Every player suited up for the Birmingham Squadron hopes to land a full-time gig with the parent club – the New Orleans Pelicans – or another NBA team.
But the immediate goal of any competitor is to win games, and right now the G League squad sits at 4-2 in the Showcase Cup standings and in second place behind the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the South Pod.
With the four pod winners and next four teams with the best record advancing to the money round at the Winter Showcase, showing up and showing off over the remaining 10 Cup games is extremely important to Birmingham players.
“Of course it is,” guard Jalen Crutcher said following a spirited Wednesday practice at Legacy Arena. “You know, $100,000 is split up among the players on the team that wins the tournament, so we’re going out every game playing as hard as we can and trying to win.”
The Squadron embarks on a three-game road trip starting Friday when they take on Austin at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, Texas.
Birmingham opened the 2023-24 season with a 130-90 rout of the Spurs in a Showcase Cup matchup.
Birmingham will be at the Paycom Center on December 3 and December 5 to tangle with the Oklahoma City Blue before returning home on December 8 against Rio Grande Valley.
The 4-2 mark is the best since the franchise came to the Magic City in 2021.
Coach T.J. Saint says he’s excited about taking the show on the road.
“Last year we went 3-0 on our first long road trip, so we’re trying to do that again,” Saint said. “And to Jason’s point about the money round, it’s already started. We have to have great preparation to take on really good teams, and the guys know what’s at stake. I think maybe at the moment we’re technically out of the top eight, but we have a lot of control over how we finish, and we’ve just got to be detailed and focused going forward to be in a better position to finish in the top eight.”
Two-way player Dereon Seabron leads the team in points per game (24.7) and minutes played (37.3), while Landers Nolley II has stepped up for 19.5 points and nine rebounds per outing.
Seabron was the breakout star for Birmingham in 2022-23 and continues to shine, but Nolley is certainly making his presence known.
“Landers is one of the most cerebral guys at any level I’ve ever coached,” Saint explained. “He’s a sniper who can really shoot it. His passing ability is different, especially in his size position. And the thing that you don’t see if you’re not at practice are the little things. He’s always telling guys and reminding guys what to do and what’s coming.
“As we get going more, we see that he’s a very, very dynamic and interesting player who I believe can play in the NBA.”
Malcolm Hill averages 17.5 points, followed by Crutcher (16), Izaiah Brockington (12.2) and Tevian Jones (11).
UAB product Trey Jemison scores seven points per night to go with 9.3 boards and the Squadron ranks third in the league in rebounds per game with 50.8.
“I think there has been a total alignment with the Pelicans’ front office, the Squadron’s front office, myself, coaches and players,” Saint said. “They’re super high-character guys. We have future NBA players – several I think – on our team, and we’ve really honed in on that character piece.
“We took a hard loss last game (129-112 to Memphis), but we’ve had some good film sessions and good practices. I’m excited to go to Austin.”
Tip-off for Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally on My68 as well as the NBA G League Channel on Tubi.
New addition: With Devin Cannady participating in the 3×3 AmeriCup competition through December 3, the Squadron signed center Daniel Giddens from the available player pool. The 6-11, 240-pound center has played professionally in Japan and Switzerland, and had college stops at Ohio State, Alabama and Vermont.
He comes to Birmingham as a roster hardship exception.
“He’ll be able to spell Trey when we don’t want to go small,” Saint said. “He gives us another option during a game.”
Season within a season: Once the Showcase Cup is done, all G League teams’ record will be wiped clean and a traditional regular season will begin on December 27.
Crutcher likes the format – sort of.
“I mean, if you have a bad start to the season, you get to start over,” he said. “But if you’re doing good and have a good record, you’d kinda like to keep adding to it. But overall, I think it’s pretty good to have a Showcase season and then a regular season.”