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2017 D-League Showcase event info

Raptors 905, the NBA Development League affiliate of the Toronto Raptors, will host the 2017 NBA D-League Showcase in Mississauga, Ontario, it was announced today. The 22-game, five-day event will run Jan. 18-22, 2017, and feature the league’s 22 teams playing two regular-season games each at Hershey Centre.

“We’re thrilled to bring the NBA D-League’s tentpole event to Mississauga and the Hershey Centre,” said NBA D-League President Malcolm Turner. “It’s always inspiring to watch our players put their skills on display in front of scouts from all 30 NBA teams and I’m looking forward to being part of the action as the basketball community’s focus shifts to Canada in January.”

“We are honored and excited to be the host team for the 2017 D-League Showcase,” said Raptors President Masai Ujiri. “Following last year’s successful NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto, we are eager to assist the League with the premier event for the D-League, its teams and players.”

A record 14 games from the 2017 NBA D-League Showcase will be nationally televised live on ESPNU and NBA TV. For the first time, every NBA D-League team will play at least one live nationally televised game at the Showcase, a platform for players and coaches to be scouted by representatives from all 30 NBA teams.

The 2017 NBA D-League Showcase tips off at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 18 when the Windy City Bulls play their first-ever Showcase game, taking on the Delaware 87ers. Action continues at 12:30 p.m. ET when the Grand Rapids Drive faces the 905 on NBA TV. The Greensboro Swarm makes its Showcase debut against the Erie BayHawks at 3 p.m. ET on NBA TV, while the Northern Arizona Suns take to the Showcase court for the first time against the Oklahoma City Blue at 6 p.m. ET. The first day of action concludes with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers meeting the Austin Spurs at 8:30 p.m. ET.

ESPNU begins its Showcase coverage on Thursday, Jan. 19 with Windy City facing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants at 12:30 p.m. ET and the reigning NBA D-League Champion Sioux Falls Skyforce playing the Reno Bighorns at 3 p.m. ET. The Long Island Nets and Salt Lake City Stars play their first-ever Showcase games on Friday, Jan. 20 against the Austin Spurs and Raptors 905, respectively. Both games will be broadcast on ESPNU.

The league’s premier in-season scouting event, the Showcase has seen more than 50 NBA D-Leaguers earn GATORADE Call-Ups to the NBA during or in the days immediately following the last 12 events.
As part of this year’s Showcase, a series of youth-focused programming will be planned throughout the week. The afternoon games will feature youth from local schools as part of the NBA D-League’s School Day initiative. In addition, two Jr. NBA Clinics presented by Shock Doctor, the Official Mouthguard of the NBA D-League, will take place on Thursday and Saturday. More than 100 children from the Ontario community will be taught the fundamentals of the game by current NBA D-League players and provided tickets to that evening’s game.

Tickets to the 2017 NBA D-League Showcase will be sold individually, for groups and in packages for fans to take in all of the action. Information on Showcase tickets is available by e-mail at tickets@raptors905.com. Log on to www.raptors905.com/showcase for seating maps and a breakdown of ticket tiers and packages.

2017 D-League Showcase Game Schedule (All Times ET)

Wednesday, Jan. 18
10:00 a.m. Windy City Bulls at Delaware 87ers
12:30 p.m. Grand Rapids Drive at Raptors 905 (NBA TV)
3:00 p.m. Greensboro Swarm at Erie BayHawks (NBA TV)
6:00 p.m. Northern Arizona Suns at Oklahoma City Blue
8:30 p.m. Rio Grande Valley Vipers at Austin Spurs

Thursday, Jan. 19
12:30 p.m. Fort Wayne Mad Ants at Windy City Bulls (ESPNU)
3:00 p.m. Sioux Falls Skyforce at Reno Bighorns (ESPNU)
6:00 p.m. Canton Charge at Maine Red Claws
8:30 p.m. Oklahoma City Blue at Santa Cruz Warriors (NBA TV)

Friday, Jan. 20
10:00 a.m. Erie BayHawks at Westchester Knicks
12:30 p.m. Salt Lake City Stars at Iowa Energy (ESPNU)
3:00 p.m. Delaware 87ers at Greensboro Swarm (ESPNU)
6:00 p.m. Austin Spurs at Northern Arizona Suns (ESPNU)
8:30 p.m. Raptors 905 at Long Island Nets (ESPNU)

Saturday, Jan. 21
10:00 a.m. Santa Cruz Warriors at Texas Legends
12:30 p.m. Maine Red Claws at Fort Wayne Mad Ants (NBA TV)
3:00 p.m. Iowa Energy at Rio Grande Valley Vipers (NBA TV)
6:00 p.m. Los Angeles D-Fenders at Sioux Falls Skyforce
8:30 p.m. Long Island Nets at Grand Rapids Drive

Sunday, Jan. 22
10:00 a.m. Westchester Knicks at Canton Charge (NBA TV)
12:30 p.m. Reno Bighorns at Salt Lake City Stars (NBA TV)
3:00 p.m. Texas Legends at Los Angeles D-Fenders (NBA TV)

Atlanta Hawks buying a D-League team

The NBA Development League and the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club today announced that the Hawks have acquired the right to own and operate an NBA D-League team that will play in College Park, Ga., beginning with the 2019-20 season.

Additionally, the City of College Park has agreed to construct a 3500-seat arena in which the new franchise will serve as the primary tenant.

With the purchase, the Hawks become the 16th NBA team to own and operate an NBA D-League affiliate, while the NBA D-League grows to 23 teams.

“Today’s an exciting day in the NBA D-League as we welcome the Hawks and the City of College Park to our growing family,” said NBA D-League President Malcolm Turner. “With the addition of the Hawks to our ownership ranks, more than half of NBA teams now own and operate their NBA D-League affiliate – an important step toward our goal of having a 30-team minor league.”

“Securing a D-League team for the Atlanta Hawks was among our top priorities when our ownership group took over the team,” said Tony Ressler, Atlanta Hawks Principal Owner and Chairman. “Coach Bud and Wes Wilcox would agree that having a local D-League franchise will play a significant role in building a championship-caliber team by helping us develop players, like the six now on our roster who have D-League experience. We would like to thank the City of College Park for becoming the host city of what will be another exciting part of our community and the Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club.”

The new arena will be built at the Gateway Center, a conglomeration of upscale Marriott hotels and office space surrounding the Georgia International Convention Center, connected to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport via light rail.

The arena is scheduled to be completed by summer 2019.

“We are extremely excited about the Hawks’ D-League team calling the City of College Park its home,” stated Mayor Jack P. Longino. “Our Georgia International Convention Center is a world-class facility and now has a world-class professional sports team. It’s a win for everyone!”

“I would like to thank Mayor Longino for his leadership as we worked toward bringing professional basketball to College Park. We are excited to deliver the Hawks brand of sports and entertainment while building bridges to this thriving community,” Hawks CEO Steve Koonin said.

Six current Hawks have NBA D-League experience, including starters Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schröder, while assistant coaches Darvin Ham and Taylor Jenkins both began their coaching careers on NBA D-League benches. Additionally, Hawks General Manager Wes Wilcox was the inaugural general manager of the NBA D-League’s Canton Charge. Last season, the Hawks assigned three players to the NBA D-League.

Big Jimmy Butler game wasted in loss to Hawks

Here’s the Bulls.com blog with a look at Wednesday’s Bulls-Hawks game:

Welcoming back to your box of chocolates Chicago Bulls. That’s right, you just never know what you are going to get.

Sure, you’ll generally get good performances from Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, Butler with 39 points Wednesday and Wade 25 in the Bulls 115-107 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

But a Bulls team that was leading the league in number of rebounds and rebounding margin was outrebounded 49-30, outscored 20-9 on second chance points. A Bulls team that was 25th in the league in steals plundered Atlanta for 15 steals, six by Butler and five by Wade. A Bulls team second poorest in the NBA in forcing turnovers harassed Atlanta into 24 turnovers for a whopping 38 points. But a Bulls team allowing opponents some of the best shooting games of the season also couldn’t stop the Hawks, Atlanta with an early 17-point lead, 50.6 percent overall shooting and pulling away down the stretch after the Bulls got within 103-101 with 4:55 remaining in the game.

Russell Westbrook not looking to discuss election results

A lot of people in the national celebrity spotlight aren’t looking to discuss politics or election results. Here’s the Norman Transcript reporting on Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook:

Russell Westbrook wasn’t getting in line next to the supporters of President-elect Donald Trump after the GOP nominee won the presidency Tuesday night.

“I didn’t vote for Trump. I can tell you that much,” Westbrook said. “That’s all I’m gonna say.”

A reporter followed up, asking another election-related question. Westbrook didn’t budge.

“I just told you, I didn’t vote for Trump,” he said. “I would prefer not to elaborate on it, but I didn’t vote for him.”

— Oklahoman

John Wall fined $25,000 by NBA

The Wizards are off to a 1-5 start (through Tuesday’s games) and some frustration may be mounting.

Wizards guard John Wall has been fined $25,000 for inappropriate interaction with a game official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Wall was ejected for receiving his second technical of the game with 33.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ 114-106 loss to the Houston Rockets on Nov. 7 at Verizon Center.

Nets sign Yogi Ferrell

The Brooklyn Nets have signed free agent guard Yogi Ferrell from their NBA D-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. Ferrell becomes the first call-up in Long Island Nets history.

Ferrell (6’0”, 180) originally signed with Brooklyn on August 5 and appeared in three preseason games with the Nets, recording averages of 4.3 points and 1.7 assists in 9.6 minutes per contest. The Indiana native was waived by the team on October 21.

The four-year Indiana University product was named to the All-Big Ten First Team twice (2015 and 2016) and garnered second-team honors as a sophomore (2014). As a senior, Ferrell averaged 17.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.7 minutes per game, earning Associated Press Third Team All-America honors and capping his career as Indiana’s all-time assists leader with 633. Ferrell also led Indiana to three NCAA Tournament appearances and helped the Hoosiers advance to the Sweet 16 twice. In 137 career games (all starts) at IU, Ferrell averaged 14.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 32.8 minutes per game.

Ferrell will be wearing No. 10.

Nets waive Greivis Vasquez

The Brooklyn Nets have waived guard Greivis Vasquez.

“Greivis did everything we asked of him and more to try to get back on the court at full strength,” said Nets General Manager Sean Marks. “The passion, grit and perseverance he has shown since he joined the team have been remarkable. We are thankful to Greivis for all of his efforts and wish him well in the future.”

Vasquez appeared in three games this season with the Nets, averaging 2.3 points and 1.7 assists in 12.9 minutes per game. He was originally signed as a free agent by Brooklyn on July 13, 2016.

Al Horford still recovering from concussion

New Celtics addition Al Horford’s concussion was the real thing. And it’s taking a little while for him to fully recover from it. Here’s ESPN Boston with the latest:

One week after Boston Celtics big man Al Horford suffered a concussion during an off-day practice, coach Brad Stevens said the 10th-year veteran has not progressed in the NBA’s concussion protocol and he is uncertain when Horford will return to basketball activities.

Horford, who signed a four-year, $113 million contract with the Celtics over the summer, has missed Boston’s past three games. The concussion was diagnosed Tuesday, after he experienced nausea while attempting to practice a day after absorbing an inadvertent blow to the head from a teammate.

Kings waive Jordan Farmar

The Sacramento Kings waived guard Jordan Farmar today.

According to CSN Bay Area, Farmar was waived “to make room for the returning Darren Collison. Sacramento was granted a short reprieve with their roster when Collison was shifted to the league’s suspension list after his fifth missed game, allowing the team to ink Farmar to a deal for depth.”

In two games played with the Kings this season, Farmar averaged 6.0 points (.333 FG%, 4-9 3pt), 1.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists, including 9 points (3-8 3pt), two rebounds and a team-high seven assists against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 5. A 10-year NBA veteran, Farmar has tallied career averages of 7.7 points (.423 FG%, .374 3pt%, .739 FT%), 1.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 19.5 minutes per game in 504 contests.

Pelicans waive Lance Stephenson, sign Archie Goodwin

The New Orleans Pelicans waived guard Lance Stephenson today, and then signed guard Archie Goodwin.

Goodwin, 6-5, 205, has appeared in 150 career games (15 starts) with the Phoenix Suns, averaging 6.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 14.5 minutes per contest. The University of Kentucky product was selected 29th overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by Oklahoma City.

Goodwin will wear #4 and be available for the Pelicans’ game tonight at Golden State.

Stephenson, 6-5, 230, was originally signed by New Orleans on Sept. 14. In six games this season, Stephenson has averaged 9.7 points, 4.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 27.0 minutes per game.

Drafted 40th overall by Indiana in 2010 out of the University of Cincinnati, Stephenson has appeared in 340 career regular season games with Indiana, Charlotte, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis and New Orleans, holding career averages of 8.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 25.1 minutes per game.

Stephenson is at a key point in his career. His stock has fallen, and at this point he needs to make sure that he signs with a team that he really fits in with, even if it means doing so in a limited bench role.

New Orleans’ roster currently stands at 15.