NBA D-League Affiliate Players For 2016/17
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)
Delaware 87ers (Philadelphia 76ers)
Weltman OK With Being Anonymous
- New Raptors GM Jeff Weltman doesn’t mind working in anonymity, relays Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun. Team president Masai Ujiri gets credit for building last year’s Eastern Conference finalist, but Weltman, who was promoted to his new position last month, is happy to be part of the team. “It’s easier [to be unknown],” said Weltman. “I truly think the only way we’re going to win is if we don’t have egos. That’s Masai’s belief also. It’s what we try and instill in all our players. … I was brought up to believe that and Masai’s known that for a long time. There’s no one here trying to pat themselves on the back or get noticed. We just want to win. All the rewards will come from that.”
Siakam Starts To Keep Patterson In Usual Role
Nets center Brook Lopez doesn’t seem to fit into new coach Kenny Atkinson’s motion offense, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Lopez played just 21 minutes, fewer than eight of his teammates, in Brooklyn’s opener on Wednesday against the Celtics. He scored only one basket, an odd sight for a player who averaged 20.6 PPG last season. Lopez is making $21.16MM this season and $22.6MM in the final year of his contract in 2017/18. “It’s a learning process. It’s both of us: It’s him learning a totally new system and us integrating him into a new system,’’ Atkinson told Lewis. “But I have complete confidence that as the season goes on, you’re going to see a better Brook. He’s going to understand it more.”
- Developing Kristaps Porzingis should be Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek’s top priority this season but it will difficult with two ball-dominant players like Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony in the lineup, Chris Mannix of The Vertical opines. Hornacek is intent on improving Porzingis’ post moves in order to punish teams using smaller defenders on him, Mannix notes. But rival coaches are skeptical that Hornacek’s hybrid triangle offense will allow him to take advantage of mismatches, Mannix continues. Those coaches also believe Porzingis is better suited at center but the signing of Joakim Noah limits that possibility, Mannix adds.
- Hornacek isn’t surprised that Rose struggled to run the offense in the season-opening loss to the Cavaliers, Barbara Barker of Newsday reports. Rose had just one assist in the Knicks’ opening-night loss to the Cavaliers and later expressed frustration over the offensive scheme. Hornacek said it was a product of Rose missing a good portion of the preseason because of his sexual assault civil trial in Los Angeles, Barker continues. “If we expected anything different, we’d be crazy,” Hornacek told Barker and other beat reporters. “He hasn’t seen a lot of this stuff.”
- Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor didn’t play together in the Sixers’ opening-night loss to the Thunder because both were on minutes limits, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. Coach Brett Brown wants to play them together in certain situations but Embiid is being brought along slowly after missing two seasons with foot issues, while Okafor just returned from knee soreness, Pompey adds. “It’s not intelligent to play them together now when you only have X amount of minutes with both of them,” Brown said to Pompey.
- Rookie Pascal Siakam started ahead of Patrick Patterson at power forward for the Raptors in their opener to keep Patterson in his normal role, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Siakam grabbed nine rebounds in 22 minutes.
Forward C.J. Leslie Signs D-League Contract
- Forward C.J. Leslie has signed a contract with the Raptors’ D-League affiliate, the Raptors 905, Chris Reichert of The Step Back tweets.
Fred VanVleet Chose Raptors Over Other Offers
- The Raptors were fond of all their camp invitees this fall, but Fred VanVleet entered as the favorite to earn the team’s final roster spot, and he did just that, writes Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. As Wolstat notes, VanVleet – who turned down other offers to join the Raps this summer – will provide the team with point guard depth while Delon Wright recovers from his shoulder injury.
Jared Sullinger To Undergo Surgery
OCTOBER 24, 12:11pm: While Raptors GM Masai Ujiri is confident Sullinger will return this season, the big man’s recovery timeline is a little unclear at this point. As Michael Grange of Sportsnet tweets, Ujiri suggested today that Sullinger could miss two or three months, though that’s a rough estimate.
OCTOBER 23, 3:13pm: Raptors power forward Jared Sullinger will undergo foot surgery on Monday and is expected to miss an extended amount of time, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (on Twitter). It is unclear how long Sullinger will be out, but it will be a minimum of several weeks, Wojnarowski writes in a full story.
Sullinger hurt his left foot when it was stepped in the Raptors’ preseason opener against the Warriors on October 4th, and has been out since. Sullinger was projected to be the Raptors’ starting power forward. Without him, the expectation would be for the Raptors to lean on Patrick Patterson. First-round pick Pascal Siakam may also see an increased role early on in the rotation.
The Raptors signed Sullinger to a one-year deal worth $6MM in July. Sullinger, 24, spent four years in Boston after the Celtics made him the No. 21 overall pick on the 2012 NBA Draft. He appeared in 81 games last season, including 73 starts, averaging 10.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 23.6 minutes per game.
And-Ones: Roster Moves, Bulls, Rudez, Onuaku
Monday afternoon is the deadline to reach the roster limit of 15, and nine teams still have cuts to make, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. The Celtics, Cavaliers, Rockets, Lakers, Pelicans, Thunder, Sixers, Suns and Kings all remain over the limit leading into what should be an eventful day, says Nahmad. By our count, the Grizzlies still have a move to make as well. The Pacers were the latest team to trim their roster, waiving Jeremy Evans and Julyan Stone tonight.
There’s more news from around the NBA:
- J.J. Avila, who was waived Friday by the Bulls, has agreed to play for Chicago’s D-League affiliate, tweets Dennis Silva II of Monitor News. The 6’8″ power forward from Colorado State signed a training camp contract with Chicago in September. Guard Thomas Walkup of Stephen F. Austin, another Friday cut, will also be joining the Windy City Bulls (Twitter link).
- Damjan Rudez and Arinze Onuaku both traveled a lot of miles to realize their dream of returning to the NBA, writes John Denton of NBA.com. After playing overseas and in the D-League, both veterans were told Saturday that they had earned a place on the Magic’s final roster. “It was a big blessing,” Onuaka said. “When you are out here fighting for a spot every day it’s stressful and to get that news, it was great. You’ve always got to wait to hear if you’re in or you’re out, so it wasn’t easy sleeping at night.’’
- Fred VanVleet won the Raptors‘ final roster spot, but coach Dwane Casey said all the training camp invitees were impressive, tweets Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Casey said Drew Crawford and Brady Heslip have the talent to be NBA players, adding that he was disappointed he didn’t have room to keep all of them.
Raptors Exercise Options On Three Players
Toronto has exercised fourth-year options on Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira, along with the third-year option on Delon Wright, the team announced today. All three players are now under contract through the 2017/18 season.
Caboclo, a 6’9″ small forward, was the Raptors’ first-round pick in 2014. He has spent most of the past two seasons in the D-League, appearing in just 14 total NBA games.
Nogueira was acquired in a 2014 trade with the Hawks. The 7-foot center also logged a lot of D-League action, but appeared in 29 games with Toronto last season, averaging 2.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in limited playing time.
Wright, a 6’5″ point guard, was a first-round choice in 2015. He played most of his rookie season in the D-League, but got into 27 games for the Raptors, averaging 3.8 points and 1.1 assists per night. Wright underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in August after injuring it during summer league and is expected to be sidelined until at least December.
Raptors Waive Five Players
The Raptors have reduced their roster count to 15 players, announcing that guards Drew Crawford and Brady Heslip, forwards E.J. Singler and Jarrod Uthoff and center Yanick Moreira have been waived. Toronto will be on the hook for Singler’s partial guarantee of $50K, Heslip’s partial guarantee of $56,500 and Uthoff’s partial guarantee of $50K as a result of these moves, provided another team doesn’t claim them off of waivers.
Crawford and Moreira each spent last season overseas, with Crawford playing for Bnei Hertzeliyya in Israel, while Moreira split time between UCAM Murcia (Spain) and Rouen (France). Crawford has also spent some time in the D-League, playing for the Erie BayHawks in 2014/15 after playing his college ball at Northwestern. Moreira spent two seasons at SMU before going undrafted last year.
After going undrafted out of Baylor in 2014, Heslip joined the Bighorns for a brief stint before heading overseas and playing in Bosnian and Italian leagues. Last season, the 26-year-old played for Acqua Vitasnella Cantù in Italy, averaging 12.7 PPG and shooting 45.5% on three-pointers in 29 Italian League contests.
Singler spent some time with the Raptors 905 in the D-League last season, allowing Toronto’s decision-makers to take a closer look at him. The 26-year-old has yet to appear in a regular-season NBA game since finishing his college career with the Ducks, though he has had brief preseason stints with the Trail Blazers (2013) and Jazz (2015). In his senior year at Oregon back in 2012/13, Singler averaged 11.7 PPG and 4.9 RPG in 37 contests, shooting 35.9% from three-point range.
Uthoff went undrafted this year despite being an All-American at Iowa last season. Among Big Ten players, Uthoff ranked second in scoring (18.9), first in blocked shots (2.7), and tied for 11th in rebounding (6.4).
Patterson Talks Contract Year
- Patrick Patterson is earning $6,050,000 this season and will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Raptors power forward is keenly aware that he is in a contract year, telling Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (via Twitter), “My attitude, my demeanor and the way I carry myself on and off the court is going to be drastically different.” Patterson acknowledged that every player wants to get paid, noting that he has added some new moves to his offensive game for 2016/17, Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic relays (Twitter links).