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D-League Moves: Jones, Lamb, Liggins, Ohlbrecht

April 9th, 2013 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

Here are today's D-League assignments and recalls, with any additional moves added to the top of the page throughout the day:

Perry Jones, Jeremy Lamb, and DeAndre Liggins have been assigned to the D-League by the Thunder, the team announced today in a press release. Jones, Lamb, and Liggins, who all rank among this season's most-assigned players, are expected to be in uniform tomorrow night when the Tulsa 66ers open up their playoff series against the Canton Charge.

Earlier updates:

The Rockets have assigned Tim Ohlbrecht to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today in a press release. As I noted last month, no NBA team has assigned more players to its D-League affiliate than the Rockets — Ohlbrecht becomes the eight player to be sent to Rio Grande Valley this season. The big man, who played with the Vipers for a good chunk of the season, will presumably be in uniform when the team begins its first-round playoff series with the Maine Red Claws on Thursday.

D-League Moves: Machado, Baynes, Garrett

April 8th, 2013 at 3:07pm CST by Zachary Links

We'll keep track of today's D-League assignments here..

After signing him yesterday, the Warriors assigned Scott Machado to their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz, according to a press release. Machado will be in action for the Warriors' first round series against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Wednesday.
The Spurs announced that they have recalled Aron Baynes from their D-League affiliate. Baynes has appeared in 11 games with the Austin Toros, averaging 13.9 points and 8.7 rebounds in 26.9 minutes.
Earlier this week, the Suns announced that they had assigned guard Diante Garrett to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League. Garrett has now been recalled from the D-League. The 6'4" guard was first assigned on January 10th to the Jam, where he averaged 15.1 points, 7.4 assists, and 1.7 steals in seven games for the Jam (five starts).

Bulls Sign Malcolm Thomas To Two-Year Deal

April 8th, 2013 at 12:58pm CST by Zachary Links

12:58pm: Thomas' deal has guarantee dates that can push the deal through next season, a league source told Shams Charania of RealGM.

12:09pm: The Bulls announced today that they have signed forward Malcolm Thomas for the remainder of the season. Thomas originally signed a 10-day contract with the Bulls on March 19th and inked a second one after that expired.

The 6-9, 225 pound forward has seen time in just two games for the Bulls and scored four points in total. The 24-year-old hasn't seen significant burn just yet, but he serves as insurance for big men Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson. Thomas is the 15th man on Chicago's roster, meaning that there is no more room for additional signings.

D-League Moves: Dooling, Wroten, Varnado

April 7th, 2013 at 5:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The biggest D-League news of the day came when the Warriors inked Scott Machado to a 10-day deal, giving the Iona guard another crack in the NBA for the 2012/13 campaign. We'll keep track of today's call-ups and assignments in this thread. If you want to take a look back at all of the D-League assignments and recalls from this year, check out Hoops Rumors' running log. Here's the latest..

The Grizzlies announced that they have recalled Keyon Dooling and Tony Wroten from the Reno Bighorns. Dooling had six points and two steals in his D-League debut. Wroten, making his fourth D-League appearance of the year, had 30 points and eight assists.
The Heat announced that they recalled Jarvis Varnado from the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Varnado averaged 18.6 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.75 blocks, and 1.75 steals in his eight game stint.

Warriors Sign Scott Machado

April 7th, 2013 at 3:15pm CST by Zachary Links

The Warriors announced that they have signed guard Scott Machado to a 10-day contract. Machado played in nearby Santa Cruz for the club's D-League affiliate.

Machado, 22, came to the Santa Cruz Warriors in a trade with Rio Grande Valley last month. In 28 D-League games for Santa Cruz and Rio Grande Valley, the Iona product has averaged 8.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 24.0 minutes per contest. The guard already has six NBA games to his credit this season from his time with the Rockets.

Atlantic Notes: Wilcox, Collins, Christmas, Bynum

April 7th, 2013 at 12:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks' magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division title is down to two, and while that number might not get any lower with a stern test against the Thunder this afternoon, it seems like New York will soon claim its first division crown since 1993/94. That year just about everything went right for the Knicks, save for an off night from John Starks that kept the team from beating the Rockets in Game 7 of the Finals. Knicks fans wouldn't mind a repeat of all but the final act of that season, and while we wait to see what the rest of 2012/13 holds for the team, here's more on a few of their division rivals:

The Celtics were going to include Chris Wilcox in the Jordan Crawford swap at the deadline, but wound up sending Jason Collins to Washington instead after Wilcox invoked his right to veto any trade this season, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Collins went from contributing to a playoff team to appearing in just five games thus far for the Wizards, but the 34-year-old center is convinced he has plenty left, and has no plans of retiring.
Dionte Christmas, who was in training camp with the Celtics this fall, confirmed via Twitter that he's signed to play the rest of the season in Italy with Montepaschi Siena. Il Corriere dello Sport first reported the agreement (translation via Sportando). The deal includes an option for next season as well, though it's not clear whether that's a team or player option, or whether it includes an out should Christmas get another NBA opportunity.
Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com thinks the Sixers are likely to let Bynum walk this offseason, but Moore believes that the team should consider re-signing the balky-kneed big man to a one-year deal with clauses that could reduce his salary if he misses too many games.
Despite whispers earlier this season that the Sixers might force out Doug Collins, the coach appears to be in control of his own fate. John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer argues that Collins should be allowed to keep his job.
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star answers reader questions about the Raptors and other NBA issues.

Thunder Recall Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Liggins

April 7th, 2013 at 9:23am CST by Chuck Myron

We'll track today's D-League assignments and recalls here, with any additional moves added to the top:

The Thunder have recalled Jeremy Lamb and DeAndre Liggins from the D-League, the team announced via press release. The pair were sent down just yesterday, and both were in the starting lineup for the Tulsa 66ers last night. Lamb scored 12 points despite missing all seven of his three-point attempts, while Liggins had six points, 14 rebounds and nine assists to help the 66ers close out their regular season with a win. Tulsa qualified for the D-League playoffs, so the Thunder may continue to frequently shuttle players back and forth between Oklahoma City and their wholly owned D-League affiliate as they've done all season.

Samardo Samuels Signs To Play In Israel

April 7th, 2013 at 8:26am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Cavaliers power forward Samardo Samuels has signed with Israeli club Hapoel Jerusalem, David Pick of Eurobasket reports. The move had appeared close since earlier this week. Samardo's deal will cover two months and pay him $50K, excluding any extra cash he may earn with the team in postseason play. That pales in comparison to the $356,833 worth of prorated minimum salary he garnered for a partial season in the NBA with Cleveland this year.

The Cavs waived Samuels in January, right before his contract would have become fully guaranteed for the season. He was in the third year of a deal he signed with the team after going undrafted out of Louisville in 2010. Samuels averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game for Cleveland this year, a decline from the 7.8 PPG and 4.3 RPG he put up in 18.9 minutes per contest as a rookie. Despite interest from the Nets and Thunder, and later the Grizzlies, Samuels signed in the D-League shortly after his release from the Cavs and notched 19.8 PPG and 10.3 RPG in 32 games for the Reno Bighorns.

Hapoel Jerusalem had Craig Smith, another ex-NBA power forward, on its roster until he experienced a falling out with head coach Sharon Drucker, prompting the team to cut Smith loose in March. Among the other players the team considered before deciding on Samuels were Othello Hunter, who spent parts of two seasons with the Hawks in 2008/09 and 2009/10, and Rick Jackson, who was in camp this past fall with the Warriors.

Grizzlies Send Dooling, Wroten To D-League

April 6th, 2013 at 3:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

We’ll track today’s D-League assignments and recalls here, with any additional moves added to the top throughout the day.

The Grizzlies have sent point guards Keyon Dooling and Tony Wroten to the D-League’s Reno Bighorns, tweets Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Both will be back with Memphis in time for Sunday’s game against the Kings, Tillery adds. The team had to get the consent of Dooling to assign him to the D-League, since he’s a 13th-year veteran and league rules only allow players with less than three years of experience to be assigned freely. Dooling briefly appeared in one game for Memphis this week after the team signed him to take some of the backup point guard burden off Wroten, a rookie.

Jazz Sign Jerel McNeal For Season

April 6th, 2013 at 1:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 1:10pm: The Jazz announced a contract with McNeal for the rest of the season, via press release on the team's website.

FRIDAY, 11:25pm: Jerel McNeal's 10-day contract with the Jazz expires tonight, and while McNeal hasn't received word on whether he'll get another deal, the team has told him to report to practice Saturday morning, tweets Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune. That seems as much of any indication as any that the 6'3" shooting guard will continue his stint with Utah, whether it's for another 10 days or the rest of the season.

McNeal has yet to log any playing time with the Jazz. Unlike many teams who use 10-day deals as an opportunity to try out talent for the future, Utah is fighting for a playoff spot, and may simply want McNeal around to provide depth if an injury to someone else should occur. The team may also want to get a look at him over the summer, in which case the Jazz may do a rest-of-the-season deal with an option or a non-guaranteed season tagged on for 2013/14.

The 25-year-old McNeal made the D-League All-Star Game this winter for the second time in three years, and put up 18.1 points and 5.5 assists per game in 44 D-League regular season contests for the Bakersfield Jam. McNeal has also played professionally in Italy after going undrafted out of Marquette in 2009.