Where Are They Now: 2009 Summer League Teams Part 2
September 2nd, 2009
It’s been roughly two months since summer league started, and most of the players involved have been rehomed now. The following is a list of where everybody currently is, or where they might be going.
This list gets a bit long, so if you want to just skip to your favoured team, you can do so. I’ll allow that.
Indiana Pacers
– Will Blalock: Blalock is unsigned. But he averaged more points (6.2) and assists (2.8) in summer league than he did last season in Germany (4.2 & 2.1). So he’s got that going for him.
– Derrick Byars: See Denver entry.
– Tyler Hansbrough: Hansbrough is signed, and weirdly.
– Roy Hibbert: I said it before, but I’ll say it again; Hibbert is better than you thought he was going to be.
– Jared Homan: The Ho-Man signed in Greece with Costa Cafe Marousi to replace Andreas Glyniadakis, who signed with Olympiacos.
– Aaron Jackson: Jackson may or may not have signed in Turkey.
– Trey Johnson: Johnson didn’t pick the best summer league team to be on. He might have made an NBA team with a better showing and a better opportunity. As it is, he’s now signed in France with BCM Gravelines Dunkerque Grand Littoral, a team that really needs to truncate its name.
– Leo Lyons: See Cleveland entry.
– Josh McRoberts: Despite having a fully guaranteed $1,000,497 qualifying offer, McRoberts re-signed for a guaranteed minimum of $825,497, with $250,000 guaranteed for the following season. I guess he just wanted to get out of restricted free agency as soon as possible.
– A.J. Price: Price hasn’t signed with the Pacers, but now that they’ve bought out Jamaal Tinsley, he must have a chance. The Pacers don’t especially need four point guards, but this doesn’t usually stop them.
– Brandon Rush: Rush played in only one summer league game, and shot 4-19. Let’s pretend it didn’t happen.
– Anthony Smith: Smith is unsigned.
– Scott VanderMeer: Vandermeer is signed along with Travis Walton with the Lugano Tigers in Switzerland. That team is going to be fierce next year. Also on that team are Mohammed Abukar and Derek Stockalper. You might know about Abukar from his Florida days, his San Diego State days or his Austin Toros days, and you might know Derek Stockalper if you watched Britain vs Switzerland two years ago. He’s the one who pirouetted on every three point attempt. I liked him.
L.A. Clippers
– Sean Banks: Don’t know what this means.
– Corie Belser: A very late addition to summer league, Belser has played the last three years in Greece with Larisa, and has now moved to Aris Thessaloniki.
– Nik Caner-Medley: Caner-Medley is back in the ACB, despite being kicked off of Cajasol Sevilla at the end of last season for drunkenly fighting a team mate. He is now with MMT Estudiantes Madrid.
– Dionte Christmas: Watched a Temple game recently. Just wanted to say that. The Sixers have offered Christmas a training camp spot, but he’s still looking at European opportunities.
– Eric Gordon: With him and the next guy, the Clippers have a good young core. I only hope they know this.
– Blake Griffin: Got in trouble a while ago for saying that I’d rather have Blake Griffin than Derrick Rose. Still standing by it.
– DeAndre Jordan: Lots of players are regarded as being all athleticism and no skills, but rarely is this more true at the NBA level than of DeAndre Jordan. Even on that night he put up 20/10 versus the Lakers, he let Andrew Bynum score 42. I’m not a fan right now.
– Marcelus Kemp: Kemp has gone back to the Italian second division and is now with Banco di Sardegna Sassari.
– Kyle McAlarney: McAlarney is unsigned. He shot well for the Clippers – he always shoots well – but the 1:1 assist/turnover ratio and the two free throw attempts in five games are emblematic of his flaws.
– Kevinn Pinkney: Pinkney didn’t take a three in summer league, which is an improvement, but he also shot only 20% and rebounded to his usual substandard. He is currently unsigned.
– Mike Taylor: Taylor was waived by the Clippers before his contract became guaranteed. The team that needs all the scoring and guard help that it could get decided not to play Mike Taylor the minimum, even after trading what turned out to be the #33 pick (Dante Cunningham) for him. Whoops. Taylor has since worked out for the Grizzlies, but is unsigned.
L.A. Lakers
– Alan Anderson: Anderson signed with Maccabi Tel-Aviv before summer league even started. Which makes you wonder why he turned up at all.
– Aron Baynes: Similarly, Baynes signed with Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania before summer league started. He played poorly in summer league, so that was probably a blessing.
– Dominique Coleman: Coleman is signed with Dexia Mons-Hainaut in Belgium.
– Chinemelu Elonu: Elonu is unsigned. I’m not sure if he’s planning on going to camp with the Lakers this year, but if he is, he’ll probably lose.
– Tony Gaffney: Gaffney is signed with Altshuler Saham Galil Gilboa in Israel.
– Terrel Harris: Harris is signed with IG Strasbourg in France.
– Justin Hawkins: Unsigned. And it’s hard to find out news about him because of the unwelcome presence of the highly annoying ex-Darkness frontman of the same name. He’s releasing a World Cup song, apparently. Yeehaw.
– Ben McCauley: McCauley’s taken his passive yet smooth scoring ways to France, where he’ll blend in nicely as Harris’s Strasbourg teammate. He also had a pretty damn impressive summer league all told, which might buy him a repeat performance next year.
– David Monds: Monds averaged 14 points off the bench in summer league, which is a pretty special feat. He took a boatload of mid-range jump shots to do it, a wildly overrated style of field goal attempt loved by purists and denounced by SABRmetricians, but at least they went in. He is unsigned, which may or may not mean anything.
– Adam Morrison: Morrison scored heavily and often in summer league, just like he used to. This season might represent his last chance, but it can’t be any worse than the last two years have been, If he’s finally healthy, he’ll have a role to play, even if it’s not on the Lakers. (Is a salary dump onto Memphis too unfeasible?)
– Taylor Rochestie: Rotch is signed with MEG Goettingen in Germany.
– Luke Schenscher: Schenscher didn’t play with the Lakers due to a back injury. He returned to Australia to work out with his former team, the Adelaide 36ers, but he’s not going to be signing in Australia. He remains unsigned.
– Mustafa Shakur: Shakur, too, is unsigned.
– Reggie Williams: VMI starlet Reggie Williams is also unsigned. How can this be? Oh the humanity.
Memphis Grizzlies
– Jeff Adrien: Adrien has signed in the Spanish second division with Leche Rio Breogan Lugo. You’ll notice that I go out of my way to point out when someone has signed in a second division, and that this doesn’t happen very often. It’s generally not a good thing when it does. Spain’s second division is different, though. It’s deep down there.
– Darrell Arthur: Good news! Darrell Arthur won’t be starting at power forward next year. Bad news! Zach Randolph will be.
– DeMarre Carroll: Do you think that if the Grizzlies knew that Sam Young would fall to #36 that they would have picked Wayne Ellington instead? I do.
– Erik Daniels: Daniels hasn’t yet been able to turn his season of magnanimity into a contract anywhere. He’s unsigned and looks like a candidate to return to the D-League. That is, unless he moves to Italy.
– Daniel Ewing: Ewing re-signed with Prokom Sopot, the Polish EuroLeague team.
– Trey Gilder: Gilder was signed by the Grizzlies just last week, since they’re still apparently looking for athletic forward help. I think they’ve got enough now, though.
– Hamed Haddadi: Haddadi is under contract to the Grizzlies for two more years. He’s not very happy about this. You know what was disappointing about that story? Not a single news outlet went with the headline “Grizzlies’ Haddadi unhapappy.” Do I have to do all the work here?
– Kenny Hasbrouck: Hasbrouck didn’t play for the Grizzlies in the end, and remains unsigned. But he did get a post-SL workout from the Heat.
– Longar Longar: Longar Longar is unsigned, and if he doesn’t go back to the D-League, then I’ll be more confused than I was when I watched Cleaner and didn’t initially realise that the character of Rose was NOT Samuel L. Jackson’s wife, but his daughter. (Oh sure, it’s easy in hindsight. But they snuggled, man. They snuggled. That’s just weird.)
– Brion Rush: Rush has signed with Triumph in Russia.
– Donta Smith: Smith remains unsigned, and he’s probably still not allowed in Puerto Rico.
– Greg Stiemsma: Stiemsma was picked in the KBL Draft last month, and is over there now doing their initiation thing.
– Hasheem Thabeet: I’ve publicly stated in the past that I would have picked Ricky Rubio, and I still kind of stand by that, joyously ignorant as I am of the meticulous nature of his buyout. But even if they didn’t want Rubio, what was wrong with Tyreke Evans? He’s a better player than Thabeet with a much better upside, and even if he’s not a great fit with O.J. Mayo, that’s no reason not to pick him. It’s the number two pick. Pick the second best player in the draft. Work the rest out later. This is what I’d do. I’m just saying.
– Marcus Williams: Williams played very well for the Grizzlies in summer league and has since earned a funky contract. I’m happy to announce that I sort of predicted this. Sort of. (Meaning that I didn’t really.)
– Sam Young: Young signed a three-year contract, which is a tad odd, but beneficial to both parties. It pays $824,200 in the first year, $886,000 in the second, and there’s a third team option year at $947,800. That is the equal of the 100% scale amount that the 30th pick in the draft would receive, except without the fourth season. Not sure why they did this. But it’s good news for Sam Young, decent news for Memphis, and not such good news for Christian Eyenga. And it’s definitely creative financing.
Milwaukee Bucks
– Joe Alexander: Richard Jefferson is gone, but Scott Skiles is still there, and the unheralded Ersan Ilyasova is back. I still don’t predict good things for Alexander and would love to be wrong about that.
– Paul Delaney: Delaney is signed with Hapoel Holon in Israel. What does Hapoel mean?
– Dominic James: James didn’t play on the Bucks summer league team due to another injury. He is unsigned, and the D-League makes a lot of sense for him right now.
– Brandon Jennings: Jennings played very well in summer league, and yet I’ve been saying that I don’t rate him for quite a while now. It’s a topic that needs fleshing out, I think. And it’s a topic that’ll get fleshed out once Ramon Sessions’s future is finally decided.
– Amir Johnson: It was a pointless trade for the Bucks to acquire Johnson in the first place. It was an even more pointless one to then move him on to Toronto. This, too, will be fleshed out soon, in a post about the Bucks that might not be entirely favourable.
– Luc Richard Mbah A Moute: This guy’s great, though. They struck a winner with this one. If him, Skiles and Chris Duhon release a mixtape at some point in the near future, don’t be shocked.
– Will McDonald: McDonald asked Tau Ceramica nicely if they’d led him play in summer league. They permitted it, and McDonald averaged 5.3/4.7 in three games. He then signed a three-year contract with C.B. Gran Canaria. Is this a summer league success story? I’m not sure. In fact, I’m not sure of why any of this took place. But well done to him anyway.
– Jodie Meeks: Signed for three years in one of the few good bits of business than the Bucks have done this year.
– Juan Palacios: Palacios played 46 of the most incosequential minutes you’ll ever see in summer league. 3 points, 3 rebounds, 3 fouls, 10% shooting. Thanks for playing. He is on loan for next year to U.B. La Palma in Spain’s LEB Gold (second division) from Gran Canaria (in the ACB, or first division).
– Chris Richard: With not a huge amount of centre size on the Bucks SL roster, Richard had a chance to impress here. He didn’t, totalling 17 fouls in 51 minutes. He looks like a candidate fur the D-League once again.
– Salim Stoudamire: No offence to Salim, since everyone knows I’m a big fan, but there was no reason for the Bucks to bring in Salim in the first place. This was made doubly true by the drafting of Meeks. They’ve now finally cut Salim, who remains unsigned.
– Szymon Szewczyk: Szewczyk is an established European presence whose body type, skillset, hairline and and athleticism are more suited to the European game. He has no reason to give that up. So he hasn’t; he’s signed with Air Avellino in Italy for next year.
– Mohammed Tangara: If you want to know what Mohammed Tangara is up to, why not email him?
– Lorrenzo Wade: Wade has signed with Kavala/Panorama in Greece. The forward slash is their work, not my typo.
Minnesota Timberwolves
– Corey Brewer: Brewer is finally healthy, and competition at the Timberwolves’ wing positions is far from strong. Before he got hurt, Brewer had started to get somewhere. If he picks up where he left off, we’ll pretend his rookie year never happened.
– Bobby Brown: If anyone stood to benefit from the Rubio saga (other than Barcelona) it was Bobby Brown. Brown was a summer league success last year, which is how he came to earn a two-year guaranteed contract from the Kings. But when draft night came around, and the Wolves picked four point guards, it didn’t look good for Bobby. Nevertheless, after trading away Nick Calathes, Ty Lawson and Sebastian Telfair, and with Rubio not signing, Brown is now the primary backup. It’s all coming up Milhouse.
– Pat Carroll: Don’t know if I mentioned this before, but for Tenerife last year, Pat Carroll averaged 3.4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal per 48 minutes, shooting seven three-pointers for every free throw attempted, and with 75% of his FG attempts being from three-point range. It doesn’t get much more one-dimensional than that. Pat is unsigned, and having spent the last three years in playing various calibre of Spanish basketball, he’s a good bet to go back there again.
– Wayne Ellington: Signed, and without incentives.
– Jonny Flynn: Likewise.
– Devin Green: Wikipedia says he’s signed with the Spurs, which is pretty much why you should never trust Wikipedia for anything basketball related. Green is unsigned, but he usually gets a training camp spot somewhere, so one more wouldn’t be a great surprise.
– Paul Harris: Unsigned, with whispers of a standing training camp offer from the Wolves.
– Gerald Henderson: Signed, but with the Bobcats. Obviously. While letting Henderson play with another team was pretty cool, it would be even better if Charlotte would just pony up and enter a team of their own. If you’re short of money, don’t trade for Nazr Mohammed and DeSagana Diop.
– Steven Hill: Hill didn’t go to the Wolves summer league, for reasons I’m not sure of. He’s now unsigned, for reasons I’m fully aware of.
– Rob Kurz: Kurz will sign with the Cavaliers for training camp.
– Adam Parada: Parada was a very late addition to the summer league roster, after Hill didn’t appear. He is unsigned, but he’s a savvy minor league veteran, so he’ll find something. Fun Adam Parada fact: about three years ago, one of Adam Parada’s friends asked me to post a video of Adam Parada being punched by Robert Whaley, so that he could use it to laugh at Adam Parada. Now that’s outreach.
– Oleksiy Pecherov: Every time there’s a glimmer of hope for some Pecherov PT – such as when the Wolves traded away Craig Smith and Mark Madsen – they go and ruin it by acquiring another big (Ryan Hollins). It’s Pecherov’s own fault, really, for not being a great player. Still, if my genius trade idea goes through (Chucky Atkins and Darius Songaila for Antonio Daniels and Devin Brown), then that gives Petch one last hope.
– Garret Siler: The ever-efficient Siler shot a Garret Siler-like 78% in summer league. He has since earned an invite to Hawks training camp. However, the Hawks are paying Randolph Morris a guaranteed contract. Siler will have to shoot 88% to make them overlook that.
– Ben Woodside: Woodside is signed with Gravelines in France.
New Jersey Nets/Philadelphia 76ers
– A.J. Abrams: Abrams’ European adventure has begun with Trikalla in Greece.
– Jeff Adrien: See Grizzlies entry.
– Blake Ahearn: With literally nothing left to prove in the D-League, Ahearn has decided it’s time to start getting paid, and has gone to the ACB to sign with MMT Estudiantes Madrid.
– Dionte Christmas: See Clippers entry.
– Chris Douglas-Roberts: Chris Douglas-Roberts recently followed Bracey Wright’s lead and took delibery of a Bengal cat. And here they are.
– Jason Ellis: Ellis is signed with GasTerra Flames Groningen in Holland, one of seven Americans on the team. One of the others is Darian Townes.
– Gary Forbes: Forbes is still building an NBA resumé and is now in Italy’s Serie A with Vanoli Cremona, who last year were in LegaDue and were known as Vanoli Soresina. Confusing, isn’t it? OK OK OK, I’ll make the name changes list…
– Jrue Holiday: Don’t understand this pick. Not with Darren Collison and Ty Lawson still on board. Even Jeff Teague and Eric Maynor may be better, although I don’t know a lot about those two. (Also, if you’ve just picked Jrue Holiday, don’t then re-sign Royal Ivey. Ivey is barely an NBA player to begin with, but when you really need shooting and actual point guard play on offence, don’t bring in a second defensive specialist. Come on now.)
– Chris Johnson: Johnson has signed with Turkish team, Aliaga Petkim.
– Rob Kurz: See Timberwolves entry.
– Marreese Speights: Sixers fans asking if a Speights for Kirk Hinrich deal is in some way plausible; nope. You don’t have the suitable salaries, and even if you did, the Bulls love Hinrich and are prioritising defence. Trading Hinrich for Speights makes our defence even worse. And it’s not good to begin with.
– Terrence Williams: Williams’ future offensive problems in the NBA showed themselves early in his summer league run. He turned it over four times a game, and shot percentages of 33%/28%/46%. That’s really bad, and it’s a shame that his good passing skills are going to go to waste in the NBA.
New Orleans Hornets
– Earl Barron: Barron is unsigned.
– Earl Calloway: Calloway had already signed with Khimki in Russia before summer league started, and has since moved to Cajasol Sevilla, so he’s not unsigned.
– Jaycee Carroll: Carroll is signed with C.B. Gran Canaria. Did you know he was 26 already? Me neither.
– Darren Collison: Big fan.
– Brian Cusworth: Cusworth was one of the better players in Spain’s LEB Gold last year, and now he’s made the step up to the ACB, signing with Basquet Manresa.
– Terry Martin: Martin averaged 5/2 last year for LSU, which was somehow enough to get a summer league spot. Normality has now been restored, however, as Martin has joined the perfectly-named Oberwart Gunners in the seminal Austrian league. (No offence meant by any of that, Terry Martin. It’s just that this is an NBA website and so we judge players by NBA standards. You know what I mean?)
– Luke Nevill: Nevill is unsigned. Australia have some pretty good big men, though, don’t they? Shame that Patty Mills and Brad Newley are all the NBA guard help they can offer.
– Larry Owens: Owens is unsigned.
– Marc Salyers: Salyers is signed with Le Mans Sarthe Basket in France. I’m still not sure why this 30-year-old forward came over to summer league, four years after he last stuck his nose into the NBA (which, not coincidentally, was with the 2005 Hornets summer league team). I guess he just wanted to know what could have been. Salyers is a big-time scorer on the continent, and should probably stay there.
– Courtney Sims: Sims didn’t play for the Hornets and is unsigned. He looks like a logical candidate for a training camp spot somewhere.
– Marcus Thornton: Thornton is signed to a two-year guaranteed minimum salary contract.
– Anthony Tolliver: Same as Sims, except the bit about him not playing for the Hornets.
– Quinton Watkins: Watkins didn’t play for San Diego State. He didn’t play for the Hornets in summer league. So what are the chances that a European team will have signed him? Here’s a clue; they haven’t.
– Julian Wright: A lot of people have suggested that the Hornets’ trade of Rasual Butler will open up an opportunity for Wright to start doing something. But I’m more of the school of thought which says that the player to benefit most from the deal is Mo Peterson. Peterson fell off fast, and I wholeheartedly believe that there’s a second wind in there somewhere. I’m not sure why I believe this, but I do. Also, it’s about time they got something from the heavy investment they made in him.
