Maurice Ndour

And-Ones: Stoudemire, Ndour, COVID-19, Poirier

Veteran power forward Amar’e Stoudemire isn’t ready to end his career, according to Ennio Terrasi Borghesan of Sportando. After signing with Maccabi Tel Aviv in January, the big man is close to reaching an agreement to return to the Israeli team.

Stoudemire, who will turn 38 next month, averaged 8.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 17 games with Maccabi Tel Aviv, then captured the Israeli League Finals MVP award after leading the team to the championship. Stoudemire played 14 NBA seasons with the Suns, Knicks, Mavericks and Heat, but has been out of the league since 2016. He has spent time in Israel and China, as well as the BIG3.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Power forward Maurice Ndour, who played for the Knicks during the 2016/17 season, has signed with Rytas Vilnius in Lithuania, tweets JD Shaw of HoopsRumors. Ndour has played in Russia and Spain since leaving the NBA.
  • The coronavirus continues to disrupt overseas basketball, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The Dutch Basketball League has postponed all its games for the next four weeks due to an increase in COVID-19 cases throughout the country, while games in the Ukraine will be played behind closed doors until at least the end of December. The Ukrainian league had been permitting fans to attend at 20-25% of each arena’s capacity.
  • Celtics center Vincent Poirier says winning an Olympic gold medal for France would mean more to him than an NBA title, relays Antonis Stroggylakis of EuroHoops. Poirier made the comments during an interview with the French site Konbini Sports. “I take the Olympic title,” Poirier said. “French Olympic champions are rare. If I’m one of the 12 players who win the gold at the Olympics, I will be a legend.” Poirier won a bronze medal with the French team last year at the FIBA World Cup. France has just two Olympic medals in basketball, capturing the silver in 1948 and 2000.

International Notes: Stokes, Morris, Mourning, Senegal

Power forward Jarnell Stokes has decided to remain in China for a third consecutive season, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Stokes will sign a $1.9MM contract with Xinjiang. Stokes has appeared in 28 NBA games for the Grizzlies, Heat, and Nuggets. He played five games with the Trail Blazers in the Las Vegas Summer League last month and averaged 10.6 PPG and 6.4 RPG.

We have more news from around the basketball globe:

  • Guard Darius Morris has officially signed with Russia’s Enisey Krasnoyarsk, Carchia reports. Morris played in the G League last season with Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 15.2 PPG and 6.1 APG. The former Lakers and Nets guard has appeared in 132 total NBA games after being selected in the second round of the 2011 draft but the 2014/15 season was his last in the league.
  • Trey Mourning, son of former NBA star Alonzo Mourning, will play for Russia’s Runa Basket, Carchia adds in another post. The former Georgetown forward, who went undrafted this June, averaged 9.0 PPG and 2.8 RPG in four games for the Heat in summer league action last month.
  • Former NBA players Hamady Ndiaye and Maurice Ndour are among the players on Senegal’s World Cup roster, according to a FIBA press release. Ndiaye, a center, was a Timberwolves’ 2010 second-round pick and appeared in 33 NBA games. Ndour, a small forward, played 32 games for the Knicks during the 2016/17 season.

International Notes: Sullinger, Douglas, Sims, Ndour

Earlier today, we told you that Isaiah Whitehead finalized his deal with Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia and Larry Drew‘s Korean contract was pulled over an NBA games restriction. Here are a few more international tidbits, all courtesy of Sportando:

  • Jared Sullinger, a former Celtics first-round pick who played five NBA seasons, has re-signed with the Shenzen Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association. Sullinger spent four seasons with Boston and part of another with Toronto. In February of 2017, the Raptors traded him to the Suns, who waived him the next day. He signed with Shenzen last September.
  • Toney Douglas, who played for seven teams in eight NBA seasons, has signed with Sakarya Buyuksehir in Turkey. He spent last season with another Turkish team, Anadolu Efes. Douglas’ last NBA experience came in 2016/17 when he played 24 games for the Grizzlies.
  • Former Sixers center Henry Sims will sign with Italian club Virtus Roma after playing last year for Vanoli Cremona in Italy. Sims’ best NBA season came in 2014/15 when he averaged 8.0 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 73 games for Philadelphia. He also played for the [New Orleans] Hornets, Cavaliers and Nets in a four-year career.
  • Maurice Ndour, who spent part of the 2016/17 season with the Knicks, re-signed with Unics Kazan in Russia. He appeared in 32 games for New York, starting four, and averaged 3.1 points per night.

Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, Ndour, Iguodala

The Knicks have changed their tone with regard to Kristaps Porzingis now that former president Phil Jackson is out of the picture. These days, head coach Jeff Hornacek is confident that the third-year forward will remain in New York, Ian Begley of ESPN writes.

I think it was out there that Phil was listening, but he wasn’t out shopping KP,” The Knicks bench boss clarifies. “We love KP and what he does, so I don’t see him going anywhere.”

We wrote yesterday about how the Knicks will look to prioritize the 21-year-old more in their offense, something that Jackson had been reluctant to do. They’ve also actually been in touch with the 7’3″ sharpshooter as well, a sign that tension between the two parties following Porzingis’ missed exit meeting is simmering now that his biggest critic is no longer involved.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Recently waived Maurice Ndour may be a victim of bad timing, Marc Berman of the New York Post suggests. The forward was a favorite of Phil Jackson‘s and was cut shortly after the organization and former president parted ways. The Knicks let Ndour go to free up cap space.
  • The Sixers have ample cap space and no reservations using it, something that Warriors forward Andre Iguodala may have used to his advantage in his own free agent negotiations. Rob Tornoe of the Inquirer suggests that on some occasion, agents leak meetings with Philly to drive up prices.
  • The time is now for Brett Brown to show what he’s capable of as a head coach, Bob Cooney of the Inquirer writes. Brown has done an impressive job of harnessing effort out of his limited roster in the past, now he has legitimate weapons at his disposal.

Knicks Waive Maurice Ndour

2:05pm: The Knicks have confirmed Ndour’s release (Twitter link).

1:14pm: The Knicks are waiving forward Maurice Ndour before the new league year begins, per Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Ndour’s minimum salary for 2017/18, worth $1,312,611, would have become guaranteed if he had remained on the roster through June 30.

Ndour, 25, joined the Knicks as an undrafted free agent last season and appeared in 32 games for the team. In 10.3 minutes per contest, the Senegalese big man averaged 3.1 PPG and 2.0 RPG. As Ian Begley of ESPN.com notes, Kurt Rambis and Clarence Gaines were fond of Ndour, so he might still have a spot on the roster if not for Phil Jackson‘s departure.

Marshall Plumlee‘s salary for 2017/18 is also reportedly set to become guaranteed if he’s not waived by the Knicks today.

Atlantic Rumors: Knicks, Jackson, Raptors, Johnson

The Knicks are focused on trading Carmelo Anthony and becoming a younger team, but scarce financial resources may prevent the team from landing a max free agent, ESPN’s Ian Begley writes. Free agents Jrue Holiday and Jeff Teague are potential targets for New York, league sources tell Begley. However, with eight players on guaranteed contracts for next season, team president Phil Jackson said during a recent a press conference that the current team has “a dozen players that we’re very confident can support and be a part of a team. So we feel pretty good about that.”

Upgrading via free agency may be contingent on the Knicks trading Anthony, whom Jackson indicated “would be better off elsewhere” during the aforementioned presser. Begley notes that a hypothetical Melo trade could clear about $5MM in cap room, giving the Knicks $24MM — the team’s current cap space calls for $19MM available for the Knicks to spend.

However, a lot of Begley’s hypothetical offseason spending includes the Knicks not re-signing any of their young players. So if the Knicks intend on upgrading, players such as Jrue’s older brother Justin Holiday, Ron Baker, Maurice Ndour, and Chasson Randle may suit up elsewhere in 2017/18.

In other news around the Atlantic division.

  • The Nets maintain interest in Euroleague guard Edwin Jackson, according to Nets Daily. An earlier report indicated the club’s interest in the 27-year-old guard, who is averaging 21.8 points in 30 games for Movistar Estudiantes of the Liga ACB in Spain. The 6’1″ French guard has never suited up for an NBA team but he was in Nets camp three years ago, per Nets Daily. Jackson has indicated he would come stateside for a guaranteed NBA deal or seek a lucrative offer in Europe.
  • Nets Daily compiled a list of potential European targets for Brooklyn in addition to Jackson. Milos Teodosic, 30, Nicolo Melli, 26, and 2011 second-round NBA draft pick Tyler Honeycutt, 26, — who revived his career in Turkey — are listed as potential free agent options; Latvian-born Rodions Kurucs, 19, and Anzejus Pasecniks, 21, are both listed as possible draft targets.
  • In an attempt to contain the Cavaliers’ offense, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey may start Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals with Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll on the bench, SportsNet’s Michael Grange writes. Both men — who were major signings by team president Masai Ujiri — have underperformed this postseason and Casey is “desperate” to jumpstart his team. Norman Powell and rookie Jakob Poeltl are likely to see significant playing time if Casey goes in that direction.
  • As he heads for free agency, Amir Johnson remains positive despite dwindling playing time for the Celtics, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe relays. While Johnson got the start for Boston tonight in Game 2, he has been a liability on both sides of the court for most of the postseason. Johnson led the Celtics in games (80) and starts (77) in the regular season and maintains he’s trying to work out of his slump. “If things aren’t working out for you, you know you’ve got to do the next thing,” Johnson said.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/31/17

Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

  • A day after sending them down, the Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo, Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet from the D-League, the team announced today (Twitter link). VanVleet and Siakam led the way with 24 and 22 points respectively in a Raptors 905 win on Thursday night.
  • Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee also returned to the NBA a day after being assigned to the D-League, the Knicks announced (via Twitter). Plumlee had a double-double for the Westchester Knicks in a loss on Thursday, with 11 points and 11 boards.
  • The Grizzlies have recalled forward Jarell Martin from the D-League, according to a press release issued by the team. Martin’s assignment with the Iowa Energy lasted more than a month. For the season, he has averaged 15.9 PPG and 7.5 RPG in 22 games with Memphis’ D-League affiliate.
  • The Pacers have assigned rookie forward Georges Niang to their D-League squad, the team announced today in a press release. It’s the fourth assignment to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season for Niang.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/30/17

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

  • The Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo, Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today (via Twitter). The trio will be in action tonight for the Raptors 905, who lead the NBADL’s Eastern Conference with a 37-11 record.
  • The Knicks have sent rookie bigs Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee to the D-League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Ndour and Plumlee will suit up tonight for the Westchester Knicks in their game against the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s D-League affiliate.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/28/17

Check out Tuesday’s D-League assignment and recalls from around the league:

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/18/17

Here are the D-League transactions for Saturday:

10:45pm:

  • The Knicks have assigned forward Maurice Ndour to their Westchester affiliate, the team tweeted.
  • The Grizzlies have recalled center Deyonta Davis from Iowa, the team announced in an email.

2:17pm:

  • The Raptors have assigned forward Bruno Caboclo and center Pascal Siakam to their D-League affiliate, the team’s media department reports on Twitter. Caboclo has seen limited action in just seven games with Toronto this season while Siakam has averaged 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 52 contests at the big league level.
  • The Thunder have assigned forward Josh Huestis to their D-League affiliate, the team announced in a press release. Huestis has played 27 games with the OKC Blue already this season.
  • The Cavaliers recalled rookie guard Kay Felder from their D-League affiliate, the team reports on its official site. Felder has played 37 games  with the franchise already this season.