Let the Assignments Begin

As accurately predicted by as, ADB would say, the Doctor, the Professor, the Prognosticator.... The NBA assignments have begun. The below are since the season ended.

Oklahoma City to Tulsa:
D.J. White
Kyle Weaver

San Antonio to Austin:
Alonzo Gee

Phoenix to Iowa:
Taylor Griffin

This doesn't necessarily mean there won't be more. Tulsa is maxed out. Byron Mullens and Mustafa Shakur were already there, so they now have four NBA-assigness out of their 12-man roster. Curtis Jerrells is already in Austin. If you're wondering why Malik Hairston or, *gasp* Garrett Temple haven't been assigned, it could be that the Toros/Spurs don't want to waive any of the current players the Austin roster to make space. You can only have 12 players at a time (including NBA-assignees), so when a single-affiliate sends down a third or fourth player, there has to be movement.

Of course, after losing Dwayne Jones to Phoenix and Eric Dawson to injury, the Toros acquired Cory Underwood and Emmanuel Jones. Serviceable players, sure, but no Hairston or Temple (and I really like Jones... he played for UTPA the year I was their broadcaster and I honestly believed he had the talent to compete in the NBA Development League). Maybe the Spurs want to hold onto some of their depth so they can use a deeper rotation while preparing/resting for the playoffs. Temple earned his first career start on Tuesday and scored 15 points. You could counter and say, well, then why did they assign Gee? Well, you can only have 12 active players, so you can only go so far on that bench. Gee wasn't seeing playing time. Honestly, it wouldn't be good for San Antonio to assign Hairston and Temple right now and player with, at most, 11 players.

It was a big move for Austin, though, to add some fire power to help counter Lester Hudson of Dakota. The Wizards are playing so well right now, but I think in a three-game series, depth comes into question, so I have to give the edge to the Toros, but I do think it will take three games.

I'm glad I didn't make playoff predictions. After Utah beat the tar out of Iowa last night, anything's possible. Iowa's lost a ton of players to the NBA recently. They did get Griffin, but that only helps so much. I do think they'll force a game three, but after that, who knows.

Sioux Falls' road just got a whole lot tougher now that they have to deal with the Thunder instead of the 66ers.

The only series involving NBA-assignees (yet)? Vipers-Bighorns.