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NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/16/16

December 16th, 2016 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Friday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Warriors have announced that they’ve assigned Damian Jones to the D-League, giving him a chance to suit up for Santa Cruz tonight, tweets Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group. Jones, Golden State’s 2016 first-round pick, made his NBA debut with the Warriors last week, but continues to be brought along slowly after a pectoral injury sidelined him to start the season.
Rookie guard Demetrius Jackson has been sent back to the D-League by the Celtics, the club announced today (via Twitter). Jackson has played very sparingly in Boston so far this year, but has looked good for the Maine Red Claws, averaging 19.6 PPG, 6.5 APG, and 5.9 RPG in eight contests.
The Raptors have recalled Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet from the D-League after the duo played in Thursday night’s Raptors 905 game. The team announced the move via Twitter.

Rockets Release Motiejunas, Sign Bobby Brown

December 16th, 2016 at 11:00am CST by Dana Gauruder

FRIDAY, 11:00am: Brown has officially been re-signed, according to a tweet from the Rockets.

THURSDAY, 6:34pm: In a somewhat unexpected move, the Rockets have released forward Donatas Motiejunas, the team announced on its website. Motiejunas will enter the market as an unrestricted free agent.

This provides a surprise ending to a long saga that began when Motiejunas became a restricted free agent this past summer. Motiejunas had agreed to a four-year, $35MM deal with the Rockets after Houston matched an offer sheet from the Nets. He was set to make $8.3MM this season.

When the Rockets first matched the Nets’ offer sheet and Motiejunas failed to report to the team, the two sides scrapped his four-year sheet and negotiated a similar new deal, according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania.

The Rockets will sign guard Bobby Brown with the opening on their roster, Charania reports.

League representatives were contacted last week regarding Motiejunas’ situation, Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle reported earlier this week. He appeared to have a new four-year deal in place on Friday, then was sent home before the team’s game on Saturday after taking a physical. At the time, Rockets officials offered few public comments on that decision.

Motiejunas was traded to the Pistons in February, only to have that deal voided when Detroit’s medical staff expressed concerns over his surgically repaired back. He passed a physical with the Nets before signing the offer sheet, according to Feigen. Motiejunas, who had been the lone restricted free agent on the market until he signed that sheet, was limited to 37 games last season after the surgery.

Motiejunas cannot sign with the Nets at the present time, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. But that could change as the NBA reviews the unusual situation, Zillgitt adds.

Brown, 32, was waived by the Rockets earlier this month when they match Motiejunas’ offer sheet. He has appeared in six games with Houston after being out of the league since the 2009/10 season.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/15/16

December 15th, 2016 at 9:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:

The Raptors assigned point guard Fred VanVleet and forward Bruno Caboclo to their affiliate, Raptors 905, according to the team’s Twitter feed (Twitter links). They both played against the Oklahoma City Blue on Thursday, with VanVleet scoring nine points and dishing out 12 assists, while Caboclo had 13 points. VanVleet has seen action in six games with Toronto this season, while Caboclo has appeared in three games.
The Magic assigned guard C.J. Wilcox and center Stephen Zimmerman to the Erie BayHawks, the team announced on its website. Wilcox has played in 10 games this season with the Magic. Zimmerman has appeared in four games this season with the Magic. He was previously assigned to Erie on November 28th.
The Suns recalled point guard Tyler Ulis and big man Alan Williams from the Northern Arizona Suns, the team tweets. Ulis, an early second-rounder, has played in 14 games with Phoenix this season. Williams has played nine games with the NBA club.
The Jazz assigned forward Joel Bolomboy to their affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars, the team announced. This marks the fifth assignment this season for Bolomboy, who has played eight games this season with the Jazz.
The Grizzlies assigned guard Wade Baldwin IV to their affiliate, the Iowa Energy. Baldwin, who has appeared in 20 games with Memphis, played two games for the Energy last month.

Grizzlies Waive Toney Douglas

December 15th, 2016 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies are waiving Toney Douglas, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports (via Twitter) that three of Memphis’ injured players are getting close to returning. Douglas was signed by the Grizzlies using a hardship exception, which allowed the team to add a 16th man to its roster since four players were sidelined for an extended period.

We had already heard that James Ennis, one of those four injured Grizzlies players, was nearing a return, but Wojnarowski says that two others – Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons – have also made significant progress (Twitter links). According to Wojnarowski, Conley could get back on the court as soon as this weekend, which would be a surprisingly fast turnaround. When the veteran point guard went down with a back injury, reports indicated he would be re-evaluated in a month and would likely miss at least six weeks — that was just over two weeks ago.

Up until his injury, Conley had been one of the NBA’s most valuable players, so there were some questions about how the Grizzlies would perform without him. Since he went down, however, Memphis has played some of its best ball of the season, putting up a 7-2 record, with wins against the Warriors and Cavaliers. The team’s only two losses in that stretch came against Cleveland and Toronto, the two top teams in the East.

While Douglas didn’t play a ton during his time with the Grizzlies, he saw 17.8 minutes per game in six contests, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.7 APG, and 2.7 RPG. Assuming he’s officially waived today, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent this weekend, while Memphis will carry a cap hit of just over $100K for him, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Gary Neal Signs D-League Contract

December 15th, 2016 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

Former Wizards shooting guard Gary Neal has signed a contract to play in the D-League, according to Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter link). It’s not clear yet which team Neal will land with, but Reichert tweets that either Maine or Long Island has top waiver priority. Those are the Celtics’ and Nets’ NBADL affiliates.

Neal, 32, started his NBA career with the Spurs, playing a major role off the bench for the team for three seasons, starting in 2010/11. After leaving San Antonio, Neal also spent time with Milwaukee, Charlotte, and Minnesota, before landing in Washington last season. In 350 career NBA games, he has averaged 9.9 PPG, shooting 38.3% on three-point attempts.

While Neal’s numbers last year – and in the past – were solid, he was unable to find an NBA home to start this season. In July, he wrote on Facebook that he was the Wizards’ leading scorer off the bench and their best three-point shooter, pointing to some of the contracts his fellow second-unit players received and hinting that he should be in line for a decent payday of his own.

Around that same time, J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com reported that Neal rubbed some Washington players and coaches the wrong way, and was viewed by some as a player who was out for his own stats. Perhaps that perception contributed to Neal’s inability to find a new contract over the summer after his deal with the Wizards expired. In any case, it looks like he’ll try to get back into the league by making an impression in the D-League first.

Henry Sims To Play In China

December 15th, 2016 at 10:31am CST by Luke Adams

Journeyman center Henry Sims is headed overseas, according to international basketball journalist David Pick, who reports (via Twitter) that Sims has struck a deal with the Shanxi Brave Dragons in China. The Chinese club has cut former NBA big man Samuel Dalembert to clear room on its roster for Sims.

An undrafted free agent out of Georgetown, Sims made his NBA debut in 2012/13, ultimately appearing in 135 total regular season contests for New Orleans, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn over the course of four seasons. In those games, the 26-year-old averaged 7.6 PPG and 5.0 RPG, making 47.1% of his shots from the floor.

After participating in camp with the Jazz this fall, Sims started this season in the D-League, putting up 18.0 PPG and 8.7 in 11 games for the Salt Lake City Stars, Utah’s NBADL affiliate. A report earlier this week indicated that Sims’ D-League contract had been bought out, signaling that he was likely headed to a team in Europe or Asia.

With the move, Sims be moving from a Salt Lake City club that was 2-10 to a Shanxi team that is playing better ball, with a 9-8 record so far in CBA play. Former Grizzlies second-rounder Jamaal Franklin, who is averaging an impressive 37.2 PPG so far, will be among Sims’ teammates in China.

NBA, Players Union Reach Agreement On New CBA

December 14th, 2016 at 6:37pm CST by ChrisCrouse

6:37pm: The NBA and the NBPA have reached a tentative deal on a new CBA, pending ratification by players and team owners, the league announces via press release. Both parties have agreed to extend the mutual deadline to opt out of the current CBA from December 15, 2016 to January 13, 2017 in order to give both sides enough time to review the terms of the agreement and vote on them.

6:30pm: The two sides have reached an agreement in principle on a new seven-year CBA, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical confirms (Twitter links). The two sides will jointly make an official announcement tonight.

6:20pm: The deal is complete and is pending ratification, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports (ESPN Now links). The players are expected to vote on the deal next week.

6:04pm: An agreement in principle between the NBA and the NBA Players Association on a new labor deal could be reached as early as tonight, Marc Stein and Ian Begley of ESPN.com report. Stein adds (via Twitter) that both sides essentially view the deal as “done.”

The deadline for both sides to opt out of the current labor deal is Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET and the negotiations conducted between the two sides this week have put them on course to reach an agreement before the deadline. One source told the ESPN scribes that the deal is expected “very soon,” which would squash any possibility of a lockout in the 2017 season.

It was previously reported that group licensing remained a barrier to a deal, but Stein and Begley hear that those issues have been resolved.

Both sides are expected to jointly announce a deal once it is finalized. A deal won’t become official until both league owners and active players vote to ratify it, but those votes are merely a formality.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/14/16

December 14th, 2016 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from across the NBA:

The Suns have sent Tyler Ulis and Alan Williams to the Northern Arizona Suns, the team announced today in a press release. It will be the first D-League assignment of the season for both players, who are likely to be recalled to the NBA following tonight’s game against Santa Cruz.
Rookie swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot is back from the D-League, with the Sixers announcing his recall today in a press release. Luwawu-Cabarrot was assigned for Tuesday night’s game, and helped the Delaware 87ers get a win, posting 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
The Rockets have recalled rookie forward Kyle Wiltjer from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, according to the team (Twitter link). Wiltjer has been the second-leading scorer for the Vipers so far this season, averaging 19.7 PPG in 10 games.
Rakeem Christmas is headed back to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers announced today in a press release. Indiana’s D-League affiliate doesn’t play until Friday, so it’s not clear if Christmas will stick with the team for that game, or if he’s just being sent down for practice.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/13/16

December 13th, 2016 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Kings have recalled a pair of rookies, Malachi Richardson and Skal Labissiere, from the D-League, the team announced today (via Twitter). Richardson has been the leading scorer for the Reno Bighorns this year, averaging 21.0 PPG in 11 games, while Labissiere has contributed 14.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG for Sacramento’s D-League affiliate.
The Sixers have assigned first-rounder Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to the Delaware 87ers, according to a press release from the club. He’ll suit up for Philadelphia’s NBADL squad tonight against the Oklahoma City Blue.
Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije will be heading back to the Grand Rapids Drive for the team’s games on Wednesday and Friday, Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy confirmed today (Twitter link via Keith Langlois of Pistons.com). Unlike last time, Stanley Johnson won’t be joining them on this assignment.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 12/12/16

December 12th, 2016 at 8:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Monday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA, with the latest moves added to the top of the list throughout the day:

8:20pm:

The Jazz have recalled Joel Bolomboy from the Salt Lake City Stars, the team announced via press release. The second-round pick posted a team-leading 23 points and 12 rebounds with the D-League affiliate on Sunday night. Bolomboy has seen action in seven NBA games so far this season, most recently on November 25.
The Kings have recalled rookie Georgios Papagiannis from the Reno Bighorns, but he isn’t expected to play tonight, reports James Ham via Twitter. The 13th overall pick has averaged 10.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game across six contests with the Sacramento affiliate but has seen just one game of NBA action on the year.
In addition to recalling Bembry (noted below), the Hawks have assigned forward Mike Scott to the affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, marking his second D-League stint since returning from a knee injury, Vivlamore writes for the AJC.

1:46pm:

The Hawks have recalled DeAndre’ Bembry from the D-League, tweets Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Assigned to the Salt Lake City Stars on Saturday, Bembry scored 19 points for Utah’s affiliate on Sunday.
The Pacers have recalled Georges Niang from their D-League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Niang, a 2016 second-round pick, played in three games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants during his NBADL assignment. His most impressive game came on Saturday, when he recorded 22 points, six boards, and six assists in a win over the Texas Legends.

Austin Kent contributed to this post.