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NBA D-League Affiliate Players For 2016/17

November 3rd, 2016 at 12:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Throughout the offseason, and in the weeks leading up to the start of the regular season, NBA teams are permitted to carry 20 players, but that total must be cut down to 15 in advance of opening night. However, up to four players waived by teams before the season can be designated as affiliate players and assigned to their D-League squads.

The players have some say in the decision — if they’d prefer to sign with a team overseas, or if they get an opportunity with another NBA club, they’re free to turn down their team’s request to have them play in the D-League. Most NBA and international teams have fairly set rosters by late October though, so having the opportunity to continue playing in the same system is appealing to many of those preseason cuts. Especially since they’ll maintain NBA free agency while they play in the D-League.

There are a few other rules related to D-League affiliate players. A player whose returning rights are held by a D-League team can’t be an affiliate player for another club, which is why undrafted free agents from the current year are commonly signed and assigned. Additionally, an affiliate player must have signed with his team during the current league year, which explains why we often see players signed and quickly waived in the days leading up to the regular season. And, of course, not every NBA team has a D-League affiliate, so clubs like the Hawks, Nuggets, or Clippers have no place to send affiliate players.

With all that in mind, here are the NBA D-League affiliate players to start the 2016/17 season:

Austin Spurs (San Antonio Spurs)

Canton Charge (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Jonathan Holmes
Eric Moreland

Delaware 87ers (Philadelphia 76ers)

Knicks Cut Chasson Randle, Lou Amundson, Others

October 21st, 2016 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have waived point guard Chasson Randle, according to multiple reports, including one from Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). In addition to parting ways with Randle, the team has also cut big man Lou Amundson and shooting guard J.P. Tokoto, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The team confirmed those three cuts and announced two more, tweeting that small forwards Cleanthony Early and Damien Inglis have also been released.

New York had been carrying 15 guaranteed salaries on its roster, along with five non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed deals, so its roster decisions had looked fairly simple on the surface. However, Randle and Ron Baker – two players without guaranteed deals – had impressed the team in training camp, complicating those decisions. The Knicks also had to weigh the fact that Randle is set to miss the next few weeks due to a left orbital fracture.

Marc Berman of The New York Post had speculated earlier today that Randle and Baker would both make the cut for the 15-man roster, with the Knicks cutting a pair of guaranteed salaries – Amundson and Maurice Ndour – along with Tokoto. While the team did eat Amundson’s guaranteed contract, it appears Ndour is safe, given Randle’s release. The Knicks are down to 15 players, so their regular-season roster seems set.

Among today’s cuts, Tokoto and Randle each had partial guarantees of $100K on their contracts, so the Knicks will carry that money on their cap. Both players are candidates to join the D-League’s Westchester Knicks, as are Early and Inglis. Randle may also receive consideration to re-sign with the Knicks when he gets healthy — Baker’s salary won’t become fully guaranteed until January 10, so the club will have some flexibility with that final roster spot.

Knicks Re-Sign Cleanthony Early

October 18th, 2016 at 1:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

OCTOBER 18: The Knicks have officially re-signed Early, the team announced today (Twitter link).

OCTOBER 13: The Knicks will re-sign forward Cleanthony Early, sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Early will likely start his season in the D-League as he continues his rehab from a hamstring injury, Charania adds.

The 6’8″ Early, 25, has played both of his NBA seasons with New York. He appeared in 17 games last season, including two starts, and averaged 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 9.1 minutes. During the 2014/15 campaign, he appeared in 39 games, including seven starts, and averaged 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.6 minutes.

The Knicks have mulled bringing back Early for quite some time and ultimately decided to give the former second-round pick another chance. They renounced their rights to him in early July in order to sign high-profile free agents, including Joakim Noah.

Early’s 2015/16 season was marred by an incident in late December which he was shot in the right knee and robbed. He did not return to action until the beginning of April.

Early’s hamstring injury occurred prior to the summer league, preventing him from participating with the Knicks’ entry in Orlando in July, and is apparently still affecting him. He’ll eventually give new coach Jeff Hornacek another option at the small forward spot.

Atlantic Notes: Colangelo, Rose, Uthoff, Early

September 24th, 2016 at 2:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers executive Bryan Colangelo wasn’t a fan of the team’s culture when he was hired, as he told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical on his podcast. “There was a losing culture,” Colangelo said of the team before he arrived. “There was a losing mindset. It had been ingrained partly due to the undertaking of rebuilding that they had been going through. It becomes part of the fabric of the team,” Colangelo said. “I think more than anything the mindset needed to shift, the mindset needed to change. And that’s why we’ve been talking about winning. Doing everything we can to promote winning, to promote a culture of excellence.”

Colangelo also told Wojnarowski that he had little interest in working under former GM Sam Hinkie, which was the arrangement first pitched to him by team ownership. “The first time that I met with David Blitzer and Josh Harris I basically told them I’m not the guy for this job. I suggested a few other people, one in particular that I thought would be ideal, to come in and compliment Sam to help take this thing to that next level. They were a little bit stunned at my reaction and my suggestion,” Colangelo said.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The crew over at Basketball Insiders previewed the Celtics‘ upcoming season, with the general opinion being that Boston will finish first or second in the Atlantic Division in 2016/17.
The Knicks are hoping that Derrick Rose‘s upcoming civil suit involving an alleged sexual assault won’t impact his season, Ian Begley of ESPN.com writes. “I think we’re just going to let the process work itself out,” team president Phil Jackson said when asked about the possibility of Rose missing training camp. “We’re not concerned with it. We understand this is a serious subject we’re talking about. But this has to be done outside of our control. It’s something we can’t control. Derrick has expressed that he’s not concerned with it. I mean, he’s quite aware of it. It’s not keeping him up at night. So we’re going with that, OK?“
Undrafted free agent Jarrod Uthoff is excited to be joining a Raptors team that made it to last season’s Conference Finals, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders relays. “It’ll be a great chance to learn from experienced NBA guys that play at a very high level,” Uthoff said. “Being around that every day, you can’t replace that. It’s a really professional organization that handles themselves with class in whatever they do. I think that’s showing on the court as well. It starts from the top down. They really created a special organization there.”
Former second round pick Cleanthony Early won’t be attending the Knicks‘ training camp and the forward remains a free agent, Marc Berman of The New York Post notes.

Knicks Notes: Early, Rose, Jennings

September 12th, 2016 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks have yet to make a final decision on whether or not to bring Cleanthony Early to training camp, an NBA source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. The 25-year-old remains on the free agent market, while New York still has room on its offseason roster to bring him back.

Phil Jackson admitted last month that his biggest regret since arriving in New York was passing on Jae Crowder in a trade with the Mavericks, opting for a second-round pick instead. That pick became Early, so presumably the Zen Master would like to give the Wichita State product every opportunity to carve out a role with the Knicks.

Here’s more out of New York:

Within his scouting report and analysis of the Knicks’ roster, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton (Insider-only link) notes that the team made a significant gamble this offseason on the health of players like Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Brandon Jennings. Pelton also suggests that it might make sense to use Jennings when Rose and Carmelo Anthony aren’t on the floor, since Jennings tends to be better at creating shots than making them.
The Knicks’ ability to make room for a maximum-salary free agent in 2017 will hinge largely on what happens this year with Rose and Jennings, writes Ian Begley of ESPN.com. As Begley observes, the cap holds for Rose and Jennings will exceed $30MM, so the team will have to make important decisions on whether to re-sign or renounce the duo.
Be sure to check out our salary cap breakdown for the Knicks to get an idea of how the team is using its cap space for the 2016/17 league year.

Knicks Notes: Williams, Noah, Vujacic

July 8th, 2016 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Knicks officially renounced their rights to free agents Derrick Williams, Kevin Seraphin, Lou Amundson and Cleanthony Early, and as a result, the quartet no longer count against the team’s salary cap figure, Ian Begley of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). The team can still re-sign any of the players using cap space, save Williams, who agreed to a one-year pact with the Heat earlier this evening.

Here’s more from the Big Apple:

Joining the Knicks was a dream of Joakim Noah‘s for a long time, who relishes the challenge of playing in New York, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. “I’m not taking this opportunity for granted,’’ said Noah. “This has been a dream of mine since I was 5 years old. We’re proud to be from New York. My parents are divorced, but my father is a proud New Yorker. We all are. Fortunately, his son is playing for the New York Knicks now. This means everything to me. I’m going to do everything to make this special.”
With Langston Galloway on his way to the Pelicans, the Knicks may turn to a familiar face to bolster their backcourt — Sasha Vujacic, Berman relays in a separate piece. New York can offer little more than the veteran’s minimum to the 32-year-old, who may be able to find more lucrative offers overseas, the scribe adds. Vujacic made 61 appearances for the Knicks in 2015/16 and averaged 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 14.9 minutes per contest.
You can view the Knicks’ current roster and depth chart here.

Qualifying Offers: Clarkson, Dellavedova, Galloway

June 30th, 2016 at 8:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him. The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s service time and previous contract status. A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then receives the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club. You can read more about qualifying offers here.

Here’s the latest QO activity from around the league:

The Cavaliers tendered point guard Matthew Dellavedova a qualifying offer worth $1,434,095, making him a restricted free agent, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Lakers have submitted qualifying offers to Jordan Clarkson ($2,725,003), Tarik Black ($1,180,431) and Marcelo Huertas ($1,074,636) making all three restricted free agents, but declined to tender one to Ryan Kelly ($2,155,313), making him an unrestricted free agent, Pincus tweets.
The Knicks submitted a qualifying offer to guard Langston Galloway ($2,725,003), but declined to do so for forward Cleanthony Early ($1,180,431), making him an unrestricted free agent, Pincus relays (via Twitter).

And-Ones: ‘Melo, Batum, Hield

April 22nd, 2016 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carmelo Anthony wasn’t at the Knicks triangle seminar this week after all, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, despite an earlier report that he was. Some say the seminar was mandatory and others called it voluntary, Isola hears, adding that one player said team president Phil Jackson only invited a few Knicks. Anthony is believed to be receiving therapy on his left knee, Berman writes, and the triangle sessions were mostly review, a source told the Post scribe, who downplays the significance of ‘Melo’s absence. Still, 10 other Knicks took part, Berman hears, including Kristaps Porzingis, who’s recovering from a shoulder strain and recently had a routine visit at the Hospital for Special Surgery, notes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (ESPN Now link). The other attendees, according to Berman, were Jerian Grant, Cleanthony Early, Langston Galloway, Tony Wroten, Sasha Vujacic, Jose Calderon, Robin Lopez, Kyle O’Quinn and Kevin Seraphin.

See more from around the NBA:

Nicolas Batum isn’t definitively out for the rest of the Hornets‘ first-round series against Miami, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, dispelling an earlier report, but he’s unlikely to return unless it goes at least six games, Bonnell says. Batum is poised for free agency this summer.
Indiana freshman small forward OG Anunoby won’t enter this year’s draft, the school announced (Twitter link). He was a late second-round prospect for this year, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who ranks him the 50th, but the 6’8″ 18-year-old has first-round potential for next year, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress slots him 20th in his 2017 mock draft. Anunoby saw limited action this season, putting up 4.9 points in 13.7 minutes per game.
Long-shot draft prospect Moustapha Diagne will enter this year’s draft, but he’ll do so without an agent so he can retain his college eligibility, a source told Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The 6’8″ 20-year-old from Northwest Florida State, a community college, is a former Syracuse commit, Rothstein notes, and he was 68th in the Recruiting Services Consensus Index coming out of high school last year. Neither Ford nor Givony ranks him among the top 100 draft prospects.
Top-10 prospect and former Oklahoma shooting guard Buddy Hield has signed with agent Rob Pelinka of Landmark Sports, a source told Darren Rovell of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link).

Eastern Rumors: Carroll, Lucas III, Jennings

April 4th, 2016 at 10:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Raptors are hopeful of getting small forward DeMarre Carroll back in action for the final three games of the season, Mike Ganter of the National Post reports. Carroll, who hasn’t played since January 3rd after undergoing knee surgery, practiced in full on Monday and coach Dwane Casey wants him to scrape off some rust before the playoffs, Ganter adds. “The last three or whatever games there are when he comes back, we will use those as his test lab,” Casey told Ganter and other media members. “No disrespect to those teams but to get some work in, get some run in, get knocked down a few times, get hit a few times and see where he stands.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Veteran point guard John Lucas III could sign with the Heat this week, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. The Heat will soon have the financially flexibility to add two players and Lucas nearly made Miami’s roster during training camp, Stein adds. Lucas, who appeared in 21 games with the Pistons last season, was playing for the Pacers’ D-League team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, before he was waived last month.
Magic point guard Brandon Jennings would like to re-sign with the club, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets. Jennings, an unrestricted free agent after the season, is averaging 7.1 points and 4.0 assists in 24 games with Orlando since the Pistons dealt him and power forward Ersan Ilyasova at the trade deadline for power forward Tobias Harris.
A New York City man has been arrested in connection with the December 30th robbery and shooting of Knicks small forward Cleanthony Early, according to John Marzulli of the New York Daily News. Early has averaged 20 minutes over the team’s last two games after a D-League stint.

Atlantic Notes: Afflalo, Durant, Powell, Early

April 1st, 2016 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Executives around the league believed Arron Afflalo was likely to turn down his $8MM player option for next season with the Knicks even before the shooting guard and interim coach Kurt Rambis began publicly disagreeing about whether they discussed Afflalo’s benching, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Afflalo’s choice is key since the team would have the cap flexibility necessary to chase middle-tier max free agents if he opts out, Begley notes. Afflalo and teammate Derrick Williams must decide on their player options no later than June 22nd, the day before the draft.

See more from the Atlantic Division:

Former Providence College head coach Tim Welsh said in an appearance on “Toucher & Rich” on WBZ-FM that his conversations with NBA types of late indicate that the Celtics will be on the list of teams Kevin Durant‘s will at least look at in free agency this summer, in large measure because of the allure of coach Brad Stevens (video link via Comcast Sports Net Northeast).
DeMarre Carroll‘s injury has given Raptors 2015 second-round pick Norman Powell more of a chance at the NBA level that first-rounder Delon Wright has had, and Powell is playing a much different role in Toronto than he did early this season on assignment with the team’s D-League affiliate, notes Eric Koreen of Sportsnet. Still, Raptors D-League coach Jesse Mermuys sees Powell’s time with Raptors 905 reflected in his play of late. “All he saw was the rim, no matter how many bodies were there,” Mermuys said of Powell’s D-League performance. “We really wanted to try to develop when he got to the paint and got to the rim and there was a crowd, [that he would be] able to make the right play and the simple play, which he dramatically improved in his time. The more time he played and worked at it, it was a pretty rapid improvement, which was a huge sign for him. His ability to improve at that rate is why he is in the position he’s in now.”
The Knicks have recalled Cleanthony Early from the D-League, the team announced (Twitter link). Early has made only one 19-second appearance at the NBA level since he was injured in a December shooting.