Bulls call off D-League stint for ex-Cat Marquis Teague

The Chicago Bulls assigned former University of Kentucky point guard Marquis Teague to its NBA Developmental League squad Tuesday, but later had to back off of the move.

Teague, playing his second season with the NBA's Chicago Bulls, was to play for the Iowa Energy, which is based in Des Moines, but the team had to change its plans when backup point guard Mike James suffered an injury, the Chicago Tribune reported. An MRI revealed James suffered a sprained MCL before Monday's triple overtime loss to the Pelicans. James still gritted out 10 minutes.

The 6-foot-2 Teague has played in nine games for the Bulls this season and averaged 1.2 points and 0.8 assists in 8.9 minutes per game.

"Marquis is doing great,'' General Manager Gar Forman told the Chicago Sun-Times early Tuesday. "We see an opportunity for him to get some significant time on the floor. We see it as short-lived.

"He's still 20 years old, he's still young. We like Marquis' potential, but for his development there might be scenarios throughout the season where he gets playing time down there."

There are two former Kentucky players in the D-League, though neither is under contract with an NBA team.

DeAndre Liggins has averaged 14.5 points, 6.8 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals in four games for Sioux Falls. He's hitting 42.1 percent of his three-point attempts.

Ramon Harris has averaged 8.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in four games for Fort Wayne.

This story was originally published December 3, 2013 at 1:51 PM with the headline "Bulls call off D-League stint for ex-Cat Marquis Teague."