5 assignments, 38 games, 16.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 3.0 BPG. .600/.000/.596.
- Nick Johnson: 5 assignments, 20 games, 18.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.1 APG. .428/.283/.789.
- Isaiah Canaan: 1 assignment, 4 games, 21.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 8.5 APG. .368/.349/.633.
D-League Signings
- None
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 10th: Assigned Clint Capela (Recalled December 2nd)
- November 18th: Assigned Nick Johnson (Recalled November 24th)
- December 16th: Assigned Clint Capela (Recalled December 25th)
- December 27th: Assigned Clint Capela (Recalled January 25th)
- January 3rd: Assigned Nick Johnson (Recalled February 1st)
- January 11th: Assigned Isaiah Canaan (Recalled January 26th)
- January 29th: Assigned Clint Capela (Recalled February 9th)
- February 4th: Assigned Nick Johnson (Recalled February 9th)
- February 19th: Assigned Nick Johnson (Recalled February 23rd)
- February 19th: Assigned Clint Capela (Recalled March 27th)
- March 6th: Assigned Nick Johnson (Recalled March 8th)
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Warriors
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Warriors utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Santa Cruz Warriors
Affiliation Type: One-to-one
D-League Team Record: 35-15
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 4
Total D-League Assignments: 13
Player Stats While On Assignment:
- James Michael McAdoo: 3 assignments, 33 games, 19.6 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 2.3 APG. .575/.250/.685.
- Justin Holiday: 1 assignment, 1 game, 26.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 4.0 APG. .450/.455/.600.
- Ognjen Kuzmic: 8 assignments, 29 games, 12.8 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 2.0 BPG. .493/.000/.772.
- Festus Ezeli: 1 assignment, 2 games, 10.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.0 BPG. .474/.000/1.000.
D-League Signings
- James Michael McAdoo (Santa Cruz Warriors-Golden State affiliate): Signed 1st 10-day contract on January 19th, 2nd 10-day deal on February 2nd, and inked a mulityear contract on February 19th.
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 14th: Assigned Justin Holiday (Recalled November 15th)
- November 14th: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled November 15th)
- December 17th: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled December 18th)
- January 3rd: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled January 4th)
- January 8th: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled January 14th)
- January 15th: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled January 28th)
- January 28th: Assigned Festus Ezeli (Recalled February 2nd)
- February 4th: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled February 14th)
- February 20th: Assigned James Michael McAdoo (Recalled March 12th)
- March 14th: Assigned James Michael McAdoo (Recalled March 16th)
- March 18th: Assigned Ognjen Kuzmic (Recalled April 27th)
- April 10th: Assigned James Michael McAdoo (Recalled April 11th)
- April 26th: Assigned James Michael McAdoo (Recalled April 27th)
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Pistons
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Pistons utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Grand Rapids Drive
Affiliation Type: One-to-one
D-League Team Record: 23-27
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 4
Total D-League Assignments: 9
Player Stats While On Assignment
- Tony Mitchell: 4 assignments, 6 games, 8.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 0.7 APG. .571/.000/.750.
- Spencer Dinwiddie: 2 assignments, 7 games, 13.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 5.4 APG. .390/.355/.909.
- Gigi Datome: 1 assignment, 3 games, 13.3 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 0.7 APG. .438/.462/.857.
- Quincy Miller: 2 assignments, 3 games, 16.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 1.3 APG. .390/.375/.846.
D-League Signings
- None
Assignment/Recall Log
- November 26th: Assigned Tony Mitchell (Recalled November 28th)
- November 29th: Assigned Tony Mitchell (Recalled November 30th)
- December 5th: Assigned Tony Mitchell (Recalled December 7th)
- December 12th: Assigned Tony Mitchell (Traded to the Suns on December 24th)
- December 31st: Assigned Spencer Dinwiddie (Recalled January 8th)
- January 14th: Assigned Gigi Datome (Recalled January 20th)
- January 14th: Assigned Spencer Dinwiddie (Recalled January 20th)
- February 27th: Assigned Quincy Miller (Recalled March 2nd)
- March 25th: Assigned Quincy Miller (Recalled March 26th)
2014/15 D-League Usage Report: Nuggets
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to grow, and 17 NBA franchises currently have one-to-one D-League affiliates amongst the 18 D-League teams. The remaining 13 NBA teams shared the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season. We at Hoops Rumors will be recapping each team’s use of the D-League this season, looking at assignments and recalls as well as the players signed out of the D-League. We’ll continue onward with a look back at how the Nuggets utilized the D-League during the 2014/15 campaign…
D-League Team: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Affiliation Type: Shared
D-League Team Record: 28-22
Number of NBA Players Assigned To D-League: 1
Total D-League Assignments: 1
Player Stats While On Assignment
- Erick Green: 1 assignment, 2 games, 21.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 3.0 APG. .517/.273/.900.
D-League Signings
- None
Assignment/Recall Log
- January 20th: Assigned Erick Green (Recalled January 25th)
Masai Ujiri On Valanciunas, Lowry, D-League
GM Masai Ujiri accepts responsibility for the team’s late-season collapse, as he made clear today to reporters, including Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star (Twitter link), at his end-of-season press conference.
“The process is sometimes you get kicked in the face,” Ujiri said, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). “We got kicked in the face.”
Ujiri doesn’t regret not having made a trade at the deadline, and he insists he won’t make any knee-jerk reactions in the offseason ahead, notes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter link). Still, he isn’t committing to coach Dwane Casey for another season, as we passed along earlier, and with many questions surrounding the team following a disastrous end to the season in Toronto, we’ll round up the rest of the GM’s relevant comments here:
- Jonas Valanciunas is “a huge part of our team” going into the future, Ujiri said, expressing his belief that such big men are still valuable even in an era of small ball, Wolstat relays (Twitter links). “We can criticize Jonas … and it’s a big discussion we’re going to have with coach and the staff, how he was used,” Ujiri also said, as Feschuk tweets.
- Kyle Lowry didn’t maintain his level of play down the stretch, but Ujiri said he’s “even more confident” in the point guard now than when the Raptors re-signed him last season for four years and $48MM, Lewenberg notes (Twitter link).
- The Raptors and the NBA are in advanced talks about arranging a one-to-one D-League affiliate that could be a part of the organization as soon as next year, as Lewenberg relays (on Twitter). The Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment company that owns the Raptors have given the OK for the team to purchase a D-League affiliate, Wolstat tweets.