D-League Moves: Suns, Cavs, Celtics
The D-League began its season this past weekend, and no one’s off to a hotter start than Wolves camp invitee Brady Heslip, who’s playing for the affiliate of the Kings. He’s scoring a league-leading 39.0 points per game after two contests, and while it’s early, he’s making a case to appear on an NBA roster before too long. In the meantime, several players who are already on NBA contracts spent the weekend on D-League assignment, and we’ll round up their latest comings and goings here:
- A pair of 2014 first-round picks are back with Phoenix, as the Suns have recalled No. 14 selection T.J. Warren and No. 18 pick Tyler Ennis from the D-League, the team announced. Warren put up a sizzling 36 PPG in two appearances for the Bakersfield Jam this weekend, while Ennis averaged 22.0 PPG and 7.5 assists per contest. The Suns assigned the pair to Bakersfield on Thursday.
- The Cavs have recalled Alex Kirk from the D-League, the team announced. Kirk didn’t appear in the only game the Canton Charge played during his three-day assignment, a three-overtime loss to the Sixers affiliate.
- Rookies James Young and Dwight Powell are back with Boston after a two-day D-League assignment, the Celtics announced (Twitter link). The duo scored 21 points a piece and Powell came down with 17 rebounds in a win Sunday for the Maine Red Claws.
Lakers Notes: Clarkson, Henry, Price, Ellington
Despite Kobe Bryant‘s insistence on playing through fatigue and injuries, head coach Byron Scott has not had a difficult time with Bryant due to his experience coaching elite players with such stubborn mindsets, writes Jovan Buha of ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I’ve had the privilege and the honor of coaching a few guys that I think are probably Hall of Famers in Jason Kidd and Chris Paul,” Scott said. “I haven’t had the opportunity to coach anybody at this magnitude — as great as Kobe is — but I have had that opportunity. It hasn’t really been an adjustment for me.” Scott expects Bryant, who was experiencing flu-like symptoms in Friday’s loss to the Spurs, to play against the Warriors on Sunday. “You’d probably have to amputate his leg for him not to play tomorrow,” Scott said at practice on Saturday.
Here’s more from Los Angeles:
- The Lakers assigned Jordan Clarkson and Xavier Henry to their D-League affliate, the D-Fenders, according to the team’s Twitter feed. To date, Clarkson has averaged 4.3 PPG in 11.4 MPG during eight games played in his rookie season. Henry, who will again become a free agent after the 2014/15 season, has averaged only 1.3 PPG in 8.9 MPG during seven contests.
- The Lakers will guarantee portions of their non-guaranteed contracts with Ronnie Price and Wayne Ellington, assuming they aren’t placed on waivers today. Price’s deal is set to become guaranteed for about $329K while Wayne Ellington is in line for a nearly $316K guarantee, as shown on our Schedule of Contract Guarantee Dates and as originally reported by Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Ellington is on an indefinite leave from the team as he mourns the murder of his father.
- The team had hoped Steve Nash would serve as a mentor and de facto coach for the young players on the Lakers, but Nash’s lack of presence at the team’s facilities has dampened that scenario, writes Bill Oram of the Orange County Register. Oram adds that Scott can’t even get Nash to return a phone call. “If my coach would have called me,” Scott said, “I definitely would have called him back.” Scott later clarified that he is not upset with Nash. “I’ll try him again when I get some more free time tomorrow or Monday or something like that,” Scott said. “I know he’s probably going through a tough time as far as trying to adjust to life without basketball at this particular point.” Nash was ruled out for the 2014/15 season and while many believe he has already played his last game in the NBA, he is technically not retired.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Minor Moves: Jerrett, Celtics, Johnson
The D-League season is underway, and with it will come a fast pace of assignments and recalls from NBA teams. We’ll be keeping track of those moves throughout the season in the post linked here and noting each transaction within our regular coverage. There are a pair of D-League notes and a move from overseas this afternoon amid our look at the latest news involving NBA players and minor league teams.
- The Thunder recalled Grant Jerrett from the D-League today, the team announced via press release, just hours after sending him down to their affiliate for a practice. Coach Scott Brooks explained that the Thunder have been engaging merely in film study and walkthroughs of late, so the team wanted to allow him to engage in a full practice as he continues to recover from left ankle surgery, as Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman details (All four Twitter links).
- The Celtics have assigned James Young and Dwight Powell the the Maine Red Claws, their D-League affiliate, the team announced. Young has appeared in two contests for Boston this season, averaging 1.7 points and 1.2 rebounds in nine minutes per game. Powell has seen less than a minute’s worth of regular season action after logging 1.7 PPG and 1.2 RPG in six preseason appearances.
- Heat camp invitee Chris Johnson is signing with China’s Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls, a source tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Johnson is a three-year NBA veteran center who last saw regular season action with the Timberwolves in 2012/13. He’s not to be confused with swingman Chris Johnson, whom the Sixers waived this afternoon.
Sixers Sign Robert Covington, Waive Johnson
2:35pm: The deal with Covington is official, the team announced in a press release. Johnson has also been waived, the team relayed in the same announcement.
SATURDAY, 11:50am: The Sixers are going to waive Chris Johnson to make room for Covington, who is expected to join the team today, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Twitter link).
12:27pm: Covington will make $1MM this year, Pick writes in a full piece for Basketball Insiders.
THURSDAY, 12:17pm: The value of the contract will be $4.2MM, Pick tweets. That’s slightly more than the $3,925,706 that a four-year minimum-salary contract would entail for the one-year veteran if he signed today.
WEDNESDAY, 8:19am: It’ll be a four-year pact, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 7:08pm: The Sixers are intending to sign free agent Robert Covington this week, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Covington came close to inking a deal with the Sixers earlier, but decided to take the D-League route to begin the season. He was selected first overall by the Grand Rapids Drive in this year’s NBA D-League draft.
Covington spent much of last season with Houston’s D-League affiliate despite being on the team’s NBA roster the entire year. He earned himself a trip to the D-League’s All-Star game by averaging 23.2 PPG and 9.2 RPG in 34.1 minutes per game in 42 D-League appearances. He spent the preseason on Houston’s roster, though he was away from the team for weeks mulling offers to play in Europe before being waived.
Philadelphia had recently waived the injured Malcolm Thomas in order to clear a roster slot to ink Drew Gordon to a multi-year deal. With the Sixers current roster count sitting at the regular season maximum of 15 players, a corresponding move would need to be made in order to accommodate the addition of Covington. It’s unclear who the odd man out will be, but one of the non-guaranteed deals for Brandon Davies, Chris Johnson, Henry Sims, or Hollis Thompson seem likely candidates, though that is just my speculation.
And-Ones: Holiday, D-League, Jerrett, Kuzmic
LeBron James wasn’t the only player to reach a career scoring milestone last night as Tim Duncan passed the 25,000 point mark for his career, becoming the 19th player ever to do so. Duncan is also only the second player ever to reach 25,000 points, 14,000 rebounds and 2,500 blocks, with the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar being the other. So congratulations go out to the “Big Fundamental” on this amazing achievement.
Here are more doings from around the league:
- Justin Holiday and Ognjen Kuzmic have been recalled from the D-League, the Warriors have announced. The pair helped lead Santa Cruz to a 122-95 season-opening victory over the Los Angeles D-Fenders last night. Holiday scored a team-high 26 points and also added six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal in 36 minutes. Kuzmic totaled six points, a team-high 14 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal in 29 minutes of action.
- The Thunder have assigned Grant Jerrett to the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA D-League, the team has announced. Jerrett appeared in 27 games last season for the Blue, averaging 15.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in 29.3 minutes per game. He hasn’t seen any NBA action thus far this season.
- The NBA D-League season began last night and the crew over at SB Nation previewed 10 of the league’s teams including the Sioux Falls Skyforce (Heat), Grand Rapids Drive (Pistons), Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors), Canton Charge (Cavs), and Reno Bighorns (Kings).
And-Ones: Love, Union, Sterling
Kevin Love earlier today dismissed a report linking him to the Lakers, and he also told reporters Friday that his offseason visit to Boston wasn’t a fact-finding mission to see if he’d like to play for the Celtics, notes Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.
“The fact is, my agent [Jeff Schwartz] is a big Red Sox fan,” Love said. “I’d been planning on that for a long time to come in and check out not only the city, but a Red Sox game and we had a great time and we plan on coming back. It’s tough because I wasn’t a free agent last summer. I have potential to be a free agent this summer or next. It’s just one of those things. It’s obviously a tremendous city. People love it here [in Boston]. Basketball and sports in general are huge here, but it’s been fantastic being a part of the Cavaliers now. We have a team that’s formidable, has a big presence and we see a lot of you guys [in the media] on a daily basis.”
Love makes it clear that he has affection for Boston, but that it doesn’t necessarily mean he wants to play there. Here’s more from around the league:
- Union executive director Michele Roberts explains why she doesn’t think eliminating maximum salaries would hurt the players who aren’t making the max in the full text of her interview with Pablo S. Torre of ESPN The Magazine. Snippets of their Q&A that ESPN released earlier this week caused a stir and prompted a response from commissioner Adam Silver. The full interview reveals that Roberts is having regular talks with Silver and that players have expressed their support for a team in Europe.
- Donald Sterling named Adam Silver, David Stern and former Clippers interim CEO Dick Parsons among 18 witnesses he may call to the stand in a trial to resolve his $1 billion federal lawsuit against the NBA, reports Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. A recent court filing revealed that Sterling lawyer Maxwell Blecher had begun talks with the NBA about a possible dismissal of the suit, but Blecher has withdrawn from representing Sterling, Fenno writes. Blecher tells Fenno that he’s unaware if any such talks are currently proceeding.
- It’s “widely anticipated” that the NBA and the D-League will someday implement contracts that will allow players on NBA rosters to be paid D-League salaries while on D-League assignment, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Currently, all players on D-League assignment continue to draw their NBA salaries, which are at least some 20 times greater than the maximum $25,500 D-League salary.
Warriors Notes: Nedovic, Jackson, D-League
Golden State has an open roster spot, but it doesn’t appear as though the Warriors are in a rush to fill it. They avoided what would have been a three-game losing streak with Thursday’s win over the Nets, yet six of their next eight games are on the road, including four in the Eastern Time Zone. While we wait to see if the team calls for reinforcements during that stretch, here more from by the Bay:
- The Warriors waived Nemanja Nedovic this week in part because they wanted to reap savings on his roughly $1.104MM guaranteed salary for this season, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group, which suggests Golden State had set-off rights in mind. Those rights would allow the Warriors to avoid paying one half the difference between Nedovic’s new salary with Valencia of Spain and $816,482, which is the NBA minimum salary for a one-year veteran. It’s still unclear how much Nedovic will make on his Spanish deal.
- Mark Jackson‘s tenure as Warriors coach ended acrimoniously this spring, but co-owner Joe Lacob doesn’t regret having hired him in 2011, as Lacob tells Bay Area News Group columnist Marcus Thompson. “Mark Jackson was a great hire,” Lacob said. “I know it’s hard for people to understand how we can change coaches when a coach won 51 games. But you have to look at it from our perspective: he did his job. I’m proud of the fact that we had Mark Jackson as a coach. And I like Mark Jackson, as a person and as a coach. It’s just that I felt, we felt, we needed to go to the next stage, and we felt if we do it in a different way, it would be better.”
- Justin Holiday and Ognjen Kuzmic are headed on D-League assignment, the Warriors announced. Golden State frequently sent Kuzmic to the Santa Cruz Warriors last year, when he appeared in 28 D-League games and only 20 NBA contests.
Western Notes: Spurs, Centers, Suns, Jazz
Kobe Bryant hasn’t been nearly as willing to sacrifice money for the betterment of his team the way Tim Duncan has. Still, with the Lakers raking in $100.1MM in basketball-related revenue last season, an amount that far outstrips any other team in the league, USA Today’s Sam Amick argues that Bryant is simply more valuable to his team, in a financial sense, than Duncan is to the Spurs. San Antonio netted $26.1MM from their basketball operations last season, a source tells Amick. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Big men still command attention on the market even in an era of small-ball, and next summer’s free agent class figures to see plenty of centers garner top dollar, as Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com examines in an Insider-only piece. The majority of the bigs he spotlights are on Western Conference teams, including Marc Gasol, Omer Asik, Robin Lopez and Tyson Chandler.
- The Suns have assigned 2014 first-round picks Tyler Ennis and T.J. Warren to the D-League, the team announced (on Twitter). Suns coach Jeff Hornacek indicated that the rookies won’t stay with the Bakersfield Jam for long, and it’s likely they return to the big club in time for an East Coast road trip that begins Monday in Boston, according to Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic (Twitter links).
- Toure’ Murry is headed on D-League assignment from the Jazz, the team announced. Murry has yet to appear in a game for Utah after signing as a free agent this past summer. We’ll be keeping track of D-League assignments and recalls throughout this season in this post.
2014/15 D-League Assignments, Recalls
The relationship between the NBA and the D-League continues to deepen, and this year, it will take on an unprecedented dynamic. A record 17 NBA teams have one-to-one D-League affiliates, but there are only 18 D-League teams. That means 13 NBA teams will share a single D-League club, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. There are new rules in place to allow that baker’s dozen of NBA teams to make D-League assignments as they have in the past, but the franchises with one-to-one affiliates will almost certainly make greater use of the NBA’s minor league.
Players assigned to and recalled from the D-League differ from those who receive D-League “call-ups.” A “call-up” happens when a player on a D-League contract signs a new contract with an NBA team. Those whom NBA teams assign and recall are already under contract with NBA teams, and they remain on NBA rosters even while they toil on the farm team. I outlined the rules governing D-League assignments earlier this week, and last year teams took advantage of those guidelines to make several dozen moves. Chances are that this season we’ll see just as many, if not more, given the continued rise of one-to-one affiliates.
NBA teams have already begun to assign and recall players to the D-League even though the D-League’s regular season has yet to begin. We’ll use this space to track all of this year’s assignments and recalls, team by team, throughout the season. You can find this page, which we’ll update throughout the season, anytime on the right sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features.”
Here are the NBA’s D-League assignments and recalls for 2014/15:
Atlanta Hawks
- November 20th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled November 23rd)
- November 28th: Assigned John Jenkins (Recalled December 8th)
- November 28th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled December 6th)
- December 6th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 8th)
- December 8th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled December 22nd)
- December 19th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 20th)
- December 28th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled December 29th)
- December 30th: Assigned John Jenkins (Recalled January 20th)
- December 30th: Assigned Adreian Payne (Recalled January 12th)
- February 7th: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled February 8th)
- March 1st: Assigned Mike Muscala (Recalled March 2nd)
Boston Celtics
- November 9th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled November 10th)
- November 15th: Assigned James Young (Recalled November 17th)
- November 15th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled November 17th)
- November 23rd: Assigned James Young (Recalled November 24th)
- December 4th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled December 5th)
- December 4th: Assigned James Young (Recalled December 5th)
- December 4th: Assigned Marcus Smart (Recalled December 5th)
- December 6th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled December 7th)
- December 6th: Assigned James Young (Recalled December 7th)
- December 9th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled December 11th)
- December 9th: Assigned James Young (Recalled December 11th)
- December 28th: Assigned James Young (Recalled December 29th)
- December 31st: Assigned James Young (Recalled January 1st)
- January 3rd: Assigned James Young (Recalled January 5th)
- January 23rd: Assigned Andre Dawkins* (Recalled January 29th)
- January 30th: Assigned Andre Dawkins (Recalled February 1st)
- January 31st: Assigned James Young (Recalled February 1st)
- February 5th: Assigned Andre Dawkins (Recalled February 10th)
- February 5th: Assigned Phil Pressey (Recalled February 6th)
- March 17th: Assigned James Young (Recalled March 21st)
- March 24th: Assigned James Young (Recalled April 12th)
- April 6th: Assigned Chris Babb (Recalled April 12th)
*Note: Dawkins had one previous assignment as a member of the Heat.
Brooklyn Nets
- January 1st: Assigned Markel Brown (Recalled January 8th)
- January 1st: Assigned Cory Jefferson (Recalled January 8th)
Charlotte Hornets
- December 28th: Assigned Noah Vonleh (Recalled December 31st)
- December 28th: Assigned Jeffery Taylor (Recalled January 9th)
Cleveland Cavaliers
- November 14th: Assigned Alex Kirk (Recalled November 17th)
- November 19th: Assigned Alex Kirk (Recalled November 24th)
- November 30th: Assigned Alex Kirk (Recalled December 1st)
- December 4th: Assigned Alex Kirk (Recalled December 21st)
- January 20th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled January 21st)
- January 24th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled January 25th)
- January 27th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled January 28th)
- January 29th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled February 2nd)
- February 5th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled February 8th)
- February 12th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled February 18th)
- March 20th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled March 23rd)
- March 31st: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled April 1st)
- April 3rd: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled April 10th)
- April 13th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled April 15th)
- April 18th: Assigned Joe Harris (Recalled April 20th)
Dallas Mavericks
- November 20th: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled November 24th)
- November 27th: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled December 4th)
- December 5th: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled December 6th)
- December 8th: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled December 12th)
- December 18th: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled December 20th)
- December 27th: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled December 28th)
- December 27th: Assigned Dwight Powell* (Recalled December 28th)
- January 3rd: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled January 6th)
- January 9th: Assigned Ricky Ledo (Recalled February 2nd)
- March 7th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled March 8th)
- March 11th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled March 12th)
- March 12th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled March 13th)
- March 14th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled March 15th)
- March 21st: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled March 23rd)
- March 25th: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled March 26th)
- April 3rd: Assigned Dwight Powell (Recalled April 4th)
*Note: Powell had five previous assignments as a member of the Celtics.
Denver Nuggets
- January 20th: Assigned Erick Green (Recalled January 25th)
Detroit Pistons
- 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)
Golden State Warriors
- 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)
Houston Rockets
- 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)
Indiana Pacers
- January 27th: Assigned Shayne Whittington (Recalled January 30th)
- April 8th: Assigned Shayne Whittington
Los Angeles Clippers
- January 8th: Assigned C.J. Wilcox (Recalled January 21st)
Los Angeles Lakers
- 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)
Memphis Grizzlies
- November 8th: Assigned Jordan Adams (Recalled November 10th)
- November 8th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (Recalled November 10th)
- November 25th: Assigned Jordan Adams (Recalled December 8th)
- December 1st: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (Recalled December 3rd)
- December 12th: Assigned Jordan Adams (Recalled December 21st)
- December 19th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (Recalled December 21st)
- January 14th: Recalled Russ Smith (Originally assigned by Pelicans prior to being traded)
- January 20th: Assigned Jordan Adams (Recalled January 26th)
- January 20th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (Recalled February 10th)
- January 20th: Assigned Russ Smith (Recalled February 10th)
- February 7th: Assigned Jordan Adams (Recalled February 8th)
- February 22nd: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (Recalled March 12th)
- February 22nd: Assigned Russ Smith (Recalled March 12th)
- March 17th: Assigned Jarnell Stokes (Recalled March 30th)
- March 24th: Assigned Russ Smith (Recalled March 30th)
Miami Heat
- December 4th: Assigned Andre Dawkins (Recalled December 21st)
- December 13th: Assigned Hassan Whiteside (Recalled December 15th)
- December 13th: Assigned Shabazz Napier (Recalled December 15th)
- December 30th: Assigned Shabazz Napier (Recalled January 6th)
- March 4th: Assigned Zoran Dragic (Recalled March 15th)
New Orleans Pelicans
- December 5th: Assigned Russ Smith (Recalled December 8th)
- December 11th: Assigned Russ Smith (Recalled December 20th)
- January 9th: Assigned Russ Smith (Traded to the Grizzlies on January 12th)
New York Knicks
- January 30th: Assigned Cleanthony Early (Recalled February 1st)
- February 5th: Assigned Cleanthony Early (Recalled February 7th)
Oklahoma City Thunder
- November 15th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled November 15th)
- November 18th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled November 20th)
- November 30th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled December 2nd)
- November 30th: Assigned Mitch McGary (Recalled December 2nd)
- December 4th: Assigned Mitch McGary (Recalled December 7th)
- December 10th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled December 13th)
- December 10th: Assigned Mitch McGary (Recalled December 13th)
- December 20th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled December 21st)
- January 9th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled January 11th)
- January 13th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled January 14th)
- January 23rd: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled January 26th)
- February 3rd: Assigned Mitch McGary (Recalled February 8th)
Orlando Magic
- December 26th: Assigned Devyn Marble (Recalled January 1st)
- February 2nd: Assigned Devyn Marble (Recalled February 7th)
- February 17th: Assigned Devyn Marble (Recalled February 21st)
Philadelphia 76ers
- November 21st: Assigned JaKarr Sampson (Recalled November 24th)
Phoenix Suns
- November 13th: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled November 17th)
- November 13th: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled November 17th)
- December 25th: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled December 31st)
- December 25th: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled December 31st)
- December 25th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled December 31st)
- January 14th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled January 20th)
- January 22nd: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled January 25th)
- January 22nd: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled January 25th)
- January 29th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled February 1st)
- January 29th: Assigned Reggie Bullock (Recalled February 1st)
- February 4th: Assigned Tyler Ennis (Recalled February 7th)
- February 4th: Assigned T.J. Warren (Recalled February 7th)
- February 7th: Assigned Archie Goodwin (Recalled February 11th)
- February 7th: Assigned Reggie Bullock (Recalled February 11th)
Sacramento Kings
- November 4th: Assigned Eric Moreland (Recalled November 17th)
- November 21st: Assigned Eric Moreland (Recalled November 25th)
- November 28th: Assigned Eric Moreland (Recalled November 30th)
- December 12th: Assigned Eric Moreland (Recalled December 13th)
- December 14th: Assigned Eric Moreland (Recalled December 16th)
San Antonio Spurs
- November 23rd: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled November 24th)
- January 20th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled February 20th)
- February 21st: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled March 9th)
- March 12th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled March 16th)
- March 26th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled April 8th)
- April 11th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled April 12th)
- April 17th: Assigned Kyle Anderson (Recalled April 22nd)
Toronto Raptors
- December 25th: Assigned Bruno Caboclo (Recalled January 1st)
- February 18th: Assigned Bruno Caboclo (Recalled March 8th)
- March 12th: Assigned Lucas Nogueira (Recalled March 16th)
- March 17th: Assigned Lucas Nogueira (Recalled March 26th)
Utah Jazz
- November 13th: Assigned Toure’ Murry (Recalled December 2nd)
- December 31st: Assigned Toure’ Murry (Recalled January 3rd)
- February 24th: Assigned Ian Clark (Recalled March 17th)
- March 10th: Assigned Grant Jerrett* (Recalled March 19th)
- March 26th: Assigned Grant Jerrett (Recalled April 6th)
*Note: Jerrett had eight previous assignments as a member of the Thunder.
Washington Wizards
- November 20th: Assigned Glen Rice Jr. (Waived on January 7th)
D-League Assignments
The shuttling of players back and forth from the D-League to the NBA has begun even though the D-League regular season has yet to start, and it only figures to intensify once the season begins for real on the NBA’s junior circuit. NBA teams have been allowed to make an unlimited number of D-League assignments the past two years, and they’ve taken full advantage.
D-League teams have no shortage of ways to stock their rosters. The eight-round D-League draft at the beginning of the month filled plenty of slots, while NBA teams kept the D-League rights to a combined 47 players they cut during the preseason, taking advantage of expanded leeway to do so. Most first-time D-Leaguers entering the league after its draft must go through waivers, allowing interested affiliates to submit claims, but D-League teams are allowed to make outright signings of the players they find through preseason tryout camps. Yet perhaps the most noteworthy players to pass through the D-League come via NBA assignment.
The players whom NBA teams assign to the D-League aren’t quite like other D-Leaguers. NBA players receive their full salaries while on D-League assignment, whereas the D-Leaguers without an NBA contract receive paltry annual earnings that top out at around $26K. Still, a D-League assignment could wind up costing an NBA player, since performance in the D-League doesn’t count toward any incentive clauses built into an NBA contract. So, for instance, say Andrew Bogut is injured at some point this season, and he plays a few rehab games with Golden State’s D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. None of the numbers Bogut might put up in Santa Cruz would count toward the performance incentives built into his deal with the big club.
Of course, Bogut would be a rare case as a long-tenured NBA player on a D-League assignment. Most NBA players in the D-League have fewer than three years of experience. That’s in part because NBA teams want to give their young players some extra seasoning, as the “D” in D-League stands for development, after all. Yet players in their first, second or third NBA seasons are the only ones whom NBA teams can unilaterally send down to the D-League. Otherwise, they must get the consent of the union as well as the player. Still, it happens on occasion, as with Rajon Rondo‘s brief D-League assignment last year, one that lasted less than two hours.
Most players on D-League assignment spend more time with the farm team than Rondo did. Once a player has been assigned to the D-League, he can remain there indefinitely, and lengthy stints are not uncommon. The Rockets sent Robert Covington to the D-League on November 7th last year, and he didn’t return to Houston until January 18th. Still, Covington later went on multiple D-League assignments that lasted only a day or less. The Rockets are one of 17 NBA teams that either own their D-League teams outright or operate the basketball operations of their affiliates in “hybrid” partnerships with local ownership groups. Teams that have these arrangements can set up a unified system in which the D-League club runs the same offensive and defensive schemes and coaches dole out playing time based on what’s best for the parent club. That gives these NBA teams an advantage, so it’s no surprise that a growing number of them are striking up one-to-one affiliations — as recently as 2012/13, only 11 teams had such an arrangement.
That leaves the other 13 NBA teams to share just one D-League squad, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, which will make for a tight squeeze. D-League teams can expand their rosters from 10 to 12 to accept players on assignment from the NBA, but no D-League team may accept more than four players on assignment, or two at any one position, at the same time. If Fort Wayne is at those maximums and one of its 13 NBA parents wants to assign a player, other D-League teams may volunteer to accept the player. The NBA team making the assignment can choose from those clubs if there are multiple volunteers, but if no D-League team raises its hand, the D-League will randomly choose one of its teams to accept the player.
For more on the D-League, check out our list of affiliations for this year and bookmark https://www.hoopsrumors.com/nba-d-league/ to track the latest news about NBA players in the D-League.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Versions of this post were initially published on November 7th, 2012 and November 2nd, 2013.