International/D-League Updates: Thursday
Here are a few of the latest non-NBA links, from the D-League and overseas:
- Italy's Pallacanestro Cantu is still interested in signing Sundiata Gaines, but the point guard, who was waived in October by the Pacers, has also received an offer from a Chinese team, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
- We heard yesterday that Spain's Lagun Aro was closing in on a deal with Jermaine Taylor, and today the team made the signing official (as translated by Sportando). Taylor had been in camp with the Timberwolves.
- At his introductory press conference with the Melbourne Tigers, Jonny Flynn explained that he wanted to sign where he'd have the "best chance to play," as Wendell Maxey of Ridiculous Upside writes.
- Celtics coach Doc Rivers is rooting for JaJuan Johnson, the former Celtic who was the first overall pick in last week's D-League draft. "I know he has the talent, I’ll put it that way," said Rivers, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. "I told him that this summer. He’s going to either have to pull it out of himself, or it’ll be there. But I do believe that he has NBA talent. And I hope he makes it."
- Johnson, Andrew Goudelock, and Justin Harper, the top three picks in the D-League draft, spoke to HoopsWorld about making the most of their time in the D-League.
- If former Spur James Anderson can improve his long-range jumper with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, don't expect him to be in the D-League for long, says Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside.
D-League Assignment Rules
With Tyler Honeycutt today becoming the first NBA player to be assigned to the D-League this year, it's an appropriate time to outline the rules regarding D-League assignments, some of which change this year under the new CBA. Previously, only first- and second-year players could be sent down without their consent, and no one could be assigned more than three times a season. This year, teams may also send third-year players to the D-League without their permission, and there is no limit on the number of times a player can be assigned. Veterans with more experience can be sent down, too, as long as they sign off on it. Teams may elect to send their longer-tenured players down for a rehab assignment, for example.
Rules that remain unchanged include:
- There is no limit to the length of an assignment.
- NBA players receive their full salaries while on D-League assignment, but their performances don't count toward any contractual incentive clauses they may have.
- The 10-man D-League rosters may be expanded to 12 to fit NBA assignees on the team. NBA teams who share their affiliates with other teams are allowed to assign their players to another D-League team if their affiliate's roster is full.
The Spurs, Warriors, Thunder, Lakers, Cavaliers and Mavericks all own their D-League affiliates. A handful of other NBA franchises are engaged in a "hybrid partnership" in which the D-League team runs the business operation itself while the NBA parent club takes care of the basketball side. The Celtics, Rockets, Nets, Knicks and Trail Blazers all have this kind of arrangement. The 11 teams that either own their affiliates or control basketball operations have an advantage over the rest of the league, since they can govern how much playing time their assignees receive and match their affiliate's style of play with their own.
For more on the D-League, check out our list of affiliations for this year, our list of last year's D-League assignments and recalls, 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.
Kings Assign Tyler Honeycutt To D-League
The Kings are making this year's first D-League assignment, as they've announced via press release that they're sending Tyler Honeycutt to the Reno Bighorns tomorrow. Honeycutt, whom the Kings drafted with the 35th overall pick in 2011, spent 10 games with Reno last season, almost as many as the 15 games he played with the big club in Sacramento. The move comes as little surprise, since Kings coach Keith Smart said last month he wanted to have Honeycutt go through training camp with the Bighorns, which begins in a few days, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
The 6'8" small forward from UCLA has yet to appear in a regular season game for the Kings this year, and got in only one of the team's preseason contests, thanks in part to a stress fracture in his right fibula. He saw only 88 total minutes for Sacramento last season, and in 12.8 minutes per game at Reno, he averaged 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds. Honeycutt is on a fully guaranteed contract for about $810K this season, with another partially guaranteed year on the deal for 2013/14.
Honeycutt is available for tonight's game against the Pistons, but will report to the Bighorns by Friday, the team says.
Odds & Ends: Harden, ’13 Draft, Nuggets, Hudson
As we prepare for a jam-packed night of NBA games, with all but four teams in action, let's round up a few of today's links that have fallen through the cracks until now….
- John Rohde of the Oklahoman calls out James Harden for comments he made to Yahoo! Sports about being disappointed that the Thunder only gave him an hour to consider their final extension offer.
- We're still about seven and a half months from 2013's NBA draft, but that didn't stop Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports from updating his board with his latest mock draft.
- Another draft guru, ESPN.com's Chad Ford, fielded readers' questions about college prospects and NBA storylines in a chat this afternoon.
- Losing three-point threats like Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, and Rudy Fernandez could be one factor contributing to the Nuggets' poor start, writes John Hollinger in an Insider piece at ESPN.com.
- Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside examines Troy Hudson's NBA comeback attempt, which sees the 36-year-old headed to camp with the D-League's Sioux Falls Skyforce.
D-League Draftees With NBA Experience
The D-League held its annual draft over the weekend, with the league's 16 teams selecting eight rounds worth of players. The draft isn't the only way D-League rosters are filled out — players from last year's rosters can be brought back, NBA clubs can assign players to their respective D-League affiliates, and players that participated in open tryouts can be invited to camp.
For players who were recently cut from NBA rosters and whose D-League rights weren't retained, however, the draft is their best chance of earning a spot on a D-League squad. A number of players that have seen regular-season action in the NBA were selected on Friday night, as were a handful of players that were a part of NBA training camp rosters this October.
Here are the former NBA players who were picked in the D-League draft, with their draft slot in parentheses:
- JaJuan Johnson, Fort Wayne Mad Ants (1)
- Andrew Goudelock, Sioux Falls Skyforce (2)
- Justin Harper, Idaho Stampede (3)
- Shelvin Mack, Maine Red Claws (4)
- Christian Eyenga, Texas Legends (8)
- Travis Leslie, Santa Cruz Warriors (13)
- Sean Singletary, Texas Legends (24)
- Dontell Jefferson, Reno Bighorns (85)
And here are the players who participated in training camp with an NBA team last month and were selected in the D-League draft. The player's overall draft position is noted in parentheses, with the NBA team that invited him to camp listed as well:
- Chris Johnson, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (7): Clippers, Magic
- D'Aundray Brown, Canton Charge (10): Cavaliers
- Demonte Harper, Reno Bighorns (21): Trail Blazers
- Willie Reed, Springfield Armor (30): Kings
- Hank Thorns, Idaho Stampede (51): Clippers
- Phil Jones, Los Angeles D-Fenders (80): Timberwolves
- Vance Cooksey, Iowa Energy (89): Bulls
For these players, being drafted by a D-League club doesn't necessarily mean they'll spend all season with that team. They are still essentially NBA free agents, and can be signed by any NBA team, assuming that club is willing to use one of its 15 roster spots.
Pacific Rumors: Rush, Warriors, Brown, Goudelock
The early signs didn’t appear positive after Brandon Rush suffered a gruesome injury last night, as Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group writes, and agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed the bad news, passing along word that Rush tore his ACL, tweets Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chroncle. Missing a significant amount of time figures to disrupt Rush’s plan to decline the $4MM option on the last year of his contract next summer. Rush was set on continuing his impressive play from last season and parlaying it into a longer, more lucrative contract in 2013, Thompson reveals. There’s more on what the next step could be for the Golden State, as well as other notes out of the Pacific this afternoon.
- The torn left ACL will keep Rush out for the season, according to Simmons, who suggests Josh Howard, Mickael Pietrus and Maurice Evans as possible replacements.
Earlier updates:
- The Warriors could request a $2MM disabled player exception if Rush is ruled out for the rest of the season, but fellow Bay Area News Group scribe Tim Kawakami points out the Warriors may pass on that option, since they’re already above the luxury tax threshold (Twitter link).
- It might be premature to suggest Mike Brown is on his way out of the Lakers coaching job, but Zach Harper of CBSSports.com notices that Brown is already showing signs of desperation.
- Former Lakers guard Andrew Goudelock was taken second in last night’s D-League draft, after JaJuan Johnson, but Ridiculous Upside’s Gino Pilato, in handing out draft grades for every D-League team, calls him “the best recent former NBA talent” in the draft.
- Suns rookie point guard Kendall Marshall doesn’t figure to see much playing time, and with practice time much less plentiful in the regular season than it was in training camp, he and assistant coach Lindsey Hunter are fitting in some one-on-one instruction, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic documents.
- Harper argues that while Clippers offer plenty of flash, their retooled offseason roster still has too many holes.
Johnson, Goudelock, Mack Taken In D-League Draft
The NBA D-League held its annual draft on Friday. Former Celtics forward JaJuan Johnson, traded to the Rockets this summer and waived during training camp, was drafted first overall by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Other players with NBA experience taken in the first round include former Lakers guard Andrew Goudelock, former Wizards guard Shelvin Mack, and former Clippers guard Travis Leslie.
Be sure to check out the official D-League site for the complete draft recap.
D-League Links: Draft, Cavs, Dentmon, Head
The annual NBA D-League draft takes place tonight, as the league's 16 teams look to stock up their rosters for the coming season. Former first-round pick JaJuan Johnson is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, but there are plenty of familiar names among the list of players eligible to be drafted. Let's round up a few D-League updates as the draft approaches….
- The D-League's official site has the complete list of draft-eligible players, with its picks for the top 25 prospects in bold.
- As we've discussed in previous posts, NBA teams are permitted to retain the rights to three camp invitees and assign them to their D-League affiliates. For instance, as Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal tweets, the Cavaliers protected the rights to Micheal Eric, Kevin Jones, and Kevin Anderson. These players are ineligible to be drafted by a rival team tonight, though they could still be signed by another NBA team, if the club was willing to use one of its 15-man roster spots.
- D-League teams have announced their camp invitees in advance of the draft, as Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside writes. Among the notable names: Justin Dentmon and Luther Head of the Austin Toros, Seth Tarver of the Idaho Stampede, Troy Hudson and Keith Benson of the Sioux Falls Skyforce, and D.J. Kennedy of the Erie BayHawks.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Rondo, Holiday, Knicks
Several of the league's young stars were able to hammer out extensions prior to the Halloween deadline, including James Harden, Taj Gibson, DeMar DeRozan, Stephen Curry, Ty Lawson, and Jrue Holiday. Where does Rajon Rondo's lucrative extension – inked in 2009 – stack up against the recent deals? More on that, plus other news out of the Atlantic…
- Rich Levine of CSNNE.com writes that the Celtics now look exceptionally smart for locking down Rondo for $55MM over five years. Curry, Lawson, and Holiday all received hefty four-year deals ($44MM, $48MM, $41MM, respectively) that make Rondo's deal look like a bargain. The one-guard is now entering year three of his five-year pact, a contract that has been key to the C's continued success.
- Speaking of Holiday, the Sixers guard was surprised that his agent and the team were able to hammer out an extension seven minutes before the midnight deadline, writes Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com. The deal marked a major milestone for Holiday but also for General Manager Tony DiLeo as he completed his first significant deal in his new position.
- The Knicks waived training camp invitees Mychel Thompson, Henry Sims, John Shurna, and Oscar Bellfield, but they'll be able to keep a close eye on three of them in the D-League, writes Keith Schlosser of KnicksJournal. Thompson, Sims, and Bellfield will join the BayHawks affiliate, leaving the sharpshooting Shurna on the outside for the time being. Shurna, who drew attention for having a similar offensive skillset to Steve Novak, will likely be on the Knicks' radar as well.
Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Smith, D-League, Pippen
Earlier this week, we heard that there were a number of teams that at least touched base with the Thunder about James Harden before he was traded to the Rockets. We can add the Bobcats to that list as well, as owner Michael Jordan tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that his team "made a couple calls" about Harden's availability. Jordan, who says he's "in it for the long haul" as Bobcats owner, adds that he believes Charlotte can still be an attractive destination for free agents down the road, though he acknowledges the team needs to get its house in order first.
Here are a few more notes from around the NBA, as the Thunder and Spurs prepare for the only game on tonight's schedule:
- On the heels of some surprising contract extensions, Tom Ziller of SBNation.com shares his five rules for teams thinking about extending players.
- Nolan Smith tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he understands the Blazers' cap situation and has no problem with the team's decision to turn down his 2013/14 option, adding that he views it as a "blessing in disguise" (Twitter links).
- A few intriguing names will be in camp with the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics' D-League affiliate, as Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. Xavier Silas, Micah Downs, Chris Wright, and Chamberlain Oguchi are among the invitees.
- Nets GM Billy King tells Newsday's Roderick Boone that one of the lessons he learned at his previous job in Philadelphia: "At the end, I was just trying to keep my job. Once you start trying to keep your job and not do it, it's not going to work."
- The Bulls have appointed Scottie Pippen a Senior Advisor to the President and COO of the team, according to an official release.