The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets announced today that they have recalled rookie forward Marcus Vinicius from the Tulsa 66ers of the NBA Development League.

“We assigned Marcus to the D-League with the intention of getting him some quality game experience to further his development,” said Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower. “He has shown great strides during his time in Tulsa and, with our recent string of injuries, the time was right to bring him back to the Hornets’ lineup.”

Vinicius was previously assigned to Tulsa on Jan. 9, but was recalled six days later after suffering a strained right Achilles’ tendon in his first game with the 66ers (Jan. 12 vs. Dakota). After being recalled and rehabbing his injury with the Hornets, Vinicius was re-assigned to Tulsa on March 1.

Vinicius has appeared in 13 games overall (six starts) with the 66ers, averaging 16.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 33.0 minutes of play. Over his last three games in the D-League, he has averaged 29.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 39.0 minutes of play (including a 33-point performance April 30 vs. Fort Worth).

Vinicius, who was drafted by the Hornets in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft, has averaged 1.4 points in eight games with the team this season. He has spent 52 games on the Inactive List (22 with a right Achilles strain) and has registered 15 DNP-CDs.

InsideHoops.com Editor Says: About 72 different Hornets got hurt in the last few days, thus this move.