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(SIAP) Just found this... Did Hawks "manipulate" the d-league rules?

sturt

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sturt Grand Master

sturt

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http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20141210/SPORTS/141219972

 

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Mad Ants burned as Hawks exploit D-League rules Adreian Payne now with Austin after Atlanta maneuevers

 
 
Wednesday, December 10, 2014 - 12:03 pm

 

It didn't take long for an NBA team to exploit the NBA Development League's flexible assignment rule at the expense of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

 

The Atlanta Hawks played the role of master manipulators and sent top rookie Adreian Payne to the Austin Spurs instead of back to the Mad Ants, where he had been playing.

 

Because the Mad Ants are the only D-League franchise without a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA team, they can be assigned players from 13 teams. Under the rules, only four NBA players (or two at the same position) can be assigned to the Mad Ants at one time.

 

If there are no spots available in Fort Wayne, other D-League teams can volunteer to take an assigned player from the 13 NBA teams affiliated with the Mad Ants.

 

The Hawks state they sent Payne to San Antonio Spurs affiliate Austin because the Mad Ants were at the maximum four NBA players when the Hawks started the process on Sunday.

 

That's a joke, and not of the funny variety.

 

Two of the four assigned players (John Jenkins and Mike Muscala) were sent to the Mad Ants by the Hawks. In fact, the Hawks recalled Payne and sent Muscala to the Mad Ants on Saturday, assuring Fort Wayne stayed at four NBA players. They started the process to assign Payne to Austin on Sunday, and recalled Jenkins and Muscala on Monday.

 

That's not using the flexible assignment rule. That's manipulating the system.

 

What the Hawks did was within the rules. But it smells rotten from here.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Chris Vivlamore wrote in an article on Payne's assignment that Austin is an “optimal place for Payne as they run a very similar system to the Hawks.”

 

Now that's quite a coincidence.

 

Under the rules, if the Mad Ants' openings are full, and more than one D-League team volunteers to take an outside-their-affiliate assignment, the assigning team (in this case the Hawks) can choose from those volunteering D-League teams. It doesn't take much deduction to see a set up between Atlanta and San Antonio/Austin.

 

Payne might not have been familiar with the Mad Ants' system when he was with Fort Wayne, but he made an immediate impact. He averaged 13.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in six games. Bottom line: If Payne is with the Mad Ants, as he should be under the spirit of the rules, he makes them a better team.

 

I'm guessing upcoming Austin opponents Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and Oklahoma City aren't too thrilled about Payne's new assignment, either.

 

Fort Wayne now has only one assigned player (Washington Wizards' Glen Rice Jr.) after Jenkins, Muscala and the New Orleans Pelicans' Russ Smith were recalled Monday.

 

This whole scenario points out again how the NBA and D-League demonstrate less than a commitment to an equal playing field for the defending D-League champion Mad Ants, the league's only independent team.

 

During training camp, NBA teams exploited the system by paying larger salaries to players they eventually cut so those players would choose to stick around and sign with their D-League affiliates rather than go overseas or pursue other options. The D-League affiliates couldn't afford to offer those types of salaries, so the NBA parent club handled that. Again, it was technically within the rules, but it doesn't pass the smell test.

 

The Hawks' decision to manipulate the system to get Payne to a different D-League team seems even worse. When they recalled Payne from the Mad Ants, they sent Muscala down so the Ants stayed at four players for another day. There's no way that's a coincidence...

 

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EDIT: Guessing that, indeed, I'm late to the party on this discussion... found over on SB Nation....

 

http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2014/12/11/7377175/the-curious-case-of-atlanta-hawks-forward-turned-austin-spurs-assignee-adreian-payne

Edited by sturt
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I hadn't seen that here before.

 

Actually seems pretty hilarious.  I don't think the d-league affiliate should be crying foul though.  Sounds like more of a "know-your-role-b*tch" situation.  We can use you however we see fit.

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PSSSHHHRRR87 Enthusiast

PSSSHHHRRR87

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Strategic management at its finest.  If you don't want loopholes to be exploited, then tighten them up.  This reminds me of TCU and Baylor bitching because they didn't get in the Championship playoff this season.  Well, Big 12 teams, if you want to improve your chances of getting to the Championship playoff, maybe you should have a Big 12 championship game like the other conferences... Is it required to have a conference championship to get to the Championship playoff? No.  Does it help you're chances? Oh hell yes.

 

Is it required to have affiliations to get NBA talent in the D-league? No, not at all.  Are your chances increased if you do?  Uh... duh.  If you don't want to be exploited Mad Ants, then maybe you should stop running as an independent team and get direct affiliation!

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PSSSHHHRRR87 Enthusiast

PSSSHHHRRR87

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I was thoroughly confused by the reporter of the original article...apparently Fort Wayne has a large interest in their NBDL team winning the championship. And so his readers must be super interested in the NBDL. So the reporter is outraged because...well they really need Payne to win?

It's strange. NBDL is for development as far as the Hawks are concerned. But Fort Wayne...uhhh....I guess they really want to win by getting cheap talent they don't have to pay for?

Whatever. This is all pretty pointless. I don't think it is all too important and this reporter has a fake outrage about the issue.

From the macro sense, yeah, it's pointless because the NBDL is meant for player development, but I'm guessing there isn't much going on in Fort Wayne these days, so having a good NBDL team with some professional basketball players on it is pretty cool. I can relate living in the big small town of Tupelo, MS w/ a city and suburb pop of just below 50k. The whole town stops in its tracks whenever some big country music act comes to town.

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lethalweapon3 Grand Master

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...and Moose.

 

 

~lw3

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PSSSHHHRRR87 Enthusiast

PSSSHHHRRR87

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What you Mad Ant, bro?

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