Admiral Schofield

Thunder Waive T.J. Leaf, Admiral Schofield

The Thunder have made a pair of roster cuts, announcing in a press release that they’ve waived forwards T.J. Leaf and Admiral Schofield.

Leaf and Schofield were acquired by Oklahoma City in offseason trades. The Thunder took on Schofield’s contract as part of a deal that saw them move up from No. 53 to No. 37 in this year’s draft to select Vit Krejci. The club received Leaf and a future second-round pick in a deal for Jalen Lecque, who is on a cheaper contract.

The fact that neither Leaf nor Schofield made the Thunder’s regular season roster suggests those two trades were motivated by the opportunities to land Krejci and a future second-rounder.

Leaf, the 18th overall pick in the 2017 draft, failed to carve out a role as a regular, reliable rotation player during three seasons in Indiana. The former UCLA standout averaged just 3.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG in 28 games (7.9 MPG) for the Pacers in 2019/20.

Schofield, meanwhile, spent his rookie season in 2019/20 with the Wizards after being drafted 42nd overall a year ago. He played limited minutes in D.C., averaging 3.0 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 33 games (11.2 MPG).

Both Leaf and Schofield will become unrestricted free agents, assuming they clear waivers. They’ll also be paid their 2020/21 salaries, since they were fully guaranteed. Leaf will earn $4.33MM, while Schofield makes $1.52MM. Schofield will also receive a partial guarantee of $300K on next season’s salary.

As for the Thunder, they now have 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts and Frank Jackson on a partially guaranteed contract. They’ll have to make at least one more cut before the regular season roster deadline on Monday.

Thunder Acquire Schofield, Second-Rounder Krejci From Wizards

NOVEMBER 19: The Thunder also acquired Admiral Schofield from Washington in the deal, which is now official, according to a tweet from the Wizards.


NOVEMBER 18: The Wizards selected guard Vit Krejci with the No. 37 but they’re trading him to the Thunder, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Washington will receive the No. 53 pick in this draft plus additional compensation, Ben Standig of The Athletic tweets.

The Wizards used that pick on Michigan State point guard Cassius Winston. Winston led the Spartans to the Final Four as a junior and averaged 18.6 PPG and 5.9 APG as a senior.

The additional competition will be a future second-rounder, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets.

Krejci of the Czech Republic won’t be able to play in the NBA in the near future. While playing for the Spanish team Casademont Zaragoza, the 20-year-old Krejci suffered an ACL injury that required surgery in early October. He’s a member of the Czech Republic national team and projects as a 6’8” combo guard.

Wizards Notes: Restart, Schofield, Wall, Wade

Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard vows that the team is focused on making the playoffs despite key players missing the restart in Orlando, Fred Katz of The Athletic tweets.

“Certainly, we’re going there to win games,” he said. “We’re trying to make the playoffs. That’s 100 percent our goal.”

There has been speculation that Wizards would treat their eight “seeding” games as a de facto Summer League. Forward Davis Bertans, a free agent after the season, has chosen to sit out. Star guard John Wall will wait until next season to return from his Achilles injury. Washington trails Brooklyn by six games and Orlando by 5.5 games and needs to pull within four games of one of those teams to force a play-in round for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

We have more on the Wizards:

  • Rookie Admiral Schofield is expected to have an expanded role in Orlando with Bertans choosing not to play, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets“There’s going to be an opportunity at some point for Admiral to show what he can do,” Sheppard said. Schofield has appeared in 27 games, averaging 3.1 PPG in 10.9 MPG.
  • Wall will stay in Miami while the Wizards are in Orlando to work with some coaches that won’t be in the bubble, David Aldridge of The Athletic tweets. The lack of practices during the stoppage of play cost Wall the basketball ramp-up timing he’d been gaining in workouts, according to Sheppard.
  • Washington had some interest in signing power forward Dean Wade, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets. Wade agreed to a four-year contract with Cleveland on Monday.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/11/20

Here are today’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 3/10/20

Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/27/20

Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Wizards assigned rookie swingman Admiral Schofield to the Capital City Go-Go, according the G League transactions log. Schofield, a second-round pick, saw action in 26 NBA games prior to this month, averaging 3.2 PPG in 11.2 MPG.

 

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/25/20

Here are Tuesday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • The Wizards have assigned three players to the Capital City Go-Go, according to the team’s Twitter feed. Anzejs Pasecniks, Gary Payton II and Admiral Schofield all played in today’s contest for the G League squad. The team then recalled Pasecniks and Payton but left Schofield in Southeast D.C.
  • The Clippers have assigned Mfiondu Kabengele and Terance Mann to the Agua Caliente Clippers, per the team’s Twitter feed. Kabengele was the team’s first-round pick in the 2019 draft.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/10/20

Here are Monday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:

  • The Magic have recalled second-year shooting guard Melvin Frazier Jr. from their Lakeland G League affiliate, per the team’s social media. Frazier has logged time in 14 games with the Magic this season.
  • The Pacers have recalled rookie center Goga Bitadze from their G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team announced. Bitadze has appeared in 42 games for Indiana.
  • The Thunder have assigned rookie small forward Isaiah Roby to the Oklahoma City Blue, according to a team press release. Roby is averaging 9.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.18 SPG and 1.09 BPG in 20.4 minutes over 11 G League contests.
  • The Heat have sent rookie small forward KZ Okpala to their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team noted on social media. Okpala has appeared in five games for Miami.
  • The Wizards have recalled guards Gary Payton II and John Wall from the Capital City Go-Go, per the G League. Payton has appeared in 21 games for Washington this season. The Wizards are also sending rookie forward Admiral Schofield to the Go-Go.
  • The Nets have assigned second-year wing Dzanan Musa to their Long Island G League club, according to the G League.
  • The Jazz have sent 25-year-old rookie point guard Nigel Williams-Goss to the Salt Lake City Stars, per the G League.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/9/20

Here are Sunday’s assignments and recalls from around the NBA G League:

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 2/8/20

Here are Saturday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the league: