Isaiah Whitehead

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/3/17

Here are the G League moves from around the Association today:

10:53pm:

8:03pm:

  • The Nets have assigned guard Isaiah Whitehead to the Long Island Nets, an official press release reports. The big man is expected to play with the G League affiliate in their season opener on Saturday.
  • The Grizzlies recalled sophomore Deyonta Davis from the Memphis Hustle, the team’s Twitter account said. The center had been assigned to the G League affiliate on Thursday.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/2/17

Here are Thursday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA, with new moves added to the top of the post throughout the day:

8:20pm:

2:00pm:

  • The Magic have assigned rookie center Khem Birch to the G League, the team announced today (via Twitter). According to Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link), the plan is for Birch to play a couple games with the Lakeland Magic before being recalled to the NBA.
  • Nets guard Isaiah Whitehead, who was sent to the G League on Monday, has been recalled, the club announced today in a press release. Whitehead has also had three assignments to the Long Island Nets this season.
  • The Grizzlies assigned second-year forward Deyonta Davis to the G League to practice with the Memphis Hustle, according to the team (Twitter link). Davis hasn’t been part of the Grizzlies’ rotation this year, appearing in just one game for the club so far.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 10/30/17

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

  • Celtics forward Marcus Morris, who is working his way back from a knee injury, was assigned to the G League today and was later recalled by the C’s, according to the club (Twitter link). Morris, who participated in practice today with the Maine Red Claws, is expected to play in his first game for Boston at some point this week.
  • The Jazz have assigned Tony Bradley to the Salt Lake City Stars, the team announced today in a press release. The rookie center, selected 28th overall in this year’s draft, has yet to make his regular season NBA debut.
  • It looks like Isaiah Whitehead will bounce back and forth between the Brooklyn Nets and Long Island Nets frequently throughout the 2017/18 season. The team issued a press release today announcing that Whitehead has been sent to the G League — it’s already his third assignment of the season.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 10/29/17

Here are the G League moves from around the Association today:

  • The Hornets have assigned two-way player Mangok Mathiang to the Greensboro Swarm, the club’s public relations department announced on Twitter. Mathiang saw action in just one NBA game during his stint with the big league squad before joining the franchise’s affiliate.
  • The Nets have recalled point guard Isaiah Whitehead from the Long Island Nets. He spent the weekend with the G League affiliate.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 10/26/17

Here are the G League moves from around the league today:

  • The Sixers have recalled Furkan Korkmaz from the Delaware 87ers, the team announced in a press release. They had assigned him to the affiliate just earlier in the day.
  • The Nets have assigned Isaiah Whitehead to the Long Island Nets, the team announced via press release. Whitehead didn’t see NBA action while recalled with the big league club.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 10/23/17

NBA G League training camps open today, with the start of the 2017/18 season less than two weeks away. With camps getting underway, NBA teams have begun to assign players to their respective affiliates. However, as we detailed earlier this year, four teams are still lacking affiliates.

The Nuggets are one of those teams without an affiliate for 2017/18, which means their two-way players are headed to two different G League clubs. Denver announced today in a press release that Monte Morris will join the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets‘ affiliate, while Torrey Craig will play for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat‘s affiliate.

Here are today’s G League assignments:

8:00pm:

  • After spending the day in the G League, Isaiah Whitehead has been recalled to the Nets, the team announced this evening in a press release.

5:13pm:

  • The Nuggets have assigned first-round pick Tyler Lydon to the G League too, according to the team. Lydon will head to the Rockets‘ affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, along with Morris.
  • While the Rockets are adding a pair of Denver players to their G League squad, they’ll also send a couple players from their own NBA roster to the Vipers, announcing today (via Twitter) that Chinanu Onuaku and Troy Williams are G-League-bound.
  • Despite some minutes becoming available in the Nets‘ backcourt in the wake of Jeremy Lin‘s season-ending injury, second-year guard Isaiah Whitehead hasn’t cracked the rotation. Brooklyn is sending him to the Long Island Nets to get him some playing time, tweets Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
  • The Heat have assigned center A.J. Hammons to the G League, the club announced today in a press release. Head coach Erik Spoelstra said that Hammons is joining the Skyforce to work on his conditioning after he missed time with the flu, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

New York Notes: Noah, Ntilikina, Zeller, Whitehead

The Knicks may finally be getting the version of Joakim Noah they thought they signed last summer, writes Howie Kussoy of The New York Post. After agreeing to a four-year, $72MM contract, Noah had a disastrous first season in New York, marked by poor play, a 20-game suspension for using a banned substance and a left knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery in February.

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said Noah’s performance in training camp has been a pleasant surprise. “Coming off those injuries, literally, I’m shocked of how well he’s played just because I didn’t think he was gonna be ready this early,” Hornacek said. “I’m extremely happy with how he’s playing. He’s playing the right way. He sets great screens, he rolls hard, which opens up other things for guys if he doesn’t get it. He’s been finishing with driving layups. He’s been playing great. He wants to come back and show everybody what kind of player he is and he’s worked hard to do that over the summer.”

Noah still has 11 games left on his suspension, so he won’t be available until mid-November. Hornacek plans to use him on a limited basis in the preseason to make sure the knee is fully recovered.

There’s more news from New York:

  • First-round pick Frank Ntilikina has performed well enough in camp to convince Hornacek that he has a bright NBA future, Kussoy relays in a separate piece. The French point was drafted because former team president Phil Jackson liked his potential fit in the triangle offense, but Hornacek says he has adjusted well to the new, faster-paced approach. “The guys are already talking about him and the plays that he’s making,” Hornacek said. “When you have the respect of those older guys, you’re doing something right.”
  • Nets coach Kenny Atkinson is confident that his centers can exceed expectations, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn traded for Timofey Mozgov, drafted Jarrett Allen and signed Tyler Zeller over the summer to form a center by committee. Zeller, who had a productive year in 2014/15, can’t understand why the Celtics cut his playing time over the past two seasons before waiving him in July. “It was one of those things I was trying to figure out all year,” he said. “They had a great year, so I can’t say they made the wrong decision. But at the same time, I wish I was a part of it. I felt like I could’ve contributed more.”
  • Nets guard Isaiah Whitehead will keep Andy Miller as his agent, tweets Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog. Miller’s ASM agency has been tied to the college basketball scandal uncovered this week and is the target of a $13.5MM arbitration claim filed by Clippers center Willie Reed.

Nets Notes: Free Agents, Lin, Dinwiddie, Goodwin

The Nets are optimistic that they can improve in free agency this summer, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Brooklyn will enter the July bidding with the ability to clear enough cap space to offer two max deals, along with a feeling of momentum after going 11-13 in its last 24 games. Jeremy Lin, who signed with the team as a free agent last summer, said several players have already contacted him about coming to Brooklyn. “Players are asking about us because they saw the way that Kenny [Atkinson] coached,” he said. “They saw how hard these guys played night-in and night-out, how unselfish we played. They want to be a part of that, so there’s already been a lot of interest. People are already asking questions, whether it’s to me or Brook [Lopez] or other players.”

There’s more news out of Brooklyn:

  • One of the Nets’ offseason objectives will be finding a backup for Lin, Lewis writes in a separate story. Lin played well in his first season in Brooklyn, averaging 14.5 points and 5.1 assists per night, but a lingering hamstring problem limited him to 36 games. The Nets had the league’s worst record at 20-62, but they were 13-20 with him as a starter and 10-12 after the All-Star break with their preferred starting lineup. Brooklyn added Greivis Vasquez as a backup point guard last summer, but he played just 39 minutes before ankle problems led to his buyout. “When we started the season, I thought we had Jeremy and the backup settled,’’ Atkinson said. “Now with Spencer [Dinwiddie], Archie [Goodwin] and Isaiah Whitehead], we have to answer, ‘Do we have the solution in-house now?’ I think we do, as the backups have played well. [But] we’ll have to look and see what offseason and next year moves we need to make.”
  • Dinwiddie, who played 59 games after signing with the Nets in December, hopes his long-term future is in Brooklyn, relays NetsDaily.com. Dinwiddie’s contract calls for him to make $1.05MM next season and $1.125MM in 2018/19, but both years are non-guaranteed. “You never know in this business how anything can happen or how it will all shake out,” he said, “but I’ve loved my time here and hopefully look forward to being here for a long time. The organization is great. The staff is great and hopefully we can turn this thing around and just make the playoffs next year. That’d be nice.”
  • Goodwin, who joined the team in mid-March, also has a non-guaranteed deal for next season, tweets NetsDaily. He will receive a $200K guarantee on his $1.58MM salary if he is still with the team October 31st.

Atlantic Notes: Brown, Smart, Noel, Jackson

After a break down in communication in their Wednesday night matchup, Celtics veteran Marcus Smart was seen arguing with rookie Jaylen Brown. CSN New England’s Gary Tanguay discussed the altercation, adding his own case in defense of the 20-year-old swingman.

Per Tanguay, the heated discussion started when Brown attacked the basket prior to letting a set play develop but the rookie guard was wise, he says, to be aggressive. Tanguay added that Brown is the future of the Celtics franchise, not Smart.

In 65 games this season, Brown has averaged 6.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game but those numbers have jumped over the course of the past two months as the first-year guard has grown into a bigger role with the Celtics.

Smart, on the other hand, averages 10.8 points per game for the Celtics and is generally heralded for his leadership abilities.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Though his Mavericks were emphatically defeated, Nerlens Noel‘s return to Philadelphia was an otherwise positive experience. “[I have] no beef at all,” Noel told Jessica Camerato of CSN Philadelphia of how his time with the Sixers came to an end. The third-year big man held a meet and greet with local fans upon his return.
  • There may be light at the end of the tunnel for the rebuilding Nets. General manager Sean Marks recently shed some on what could be next for the franchise. “Let’s build a rock-solid foundation, develop these young guys, get Isaiah Whitehead, Caris LeVert and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson growing up and see where they are at 25, 26,” he said, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
  • It’s been three years since Phil Jackson took the reins of the Knicks and Marc Berman of the New York Post says the executive left his basketball brains in Los Angeles. Berman writes that Jackson nailed the only lottery pick he’s been given (Kristaps Porzingis) but has failed to manage personalities, as was a reported strength.
  • The New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro suggests that, if a smooth operating triangle scheme is truly the goal, Phil Jackson may have been better off either handling coaching duties himself or being more assertive in having his Knicks coaches employ the triangle offense.

Atlantic Notes: Raptors, Lin, Sixers, Anthony

The Raptors have two very difficult decisions looming in their pursuit of the top spot in the Eastern Conference, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post opines. They must decide whether to go all-in this season in their quest to knock off the Cavs, which would mean trading off some young pieces for another impact player, preferable a power forward, Bontemps continues. The Magic’s Serge Ibaka and Hawks’ Paul Millsap — forwards that the Raptors have pursued in the past and will become free agents this summer — would be logical targets, in Bontemps’ view. This summer, they’ll have to decide whether to offer point guard and impending free agent Kyle Lowry a max five-year deal worth over $200MM or risk seeing him walk. Lowry will attract numerous suitors but his age — he turns 31 this spring — could make a long-term commitment a risky investment, Bontemps adds.

In other news around the Atlantic Division:

  • The Nets are taking a committee approach with point guard Jeremy Lin sidelined again by a hamstring injury, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. Coach Kenny Atkinson is rotating Randy Foye, rookie Isaiah Whitehead and Spencer Dinwiddie in Lin’s absence, while shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick is also taking a bigger role in the playmaking duties, Lewis continues. “I think it was ensemble,” Atkinson told Lewis and other media members. “That’s how we’re going to do it.”
  • The Sixers’ frontcourt pairing of Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor has been a colossal failure defensively thus far, as Derek Bodner of Phillymag.com details. In six games since coach Brett Brown paired the two big men in the starting lineup, the Sixers have given up an average of 122.3 points per 100 possessions when they’re on the court. What’s more troubling, as Bodner notes, is that the poor defensive performances have come against sub-par offensive teams.
  • Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek doesn’t believe Carmelo Anthony should have been ejected on Tuesday for swinging his forearm at the head of Hawks swingman Thabo Sefolosha, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. Hornacek asserted that Sefolosha grabbed Anthony around the neck before the forearm swing, though Berman notes that was not apparent on replays while labeling Hornacek’s stance as bizarre. “I don’t blame [Anthony] for what happened, honestly,” Hornacek told Berman. “Watch the replay, watch the action. The guy had his arms wrapped around his neck. … What are you going to do? Just stand there or you going to get the guy off you? It’s a natural reaction.”