NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/24/16
Here are the D-League moves from Saturday:
- The Knicks have recalled point guard Ron Baker from their D-League affiliate, according to the team’s PR department via Twitter. They have also recalled forward Maurice Ndour and center Marshall Plumlee.
- The Kings have recalled rookies Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere from their D-League affiliate in Reno, tweets Sean Cunningham of station KXTV in Sacramento.
Lawson Fitting In With Kings
- Ty Lawson is adjusting to his role off the bench for the Kings and coach Dave Joerger believes the point guard can give the team more than a typical reserve can, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. “Generally, backups will play 16 to 18 minutes,” Joerger said. “I think he’s way better than that … I want him to know I have the faith in him to play him longer minutes.” Lawson signed with Sacramento on a one-year deal during the offseason.
Lowe’s Latest: Lakers, Cousins, Ingram
The Lakers have the pieces to trade for a superstar, but the team isn’t rushing to make any moves, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com writes. “If you grow from within, you control your own destiny,” coach Luke Walton said. “That’s the game plan. We want to see what this group can do. We don’t want to rely on anything else — on free agency, or trades.”
Lowe passes along more in his latest piece. Here are the highlights:
- DeMarcus Cousins doesn’t appear to be available in trade talks because the Kings are in contention for a playoff spot, Lowe relays in the same piece. Sacramento is just one game behind Portland in the win column for the eight seed in the Western Conference
- Rival executives are split on the value of the Lakers‘ young core, according to Lowe. Some would trade D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram for Cousins without hesitation, while others consider such a deal to be outlandish.
- If the Lakers could steal Cousins for a package of Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and a future first-rounder, they should pull the trigger, Lowe opines. Though he adds that should the Kings deal the big man, it will likely be for a better package.
- Kobe Bryant‘s farewell tour wasted a year of player development and the Lakers can’t properly gauge the team’s young talent because of it, Lowe contends. Rather than playing and learning in a balanced offense, the team watched Bryant run an inefficient offense. “It was definitely a strange year,” Larry Nance said. “Playing with Kobe was awesome. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But it was a weird season.”
- Ingram will take time to develop, but he’s already comfortable making plays for the Lakers and the team maintains high hopes for the 2016 No.2 overall pick, Lowe adds. “You can’t teach [his] feel,” Walton said. “We feel very confidently about the player he is going to become.”
Kings Notes: Cousins, Joerger, Barnes, Afflalo
Kings coach Dave Joerger is defending DeMarcus Cousins after his latest controversy, which involved two technicals, one of which was rescinded, and a brief ejection in Tuesday’s game, relays the Associated Press. Cousins, who leads the NBA with eight technicals and is third in fouls committed with 102, has complained that officials treat him differently than other players. “I wish they’d just call it like a high school game,” Joerger said. “Set the tone in the first 5 minutes how you want to officiate and go from there. He’s not easy to officiate. He creates a lot of contact and people bump him, just like they do with all the bigs.”
There’s more tonight out of Sacramento:
- The Kings took the easy way out with a $50K fine for Cousins’ latest run-in with a journalist, charges Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Considering that Cousins makes about $15.7MM this season and $16.7MM next season, the fine won’t impact him, she writes, making it the latest in a series of incidents in which the franchise has enabled his bad behavior.
- A woman who was allegedly involved in the December 5th nightclub brawl involving Cousins and Matt Barnes in New York City has been arrested, according to Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee. Police took Laura Closure into custody on suspicion of assault and attempted assault for allegedly throwing a bottle at a woman’s face inside the club. The New York Post has reported that Closure was with Barnes and Cousins at the time of the incident. Neither player has been charged, but they were named in a civil suit earlier this month filed by Jasmine Besiso and Myrone Powell.
- Arron Afflalo is denying a report that he refused to enter a game in Houston last week. In a video posted on the ABC 10 website, Afflalo says he has been “active and available” for every game this season. Joerger refused to discuss the incident, according to station reporter Sean Cunningham (Twitter link).
Cousins Apologizes
DeMarcus Cousins was fined $50K by the Kings for his part of an incident with a local columnist and the 26-year-old said that he picked the wrong time to confront the reporter, adding that he let his emotions get the best of him, Sean Cunningham of ABC10 passes along (Twitter link). However, in his prepared statement, Cousins did not apologize to the reporter whom he intimidated..
“I understand my actions were inexcusable and I commit to upholding the professional standards of the Kings and the NBA. I apologize to my teammates, fans and the Kings organization for my behavior and the ensuing distraction and look forward to moving on and focusing on basketball,” Cousins said.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/20/16
Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
3:21pm:
- After participating in the Raptors 905 game at the Air Canada Centre today, Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet were recalled to the NBA squad, the Raptors announced (via Twitter). The D-League game at the ACC set a new league record for attendance, with more than 15,000 fans in the building.
- The Kings have assigned rookies Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere to the D-League, according to a press release issued by the club. Fellow first-rounder Malachi Richardson apparently won’t be joining them on their latest NBADL assignment, as he has multiple times this season.
11:53am:
- With Clint Capela sidelined due to a fibula fracture, the Rockets have recalled 2016 second-rounder Chinanu Onuaku from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today (Twitter link). Onuaku, who had been on his latest D-League assignment for nearly a month, has averaged 10.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, and 1.5 BPG in 16 games for the Vipers this season.
- Maurice Ndour and Marshall Plumlee have been assigned to the D-League by the Knicks, according to the team (Twitter link). The duo will join the Westchester Knicks in time for New York’s NBADL affiliate to take on the Los Angeles D-Fenders tonight.
- The Thunder have sent Josh Huestis back to the D-League, according to a press release issued today by the team. Huestis, who has been shuttled back and forth frequently between the NBA and NBADL, has appeared in nine games for the Oklahoma City Blue, but has yet to play this season for the Thunder.
DeMarcus Cousins Fined $50K By Kings
12:44pm: Cousins was fined $50K by the Kings, a source tells Bill Lindelof of The Sacramento Bee.
10:31am: The Kings have fined DeMarcus Cousins, following a recent incident with a Sacramento Bee columnist, reports Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Although the fine is said to be “substantial,” the exact amount isn’t known, and Cousins won’t be suspended at all by the team. Still, the Kings hinted that a harsher penalty could be levied if the veteran center continues to exhibit the same sort of behavior.
“The Kings have a clear set of standards of conduct expected of our entire organization. As a result of negative interactions with certain members of the media that were not corrected after verbal warnings, we have decided to impose a substantial fine,” the Kings said in statement obtained by ESPN. “If this behavior is repeated again we will be forced to consider further discipline.”
[RELATED: DeMarcus Cousins may face penalty for media run-ins]
As we detailed last week, The Sacramento Bee published a video that showed Cousins confronting and shouting profanities at The Bee’s Andy Furillo after Furillo mentioned Cousins’ brother Jaleel in a recent column. The video also showed a separate incident in which Cousins refuses to answer questions from reporters until Cowbell Kingdom managing editor Leo Beas leaves the locker room.
For his part, Beas published a piece over the weekend detailing how Cousins’ “beef” with Cowbell Kingdom began, describing an incident in which the 26-year-old singled him out and began attacking him “on a personal level.” Beas writes that he received a text from another Kings player following that altercation, apologizing on the team’s behalf. According to the Cowbell Kingdom editor, Cousins also confronted him 15 minutes before a recent game as Beas was filming B-roll footage of Kings players running out of the tunnel.
“The Sacramento Bee only released a small portion of the altercation, which is positive for Cousins because if the full video had been released, then we would be talking about something else,” Beas writes. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
In response to The Bee’s story and video, Kings head coach Dave Joerger called the paper’s coverage “ridiculous” and defended his star big man, which Cousins appreciated, as he tells Spears.
“I think he understands where I’m coming from,” Cousins told The Undefeated. “I don’t really think it had anything to do with him trying to show that he has his player’s back. I generally think he understands where I’m coming from. … I respect him for speaking out. He doesn’t have to. He went about it the right way. He spoke out on it. I respect him for that.”
'Growing Rift' Between Afflalo, Kings' Coaching Staff?
- The Thunder and Magic are both believed to be keeping an eye on the market for a scoring threat, per Kyler. Kings forward Rudy Gay is a player to watch, as many league insiders still believe he’s the most likely player to be dealt by the deadline, even if it doesn’t happen until February.
- Another Kings scorer, Arron Afflalo, isn’t thrilled with his current role, and may be angling for a trade, Kyler reports. A Sunday report suggested that Afflalo had refused to enter a recent game against Houston, and Kyler says there’s a “growing rift” between the veteran guard and the Sacramento coaching staff.
[SOURCE LINK]
Kings Notes: Afflalo, Cousins, Temple
Arron Afflalo reportedly refused to enter a game between the Kings and Rockets last week, Sacramento radio personality Carmichael Dave tweeted earlier this evening. The KHTK radio host also noted that “league sources” said the 31-year-old journeyman was slow to enter the contest against the Jazz last weekend as well.
If Afflalo is in fact refusing to play, that would be one more source of drama in a Kings locker room already dealing with a recently published video of DeMarcus Cousins berating members of the media and with the charges Matt Barnes faces after an altercation at a New York night club.
Just this summer, Afflalo opted out of the final year of a deal with the Knicks in order to pursue free agency and ultimately the two-year, $25MM contract he signed with the Kings.
Last April, ESPN reported that a desire to be a starter was a motivating factor in Afflalo’s then-pending decision. This month, however, Afflalo has seen his play time drop precipitously and has been in and out of the starting lineup since late November. In five December games, the shooting guard has failed to clear more than 16 minutes and his production has dropped dramatically.
Worth noting, as trade speculation begins to swirl around the league and particularly with the Kings, is that the veteran’s contract is worth $12.5 annually but remains only partially guaranteed for $1.5MM in the second year.
That’s not all coming out of Sacramento…
- Kings head coach Dave Joerger has called the aforementioned video published by the Sacramento Bee late last week “ridiculous” and went on to defend his franchise star. In the short clip, Cousins is seen involved in several hostile incidents with various members of the media. This isn’t the first time Joerger has been unhappy with the newspaper’s coverage, writes the Sacramento Bee’s own Jason Jones.
- The Kings found a gem in free agent acquisition Garrett Temple, Jones writes in a separate article. The utility veteran, signed for three years and $24MM, has stepped up as a multipurpose perimeter threat averaging 10.4 points per game in December.
- For all the latest Kings-related headlines, be sure to check out our Sacramento team page.
Cousins May Face Penalty For Media Run-Ins
Disciplinary action could be in the cards for DeMarcus Cousins, says Sam Amick of USA Today. Earlier today, the Sacramento Bee published a video of several hostile incidents between various media outlets and the Kings big man. According to Amick, the league is aware of the situation and a penalty could be coming in the next couple days.
The clip from the Bee shows Cousins confronting and shouting profanities at The Bee’s Andy Furillo after Furillo mentioned Cousins’ brother in a recent column. The video also shows a separate incident in which Cousins refuses to answer questions from reporters until Cowbell Kingdom managing editor Leo Beas leaves the locker room. The Kings have already issued a statement announcing that they’re looking into the matter, according to The Bee:
“We are committed to being open and transparent, and any hint of media censorship is unacceptable. There is an ongoing review into this matter, and we will take the appropriate steps immediately upon its conclusion.”
With or without a league-mandated penalty, the incident serves as the latest fuel for speculation that Cousins could be on his way out of Sacramento. The only problem? The run-ins with reporters will make teams even more wary of trading for the mercurial star. Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck described what he’s surmised from league executives in a tweet Thursday night: “Every GM I’ve asked recently has effectively said ‘Hell no’ to trading for Cousins.”
That goes along with one of the predominant themes in a recent article published at The Vertical by Chris Mannix.
“Trading Cousins is complicated; few players at his level are more polarizing. An example: Asked recently about Cousins, a high-ranking executive from a Western Conference team that had kicked the tires on acquiring him was adamant. He didn’t want him. ‘Everything about that guy is wrong,’ the exec told The Vertical. ‘I don’t want that attitude around my young players.'”
Still, Mannix explains, there may be a team or two willing to take on the baggage associated with the 26-year-old. Even in light of his recent involvement in an incident that unfolded outside of a New York City night club earlier this month.
Despite the uptick in drama surrounding the two-time All-Star, Cousins is averaging a career-high 28.3 points per game to go along with 10.9 rebounds.