- The Jazz recalled guards Alec Burks and Raul Neto from the Salt Lake City Stars and assigned forward Joel Bolomboy to the same team, the team announced in a press release. The guard duo was assigned there on Wednesday to get some playing time against the Grand Rapids Drive and Neto finished one rebound shy of a triple-double. This marks the 10th assignment for Bolomboy.
- The Knicks recalled forward Maurice Ndour and center Marshall Plumlee from their affiliate, the Westchester Knicks, the team’s PR staff tweets. That duo combined for 24 points and 20 rebounds against the Maine Red Claws after being assigned on Tuesday.
- The Nets recalled forward Chris McCullough from their Long Island affiliate and he was available against the Pelicans on Thursday night, the team tweets. McCullough poured in 37 points in Long Island’s 138-133 overtime win over the Greensboro Swarm earlier in the day, his 22nd appearance with the D-League club.
- The Pelicans recalled forward Cheick Diallo, who was also playing for the Long Island Nets, the team’s PR department tweets. He played two games there, averaging 12.0 points in 17.4 minutes after going there on Tuesday under the flexible assignment rule.
- The Thunder assigned guard Semaj Christon to the Oklahoma City Blue, the team announced in a tweet. Christon has appeared in 36 games with the Thunder this season, averaging 3.2 points and 1.4 assists in 15.4 minutes.
- The Trail Blazers assigned guard Tim Quarterman to the Windy City Bulls under the flex rule, they announced in a press release. The rookie has made 12 brief appearances with the Blazers this season.
Here are the D-League assignments and recalls from Saturday:
10:11pm:
- The Bulls have recalled forward Bobby Portis from their Windy City affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Portis had 32 points and nine rebounds in Friday’s game.
- The Spurs have recalled rookie guard Dejounte Murray from their affiliate in Austin, the team posted on its website. Murray is coming off a 25-point performance Friday and is averaging 16.6 points per game in 12 D-League contests. He has played 18 games for San Antonio, getting 5.6 minutes per night.
- The Pacers have recalled Georges Niang from their Fort Wayne affiliate, according to the team’s website. He connected on five 3-pointers and scored 23 points in his last game for the Mad Ants.
2:07pm:
- The Suns have recalled Derrick Jones Jr., according to a team-issued press release. Jones comes off of his fourth assignment to the club’s D-League affiliate this season.
- The Lakers have assigned center Ivica Zubac to the D-League, reports Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times via a team press release. Zubac has already played 11 games for the team’s affiliate, averaging 15.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
- The Nuggets have recalled Juan Hernangomez from their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Hernangomez appeared in just one game for the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
11:30am:
- The Sixers have reassigned Richaun Holmes to their D-League affiliate, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Holmes, who hasn’t played since mid-December, was recalled from the Delaware 87ers on Thursday morning.
- The Thunder have recalled guard Cameron Payne, the team announced on Twitter. The second year man will look to make his season debut after missing the first two months with a broken foot.
- Recently released by the Pelicans, journeyman forward Reggie Williams has reunited with the Oklahoma City Blue, the D-League affiliate of the Thunder. According to The Oklahoman’s Erik Horne, Williams is expected to play on Saturday.
Here are Sunday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
8:45pm:
- The Hawks assigned Mike Scott to the Long Island Nets, according to Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Because Atlanta doesn’t have a direct D-League affiliate, he was sent to Long Island through the flexible assignment rule. Scott missed training camp and the start of the regular season with a knee injury, so the Hawks want to get him some playing time. The Nets have games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week. This is Scott’s third D-League assignment this season.
- The Thunder are hoping to get playing time for Cameron Payne, who was assigned to Oklahoma City Blue today, the team announced on its website. Payne hasn’t played yet this season because of a broken foot.
The Timberwolves had planned to work out free agent forward Donatas Motiejunas, but the Pelicans swooped in before that could happen, according to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. Minnesota brought Motiejunas into town, but his agreement with New Orleans stopped a planned meeting and workout session. “His agent cancelled and we never got a chance to sit down with him,” said Wolves coach/executive Tom Thibodeau. The Rockets drafted Motiejunas in 2011 with a pick they acquired from Minnesota. He spent four seasons in Houston before becoming a restricted free agent over the summer.
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Wolves guard Zach LaVine has become a candidate for Most Improved Player, contends Shams Charania of The Vertical. The third-year guard has raised his scoring average from 14.0 to 21.1 points per game and has become an important part of what Thibodeau calls the team’s “core three” along with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Charania added that owner Glen Taylor plans to commit financially to keeping all three.
- Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic has vowed to be professional about his reduced role, even though he’s clearly unhappy with the arrangement, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. Nurkic started the season’s first 25 games, but even then he didn’t always get starters’ minutes. Nurkic shared time with Nikola Jokic and only once topped 30 minutes in a game. His playing time has been cut even further since the Nuggets got healthier, and he was stuck on the bench for four straight games last week. “For sure it’s tough,” Nurkic said. “I’m 23 years old. I’m not here to sit on the bench. I’m here to play basketball. And it’s a tough decision for me, from a starting spot and 20 minutes to four straight [games of not playing]. … You control what you control, and I let my agent do the rest of the stuff.” The Nuggets have already exercised Nurkic’s option for 2017/18 at nearly $3MM.
- Victor Oladipo returned to the Thunder lineup Saturday after a nine-game absence, relays Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman. Oladipo hadn’t played since spraining his right wrist in a December 11th game.
Free agent guard Lance Stephenson is ahead of his schedule and could be ready from a groin tear by mid-January, barring a setback, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). The Pelicans waived Stephenson in early November after he suffered the injury. The Pelicans drew criticism at the time for the move, but it seemed like the team would be open to re-signing him when he gets healthy. Stephenson was expected to miss about 10 weeks following his groin surgery in early November, so Haynes’ reports suggests his return is a couple weeks ahead of schedule. Stephenson, who won a roster spot after the preseason, averaged 9.7 points and 4.8 assists in 27 minutes per game in six contests this season.
Here is more from around the league:
- Cameron Payne has been assigned to the D-League for the next few days to complete his rehab and his unofficial targeted return date is January 7th, Royce Young of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Payne has yet to make his 2016/17 debut for the Thunder because of a broken foot.
- Lakers backup center Tarik Black is available to play, but has not been on the court since mostly recovering from an ankle injury suffered in early December because coach Luke Walton wants to ease him into the rotation, Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times relays. Black was was an integral part of the Lakers’ second unit before his injury, as Ganguli points out, so once Black is fully healthy, it would seem reasonable to expect a return to action.
Although the Thunder have put together a reasonably strong supporting cast around Russell Westbrook, there’s no simple way for the team to add a second star to complement the standout point guard, writes Chris Mannix of The Vertical. According to Mannix, Oklahoma City has received zero indications that Blake Griffin is interested in coming home in free agency next summer, and the team would be hard-pressed to create the cap room for another max player anyway.
Still, with players like Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams, and Domantas Sabonis locked up on long-term deals, it makes plenty of sense for Westbrook to stick with the Thunder, particularly if the team takes advantage of the designated veteran extension to offer him a five-year pact next summer, Mannix writes.
Here’s more from around the NBA:
- In an informative piece for The Vertical, former NBA front office executive Bobby Marks takes an in-depth look at how the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will affect salary and cap situations for teams around the league next summer.
- Damion Lee, who was one of the Celtics‘ training camp invitees and D-League affiliate players this fall, has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. After going undrafted out of Louisville this year, Lee had been averaging 17.8 PPG and 6.3 RPG in 16 games with the Maine Red Claws.
- Speaking of training camp invitees, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, who was in camp with the Bulls this fall, has a new home. As Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com details, Smith-Rivera was acquired from the D-League player pool by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers‘ NBADL affiliate.
- Victor Oladipo remains out of the lineup, but the Thunder are viewing his absence as an opportunity to evaluate the team’s depth, as Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman passes along. “We’ve found maybe different things that we can do that maybe we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to explore, to experiment with,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Hopefully when he gets back, his absence has made us better and helped our team grow in a way that we can continue to move in a positive direction.”
Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from across the NBA, with the most recent updates added to the top of the list throughout the day:
6:25pm:
- The Warriors have assigned Damian Jones back to Santa Cruz to join Golden State’s D-League affiliate, according to a press release. The rookie center figure to play for the NBADL Warriors against Sioux Falls tonight.
5:02pm:
- Having waived one rookie guard – Nicolas Laprovittola – earlier today, the Spurs have sent another to the D-League. Bryn Forbes has been re-assigned to the Austin Spurs, tweets Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News.
1:36pm:
- A day after Rockets rookie Chinanu Onuaku received his first opportunity to get into an NBA game and show off his underhanded free throws, the 2016 second-rounder is headed back to the D-League. The Rockets announced today (via Twitter) that Onuaku has been re-assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Houston’s D-League affiliate will play three games in the next four days, so Onuaku may remain with the Vipers during that stretch.
- The Thunder have sent forward Josh Huestis back to the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. The 25-year-old, who has yet to appear in an NBA game for Oklahoma City this season, will suit up for the OKC Blue on Wednesday night, assuming he’s not recalled before then.
- Suns coach Earl Watson recognized the star potential in Rockets star James Harden before he reached the NBA, relays Doug Haller of The Arizona Republic. In back-to-back years, Watson recommended Russell Westbrook and Harden to Thunder GM Sam Presti. “If you go play pickup anywhere in L.A. and if there’s NBA players, you will find Russell Westbrook or James Harden in that game,’’ Watson said. “Even this summer coming up, they love to hoop. There’s something about players that love to play. You can only get good at what you love to do consistently over and over and over.”