From late September to late October, the NBA’s 30 teams trim their rosters from as many as 20 players to 15 for the start of the regular season. The cuts come fast and furious, but being waived does not mark the end of the road for many players across the league.
In fact, the players cut during training camp are much more than a blip on the radar from the NBA D-League’s perspective. NBA rules allow teams to designate up to four of those prospects as “affiliate players,” meaning they are automatically allocated to the D-League affiliate of the NBA team that cut them (provided they choose to sign an NBA D-League contract).
Unlike in baseball, affiliate players remain free agents available for any of the 30 NBA teams to sign.
Still, the designation is a vote of confidence for prospects. It’s an indication of who NBA teams are interested in, allowing teams to closely monitor certain players on and off the court, keep them within the same offensive and defensive systems using the same terminology and many of the same plays, and work on their skill development with their own coaches.
During the 2013-14 season, affiliate players Chris Babb (Boston-Maine), Troy Daniels (Houston-Rio Grande Valley), Dewayne Dedmon (Golden State-Santa Cruz) and Justin Hamilton (Miami-Sioux Falls) were called up by teams that had cut them in training camp.
Here’s the full list of affiliate players entering the 2014-15 season:
| NBA Team | Player | Position | Height | Weight | School | NBA D-League Affiliate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Celtics | Tim Frazier | G | 6-1 | 170 | Penn State | Maine Red Claws |
| Boston Celtics | Rodney McGruder | G | 6-4 | 205 | Kansas State | Maine Red Claws |
| Boston Celtics | Christian Watford | F | 6-9 | 232 | Indiana | Maine Red Claws |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Chris Crawford | G | 6-4 | 222 | Memphis | Canton Charge |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | Stephen Holt | G | 6-4 | 195 | Saint Mary’s (CA) | Canton Charge |
| Dallas Mavericks | Renaldo Balkman | F | 6-8 | 208 | South Carolina | Texas Legends |
| Dallas Mavericks | Eric Griffin | F | 6-8 | 194 | Campbell | Texas Legends |
| Dallas Mavericks | Bernard James | C | 6-10 | 230 | Florida State | Texas Legends |
| Dallas Mavericks | Doron Lamb | G | 6-4 | 200 | Kentucky | Texas Legends |
| Detroit Pistons | Josh Bostic | G/F | 6-5 | 230 | NC State | Grand Rapids Drive |
| Detroit Pistons | Hasheem Thabeet | C | 7-3 | 263 | Connecticut | Grand Rapids Drive |
| Golden State Warriors | Aaron Craft | G | 6-2 | 195 | Ohio State | Santa Cruz Warriors |
| Golden State Warriors | Sean Kilpatrick | G | 6-4 | 210 | Cincinnati | Santa Cruz Warriors |
| Golden State Warriors | James McAdoo | F | 6-9 | 230 | North Carolina | Santa Cruz Warriors |
| Golden State Warriors | Mitchell Watt | F | 6-10 | 225 | Buffalo | Santa Cruz Warriors |
| Houston Rockets | Geron Johnson | G | 6-3 | 203 | Memphis | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| Houston Rockets | Akil Mitchell | F | 6-9 | 230 | Virginia | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| Houston Rockets | Akim Richmond | G | 5-11 | 180 | East Carolina | Rio Grande Valley Vipers |
| Indiana Pacers | CJ Fair | F | 6-8 | 215 | Syracuse | Fort Wayne Mad Ants |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Keith Appling | G | 6-1 | 185 | Michigan State | Los Angeles D-Fenders |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Jabari Brown | G | 6-4 | 215 | Missouri | Los Angeles D-Fenders |
| Los Angeles Lakers | Roscoe Smith | G/F | 6-8 | 215 | UNLV | Los Angeles D-Fenders |
| Miami Heat | Khem Birch | F | 6-10 | 220 | UNLV | Sioux Falls Skyforce |
| Miami Heat | Tyler Johnson | G | 6-4 | 186 | Fresno State | Sioux Falls Skyforce |
| Miami Heat | Shawn Jones | F | 6-8 | 233 | Middle Tenn. State | Sioux Falls Skyforce |
| New York Knicks | Langston Galloway | G | 6-2 | 202 | Saint Joseph’s | Westchester Knicks |
| New York Knicks | Orlando Sanchez | F | 6-9 | 232 | St. John’s | Westchester Knicks |
| New York Knicks | Jordan Vandenburg | C | 7-1 | 245 | NC State | Westchester Knicks |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | Michael Jenkins | G | 6-3 | 195 | Winthrop | Oklahoma City Blue |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | Richard Solomon | F | 6-10 | 235 | California | Oklahoma City Blue |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | Talib Zanna | F | 6-9 | 230 | Pittsburgh | Oklahoma City Blue |
| Orlando Magic | Kadeem Batts | F | 6-9 | 245 | Providence | Erie BayHawks |
| Orlando Magic | Drew Crawford | G/F | 6-5 | 215 | Northwestern | Erie BayHawks |
| Orlando Magic | Peyton Siva | G | 6-0 | 185 | Louisville | Erie BayHawks |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Drew Gordon | F | 6-9 | 245 | New Mexico | Delaware 87ers |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Malcolm Lee | G | 6-5 | 201 | UCLA | Delaware 87ers |
| Philadelphia 76ers | Ronald Roberts | F | 6-8 | 225 | Temple | Delaware 87ers |
| Phoenix Suns | Earl Barron | C | 7-0 | 250 | Memphis | Bakersfield Jam |
| Phoenix Suns | Joe Jackson | G | 6-0 | 167 | Memphis | Bakersfield Jam |
| Phoenix Suns | Casey Prather | F | 6-6 | 212 | Florida | Bakersfield Jam |
| Phoenix Suns | Jamil Wilson | F | 6-7 | 230 | Marquette | Bakersfield Jam |
| Sacramento Kings | Sim Bhullar | C | 7-5 | 360 | New Mexico State | Reno Bighorns |
| Sacramento Kings | David Wear | F | 6-10 | 230 | UCLA | Reno Bighorns |
| San Antonio Spurs | Bryce Cotton | G | 6-1 | 165 | Providence | Austin Spurs |
| San Antonio Spurs | Josh Davis | F | 6-8 | 215 | San Diego State | Austin Spurs |
| Utah Jazz | Jack Cooley | F | 6-9 | 244 | Notre Dame | Idaho Stampede |