Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Pelicans.com

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has assigned rookie point guard Russ Smith to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. This will be Smith’s third assignment of the season.

In his most recent assignment, Smith, 6-0, 185, appeared in four games for Fort Wayne, averaging 17.5 points, and 7.8 assists. Overall, Smith has appeared in six games with Fort Wayne, averaging 16.5 points, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals.

Smith has appeared in six games for New Orleans, averaging 0.8 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Smith appeared in six preseason contests for the Pelicans, averaging 5.0 points, 1.2 assists and 0.8 rebounds.

Drafted out of the University of Louisville by Philadelphia with the 47th overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft, Smith was acquired by New Orleans in a draft night trade.

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Pelicans Assign Russ Smith to Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Vice president of digital media for New Orleans Pelicans.

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has recalled rookie point guard Russ Smith from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League.

In his recent assignment, the second of the season, Smith, 6-0, 185, appeared in four games for Fort Wayne, averaging 17.5 points, and 7.8 assists. Overall, Smith has appeared in six games with Fort Wayne, averaging 16.5 points, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals.

Smith has appeared in three games for New Orleans, averaging 0.3 rebounds per game. Smith appeared in six preseason contests for the Pelicans, averaging 5.0 points, 1.2 assists and 0.8 rebounds.

Smith will be in New Orleans and available for tonight’s home game against Portland.

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Pelicans Recall Russ Smith From Fort Wayne Mad Ants

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has assigned rookie point guard Russ Smith to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League.

Smith, 6-0, 185, has appeared in two games for Fort Wayne, averaging 14.5 points and 3.0 steals in 25.5 minutes per game.

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Smith, 6-0, 185, appeared in two games over the weekend for Fort Wayne, helping the Mad Ants win both contests. In 25.5 minutes per game, Smith averaged 14.5 points and 3.0 steals.

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Pelicans Recall Russ Smith from Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Smith, 6-0, 185, has appeared in three games for New Orleans, averaging 0.3 rebounds per game. Smith appeared in six preseason contests for the Pelicans, averaging 5.0 points, 1.2 assists and 0.8 rebounds.

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NEW YORK, September 15, 2014 - The National Basketball Association and the NBA Development League, the official minor league of the NBA, today announced the full list of affiliations between NBA and NBA D-League teams for the 2014-15 season, including an all-time high 17 single-affiliation partnerships.  The Detroit Pistons (Grand Rapids Drive), Memphis Grizzlies (Iowa Energy), New York Knicks (Westchester Knicks), Orlando Magic (Erie BayHawks), Phoenix Suns (Bakersfield Jam) and Utah Jazz (Idaho Stampede) all entered into single affiliation relationships with their NBA D-League affiliate during the offseason. Additionally, the NBA D-League has implemented a new flexible assignment system which will enable the 13 independent NBA teams to continue to assign players to the NBA D-League for development or rehabilitation.

For the 10th consecutive season, each singly-affiliated NBA team will have one NBA D-League team to which it may assign its players.  The Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the lone independent NBA D-League Team, will be affiliated with the remaining 13 NBA teams.  To accommodate assignments to Fort Wayne, a flexible assignment system will be utilized when an independent NBA team assigns a player at a time when the Mad Ants already have either the maximum of four NBA players on assignment or two assigned players at the position of the NBA player who is being assigned.  In either event, the NBA D-League will identify to the assigning NBA team any singly-affiliated NBA D-League team that is willing to accept the assigned player, and the independent NBA team assigning the player will choose a team from among those teams to assign the player.  If no singly-affiliated NBA D-League team is willing to accept the assigned player, he will be assigned to one of the non-NBA-owned single affiliate teams pursuant to a lottery.

During the 2013-14 season, an all-time high 62 NBA players were assigned to their NBA D-League affiliates a record 187 times.  Twenty-five players drafted in 2013 spent time on assignment in the NBA D-League last season, including 10 first-round selections.  Portland Trail Blazers’ rookie C.J. McCollum, selected 10th overall, and Minnesota Timberwolves’ rookie Shabazz Muhammad, selected 14th overall, headline the group of 2013 NBA draftees who honed their skills in the NBA D-League last season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors each assigned five players to their NBA D-League affiliates during the 2013-14 season, while the New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings and 2014 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs each sent four players to the NBA D-League during the course of last season.

For the third season, players in the first three years of their NBA careers may be assigned to their team’s NBA D-League affiliate an unlimited number of times.  For the fourth consecutive year, players beyond the first three years of their NBA careers may be assigned to the NBA D-League with both their consent and the consent of the NBA Players Association.

Of the 17 singly-affiliated NBA D-League teams who will play in 2014-15, seven are fully owned and operated by their NBA parent club (Austin Toros, Canton Charge, Delaware 87ers, Los Angeles D-Fenders, Oklahoma City Thunder NBA D-League Team, Santa Cruz Warriors, and Westchester).  Nine teams (Bakersfield, Erie, Idaho, Iowa, Grand Rapids, Maine Red Claws, Reno Bighorns, Rio Grande Valley Vipers and Sioux Falls Skyforce) are operated under a “hybrid” affiliation, whereby the NBA team manages and funds the basketball operations while local ownership maintains control of the business and community relations aspects of the team.  The Dallas Mavericks and Texas Legends have a one-to-one affiliation by way of Donnie Nelson’s ownership of the Legends.

The NBA D-League continues to be a springboard for NBA talent with an all-time high 33 percent of NBA players on 2013-14 end-of-season rosters having played in the NBA D-League during their careers.

The complete affiliation system for 2014-15 is listed below:

DELAWARE 87ERS (Newark, DE)
Philadelphia 76ers

FORT WAYNE MAD ANTS (IN)
Atlanta Hawks
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Bobcats
Chicago Bulls
Denver Nuggets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards

IOWA ENERGY (Des Moines, IA)
Memphis Grizzlies

LOS ANGELES D-FENDERS (CA)
Los Angeles Lakers

MAINE RED CLAWS (Portland, ME)
Boston Celtics

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER NBA D-LEAGUE TEAM (OK)
Oklahoma City Thunder

RIO GRANDE VALLEY VIPERS (Hidalgo, TX)
Houston Rockets

SANTA CRUZ WARRIORS (CA)
Golden State Warriors

TEXAS LEGENDS (Frisco, TX)
Dallas Mavericks

WESTCHESTER KNICKS (White Plains, NY)
New York Knicks

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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION AND NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE ANNOUNCE AFFILIATION SYSTEM FOR 2014-15 SEASON

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