Mike James To Join Legends, Audition For Mavs
Veteran guard Mike James will join the D-League's Texas Legends in an attempt to earn a roster spot on the Mavericks, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein. According to Stein, James has cleared the D-League waiver process and is free to sign with the Legends as a free agent.
James, who used the D-League as a way of making his way on to an NBA team last season, has received no guarantees from the Mavericks. Because he isn't a member of the Mavs, James will still essentially be an NBA free agent, able to sign with any team. However, Dallas will get a first-hand look at James on the Legends, whose sole affiliation is with the Mavs.
The 37-year-old James has appeared in 539 NBA games since making his debut back in 2001. Most recently, he earned a pair of 10-day contracts from the Bulls in 2012 before signing with Chicago for the remainder of the season. James could make his way back to the NBA that way again, as teams are eligible to sign 10-day deals beginning this coming Monday.
D-League Moves: Leuer, Plumlee, Johnson
We'll track all of Thursday's D-League assignments and recalls right here:
- Jon Leuer has been assigned to the Canton Charge by the Cavaliers, the team announced today in a press release. Leuer has appeared in limited minutes for the Cavs, but has averaged a double-double (20.3 PPG, 12.3 RPG) in the D-League this season in six games with Canton.
- The Pacers have again assigned Miles Plumlee and Orlando Johnson to the D-League, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (via Twitter). It's the fourth assignment of the year for Plumlee and the third for Johnson. The two rookies have barely managed to see the floor in Indiana, but have been productive in the handful of D-League games they've played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Plumlee has posted 14.7 PPG and 11.2 RPG in six contests, while Johnson has averaged 23.0 PPG and 6.7 RPG in three games.
D-League Moves: Bazemore, Tyler, Melo
We'll track Wednesday's D-League assignments and recalls right here:
- The Warriors have once again recalled Kent Bazemore and Jeremy Tyler from the Santa Cruz Warriors, the team announced today in a press release. Golden State has taken advantage of its nearby D-League affiliate to shuttle Bazemore and Tyler between Santa Cruz and the NBA team, as each player has already had four D-League assignments this season.
- The Celtics have recalled Fab Melo from their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Melo has spent most of the season with the Maine Red Claws, with his most recent stint having begun on December 12th. Melo, one of two players selected in the first round last June by the Celtics, had a particularly impressive pair of games for the Red Claws last week, posting a triple-double on December 22nd (15 points, 16 rebounds, 14 blocks), and then recording 32 points, nine rebounds, and nine blocks on December 26th. Melo is currently day-to-day with a mild concussion, and Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com speculates that the big man was recalled to ensure that he's treated by the Celtics' training staff (Twitter link).
Rockets Sign James Anderson, Cut Cook
WEDNESDAY, 10:30am: The Rockets have officially signed Anderson and waived Cook, the team announced today in a press release.
SUNDAY, 4:44pm: Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets that Anderson's deal with the Rockets will be for three years, the third of which will be a team option. Daequan Cook is expected to be waived in order to clear a roster spot for Anderson.
2:09pm: The Houston Rockets will sign forward James Anderson today, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, via Twitter. It is not yet known whether Anderson's contract is guaranteed.
The timing of the signing is interesting, given the news earlier today that Royce White is refusing an assignment to the D-League on account of his anxiety disorder. The Rockets have previously shown no indication that they are considering waiving White, who has yet to play for the Rockets. The team has 15 players under contract, so waiving a player is necessary to sign him. Of these players, Scott Machado and Greg Smith have nonguaranteed deals, but Smith has been solid in major minutes and the Rockets have shown every indication of wanting to keep Machado. It would seem that White would be next in line to get cut, but the Rockets have yet to make an official announcement on the matter.
In 10 games with the Spurs this season, Anderson averaged 3.4 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 9.4 MPG.
D-League Moves: Warriors, Wroten, Samuels
Today's D-League assignments and recalls:
- Kent Bazemore and Jeremy Tyler continue to bounce back and forth between Golden State and Santa Cruz, having been re-assigned to the D-League by the Warriors. The team announced the move in a press release.
- The Grizzlies have recalled Tony Wroten from their D-League affiliate, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (via Twitter). The rookie guard had just been sent to the Reno Bighorns last Wednesday.
- The Cavs announced that they have recalled Samardo Samuels from the D-League's Canton Charge. Samuels, who turns 24 in January, has seen time in 18 games for Cleveland so far this year.
- The Mavericks announced today that they have recalled Jared Cunningham from the Texas Legends of the D-League. During his seven game stint with the Legends he averaged 18.1 points, 3.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in 37 minutes per contest.
- The Hornets announced that they have assigned forward Darius Miller to the D-League's Iowa Energy. Miller has appeared in 23 games this season for the Hornets, averaging 2.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. New Orleans drafted the 6'8" Kentucky product with the 46th overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Wolves Sign Lazar Hayward
12:58pm: It's a non-guaranteed deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter). The forward's deal could be guaranteed in a matter of days, however.
11:46am: The Timberwolves announced that they have signed forward Lazar Hayward. Terms of the deal are not yet known but it is likely a non-guaranteed contract.
Minnesota auditioned the Marquette product on December 21st following Josh Howard's ACL tear and subsequent release. The Wolves would like to replace Howard's production off of the bench as he averaged 6.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, and nearly 1 steal per game in 18.8 MPG. Hayward agreed to join the Los Angeles D-Fenders just yesterday but hopefully he didn't put his snow boots in storage.
The T'Wolves originally acquired Hayward in a 2010 draft night trade with the Wizards. Hayward played in 42 games as rookie and averaged 3.8 points per contest.
Nets Waive Josh Childress
10:41pm: Beck reports that Childress had been waived at his own request and wants an opportunity for a more significant role somewhere else (Twitter links).
10:19pm: Nets GM Billy King announced that the team has officially requested waivers on Josh Childress, according to the team's PR Twitter account. Howard Beck of the New York Times tweeted that Brooklyn had until January 10th to waive the 6'8" swingman before his contract would become fully guaranteed. Had Childress remained past the deadline, he would have been owed close to $1.07MM for the season.
The former sixth overall pick of the 2004 draft did not see much playing time this season, averaging 7.1 MPG and shooting 28.6% overall from the field. After playing close to 10 MPG in November, Childress only saw a total of nine minutes in December.
With the roster now at 14, Beck (via Twitter) says that Brooklyn will have a chance to add another free agent once other teams start waiving non-guaranteed contracts next week.
Rockets Assign Royce White To D-League
8:30pm: David Aldridge of NBA.com mentions that the D-League assignment is part of a "multi-week plan", and Berman clarifies that the workouts in Houston along with the stint in Rio Grande Valley represent steps one and two of that plan, respectively.
8:02pm: The Rockets have sent rookie forward Royce White to their D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (according to a tweet by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle). White is yet to appear in a regular season game for Houston this season and should have a better opportunity to develop more in the NBDL.
Mark Berman of Fox 26 (via Twitter) mentions that the 6'8" forward had worked out with a member of the Rockets' organization this past week, and Feigen adds that the assignment is part of a plan in which White is on board with to ultimately get him ready for the NBA.
D-League Moves: Pacers, Warriors, Cavaliers
Here are Friday's D-League assignments and recalls:
- Miles Plumlee is headed to the D-League, while fellow rookie Orlando Johnson has been recalled to the Pacers, the team announced. It's the third assignment to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for Plumlee this year, who's averaged 14.4 points and 10.4 rebounds in five D-League contests so far. Johnson led the Mad Ants to victory tonight with a game-high 24 points.
- The Warriors have recalled Kent Bazemore and Jeremy Tyler to the D-League after being assigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors yesterday, the team announced today in a press release. The duo combined for 49 points in Santa Cruz's 113-101 win last night.
- The Cavaliers have assigned Samardo Samuels to their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Samuels will join the Canton Charge in time for tonight's game against the Tulsa 66ers. Samuels, 23, has seen his playing time in Cleveland reduced this season, as he's averaging career-lows in MPG (10.9), PPG (3.2), and PER (6.4), among other categories.
D-League Moves: Thursday
We'll keep track of today's D-League assignments and recalls right here:
- The Pacers have re-assigned Orlando Johnson to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star (via Twitter). Johnson had a brief stint in the D-League last month before he was recalled to Indiana on November 26th.
- The Warriors have re-assigned Kent Bazemore and Jeremy Tyler to the D-League just three days after recalling them, the team announced today in a press release. Both players appeared briefly in Golden State's game last night against the Jazz.
- Quincy Miller is heading back to the Iowa Energy for his second D-League stint of the season, the Nuggets announced today in a press release. Miller, who was originally assigned to the D-League on November 13th, has been back with the Nuggets since December 2nd. He's only appeared briefly in three games with Denver, however.
- Three Thunder players are becoming increasingly familiar with the route between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Perry Jones III, DeAndre Liggins, and Daniel Orton have been re-assigned to the Tulsa 66ers, the Thunder's D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. It's the fourth D-League assignment of the season for Orton, and the third for both Jones and Liggins. Starting this season, there are no restrictions on the number of times that NBA teams are allowed to assign players to the D-League, so the Thunder have been taking full advantage of the geographical proximity of their Tulsa affiliate.