NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/12/16
Here are Saturday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA, with the D-League’s regular season underway:
10:51pm:
- The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet from Raptors 905, the team tweeted.
2:46pm:
- The Thunder recalled forward Josh Huestis from the Oklahoma City Blue, they announced via press release. Huestis played 31 minutes in the Blue’s opener on Friday night, notching eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes against the Maine Red Claws.
- The Mavericks assigned rookie center A.J. Hammons to the Texas Legends, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com tweets. The 7-footer has seen spot duty in three games with Dallas. The second-round pick will be available for the Legends’ season opener Saturday night against the Red Claws.
Edy Tavares To Join Raptors’ D-League Affiliate
Former Hawks big man Edy Tavares, waived by Atlanta earlier this season, is nearing an agreement to join Raptors 905, Toronto’s D-League affiliate, reports international basketball journalist David Pick (via Twitter). If and when Tavares officially signs, he’ll remain an NBA free agent, as the Raptors would only hold his D-League rights.
Players can’t sign outright with D-League teams, instead signing a D-League contract and entering the league’s player pool, where teams can claim them. As D-League Digest tweets, the Northern Arizona Suns, the club with the top waiver priority in the D-League, claimed Johnny O’Bryant today. With the move, the Raptors’ D-League squad has moved up to the top waiver spot, giving them the opportunity to land Tavares, per Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter link).
The 43rd overall pick in the 2014 draft, Tavares joined the Hawks for the 2015/16 season, appearing in just 11 games and averaging 6.6 minutes per contest. The 24-year-old Cape Verde native also made 29 D-League appearances, averaging 9.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 3.3 BPG in 21.6 minutes per game. The Hawks decided to move on from him earlier this year when they needed an opening on their 15-man roster to sign Ryan Kelly.
Tavares received interest from the Spanish club FC Barcelona, according to a recent report, and likely would’ve had other opportunities overseas if he chose to pursue them. His decision to head to the D-League instead suggests he hopes to get another shot with an NBA team.
Raptors Winning Despite Questions About Efficiency
- The Raptors are off to a hot start this season, despite shooting just 28.8% on three-pointers in a league that values three-point shooting more than ever. With that in mind, Scott Stinson of The National Post wonders if DeMar DeRozan has become an exception to an NBA rule, while Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun examines DeMarre Carroll‘s continued adjustment to a different style of play in Toronto.
Valanciunas Takes Cautious Approach To Return
Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas will not rush back from his knee injury but he calls it a minor issue, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Valanciunas, who had an MRI last week, has missed the last two games. “We’ve still got the whole season in front of us, it’s not something major, it’s not some big injury, it’s a couple of games, couple of days,” he told Smith. The Raptors are starting rookies Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam at the power positions while Valanciunas mends.
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/7/16
Here are today’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA
10:00pm:
- The Nets have recalled Chris McCullough from the Long Island Nets, according to a press release issued by the team. Brooklyn sent the 21-year-old forward to the D-League earlier today, as noted below.
2:46pm:
- After assigning them to the Austin Spurs on Sunday, the Spurs have recalled Bryn Forbes, Danny Green and Dejounte Murray today, the club announced in a press release. Green appears to be on the verge of returning from the quad injury that has sidelined him so far this season.
- The Knicks assigned Willy Hernangomez, Maurice Ndour, and Marshall Plumlee to their D-League affiliate today, allowing the trio to practice with the Westchester Knicks, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link). They’re expected to be back with New York tomorrow.
- The Mavericks assigned A.J. Hammons to the Texas Legends today, then recalled him a few hours later, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com (Twitter links).
- Former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo was sent to the Raptors 905 by the Raptors today, according to Toronto’s D-League affiliate (via Twitter). Caboclo has yet to appear in an NBA game this season, so the Raptors have been getting him work with their D-League squad when possible.
- The Nets assigned Chris McCullough to their D-League team, the Long Island Nets, the team announced today (via Twitter).
Early Challenges Thrown At Poeltl
Jakob Poeltl got his first NBA start tonight, but the Raptors rookie was already ahead of schedule, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. The ninth pick in the NBA draft, Poeltl quickly moved up in the rotation after injuries to Jared Sullinger and Lucas Nogueira. A knee contusion to center Jonas Valanciunas pushed Poeltl into emergency starting duty, but the 7-footer has shown signs that he’s ready for the challenge. “How hard he plays, his physicality, how big his hands are once he gets the ball on his hands, his IQ is definitely there and the more experience he gets, the better he is going to be,” said teammate DeMar DeRozan. “He’s got that toughness when he’s out there playing, it’s great. That resilience and (he’s) willing to learn.”
Heat Notes: Waiters, Whiteside, Johnson, Richardson
It won’t get the attention that Kevin Durant‘s first game against Oklahoma City did, but Dion Waiters is preparing for his own battle with the Thunder, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. The Heat will travel Monday to OKC, where Waiters probably would have stayed if Durant had decided to. Instead, the Thunder opted to use Waiters’ cap space to sign Russell Westbrook to an extension, and the fifth-year guard headed to Miami. Waiters spent a season and a half in Oklahoma City and has fond memories of his time there. “The team there really turned me into a pro,” Waiters said. “I really matured there a lot. Just embracing the whole atmosphere and the city, just how much the team and everybody means to the community was huge. I mean, that’s probably the best time I had, in my experiences, and then my first time in the playoffs.”
There’s more from Miami:
- This year’s extensions put into perspective the big-money deals the Heat signed during the summer, Winderman writes in a separate piece. Miami gave center Hassan Whiteside $98MM over four seasons, which is less than the four-year, $102MM extension Rudy Gobert just got from Utah or the four-year, $100MM extension that Steven Adams received from Oklahoma City. And the four-year, $50MM offer sheet the Heat matched for Tyler Johnson is less than the deals just given to Victor Oladipo, Gorgui Dieng, Cody Zeller or Dennis Schroder. “You’re going to look back at deals like this right now later on down the line and they aren’t going to look like a whole lot,” Johnson said. “Some of these superstars are going to be up there … and it’s going to be crazy.”
- Guard Josh Richardson made his season debut Friday night, less than two months after suffering a knee injury in September, notes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Richardson missed all four of his shots and committed two turnovers, but was on the floor for his defense in the fourth quarter. “I felt fine,” he said. “I’ve got to trust my knee fully. I’ve got to find a rhythm. I told [coach Erik Spoelstra] going into halftime that I felt good. My teammates were encouraging me the whole game. I feel ready.”
- James Johnson, one of Miami’s many offseason additions, enjoyed returning to Toronto for Friday’s game, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Johnson had two stints with the Raptors and was a crowd favorite. “We made something happen last year and it was good to see the guys that we made it happen with,” Johnson said.
Sixers Notes: Noel, Simmons, LeBron, Ilyasova
The Raptors’ reported interest in Nerlens Noel could revive a deal that was discussed over the summer, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia and Toronto were discussing an offseason trade revolving around Noel and Raptors swingman Terrence Ross. Noel is considered expendable because the Sixers have a wealth of quality young big men, and the team didn’t try very hard to reach a rookie contract extension with him before Monday’s deadline. Toronto may be in the market for help at power forward after offseason acquisition Jared Sullinger suffered a foot injury that will keep him out until January. Noel has already started rehabilitation after undergoing surgery October 26th for inflamed tissue above his left knee. He is expected to be out for three to five weeks.
There’s more news from Philadelphia:
- Even though he’s 6’10”, rookie Ben Simmons will eventually become the Sixers’ point guard, according to Nick Metallinos of ESPN.com. Simmons is sidelined with a Jones fracture in his right foot, but coach Brett Brown plans to help him transform to the new position when he is cleared to return. “That type of breakaway speed at 6’10, 245 pounds. He is an elite athlete,” Brown said. “Apart from the skill package that he most definitely has, I feel like that’s one of the foundations of a lot of the great players.”
- Cavaliers star LeBron James sees a bright future for Simmons, relays Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com. Simmons spent part of the summer working out with James, Dwyane Wade and Richard Jefferson and made a strong impression on the NBA veterans. “We all went through the workouts and he went better as the days went on,” James said. “That lets you know that he’s there to work and wants to get better and he wants to train with some of the guys he feels like he wants to work out to get better. It’s great to have him in the gym. It’s great to just be around him. He’s a great kid. Things will work out good for him.”
- The Sixers’ trade for Ersan Ilyasova is a step toward the positional balancing that Brown has been talking about since last season, writes Bob Cooney of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I just think that the skill package that [Ilyasova] has is similar in many ways to Dario [Saric] and the skill package that [Joel Embiid] has and Jahlil [Okafor] has are similar to each other,” Brown said. “I just think that it’s clear what their strengths are and the offense should reflect that. I think that those are also our best scorers. As you design your offense and you go to your strengths, I’m looking at those guys.”
NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 11/4/16
Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the league:
10:30pm:
- The Celtics announced via press release that Kelly Olynyk and Demetrius Jackson were assigned to the Maine Red Claws for practice purposes earlier today and later recalled to Boston by the team. Jackson has yet to see any regular season action in his rookie campaign, while Olynyk is still making his way back from offseason shoulder surgery.
11:32am:
- That was fast. After announcing this morning that they had assigned former first-round pick Bruno Caboclo to the D-League, the Raptors confirmed a few hours later that Caboclo has been recalled (Twitter links). The 21-year-old was briefly sent to the Raptors 905 to participate in today’s practice.
- A day after assigning him to the Salt Lake City Stars, the Jazz have recalled rookie forward Joel Bolomboy for their game tonight against the Spurs, the team announced in a press release.
Raptors Expressed Interest In Noel, Content To Sit Tight For Now
- The Raptors have expressed interest in Sixers big man Nerlens Noel, but sources indicate to Stein that Toronto prefers to give its younger players a chance to play more minutes and fill the void created by Jared Sullinger‘s injury. If rookies like Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam aren’t up to the task, perhaps the Raps’ interest in Noel will grow.
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