Zhou Qi

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/21/17

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

3:57pm:

  • The Cavaliers have recalled rookie center Ante Zizic from the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Zizic made his debut for the Canton Charge on Monday, racking up 14 points and 16 rebounds.
  • The Rockets have sent rookie Zhou Qi to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Feigen expects Zhou to return to the NBA after the Vipers’ Tuesday night contest vs. the Memphis Hustle.

3:01pm:

  • The Sixers have assigned rookie guard Furkan Korkmaz to their G League affiliate, the club announced today in a press release. Korkmaz, who has averaged 15.0 PPG in three games with the Delaware 87ers so far this season, figures to suit up for the club on Tuesday night against the Wisconsin Herd.
  • The Pacers have recalled 2017 second-round pick Ike Anigbogu from the G League, according to a press release from the club. The rookie center started two games during his assignment, averaging 12.0 PPG and 7.5 RPG for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in those games.
  • After sending him to the G League on Monday, the Raptors have recalled rookie forward Alfonzo McKinnie, the team announced today (via Twitter). McKinnie recorded 17 points and six boards for the Raptors 905 last night.
  • The Pistons have assigned second-year big man Henry Ellenson to the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Ellenson, who has appeared in just six NBA contests this season, figures to play major minutes for the Grand Rapids Drive in Tuesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Blue.
  • Rookies Khem Birch and Wesley Iwundu continue to yo-yo-back and forth between the NBA and the G League, having been assigned to Lakeland again today by the Magic (Twitter link).

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/9/17

Here are the G League transactions for Thursday:

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/8/17

Here are Wednesday’s G League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:

  • After struggling in the Delaware 87ers’ loss on Tuesday night, Furkan Korkmaz has been recalled to the NBA by the Sixers, the team announced today in a press release. Korkmaz scored nine points on 3-of-11 shooting for Philadelphia’s G League affiliate on Tuesday.
  • The Rockets have re-assigned rookie big man Zhou Qi to the G League, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. Zhou should have an opportunity to suit up on Wednesday night for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers against Austin.
  • The Nuggets have recalled rookie forward Tyler Lydon from the G League, according to the club (Twitter link). Since Denver doesn’t have its own G League squad, Lydon had been assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s affiliate.
  • The Magic have recalled rookies Khem Birch and Wesley Iwundu from the G League, per a team announcement (Twitter link). Lakeland doesn’t play its next game until Friday, so perhaps Birch and/or Iwundu will be re-assigned before then.
  • One day after being assigned to the Northern Arizona Suns, Derrick Jones has been recalled to the NBA by the Suns, says Scott Bordow of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link).

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/7/17

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

5:23pm:

3:32pm:

  • The Spurs have recalled Tony Parker from the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Parker has been bouncing back and forth between San Antonio and the Austin Spurs as he recovers from surgery on his quadriceps.

1:33pm:

  • The Raptors have assigned Bruno Caboclo to the G League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Because this is Caboclo’s fourth NBA season, the move required his approval.
  • Second-year forward Derrick Jones has been sent to the Northern Arizona Suns, according to a press release issued today by Phoenix. The Suns’ affiliate doesn’t play its next game until Thursday, so we’ll see if Jones’ assignment lasts that long.
  • The Jazz have assigned a pair of rookies, Tony Bradley and Royce O’Neale, to their G League affiliate, according to a press release.
  • A day after sending him to the G League, the Rockets have recalled rookie big man Zhou Qi, the team announced (via Twitter). Zhou scored 15 points on Monday for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
  • The Nets have recalled Isaiah Whitehead from the G League, the club announced in a press release. Whitehead last played for the Long Island Nets on Saturday, when he racked up 26 points and grabbed seven boards.

NBA G League Assignments/Recalls: 11/6/17

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

  • The Spurs have assigned veteran point guard Tony Parker back to the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Parker, recovering from quadriceps surgery, has been back and forth between San Antonio and Austin as part of his rehab process.
  • Rookie big man Zhou Qi is headed to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Rockets announced today (via Twitter). Zhou appears likely to suit up for the Vipers tonight against the Wisconsin Herd.
  • The Raptors have sent rookie forward Alfonzo McKinnie to the G League, according to the team (via Twitter). McKinnie has played very limited minutes in three games so far for Toronto.
  • The Clippers recalled second-year power forward Brice Johnson from the G League on Sunday, per the team. Johnson helped lead the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario to a Saturday win, piling up 25 points and 11 boards.

Knicks Notes: Noah, Porzingis, Kanter

It seems inevitable that the Knicks will need to make a move before November 13, Al Iannazzone of Newsday writes. On that day, Joakim Noah will return from the 20-game suspension he’s been serving since last season.

Not only does the addition of Noah give the Knicks a logjam in their frontcourt, it pushes them to 16 players. While Jarrett Jack remains the lone player on a non-guaranteed deal, the veteran has been a welcome presence on the overachieving club, suggesting that they may need to get creative if they hope to continue winning ball games. New York has won five of its last six contests after dropping the first three games of the season.

With Noah back, the Knicks could cut an individual on a guaranteed deal – a dissatisfied Mindaugas Kuzminskas perhaps – or, if they prefer not to eat a contract, trade a player for a draft pick or look to execute a two-for-one deal with a willing participant.

There’s more out of New York:

  • Bad news for Knicks fans in Turkey, for the second year in a row, the country has blocked Turkish residents from watching Enes Kanter‘s NBA games. Marc Berman of the New York Post writes that the Thunder were blacked out last season, due to the center’s criticisms of the government there.
  • Former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, now enjoying a successful stint with the Rockets, thinks highly of Kristaps Porzingis and wouldn’t mind part of his game rubbing off on Houston project Zhou Qi. “I think he’s unbelievable. I really do,” D’Antoni told Al Iannazzone of Newsday. “He is really good. I told [Qi], ‘Go get your tapes on him. That’s who you need to be right there.’ He shoots threes, runs the floor, long, thin. Everything, that guy’s got it.
  • Expectations are high for 22-year-old Kristaps Porzingis, as former Knicks center Tyson Chandler believes that the 7’3″ forward can one day be the best player in the league. Marc Berman of the New York Post writes that Porzingis himself believes it, too.

Contract Details: Tucker, Holiday, Lowry, Collison

With more and more of the early free agent contract agreements being finalized, official numbers on those deals are starting to trickle in, and Eric Pincus, who operates Basketball Insiders’ salary database, is passing along the specifics on many of them. In instances where the official numbers are essentially identical to what was reported initially, we won’t pass along that info, but we want to provide updates in cases where new details surface.

Here are some new contract details on this week’s deals, with all links via Pincus’ Twitter feed:

Western Conference:

  • The Rockets split their mid-level exception between two players, with P.J. Tucker getting about $7.59MM and Zhou Qi getting the remaining $816K or so. Tucker’s contract is partially guaranteed in its fourth year ($2.6MM of $8MM guaranteed), while Zhou’s four-year pact isn’t guaranteed beyond year one (Twitter links).
  • As was expected based on initial reports, Jrue Holiday‘s total earning potential over five years with the Pelicans ranges from $126-150MM based on bonuses (Twitter link).
  • Dirk Nowitzki‘s two-year pact with the Mavericks will pay him an even $5MM in each of the next two seasons, with a second-year team option (Twitter link).
  • The first season of Wayne Selden‘s two-year minimum salary deal with the Grizzlies is fully guaranteed (Twitter link).
  • The Suns‘ new four-year contract for second-rounder Davon Reed is fully guaranteed for the first year, half guaranteed in the second year, and non-guaranteed in years three and four (Twitter link).

Eastern Conference:

  • Although Kyle Lowry‘s three-year contract with the Raptors can be worth up to $100MM, the base value is $93MM, with the remaining $7MM coming in the form of unlikely bonuses. Unlikely bonuses don’t count against the cap at this point (Twitter link).
  • The second year of Darren Collison‘s contract with the Pacers is only partially guaranteed. Currently, $2MM of his $10MM second-year salary is guaranteed (Twitter link).
  • The Hornets signed Michael Carter-Williams using a portion of their taxpayer mid-level exception. Since he’s receiving an even $2.7MM, the team doesn’t have a hard cap at this point (Twitter link).
  • Eric Moreland‘s three-year deal with the Pistons includes a $500K guarantee for year one. The deal starts at $1.7MM, which means it was finalized using the amount of the mid-level exception that was left over after Langston Galloway‘s signing (Twitter link).

Rockets To Sign 2016 Second-Rounder Zhou Qi

July 6: The signing is official, according to the team’s website.

July 1: Zhou’s deal with the Rockets will indeed be a four-year pact, his agent tells Feigen (Twitter link). That means Houston will dip into its mid-level exception to get it done. The length of the agreement was first reported by David Pick, as noted below.

12:01pm: The Rockets will bring 2016 second-round pick Zhou Qi stateside for the upcoming season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that the team will sign the Chinese center to a multiyear contract. The deal has not yet been finalized, with the structure still undergoing some “final touches,” per Wojnarowski.

Zhou, the 43rd overall pick in the 2016 draft, reportedly remained under contract with China’s Xinjiang Flying Tigers for another four years, but had an NBA out clause believed to be worth $650K, opening the door for him to join the Rockets. The 21-year-old is a promising prospect capable of protecting the rim and stretching the floor a little.

The details of Zhou’s new deal with the Rockets may ultimately hinge on what else Houston does in free agency. The over-the-cap club currently has the mid-level ($8.4MM) and bi-annual ($3.3MM) exceptions at its disposal, and could always sign players using the minimum salary.

As Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle noted earlier this week, the Rockets would like Zhou’s deal to span at least three years, but would have to use a portion of the MLE to make that happen — the bi-annual exception and the minimum salary exception limit deals to two years.

According to international reporter David Pick (via Twitter), Zhou’s new deal is expected to run through the 2020/21 season. That would make it a four-year contract, meaning Houston would have to use some of its MLE to complete the signing.

West Notes: Cash Considerations, Dudley, Zhou

As the smoke clears from the chaos of the Chris Paul trade, details have emerged regarding the numerous side deals that went down in order for the Rockets to acquire the superstar point guard from the Clippers.

We broke down the math behind the trades but Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has provided insight as to the exact financial details of the deals that brought players on non-guaranteed deals to the Rockets in exchange for cash considerations.

There’s more out of the Western Conference:

  • Veteran Suns forward Jared Dudley underwent surgery to repair a lingering toe issue and will be sidelined 3-4 months, ESPN relays.
  • Although he’s justifiably upset about the end of Lob City, Doc Rivers isn’t ready to give up competing for a title. “That part is over. And that bugs me,” Rivers told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “But we’re not done trying to reach our goal. Sometimes you gotta do it a different way. Because the way we tried to do it didn’t work.”
  • The Nuggets will get a good idea of where they stand in the eyes of free agents this summer, Chris Dempsey of  Altitude Sports writes. The scribe asks whether Nikola Jokic‘s breakout campaign will be enough of a foundation for the club to recruit off of.
  • The Rockets could look to sign Zhou Qi to a multiyear deal by using a portion of their mid-level exception, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes, but they wouldn’t be opposed to siging him to a shorter deal if that meant landing another coveted free agent.

Rockets Notes: Gordon, Zhou, Anderson

James Harden and Trevor Ariza were both heavily involved in recruiting Eric Gordon, as the shooting guard writes for The Players’ Tribune. Both players called Gordon nearly every day leading up to free agency, explaining to him that he was the missing piece while talking about how unstoppable the offense would be and how successful the Rockets could be in the postseason if he decided to come to Houston. Gordon ended up signing a four-year. $53MM deal with the team last summer.

Here’s more from Houston as the team gets ready for its round two matchup with the Spurs:

  • Gordon said that neither Harden nor Ariza had mentioned coming off the bench during any of their offseason phones calls, Gordon writes in the same piece. That revelation came 11 games into this season when coach Mike D’Antoni told him that he would come off the bench.  “Bam. No leading into the conversation. No softening the blow. Just like that, I’d lost my starting spot,” Gordon writes.  The shooting guard has embraced his role off the bench and he’s a top candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
  • Zhou Qi, who was the No. 43 overall pick in the 2016 draft, will begin training with the Rockets with the hope of joining the NBA club next season, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. “We are looking forward to sitting down and talking and seeing what might happen in the future. His dream is to one day play in the NBA. Right now, we are focused on training,” Zhou’s agent said.
  • Ryan Anderson, who signed a four-year, $80MM deal with the Rockets last offseason, is excited to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2009/10 season, as Feigen writes in a separate piece“Series one went by quick. This season went by quick. But it feels like this group has been together a whole lot longer than it had because we enjoy being around each other. It’s been a fun year,” Anderson said.