NBA G League Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Jason Terry Named Coach Of Nuggets’ G League Affiliate

August 19th, 2021 at 6:56pm CST by Luke Adams

6:56pm: The Nuggets have officially hired Terry as the Grand Rapids Gold head coach, according to a team press release.

2:39pm: Former NBA guard Jason Terry is finalizing a deal to coach the Nuggets‘ new G League affiliate, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Terry, a former NBA champion and Sixth Man of the Year winner, last played in the NBA in 2018. He joined the Texas Legends – Dallas’ G League affiliate – as an assistant general manager in 2019, then left the team to become an assistant coach at his alma mater of Arizona for the 2020/21 season.

Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, who reported in June that Terry was in the mix for an assistant role on Jason Kidd‘s coaching staff, tweets that Terry spent some time in Las Vegas observing the Mavericks’ coaches and weighing the possibility of joining the team as an assistant. However, it seems Terry determined that becoming a head coach at the G League level will move him closer to his goal of eventually coaching an NBA team, notes Townsend.

The Nuggets, who had previously been one of the only NBA teams without an NBAGL affiliate, entered a partnership with the Grand Rapids Drive earlier in 2021 and rebranded the franchise, which will now be known as the Grand Rapids Gold.

Since the Gold are based in Michigan, it won’t be easy for the Nuggets to quickly shuttle players back and forth between Denver and Grand Rapids. But it will give the franchise an opportunity to assign players to the G League without having to worry about how another team’s affiliate will use and develop them.

Central Notes: Lowe, Ball, DeRozan, Mad Ants

August 13th, 2021 at 5:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sidney Lowe is joining the Cavaliers’ staff as an assistant, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Lowe, 61, was most recently on the Pistons’ staff. Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff lost an assistant when Lindsay Gottlieb left the organization to become the women’s head coach at USC. Lowe has coached in the league for 30 years.

We have more on the Central Division:

The sign-and-trade with the Pelicans brought Lonzo Ball to an organization that wanted him — the Bulls. Acquired in a sign-and-trade, Ball appreciates how his new bosses feel about him, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. “Just me personally, I feel like they wanted me,” he said. “And I want to play for someone that wants me to play for them. So that was attractive.’’
When DeMar DeRozan saw that Bulls were bringing in Ball, they didn’t need to do a hard sell to convince him to join the team, Cowley notes in the same story. DeRozan also came aboard in a sign-and-trade. “You could see what they were working toward, and it was something I wanted to be a part of,’ he said. “It wasn’t too much of a pitch that they had to make after that.’’
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate, will play nine games in Indianapolis next season, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files reports. The Mad Ants will also play 15 games on their home court. Those games in Indiana will make it easier for the Pacers to shuttle players back and forth between the NBA and the G League, if necessary.

Pacific Notes: Westbrook, Simon, Poole, Jackson, Leonard

August 12th, 2021 at 8:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers‘ addition of Russell Westbrook should ease the burden on LeBron James as a playmaker and scorer. The newest Laker sees that as his main role with the team, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.

“Bron is one of the best players to play this game, and his ability to be able to kind of do everything on the floor allows me to be able to just figure it out,” Westbrook said. “I’m coming to a championship-caliber team and my job is to make sure that I’m able to make his game easier for him, and I’ll find ways to do that throughout the game.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Lakers are negotiating with Miles Simon to become the head coach of their G League team, the South Bay Lakers, ESPN’s Zach Lowe tweets. Simon would also retain a role on Frank Vogel‘s staff, Lowe adds.
The Warriors didn’t make a splashy move for a veteran guard and they’re looking at Jordan Poole to play a prominent role, particularly until Klay Thompson is ready to return to the starting lineup. according to Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Being able to bring someone back of that type of caliber, it’s going to separate us,” Poole said of Thompson. “We don’t want to rush him back. Whenever he’s healthy and able to benefit, we will jump to another level as a team.” Poole, who averaged 12 PPG last season, is entering his third season.
Reggie Jackson‘s new contract with the Clippers includes a 15% trade kicker, Lowe reports in another tweet. Jackson received a two-year, $22MM deal to remain in Los Angeles.
Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss most or all of next season as he recovers from knee surgery. However, the Clippers won’t be able to apply for a $9.5MM disabled player exception for Leonard because he entered free agency and re-signed since suffering the injury, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.

And-Ones: Ignite, Key Dates, Two-Way Rules, NBA Africa

July 28th, 2021 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

With Brian Shaw poised to join the Clippers as an assistant coach on Tyronn Lue‘s staff, the G League Ignite have a head coaching vacancy. And according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the program has identified a candidate to fill that vacancy.

USC associate head coach Jason Hart will be the new head coach of the G League Ignite, sources tell Wojnarowski.

Hart has been a member of the Trojans’ staff since 2013 and has been the club’s associate head coach for the last four seasons, having worked in recent years with players like Onyeka Okongwu and De’Anthony Melton. Hart is a former NBA player himself, appearing in 341 regular season games between 2000-10 for a total of nine teams.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

As expected, the NBA is officially implementing new rules to reduce the use of non-basketball moves to draw fouls, as Shams Charania of The Athletic details in a series of tweets.
The NBA has announced a series of key dates for the 2021/22 league year, including a regular season that will run from October 19 through April 10. The 2022 NBA draft will be held on June 23, as the league’s annual calendar gets back to normal.
Although players on two-way contracts will have a 50-game limit for next season, teams carrying 14 (or fewer) players on their roster will be limited to 90 total games for their pair of two-way players, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). The rule, outlined in a memo from the NBA, sounds aimed at reducing the ability of teams to save money (and cap space) by leaning heavily on their two-way players while not carrying a 15th man.
Former U.S. president Barack Obama has joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner and a minority stakeholder. Marc J. Spears of ESPN has the story.
The NBA G League announced on Tuesday that the Santa Cruz Warriors have been named Franchise of the Year for 2020/21, while Erie BayHawks president Matt Bresee earned Team Executive of the Year honors.

Pelicans Unveil NBA G League Affiliate

July 26th, 2021 at 2:18pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans, who will have their own newly-relocated G League affiliate for the 2021/22 season, announced today what the franchise will be called. As Christian Clark of NOLA.com details, the club will be known as the Birmingham Squadron. The Squadron’s logo can be viewed at the team’s website.

The nickname has ties to both the city of Birmingham and the club’s parent franchise — it’s an homage to Alabama’s military history, as well as the term for a flock of pelicans. The Squadron will play their home games at the Legacy Arena, which is currently undergoing a $123MM renovation. It’s expected to be ready to go by December.

The Pelicans have technically had a G League franchise since 2019/20, when they relaunched the Erie BayHawks as an NBAGL expansion team. However, the plan was always to move the club to Birmingham, far closer to the Pelicans’ home in New Orleans.

The two cities are separated by about a five-hour drive, which will make it easier to shuttle young players back and forth between the NBA and G League.

“We’ll be able to get guys in a car in the morning or the next day to be able to participate in a game or a practice,” Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon said, according to Clark. “It will get more reps for our younger players, which is incredibly important. If we are full strength in New Orleans, we can get a guy back to Birmingham for a game that night. It’s super exciting.”

With the Nuggets set to introduce the Grand Rapids Gold for the 2021/22 G League season, only two NBA teams – Portland and Phoenix – will be without their own affiliates. The Trail Blazers and Suns will be able to send players to another team’s G League affiliate during the season via the flexible assignment rule.

Nuggets Announce New G League Affiliate Name

July 7th, 2021 at 2:49pm CST by JD Shaw

The Nuggets have revealed a new name and logo for their G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, making the announcement on social media today.

Prior to this season, the affiliate was known as the Grand Rapids Drive and operated by the Pistons. The team will enter the 2021/22 season associated with the Nuggets for the first time.

“This new affiliation and corresponding name change is one of the biggest moves we’ve made as a franchise,” Grand Rapids Gold president Steve Jbara acknowledged in a press release.

“Aligning ourselves further with the Denver Nuggets, a team that recently advanced past the first round of the NBA playoffs for the third consecutive season, further elevates the professional basketball experience here in Grand Rapids, and we couldn’t be more excited to get back on the court this fall.”

Denver is the second team to announce changes to its G League name and logo this year. The Maine Red Claws previously announced that they would become the Maine Celtics back in May.

“We are extremely excited about the new name and logo of the Grand Rapid Gold,” Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “We feel the new look aligns well with both the Nuggets and Grand Rapids organizations and are excited to see it in action on the court next season.”

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Siakam, Love, Nets

July 6th, 2021 at 9:47pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Celtics have had a tumultuous start to their offseason, and fans can expect even more changes as the off-season progresses. But their options are limited, writes Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, and making large changes require creativity and precision. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens, for his part, seems to agree.

“There are some things that we have to navigate from a financial perspective,” Stevens said. “With our limited ability to sign in free agency. We’re gonna have to be creative, we’re gonna have to continue to work, and we’re gonna have to continue to see what’s out there.”

Forsberg goes step-by-step through how the Celtics will likely approach their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, their trade exceptions, and the other tools they have available this offseason as they try to rebuild this team on the fly.

We have more from around the Atlantic Division:

Following rumors of the Warriors potentially using one or both of their picks along with James Wiseman to add win-now talent, Blake Murphy of The Athletic addresses the notion that the Raptors could move Pascal Siakam in such a deal. It wouldn’t be as simple as it seems, Murphy writes, both from a financial standpoint and from the Raptors’ end, as they would rather not pursue a deal that feels like it’s selling low on their All-NBA talent.
With two years and $60MM left on his deal, the Cavaliers would surely rather trade Kevin Love than buy him out, but if no trade materializes and they do end up going the buyout rate, keep an eye on the Nets as a landing spot, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “I understand going into my 14th season that being that No. 1 guy, playing 35 minutes, getting 20 touches a game is probably in my rear view,” Love said after practicing with Team USA on Tuesday. “But how I can affect the team, and feeling how I’m feeling now, I know that I can do it at a very high level.”
The Long Island Nets have named Adam Caporn their head coach, according to a team press release. Caporn comes to Brooklyn’s G League affiliate after seven seasons as head coach of Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence, the country’s premier player development program. Caporn is also currently serving as an assistant coach for the Australian national team as they compete for a gold medal in Tokyo.

And-Ones: Hervey, College Alternatives, Stone, Grant

July 1st, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Forward Kevin Hervey, the Thunder’s second-round pick in 2018, is in advanced talks with Virtus Bologna, Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas tweets. Hervey appeared in 10 games with the Thunder during the 2019/20 season. He played for Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia last season.

We have more news from around the basketball world:

The creation of Overtime Elite, the G League’s Ignite and the Professional Collegiate League, along with international options, has expanded the choices of prospects beyond playing college ball. The New York Times’ David Gardner takes a closer look at the impact and complications those additional options are having on teenager basketball standouts.
Former NBA forward Diamond Stone has signed with Mets de Guaynabo in the Puerto Rican league, according to Sportando. Stone was selected in the second round of the 2016 draft but only appeared in seven games with the Clippers in his rookie campaign.
Former NBA guard Jerian Grant has officially signed a two-year deal with Italy’s Olimpia Milano, according to Sportando. Olimpia Milano’s interest in Grant was previously reported. Grant played in the Greek League this past season after being waived by the Rockets during training camp in December.

Central Notes: Cavs’ Lottery Pick, Buford, Diallo, Carlisle

June 25th, 2021 at 7:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers will not just limit their interview and workout list for the No. 3 pick to USC’s Evan Mobley, the G League Ignite’s Jalen Green and Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Those players are widely considered the next three prospects beyond Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham, who is only expected to visit Detroit

Duke’s Jalen Johnson, who is ranked No. 9 by ESPN, was scheduled to meet with the Cavaliers on Friday. The Cavs are also expected to look at the G League Ignite’s Jonathan Kuminga (rated No. 5) and Florida State’s Scottie Barnes (No. 6). The latter met with Cleveland’s brass on Thursday, Fedor adds.

We have more from the Central Division:

Chase Buford is leaving his post as the Wisconsin Herd’s head coach in order to become the head coach of the Sydney Kings in Australia’s NBL, according to a team press release. “We are excited for Chase to pursue this opportunity with one of the best clubs in Australia,” said Herd GM Dave Dean. Buford, 32, led the Bucks’ G League team to a league-best 33-10 record before the 2019/20 season was suspended due to the pandemic.
Along with mulling what to do with the top pick, the Pistons must decide how high they’re willing to go on restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo, Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) writes. Diallo is projected to command somewhere in the neighborhood of the mid-level exception, which the Pistons could easily match. Marks also explores the team’s other pending decisions and its cap situation.
With his long track record and a four-year contract, Rick Carlisle will command respect in the Pacers’ locker room, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star (subscription required) writes.

And-Ones: Ignite, Shaw, Coronavirus, Reaves, More

June 24th, 2021 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the G League Ignite essentially just played a month’s worth of games during their first season in 2020/21, but the NBA considered the program a success, as Chris Mannix of SI.com writes. Still, the team’s long-term future is uncertain, according to Mannix.

Although the Ignite were able to recruit a handful of top prospects both last year and this year, it’s unclear if the G League club would still be able to attract top-tier talent if the NBA does away with its one-and-done rule for the draft in the coming years. And if top prospects aren’t committing to the Ignite, NBA owners may become less eager to foot the bill for the developmental program, writes Mannix.

With no set timeline for the abolishment of the one-and-one rule, however, the Ignite are here to stay for now. According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link), the team has offered a contract extension to head coach Brian Shaw, who is expected to sign it soon.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Of the 149 players tested for COVID-19 between June 16-23, none returned a new positive test, the NBA and NBPA announced on Wednesday. So far, Chris Paul is the only player who has tested positive for the coronavirus since the postseason got underway.
Michael Pina of SI.com identifies several players whose strong showings in the playoffs are putting them in position for even bigger paydays on their next contracts, including extension-eligible players like Deandre Ayton and Kevin Huerter.
Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) takes a deep into the key offseason decisions facing all 30 NBA teams this summer.
As our JD Shaw confirms (via Twitter), former Mavericks forward Josh Reaves is in agreement with Turkish team Besiktas on a contract that will include an NBA escape clause. Emiliano Carchia of Sportando first reported the deal.