G League

Isaiah Thomas will join the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League following the conclusion of the NBA All-Star break, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.

Thomas made his G League debut with the Gold in a 131-127 loss to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on Dec. 15. He finished with 43 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 43 minutes.

The 33-year-old signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Lakers a day after that game.

The Lakers, like many teams around the league, were struggling to fill out their roster as players entered the NBA's health and safety protocols.

Thomas made four appearances for L.A. before signing with the Dallas Mavericks. In five games this year, he's averaging 8.6 points and 2.0 assists in 22.8 minutes.

Simply getting to that point was an incredible comeback story for the two-time All-Star.

But his brief spells with the Lakers and Mavs showed the difficulty he had in carving out a regular role at this stage of his career. He wasn't the same player after a hip injury, and the decline became more pronounced as he aged.

Getting consistent minutes in the G League could help Thomas showcase his game as he looks to once again land on his feet in the Association.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly could team up with two of his brothers in the Skills Challenge as part of NBA All-Star Weekend.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Giannis, Thanasis and Alex Antetokounmpo are "strongly considering" joining forces. Like Giannis, Thanasis Antetokounmpo is a forward with the Bucks, and Alex is a guard with Raptors 905 of the G League. The revamped Skills Challenge will feature teams of three competing against each other.

The 2022 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 20 in Cleveland, while the Slam Dunk Contest, Three-Point Contest and Skills Challenge will take place Feb. 19.

Giannis was named a starter for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, marking his sixth consecutive All-Star nod.

The two-time NBA MVP and reigning NBA Finals MVP undoubtedly earned it, as he is averaging 28.9 points, 11.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game this season, putting him in the thick of the MVP race once again.

Giannis' brothers aren't as decorated or well-known, but they have had successful careers in their own right.

Thanasis, who at 29 is two years Giannis' senior, has spent four seasons in the NBA. He appeared in two games for the New York Knicks in 2015-16 before playing professionally in Spain and his native Greece for three seasons.

He returned to the NBA in 2019-20 and has spent the past three seasons with Milwaukee, winning a championship with Giannis last season. In 31 games this season, Thanasis is averaging 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 11.0 minutes.

Alex, 20, is the youngest brother. He starred at Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, before playing in Spain last year and joining the G League this season.

In eight games for Raptors 905, Alex is averaging 3.0 points per contest.

Another Antetokounmpo brother, Kostas, 24, played sparingly in three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers. He now plays for ASVEL Basket in France.

The Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Contest usually take center stage the night before the All-Star Game, but if the three brothers compete together, the Skills Challenge would be must-see TV for NBA fans as well.

The G League has reportedly postponed the resumption of its season until Jan. 5 amid the NBA's leaguewide COVID-19 outbreak leading to several callups.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the decision was made in part because of the rise in COVID-19 cases nationwide and the NBA gutting G League rosters in recent weeks.

The G League was originally slated to return to play Monday after the conclusion of its showcase in Las Vegas.

Charania's report did not indicate whether any games will be canceled as part of the postponement.

The regular season is supposed to last through April 2, with 28 of the league's 30 teams participating. This is the first traditional regular season that the G League has conducted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

NBA veteran Michael Beasley has been offered an NBA G League contract and can enter the G League player pool, according to Marc Stein.

Beasley has not played a regular-season game in the NBA since the 2018-19 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 7.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 26 appearances.

The forward agreed to join the Brooklyn Nets during the 2020 restart in Orlando, Florida, but his contract was voided after he tested positive for COVID-19.

He played for the Portland Trail Blazers team during the NBA Summer League this past offseason.

Though Summer League is usually reserved for younger prospects, the 32-year-old appeared in five contests while averaging 11.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, shooting 45 percent from three-point range.

The 2008 No. 2 overall draft pick still couldn't get a new contract:

The former Kansas State star has averaged 12.4 points per game across 11 seasons with seven different organizations. The 6'9" forward was at his best in 2010-11 when he scored 19.2 per game with the Minnesota Timberwolves, starting all 73 games he played.

Beasley is now looking for another chance to return to the NBA and show what he can do.

With teams around the league limited because of COVID-19, he could fill a roster opening.   

The No. 1 Delaware Blue Coats lived up to their seeding on Wednesday at the NBA G League Showcase Cup Championship, beating the No. 6 Oklahoma City Blue 106-98. 

Braxton Key went off for Delaware, putting up 28 points to go along with 11 rebounds, while Jarron Cumberland (24 points, eight rebounds, six assists) did a little bit of everything for the Blue Coats. 

Rob Edwards, Melvin Frazier Jr. and Zavier Simpson led the way for the Blue, each scoring 17 points, while Edwards added 13 boards.

Cumberland was named the MVP:

The Blue Coats are red hot, stretching out their win streak to 12 games on Wednesday. Their last defeat came on Nov. 14, a 113-108 loss to the Maine Celtics. They've won 14 of 15 games in total this season. 

Like many of the other teams in the G League, the Blue Coats have seen plenty of roster turnover during the COVID-19 pandemic, with young players like Jaden Springer, Paul Reed, Aaron Henry and Charles Bassey, among others, spending time with both the Blue Coats and Philadelphia 76ers.

As The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks noted, "Two G League teams didn’t even participate in the showcase because they didn’t have enough able-bodied players to field a team."

As COVID-19 affects the NBA, the effects trickled down to the G League Winter Showcase. 

However, Wednesday was all about Key and Cumberland leading the Blue Coats to a title.

The Blue Coats looked as though they were going to cruise to an easy win, heading into the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead. But Oklahoma City went on a 9-0 run to start the final frame, making things interesting.

Key's six points down the stretch paced the Blue Coats as they held off the Blue's rally, however. 

And then there were two.

The NBA G-League's Winter Showcase entered into the semifinal stage as it winds toward Wednesday's championship game.

Fresh off quarterfinal upsets, the Oklahoma City Blue and Motor City Cruise faced off Tuesday in the first of two pivotal contests. The top-seeded Delaware Blue Coats and South Bay Lakers were due to clash for the second championship berth.

G-League Winter Showcase Results

No. 6 Oklahoma City Blue 99, No. 7 Motor City Cruise 97 (semifinal)

No. 3 Rio Grande Valley Vipers 105, No. 2 Maine Celtics 98

No. 1 Delaware Blue Coats 122, No. 4 South Bay Lakers 108 (semifinal) 

No. 8 Fort Wayne Mad Ants 155, No. 5 Wisconsin Herd 103

Oklahoma City Blue 99, Motor City Cruise 97

Zavier Simpson brought the Blue to within one point, 97-96, on a layup with 1:03 remaining. Cheick Diallo and Deividas Sirvydis both missed opportunities to widen the Cruise's lead before Scotty Hopson put Oklahoma City ahead on a jumper with 12.7 seconds on the clock.

After a made free throw from Simpson, Motor City had one last possession to tie or take the lead. Sirvydis came up short with a three-pointer, and Diallo's put-back opportunity somehow failed to find the bottom of the bucket.

Diallo was the game's standout performer, making his late miss all the more surprising.

The 2016 second-round pick hasn't appeared in an NBA game since the 2019-20 season and looked motivated to play his way back into the Association. Diallo got what he wanted inside, scoring 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting and hauling in 17 rebounds.

Not to be outdone, Jamorko Pickett (11 points, 15 rebounds) and Derrick Walton Jr. (14 points, 11 assists) both posted double-doubles for Motor City.

On the other side, all five Blue starters scored in double figures. D.J. Wilson (20 points) was the team's leading scorer, and Hopson's 17 points off the bench were pivotal toward OKC coming away with the victory. 

Rio Grande Valley Vipers 105, Maine Celtics 98

The Rio Grande Valley Vipers held off a late charge by the Maine Celtics to earn a 105-98 victory.

With a pair of made free throws by Chris Clemons, Maine trailed by three points with 48.6 seconds on the clock. The Celtics forced a stop on the other end of the court and Jaysean Paige had an opportunity to tie the game inside the final 20 seconds.

Trhae Mitchell collected the rebound off Paige's miss and a dunk by Marvin Smith was the final nail in the coffin for the Celtics.

Marcus Foster filled up the stat sheet for Rio Grande Valley, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Clemons was electric in a losing effort, pouring in 31 points and winding up just short of a double-double with nine rebounds.

However, his 4-of-14 clip on three-pointers underscored one of Maine's biggest problems as the Celtics shot 37.5 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Delaware Blue Coats 122, South Bay Lakers 108

The Blue Coats cruised past the Lakers to join the Blue in the title game.

Delaware jumped ahead by 11 points midway through the first quarter and didn't look back. The Lakers clawed their way back to make it a four-point game at halftime, only for the Blue Coats to drop 35 points in the third quarter to take control for good.

Haywood Highsmith had a game-high 30 points on 12-of-21 shooting, while teammate Jarron Cumberland had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Delaware was plus-22 with Braxton Key on the floor as the 6'8" forward posted 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.

Paris Bass, Cameron Oliver and Nate Pierre-Louis were the engine for South Bay's offense, combining to score 76 points.

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 155, Wisconsin Herd 103

The Fort Wayne Mad Ants blitzed the Wisconsin Herd for 155 points in a dominant victory

The Herd only trailed 31-23 after the first quarter. Fort Wayne proceeded to put up 47 points in the second quarter.

The Mad Ants attempted 109 shots when all was said in done, hitting 55 percent of their field goals and going 20-of-45 on threes.

Gabe York had the hot hand, nailing a team-record nine three-pointers en route to a 36-point showing off the bench.

Nine players scored for Fort Wayne and only two failed to hit double digits. Keifer Sykes and Terry Taylor paced York with 22 and 20 points apiece.

Jalen Lecque had 26 points in 39 minutes for the Herd. Illustrating Wisconsin's night, the team was nonetheless minus-49 when Lecque was on the floor. Sometimes, there isn't much you can do when you run into a buzzsaw.

Former Miami Heat point guard Mario Chalmers has agreed to a contract with the NBA G League's Grand Rapids Gold and will play in the G League Showcase Dec. 19-22, per The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania.

Chalmers last played in the NBA during the 2017-18 campaign. He has since played in Italy, Greece and Puerto Rico, and has also played in the BIG3, a three-on-three pro basketball league founded by rapper/actor Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz in 2017.

Chalmers' decision to return to the United States stems from his desire to return to the NBA. The 35-year-old told JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors that he always wanted to return and end his career in the U.S.

"Finishing my career where I started would mean the world to me," Chalmers said. "I first got drafted into the NBA. I never had dreams of walking away from the game of basketball overseas, so this would be a great way to end my career. Just being back at home in front of the fans that helped me get to where I am today."

Chalmers added that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank and will be ready if and when another opportunity arises:

I have a lot left in the tank. I have fresh legs, a fresh body and I'm ready for that full NBA grind again. A lot of teams are fighting for those 16 playoff spots, so at the end of the day, if someone gets hurt or COVID becomes an issue, I'm ready.

I've been in the gym. I catch on fast and won't miss a beat. I've already been there before. At the end of the day, I know what it takes to help win a championship.

Chalmers' bid to return to the NBA probably couldn't have come at a better time. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Baxter Holmes, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are talking about implementing a rule that would force teams hit with significant COVID-19 outbreaks to sign replacement players.

Allowing teams to sign replacement players would limit potential game postponements and cancellations. So, Chalmers definitely has a shot at returning.

Chalmers spent the first seven-and-a-half seasons of his NBA career with the Heat before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2015-16 campaign. He then suffered an Achilles tear in 2016 and was waived by Memphis, who re-signed him two years later, but he did not return to the NBA after the 2017-18 campaign.

In nine NBA seasons, the two-time champion averaged 8.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 35.1 percent from deep. 

Isaiah Thomas looks like someone who can provide a spark for an NBA team.

The former Boston Celtics star was dominant during Wednesday's G League game for the Grand Rapids Gold. While his team lost 131-127 to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, he finished with 42 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Thomas looked the part of a two-time All-Star who was a member of the All-NBA Second Team as recently as 2016-17 when he averaged 28.9 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game for a Celtics squad that reached the Eastern Conference Finals.

The 32-year-old has played for the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans and is working his way back toward a potential NBA return.

If Wednesday was any indication, he should be back in no time.

Isaiah Thomas reportedly has taken another step toward a return to the NBA.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Monday the guard has signed with the Grand Rapids Gold, which is the Denver Nuggets' G League affiliate. Former NBA player Jason Terry is the head coach for the Grand Rapids.

There was a time when Thomas was one of the better offensive playmakers in the league.

The Washington product is a two-time All-Star who was a member of the 2016-17 All-NBA Second Team during his time on the Boston Celtics. He averaged 28.9 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game that season and led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals.

While that was his best individual season, Thomas has averaged better than 15 points per game in five different campaigns during a career that started in 2011-12.

The guard has played for the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans. He last appeared in three games for the Pelicans during the 2020-21 season.

While he is likely past his prime and hasn't played more than 40 games in a season since that All-NBA effort in Boston, Thomas is only 32 years old and could provide a spark off the bench for an NBA team with his outside shooting and ability to get into the lane.

Denver has dealt with a number of injuries throughout the season, and Jamal Murray still has not taken the court in 2021-22 as he recovers from a torn ACL. In theory, Thomas could provide important depth if he worked his way up from the G League by taking advantage of this opportunity.

At the very least, he could make an impression on other teams around the league if he plays well in the G League.                   

Former All-Star Isaiah Thomas is taking another stab at getting back to the NBA. 

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Thomas has signed with the G League and will take part in the G League Showcase from Dec. 19-22. 

The G League Winter Showcase features eight teams in a single-elimination tournament. Team scouts and executives will be in attendance to evaluate players. 

The 32-year-old played three games for the New Orleans Pelicans last season after signing a 10-day contract on April 3. He averaged 7.7 points on 33.3 percent shooting coming off the bench. 

As he continued to keep his hopes for an NBA comeback alive, Thomas joined the Crawsover Pro-Am Basketball League this summer. He made headlines after scoring 81 points in an Aug. 8 game. 

Thomas' career took a steep downward turn after he finished fifth in MVP voting for the 2016-17 season. He suffered a hip injury during the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. 

After the Cavs traded for Thomas as part of the Kyrie Irving deal, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic reported the veteran point guard had multiple hip problems and that "a loss of cartilage and some arthritis, are complicating his healing process."

Those health concerns briefly held up the trade before the Celtics included an additional second-round draft pick as part of Cleveland's return. 

Before the hip issues, Thomas was one of the best scoring guards in the NBA for two seasons from 2015-17. He averaged 25.5 points, 6.1 assists and shot 44.6 percent from the field in 158 appearances for the Celtics during that span. 

Since the trade went down, Thomas has struggled to stay on the floor and has been largely ineffective when he does play. The University of Washington alum has only appeared in 87 NBA games over the past four seasons. He averaged 12.6 points per game with a 38.4 field-goal percentage in those appearances.