Mamadou N’Diaye Rumors

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)

Pistons Sign, Waive Mamadou N’Diaye

October 22nd, 2016 at 2:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

2:55pm: The Pistons announced that they have waived N’Diaye via a second press release.

10:59am: The Pistons have signed center Mamadou N’Diaye to a contract, the team announced via press release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it is almost assuredly a minimum salary deal with little or no guaranteed salary included. Coming this late in the preseason, inking Ndiaye was likely done with an eye on retaining his D-League rights as an affiliate player.

The 7’6″ big man went undrafted this year after spending three season at UC Irvine. The 23-year-old averaged 12.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks during his junior campaign in 2015/16.

N’Diaye played in the Las Vegas Summer League as a member of Golden State’s squad. In three contests he went scoreless, averaging 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 blocks in 5.8 minutes per outing. N’Diaye attempted two shots, missing both of them.

Eastern Notes: Smart, Teague, Draft

June 9th, 2016 at 6:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Hawks point guard Jeff Teague relayed today that he played the entire 2015/16 campaign with a torn patellar tendon in his knee and that he “could barely jump or stop,” Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. Teague won’t require surgery this offseason and is expected to be ready to go when training camp commences, Mazzeo adds. “He is kind of, for lack of a better word, managing his knee,” coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said. “I don’t know if it is knees and ankles. I would say it is hard to know what he shares and what he doesn’t. I think he was relatively healthy and he was good so many nights and he is such a good player. I do think he was managing it a little bit like a lot of NBA guys do.”

Teague, 27, appeared in 79 games in 2015/16, averaging 15.7 points and 5.9 assists and shooting 43.9% from the field and 40% from 3-point range. He has one year remaining on his current deal and is a potential trade candidate this offseason. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

The Celtics held two group workouts today, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com tweets. The first group was comprised of Alex Caruso (Texas A&M), Juan Hernangomez (Spain), Damian Jones (Vanderbilt), Thon Maker (Australia), Georgios Papagiannis (Greece) and Rasheed Sulaimon (Maryland), Forsberg notes. The second group included Robert Carter (Maryland), Stefan Jankovic (Hawaii), Shawn Long (Louisiana-Lafayette), Mamadou Ndiaye (UC Irvine), Nik Slavica (Croatia) and Troy Williams (Indiana).
The Heat have granted the Grizzlies permission to interview assistant coach Keith Smart for a position on the staff of former Miami assistant David Fizdale, who was recently named Memphis’ head coach, Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel relays. Memphis was denied permission to interview Heat assistant coach Dan Craig, who is expected to take an elevated position on Erik Spoelstra‘s staff next season, Winderman adds.
The Hornets have workouts scheduled for Friday with Cat Barber (NC State), Nathan Boothe (Toledo), Jake Layman (Maryland), Isaiah Miles (St. Joe’s), Tyler Ulis (Kentucky) and Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV), Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).

Suns Notes: Chandler, Workouts, J. Brown

June 7th, 2016 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns are taking a closer look at candidates for that fourth overall pick, having hosted former California forward Jaylen Brown for a workout on Monday. We also heard yesterday that Phoenix has a workout lined up with Dragan Bender, who will be traveling stateside to meet with a handful of teams with top picks.

Here’s more on the Suns:

Veteran center Tyson Chandler isn’t getting any younger, and may not want to remain in Phoenix if the team plans to undergo a major rebuilding effort. For now though, Chandler is content to take a wait-and-see approach and won’t seek out a trade, as he tells ESPN’s The Jump with Rachel Nichols. “If there is a decision and they want to go young and stay young, then we’ll have that conversation. But we’re not there,” Chandler said. “I’m happy where I am. I feel like the Suns have a bright future if we continue to build and build the right way. It’s all about building the right way.”
The Suns have a six-man pre-draft workout group lined up for today, according to the team (Twitter link). The prospects participating in that session are Josh Adams (Wyoming), Gerry Blakes (Arizona State), Petr Cornelie (France), Juan Hernangomez (Spain), Mamadou Ndiaye (UC Irvine), and Georgios Papagiannis (Greece).
Former Syracuse guard Malachi Richardson is also scheduled to work out for the Suns this week, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic takes a look at whether Jaylen Brown would be a fit in Phoenix, talking to Suns assistant GM Pat Connelly and Brown himself.

Draft Decisions: Ndiaye, Edwards, Cooke, Brown

May 24th, 2016 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

Underclassmen who submitted their names for draft consideration have until tomorrow – May 25th – to decide whether or not to remain in the draft. If those players don’t withdraw from consideration by Wednesday’s deadline, they’ll forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility and will be available to NBA teams in June.

For many prospects projected to come off the board early, that decision is a no-brainer, but we’ll see plenty of lower-level prospects announce today and tomorrow that they’ll be returning to school for at least one more year. Here are some of the latest draft decisions made by early entrants:

Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye tells Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he plans to remain in the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility at UC Irvine. Despite the decision, Ndiaye isn’t a lock to be drafted.
Purdue’s athletics department has announced that 6’8″ forward Vince Edwards will return to the Boilermakers for the upcoming season, removing his name from draft consideration. “We are excited that Vince is returning for his junior year. The feedback he received in his workouts will only help him continue to improve and become one of the best players in the Big Ten in the upcoming season,” head coach Matt Painter said in a statement.
Dayton guard Charles Cooke has elected to return to school rather than staying in the draft, coach Archie Miller tells Goodman (Twitter link). The Flyers’ leading scorer has one year of eligibility left.
New Mexico guard Elijah Brown will head back to school for his junior season, according to Goodman (Twitter link).
Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan and Kentucky’s Marcus Lee are among the players who are still undecided on whether or not to withdraw from the draft, according to Scott Agness of VigilantSports.com and Goodman, respectively (Twitter links).

And-Ones: Diallo, English, Telfair

May 23rd, 2016 at 10:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Cheick Diallo has worked out for the Hawks today, Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv tweets. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors mentioned Diallo as a first round possibility in Atlanta’s Offseason Outlook. Atlanta has the No. 21 overall pick in addition to two second-rounders.

Here’s more on the upcoming draft

A.J. English has worked out for the Lakers , Zagoria reports (Twitter link). The Iona product will work out for the Clippers on Wednesday and the Mavs on Thursday
Malik Newman will work out for the Knicks on Tuesday, Zagoria reports (Twitter link). Newman previously worked out for the Bucks and Nets.
Coach Rick Pitino told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports (Twitter link) that he expects Chinanu Onuaku to remain in the draft.
Makai Mason will withdraw from the draft and return to Yale, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets.
Ethan Telfair, the brother of former NBA player Sebastian Telfair, has withdrawn from the draft and will return to Idaho State, Goodman tweets.
The Kings will work out Venky Jois, Nick Faust, Mamadou Ndiaye, Mike Tobey, Codi Miller-McIntyre and Anthony Beene on Tuesday, reports James Ham of Comcast SportsNet (Twitter link).

Draft Updates: Ferrell, Ndiaye, Moore, Hawks

May 9th, 2016 at 4:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

A major draft-related event takes place this week, as scouts, executives and these prospects will gather for the NBA combine in Chicago from Wednesday through Sunday. Teams will start working out players in earnest after that, though some auditions have already taken place. Here’s the latest on that front with the June 23rd draft little more than six weeks away:

The workouts that former Indiana University point guard Yogi Ferrell has with the Lakers and Clippers are slated for May 16th and 18th, respectively, tweets Jonathan Goodman of ESPN.com, advancing an earlier report from Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Ferrell will also work out for the Suns on the 20th, Jazz on the 22nd, Bulls on the 23rd, Hawks on the 25th, Mavericks on the 26th, Pistons on the 31st, Wizards on June 2nd, Nets on June 8th, and Knicks on June 10th, Goodman reveals. Ferrell is trying to work his way into the second round, with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress ranking him No. 66 while Chad Ford of ESPN.com rates him only 99th.
Massive UC Irvine center Mamadou Ndiaye will work out for the Rockets and Lakers, Goodman tweets. Givony, who ranks him the 30th-best prospect among juniors, lists Ndiaye at 7’6″, while Goodman says he’s 7’5″. Ford, who also lists him at 7’6″, ranks him the 136th-best prospect overall.
Utah State small forward Jalen Moore will work out with the Grizzlies on May 16th, the Timberwolves on the 18th and the Nets on the 23rd, as he tells Goodman (Twitter link). Moore is Givony‘s 69th-best junior and Ford‘s 190th prospect overall.
The Hawks worked out Taurean Prince, Justin Jackson, Nigel Hayes, Pascal Siakam, Alex Hamilton and Wes Washpun on Saturday, a source told Jake Fischer of SI Now (Twitter link).

Mamadou Ndiaye To Enter NBA Draft

April 7th, 2016 at 8:01pm CST by Eddie Scarito

UC Irvine junior center Mamadou Ndiaye has declared for the 2016 NBA draft, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports. The big man doesn’t intend to hire an agent immediately but is planning on doing so later on in the draft process, Charania adds. It’s unclear if this means that Ndiaye is 100% committed to leaving school or if his intent to delay securing representation means he will only hire an agent if he doesn’t withdraw prior to the May 25th deadline.

Ndiaye, 7’6″, is one of the two tallest players in the NCAA along with UCF’s Tacko Fall. While height will always be a valuable commodity in the NBA, the 22-year-old isn’t guaranteed to be selected this June. Ndiaye entered school as the No. 84 overall player according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index and is currently ranked as the No. 30 overall junior by Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. He comes in at No. 166 on Chad Ford of ESPN.com‘s big board.

The native of Senegal appeared in 35 games this season and averaged 12.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 23.3 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .667/.000/.642.