The Erie BayHawks are hoping forward Frank Hassell (with ball) can give them a stronger inside presence./AP Photo.

On Monday, the Erie BayHawks added forward Frank Hassell, a 6-9, 246-pound power forward who averaged 10.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in 20 games for the expansion Canton Charge.

From Chesapeake, Va., Hassell had played overseas in Turkey before the San Antonio Spurs invited him to training camp. Hassell, who played at the same high school as former NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning in Indian River, was the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Tournament MVP while playing at Old Dominion.

The BayHawks got Hassell, 23, in a trade when they acquired Sharrod Ford out of the D-League player pool and traded him to Canton for Hassell. From Suitland, Md., Ford, 30, played for the Phoenix Suns in 2005-06 after playing college ball at Clemson.

Ford also played professional in Turkey, Russia and Italy. He averaged 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds in 2010-11 with Sutor Montegranaro in Italy.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Erie BayHawks added 6-7 guard Devin Green out of Hampton University to their roster today through the D-League’s allocation rule.

The rule allows D-League teams to acquire up to three players waived from training camps of their NBA affiliates. The New York Knicks, who are Erie’s hybrid affiliate, waived Green, 29, from their training camp this month.

Green played 29 games for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005-06. He averaged 0.9 points a game for the Lakers.

Green, who has also played overseas in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Puerto Rico, China and Bulgaria, is scheduled to play for Erie in tonight’s game at 7 against Fort Wayne at Tullio Arena.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sundiata Gaines?

Who is this guy.

The D-League knows him well and now the Cleveland Cavaliers will never forget him.

Early this Friday morning, Gaines, who starred in the D-League for the Idaho Stampede, hit a game-winning 3-pointer for the Utah Jazz to beat the Cavs, 97-96, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

It’s things like this that give the D-League the legitimacy it needs to stay afloat.

Whenever a guy gets an NBA call up like Gaines did, it means he can play, but when he delivers in an NBA game particularly against a title contender like the Cavaliers, it means much more.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Milwaukee Bucks-Cleveland Cavaliers game Friday, Dec. 18 is being moved from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. so ESPN can televise it.

As much as people would like to think the change was made so folks can see LeBron James, trust me, the change was made so people could see Bucks rookie point guard Brandon Jennings.

If you haven’t seen this kid, he’s the one who scored 55 points in 41 minutes against the Golden State Warriors earlier this season.

Read the rest of this entry »

Latavious Williams is jumping from high school to the D-League.

Huh?

In the past, guys went straight from high school to the NBA, but now a player must attend college at least for one year or have their graduating class be out of school a year to enter the NBA draft.

So Williams, who is from Starkville, Miss., is in the D-League draft pool for Thursday’s draft. He’s the first player to go from high school to the D-League. He finished his prep career at Christian Life Center Academy in Humble, Texas.

Read the rest of this entry »