Adreian Payne is going back to the NBA Development League. Where the Hawks first-round pick will play has yet to be determined.
The Hawks assigned Payne back to the D-League on Sunday. At that point, the team’s affiliate in Fort Wayne had the maximum four NBA players on its roster. Payne went into the newly created flexible assignment system.
According to the new rules, one of the 13 NBA teams affiliated with Fort Wayne can still assign a player to the D-League even if there is no available roster spot on the Mad Ants. One of the 17 singly-affiliated teams can volunteer to accept that player. If there is more than one offer, the NBA team can choose the location. If no singly-affiliated team volunteers to accept a player, he will be assigned via a lottery to one of the 10 non-NBA owned D-League teams.
It is not known whether a team has agreed to take Payne or if a lottery will be necessary.
Fort Wayne now has two NBA roster spots available after the Hawks recalled John Jenkins and Mike Muscala Monday afternoon. If no team agreed to take Payne, he could return to Fort Wayne, where he has played a total of six games in two stints. Russ Smith and Glen Rice Jr. are the other NBA players on the Fort Wayne roster.
Payne averaged 13.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.3 minutes in his six games with Fort Wayne. He had a .409 field-goal percentage in the six games. The Hawks selected Payne with the 15th overall selection in the June draft. He has yet to appear in an NBA game. Only Philadelphia’s No. 3 Joel Embiid (foot surgery) and No. 12 Dario Saric (remained in Turkey) were selected higher than Payne and have yet to play an NBA game.
Previous report
The Hawks recalled John Jenkins and Mike Muscala from their NBA Development assignment to Fort Wayne Monday.
The two have joined the Hawks in Indianapolis, where they will be available for tonight’s game against the Pacers. Adreian Payne was recalled from his assignment on Saturday.
Jenkins appeared in five games with Fort Wayne. The shooting guard averaged 19.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 23.8 minutes. He was 38 of 64 from the field (.594), including 5 of 15 from 3-point range.
Muscala appeared in two games and averaged 13.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in 25.0 minutes. The center was 10 of 16 (.625) from the field.
Fort Wayne does not play again until Friday when they host Grand Rapids.
It has become clear over the past couple weeks that the Hawks will take advantage of game groupings in the D-League schedule to get playing time for Jenkins, Muscala and Payne. It appears to be a trend that will likely continue this season.
Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer has said on several occasions that the team will use the D-League as one part of its player development.
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