Knicks sign Jonathan Bender…..wait, what?
December 14th, 2009
I like to think that I keep my ear pretty close to the ground. If you’re going to know about such perfectly useless things as Kevin Burleson signing in Romania, then you kind of have to. Yet I had absolutely no idea that the Knicks were considering signing Jonathan Bender, nor that they were even able to. Quite literally shocked to see that headline today. Bender retired in February 2006 after being assumed to have been retired for a long while prior. He had begun to break out in the 2001-02 season when he averaged 7.4 points in 78 games for the Pacers, but not only was that the best he’d ever play, it was also the most he’d ever play. Bender’s games played total plummeted from there on out; from 78 in 2001/02, to 46 in 2002/03, to 21 in 2003/04, to 7 in 2004/05, to only 2 in 2005/06. He suffered from a degenerative knee condition that caused chronic pain due to the destruction of the knee’s cartilage, and there was no way back from that, forcing his retirement. There still isn’t, really, which is why I wrote this when we last covered Bender back in January: Jonathan Bender is still retired, and probably always will be. Apparently that was not true, though. Bender is now back, joining up with the general manager that traded for him and gave him the $28 million with which he built his business empire. The league once again has a seven-foot shooting guard, and not the Primoz Brezec type of seven-foot shooting guard. In his time away from the game, Bender has become a successful entrepreneur. He owns a charitable organisation – the Jonathan Bender foundation – as well as Jonathan Bender Enterprises, a real estate development and property management company. Both […]
“That Guy We Drafted”, 1993
December 11th, 2009
Continuing the whereabouts round-ups of all recent NBA drafts, this is the fifth installment of the series. The non-canonical first four: 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997. As always, this is really long. Feel free to skip bits. First round – 1st pick: Chris Webber (Golden State) Webber retired from basketball in March 2008 after an unsuccessful short stint with the Warriors. He now works as an analyst for NBA TV, along with the occasional TNT appearance. Webber’s restaurant outside the ARCO Arena in Sacramento abruptly closed last month, but he’s supposedly writing a book, and he’s also active in business, owning both Maktub LLC (which builds things) and Full Bloom Marketing (which markets things). He also released an album back in 1999. I would love to know what that’s like. Chris Webber fact; on draft night 1993, Webber’s rights were traded by the Magic (who picked first) to the Warriors, in exchange for the rights to Penny Hardaway (picked third), as well as first-round draft picks in 1996, 1998 and 2000. That is a hell of a lot to give up just to move up two places in the draft, and it could have been especially painful considering that the Warriors sucked between 1997 and 2002. However, it could have been worse than it was. I’ve tried to piece back together what became of those picks, and here’s what I’ve found: 1996: The Warriors traded Webber after only one season to the Bullets in exchange for Tom Gugliotta, as well as for three first-round picks in the same years as the initial deal (96, 98, 00). However, the 1996 pick that Golden State received from the Bullets was in fact their own – Orlando had traded it to Washington in the summer of 1994 in a salary dump of Scott […]
Trade idea of the week
December 5th, 2009
Last Christmas Eve, the Houston Rockets traded Steve Francis and a 2009 second-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for a conditional 2011 second-round pick. I remember this trade specifically because I totally called it. The deal was made to help Houston dodge the luxury tax. And it worked, because they did. By dumping Francis’s $2,634,480 salary onto the Grizzlies, the Rockets saved themselves that much again in luxury tax savings, as well as picking up a $2,911,756 rebate from not being a luxury tax payer. The amount of money they saved was more than enough to justify giving the Grizzlies the cash to pay Francis’s remaining salary for the remainder of the season, and by returning the Grizzlies’s 2009 pick to them – one which they had previous acquired in the draft night 2008 three-way trade that saw Memphis move up for Darrell Arthur – the Rockets found sufficient incentive for the Grizzlies to help them. For the Grizzlies, they were essentially given a free pick; they were given a player that they didn’t want, but also enough money to pay his salary without him ever turning up, and they got a 30s pick for their troubles. All they had to do was sacrifice some cap space that they weren’t going to use anyway. (The 2011 pick is irrelevant; it is top 55 protected, and only for that season. So if Memphis finish in the bottom 25 of the NBA that year, which they will, then Houston gets nothing. The pick was only included because Memphis had to give up at least something, however arbitrary. Also, the pick Houston gave to Memphis to save this $5.6 million was the #36, which Memphis then used to draft Sam Young. Houston later bought the #32 from Washington for $2.5 million. […]
Robert Swift and Luke Nevill waived
December 4th, 2009
The following real quote is a real quote: As soon as I heard that Bakersfield had a team, I was hoping I could play for them.” – Robert Swift Swift played high school basketball in Bakersfield, hence this desire, and he got his wish when he was allocated to the Jam last month, becoming their starting centre. (He also got a haircut.) However, in keeping with the recent theme of Swift’s career, it didn’t go too well. Swift played in only two games for the team – totalling 4 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks, 6 fouls and 6 turnovers – and was today waived due to “personal reasons.” The reason cited was due to a family matter back in Seattle. Now, I have no reason to dispute the validity of that reason, and don’t wish to make it sound like I do. There’s no incentive to lie or reason to disbelieve it. But it does reinforce a worrying fact; Robert Swift’s career isn’t going too well at all. Swift has essentially missed all of the last three seasons, and played only 1,500 minutes and 97 games in a five-year NBA career. He’s still only 24, but he has almost nothing to show for five years. Even his sophomore season, in which he played 987 of those minutes, was not really that impressive. Here’s what gets me; a cynic would say that Robert Swift should quit playing basketball. I know this to be true because one such cynic said it to me. It’s not true, of course, because even though Swift’s last five years have been unsuccessful (and even though he was never as good as Danny Ainge thought he was in the first place), Swift isn’t a bad player when he’s healthy. And even if he was, you can make […]
Strasbourg releases Terrel Harris
December 3rd, 2009
As mentioned in the 1997 NBA Draft Where Are They Now Round-up Recap Thing, IG Strasbourg are a French team that’s not doing very well. They’re currently joint-15th in the 16-team French ProA league with a 2-7 record and a three-game losing streak. They’re currently in the EuroChallenge (the third-tier continent-wide club tournament), and they lead this group, but that won’t count for a whole lot unless they reverse their French league fortunes. So they’ve made some changes, signed Wen Mukubu (to replace the injured Alain Digbeu), and waived Terrel Harris. Harris, pictured here receiving mid-game attention from an unnamed Texas Longhorn with different-sized ears, was signed in the summer to try and provide some of that scoring help. He averaged 13.9 ppg for the Oklahoma State Cowboys last season, focusing on scoring and shooting impromptu threes, and rebounding a little bit. He’s only been doing half to that for Strasbourg this season, though, averaging only 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.6 fouls per game. He shot the three well, scoring over 48% from outside, but he offered little else outside of that, and the team are now looking elswhere. EDIT: Strasbourg have also signed former NBA guard Anthony Roberson, who replaces Harris. Mukubu replaces Digbeu.
David Monds replaces John Edwards at Kolossos Rhodes
December 2nd, 2009
John Edwards spent two years in the NBA. He signed as an undrafted free agent out of Kent State with the Pacers in 2004, played spot minutes in 25 games, and the Hawks signed him to a two-year, $2.08 million contract in the summer of 2005. After one year with Atlanta – in which he totalled 70 points, 48 rebounds and 76 fouls – the Hawks traded him back to the Pacers as filler in the Al Harrington deal. The Pacers then waived him, and after a training camp contract with the Timberwolves in 2007, that was it for John Edwards in the NBA. Edwards has spent two of the last three years in the D-League, seemingly aware that the knock on him is his “rawness.” Last year for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, he averaged 9.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in 21 minutes per game, fairly sedate numbers for a centre-starved league. Those numbers are particularly sedate when you consider that Edwards is now 28 years old. You can’t be raw forever. He did not return to the D-League this year, instead signing with Kolossos Rhodes in Greek’s AI League. In theory, he was going to provide an NBA-calibre frontcourt along with recent Heat draft pick, Robert Dozier. In practice, though, he’s not been a stand-out. Edwards has played only 36 minutes on the entire season, totalling 12 points, 5 rebounds and 8 fouls. Now entering his physical prime, Edwards has never been able to stop fouling, has never dragged up his rebounding rate, and even though he’s offensively inclined, he still can’t score without a size advantage. Therefore, Kolossos have released him in favour of recent Lakers camp invite and another D-League veteran, David Monds. Monds doesn’t have Edwards’ height, but he has strength, athleticism and poise. Poise counts […]
Cartier Martin is the happiest man in the world
December 2nd, 2009
Last year, former Kansas State forward Cartier Martin started out in the D-League before earning an early call-up to the Charlotte Bobcats. He didn’t play a whole lot, and when he did it’s mainly because Larry Brown was using him as a defensive specialist (including occasionally guarding the point guard before Dontell Jefferson arrived), yet he spent the entire season with the team anyway. This summer, he signed with Benetton Treviso in Italy, a team that started the year in the EuroLeague. His teammates there include sure-fire lottery pick Donatas Motiejunas, as well as Gary Neal, Judson Wallace, Sandro Nicevic and Daniel Hackett. It was a decent team. However, from day one, Cartier Martin seemed unhappy. And he chose to document that unhappiness on Twitter. Despite his account having the tag line of “I’m out here grindin and workin hard,” Cartier never settled in Italy, and seemed to hate the place. He documented that hate with tweets such as: “Not as good as I thought.” “Chilliin in this terrible hotel somewhere in Italy! How are we one of the top teams in Italy and we stay in hotels like this…TERRIBLE!” “Man it’s time to just say f*** it and shoot that bitch every time I touch it.” “it look like it’s trashy out here” “Man some things just aren’t for certain ppl. That’s how I’m feelin right now!” “Man I can’t even tell you how I really feel bout it on here. I need to be there tho.” “I’m not passing it all when I touch it…I’m putting it up everytime.” “I ain’t doin nothing out here tho…I barely even play sometimes. Its cool tho..long as I get that bread.” “In weak ass Naples, Italy! I’m so ready to…..” …….as well as other, slightly more woe-is-me ones that seem to […]
Domen Lorbek returns to Slovenia…..briefly
December 2nd, 2009
Slovenian international swingman Domen Lorbek has signed back in his native country with Helios on a one-month contract. Until last week, Lorbek was with Cajasol Sevilla in Spain’s ACB, averaging only 2.9 points in eight games. He signed there only on a two-month contract and it was not renewed when it expired, which doesn’t seem surprising with that scoring average. Last year for Benetton Treviso, Lorbek averaged 8.8 points per game in the EuroCup and 6.0 ppg in SerieA, but he was replaced for this season by Cartier Martin. More on that in a moment, though. Lorbek now signs with Helios to stay in shape and earn some money while he looks for a more lucrative gig. It’s a win-win situation, because he becomes Helios’ best player by some way, and they need some help. Helios are currently second last in the Adriatic League with a 3-7 record, and are only fifth in the Slovenian league with a 4-3 record. So any reinforcement would be welcome right now. Domen Lorbek is the young brother of former Pacers draft pick, Erazem Lorbek. The two are nothing alike in their style of play, though. Erazem is a scoring big man, with a post game, a mid-range jump shot and the ability to drive the ball, and one of the better big men scorers on the continent. Domen is a decently-sized wing player who is best as a catch-and-shoot specialist. Erazem is better.
Spencer Nelson and Gary Wilkinson sign with Peristeri, who release two others
December 2nd, 2009
Despite a solid 3-2 start to the season, Greek A1 team Peristeri Athens announced that they were releasing former Illinois big man and Golden State Warriors camp invite Shaun Pruitt, as well as Rhode Island forward Will Daniels, to be replaced by Utah natives Spencer Nelson and Gary Wilkinson. Nelson has not signed anywhere this season after being released by the Utah Jazz in training camp. It was rumoured that he was to sign with an unnamed Belgian team as of only last week, yet that’s not going to happen now. Nelson played in Greece last year with Aris Thessaloniki, and averaged 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds on the season. He’s a tweener forward without any distinct position, but wherever he goes he rebounds, passes, and scores a bit with an inside/outside game. This is Wilkinson’s first professional season at the ripe old age of 27. (The reason for that is described here.) He had spent the season to date in the South Korean KBL, after being made the 11th overall pick in their draft this summer. He was averaging 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds in 16 minutes per game for Dongbu Promy, splitting court time with their other American import, Marquin Chandler. (A silly KBL rule says that each team can have only two Americans, but the two can’t play on the court at the same time.) Peristeri haven’t had much luck with their imports this year. They first signed Cedric Simmons, but had to release him in preseason after deciding he was not up to par. Three of their other four American players – Jamie Arnold, Marcus Faison and Michael Bramos – all hold European passports (Israeli, Belgian and Greek respectively), which absolves them of being counted as Americans. And the fourth (Cliff Hammonds) is doing OK, averaging […]
As far as I can tell, this is China
December 2nd, 2009
Last year, we focused at length on the joy that is the Chinese Basketball Association. It’s a quirky beast; the standard of China’s own domestic players is poor in the grand scheme of things, with the exception of the occasional halfway-decent (or truly fantastic) big man. Knowing this, the CBA have decided to try and replicate a more American style of play in order to improve their national team product. They’ve changed some rules and structure to match the NBA’s – for example, playing 48 minutes a game, and playing far more games than most leagues – and they’ve tried to increase the physical nature of the play. And a large part of doing that is attracting top tier American imports. They’re able to do this for the simple reason that they can compete financially. With salaries ranging from about $25-40 thousand a month – and sometimes more – CBA teams are able to sign fringe, former and future NBA talent where other leagues are unable to do so. If you were a fringe NBA player, would you rather earn $32,200 for an entire D-League season, or earn that for one month in China? It’s clearly the latter, and that’s how China is able to land such relatively premium talent consistently. The exposure isn’t bad, either, as Leon Rodgers demonstrated by getting a training camp contract with the Grizzlies based on his work in China last year. American players playing in the CBA are essentially guaranteed mahoosive statistics – as Rodgers demonstrated with his 35 ppg scoring average last season – and mahoosive statistics tend to talk, no matter what the competition. So it befits them to go there. Having all these imports is not met with universal applause from the Chinese fans, many of who object to the often-selfish […]
“That Guy We Drafted,” 1997
November 30th, 2009
Continuing the whereabouts round-ups of all recent NBA drafts, this is the fourth instalment of the series. The first three: 1994 1995 1996 As always, if the player in question is still in the NBA, I’ll probably write some rant that in some way relates to them in some way. Don’t think too much of that. They’re not what this post is about. This post is about Chris Crawford’s stables business and the like. Let’s get to it. First round – 1st pick: Tim Duncan (San Antonio) – Tim Duncan is still with the same team that drafted him. Only two players have been with their current teams longer than Duncan has been with the Spurs; Kobe Bryant and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. If e’er there was such a thing as a lifer in the NBA these days, then Tim Duncan is that man. He’s slowing down these days, and the question of how many years he has left is a valid one. But the question of whether he was a power forward or a centre? That was not a valid question. It wasn’t interesting or productive. Let’s pretend it never happened. – 2nd pick: Keith Van Horn (Philadelphia) – Van Horn has not appeared in an NBA game since game five of the 2006 finals. He’s been in the league since then, what with that whole Jason Kidd sign-and-trade thing, but he didn’t play a game amid that semi-comeback and he never really intended to ever embark on. (It was briefly reported that he would work out with the Nets, but that was probably a lie. Remember, this is a man who retired because he wanted to be with his family, not because no one wanted him.) It’s hard to trace what Van Horn is doing now; he was […]
2009 NBA Summer League rosters whereabouts updated, again, needlessly
November 19th, 2009
For no reason other than an itching craving to scratch my own Where Are They Now itch – I can’t really start the 2009 series of posts until all leagues are underway, which will be about another six weeks – I have decided to revisit the whereabouts of all players on summer league rosters this past summer. Eagle eyed viewers will have noticed that I’ve already done this once before, in a series of three posts back in September. This list is designed to update that list. Everyone whose circumstances have changed since the last update is listed, as are those few who are still unsigned. Part of me hopes that this list might in some way help those players get some gainful basketball employment. Then the other part of me remembers that the only people who read this website are Chilean teenagers and my uncle Peter. Can’t win them all. Boston Celtics – Coby Karl: Strangely, Karl made the Cavaliers roster this summer. He has racked up three whole minutes on the season, and will probably rack up about seven more before the contract guarantee date gets here. I don’t know why a luxury tax team like Cleveland is so keen on carrying 15 men all the time. But they are, and this is good news for Karl. – Chris Lofton: Lofton was signed with with Caja Laboral in Spain – formerly known as Tau Ceramica – but he left he team last week when his contract expired. The team brought in Sean Singletary instead, seemingly wanting a different kind of player. – Gabe Pruitt: Pruitt went to camp with the Knicks, but was an early cut. He then signed with the D-League and was allocated to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, but he was waived today due to […]
A Brief History Of Luxury Tax
November 2nd, 2009
The NBA’s luxury tax first came into existence in 2001, the year in which the league’s new escrow system debuted. The escrow system, in layman’s terms, is a system that withholds a certain amount of player’s salaries and puts it into a separate account until the end of the following season’s moratorium. At that point, when the league’s annual audit is done (that’s what the moratorium is for; calculating the numbers), then if the league-wide player salaries exceed a certain percentage of the league’s overall revenue, that account is divvied up amongst the owners and the players never see it. Similarly, if the league-wide salaries do not exceed that percentage, the players get it back. Essentially, it’s a failsafe measure to prevent players from getting paid too much. Luxury tax is an extension of the escrow system, designed to put more money back into the owner’s pockets if they feel the players are getting too much of it. If that sounds like something that might excite you, a longer description with all the relevant numbers and stuff was written by the seminal Larry Coon, and can be found here: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q18 As you might presently yourself fully be aware of, the luxury tax is an owner-friendly system also designed to prevent rich teams from simply outspending the rest of the competition. It is calculated by using a projection of the following year’s Basketball Related Income (roughly 61% of it; a more detailed description of the calculation can be found here), and the idea behind it is simple – you can have a payroll of as much as you like, but if you cross that tax threshold, it starts costing you more. It’s designed to be a deterrent, and to emphasise parity amongst the league’s payrolls, thus tying in nicely with David […]
2009 NBA Training Camp predictions, revisited
October 29th, 2009
At the start of the month, over the course of three posts united by the overused theme of Alec Baldwin’s monologue from Glengarry Glen Ross, I attempted to analyse and predict the training camp rosters of every team in the NBA. For the hell of it, here’s the monologue again: Preseason is now over, and rosters have been set. Here are my predictions again, along with a depressing look at their whimpering inaccuracy and some half-baked excuses for my own failings as a person. – Atlanta Hawks Signings: Juan Dixon, Othello Hunter, Mario West, Frank Robinson, Garrett Siler, Courtney Sims, Mike Wilks, Aaron Miles Predicted to make it: “Dixon, Wilks, Siler. Or any two from three.” Actually made it: Hunter only. Excuses: The Hawks needed an extra guard, hence why they signed four of them. So expecting them to sign at least one of them seemed logical; I guess they decided Dixon hasn’t enough left. As for the Siler/Sims thing, it never did make a whole lot of sense for the team with Randolph Morris at fourth string centre to be bringing in two more for training camp, but Siler and Sims represent two of the best American centre prospects not currently in the NBA, so I figured one of them had a chance. Guess not. – Boston Celtics Signings: Lester Hudson, Michael Sweetney Predicted to make it: Hudson. Actually made it: Hudson. Excuses: Reports came out that stated that the Celtics really liked Sweetney, and tried to find a way to keep him on the roster, but they eventually decided that he wasn’t worth eating someone else’s guaranteed money for. And they’re probably right. If ever Sweetney gets it together, loses all the weight and finds a mentor that gets him to dedicate himself to the game, […]
The Purpose Of Waiving Deron Washington Was….I Don’t Know.
October 27th, 2009
Yesterday, the Detroit Pistons waived 2008 second-round draft pick and flopper extraordinaire, Deron Washington. They had initially signed him back in August to be their 14th and last man, giving him a two-year minimum salary deal with $250,000 guaranteed in the first season. Yet after bringing in Chucky Atkins on an unguaranteed one-year deal for training camp (a move that they won’t have foreseen prior to the Washington signing), the Pistons began to feel that Atkins was more deserving of the 14th man spot, and so they waived Washington to allow them to keep Chucky. That’s the official line, at least. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense though. Disregarding the respective talent levels and fits on the roster of the two players, the finances of the situation seemed to dictate that Deron stayed on. Washington’s large amount of guaranteed money (over 50% of his overall contract for this year) meant that the Pistons could have kept him on until the league-wide contract guarantee date of January 10th, without having to pay him a single extra penny outside of meal stipends. Waive him yesterday, and he’ll cost $250,000; waive him on January 6th, and he’ll still only cost $250,000. Therefore, why waive him? The Pistons aren’t pressed for cash – after a summer of cap room, they rock a payroll of only $58,597,137, 25th in the league. They’ve run out of cap room and exceptions, hence the need for all the minimum salary deals, but they’ll spend what they can anyway. They can afford to swallow Washington without any repercussions coming from it; they’ll lose very little from it. They’ve lost a player that wasn’t in the rotation, and no extra money than what they had already committed, but they’ll also gain absolutely nothing from it. Even if Washington […]
Sam Presti’s Survival Strategy In A Post-Apocalpytic Dystopian Nightmare
October 26th, 2009
Simple question: Did the tough economic climate affect NBA team’s spending plans as much as MSM scaremongers would have you believe? Not-so-simple answer: Kind of. This summer saw a team that could have had nearly eight figures of cap room opt not to use any of it. The Oklahoma City Thunder did pretty much nothing with their offseason once draft day was completed, and having won a total of 23 games last year, it’s justifiable to ask why that was. There follows some exploratory maths, which get a bit dull and confusing. If the Thunder had completed their buyout of Earl Watson (saving them $3.125 million; for argument’s sake, let’s assume that it could have been done earlier than July 17th), not signed James Harden, B.J. Mullens and Serge Ibaka until their cap space had been used, renounced all these guys that they don’t want, not bothered to trade for Etan Thomas, and kept Chucky Atkins and waived him, they would have had the following payroll: Nick Collison – $6,250,000 Nenad Krstic – $5,160,832 Kevin Durant – $4,796,880 Russell Westbrook – $3,755,640 Jeff Green – $3,516,960 Earl Watson (waived) – $3,475,000 Damien Wilkins – $3,300,000 Thabo Sefolosha – $2,759,628 D.J. White – $1,036,440 Shaun Livingston – $959,111 Kyle Weaver – $870,968 Chucky Atkins (waived) – $760,000 Total = $36,641,459 for ten players. To that total, add the cap holds of $3,336,800 for Harden and $933,500 for both Mullens and Ibaka, take away all the cap holds linked to above (which at the start of the offseason also included cap holds for unwanted players such as Desmond Mason and Mickael Gelabale) and the Thunder would have had themselves a total team salary of $41,845,259. Against a salary cap of $57,700,000, that would have meant cap room of $15,854,741. And that’s pretty […]
Second prize is a set of steak knives.
October 7th, 2009
Continuing the round-up of training camp invites. – Milwaukee played the training camp game in the spirit that it deserves…..briefly. They initially announced three signings; former Marquette point guard Domimic James, D-League big man Marcus Hubbard and former Temple guard Mark Tyndale, and they later added veteran big man Charles Gaines to that line-up. However, all four have already been waived, because I took too long to write this. Still, for the sake of consistency, we’ll give a cheeky round-up anyway. James is an undersized guard with a sub-par jump shot and the worst free throw stroke on a point guard since Vernon Hamilton, who would have been a first-rounder two years ago, but who eventually went undrafted due to a string of injuries (and a lack of improvement). He’s quick, “dynamic” and great in transition, but being unable to shoot doesn’t do much for his half-court game, as any Kevin Ollie fan could tell you. James doesn’t turn it over a lot, but when you’re undersized AND a bad shooter, that’s not a great combination for the NBA. (He has signed with Mersin in Turkey for next year, alongside Jimmy Baron and Richie Frahm. So at least he’ll have shooters around him.) Hubbard was in training camp with the Hawks last year, thus making this his second consecutive NBA contract. Yet it’s not immediately clear as to why. Hubbard is an athletic big man, but he’s not a good rebounder or a shot blocker, and his offence is based around a mid range jump shot. All the athleticism seems to do for him is prevent his jump shots from getting blocked. And that’s not that big of a deal, really. He wasn’t a standout in the D-League last year, averaging 8.2 points and 4.1 rebounds split between two […]
Third prize is you’re fired.
October 7th, 2009
Continuing the round-up of training camp invites. – Phoenix are going to run with 13 players, because they always run with 13 players. And they already had 13 players before training camp started, so the prospects of their signings were slim to none before they even started. Regardless, the Suns brought in three more, just in case; Carlos Powell, Dan Dickau and Raymond Sykes. Dickau joins one of the few teams that he hadn’t previously on. For those counting, he’s now up to 10; Kings (drafted by, but never signed), Hawks, Blazers, Warriors, Mavericks, Hornets, Celtics, Blazers again, Knicks, Clippers, Warriors again, and now the Suns. It’s not bad going, that. Last year he was in Germany, averaging 17.6 points in only five games for Brose Baskets Bamberg, doing the Dickau thing of shooting jump shots and not much else. The story’s been told on him by now; he is what he is, and what he is is perpetually on the cusp. Well, except for that time Danny Ainge gave him $7.5 million. Carlos Powell has put up very big numbers in far smaller leagues, including one frankly awesome season in the D-League when he put up 22.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game for the Dakota Wizards. Last year was similar, when he put up 25.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game for Black Slamer in South Korea. He also led Australia’s NBL in scoring back in 2007, averaging 28.2 points per game. Those numbers are big, regardless of the context, and Powell’s scoring talent speaks for itself. He drives, shoots off the dribble, exploits the mid-range game, and his three-point range has gotten a bit better over the years. However, there’s also a reason for them; Powell completely and totally dominates the ball, […]
As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado
October 4th, 2009
Training camp. Love it. Ever since I grew up with a mild addiction to the Championship Manager series of computer games, I have nurtured a mild fascination for transactions in sports. I know it’s not healthy, but I also know I’m not alone. It might be harsh on the players involved, but it’s always fun to us hardened losers when players change teams. It gives us something to think about, something to analyse, and something to find important. Judging the people that are competing at the highest standard in a profession we could only dream of competing in is strangely fun, hence the existence of this website and the presence of your eyes on these words. We love it. Maybe we’re crazy. Oh well. – Atlanta have well and truly played the training camp game. Teams are allowed a maximum of 20 players under contract in the offseason, and as of last week, Atlanta had only 12. Yet now they have the full compliment of 20, re-signing two of their own free agents (Mario West and Othello Hunter) and bringing in six more (Aaron Miles, Mike Wilks, Juan Dixon, Frank Robinson, Garrett Siler and Courtney Sims), playing the game in the spirit it deserves. The first four of those latter six are guards, which isn’t a coincidence given the Hawks’ lack of depth there. Miles and Wilks are journeyman point guards with NBA experience, and Dixon can pretend to be one on occasion; in case you missed it, the Hawks are openly in the market for a third point guard. Robinson is an undersized shooting guard who was also with the Hawks in training camp last year, and Siler and Sims represent two decent offensive centre prospects. The eight are fighting for a maximum of three spots, but with […]
The Best Of What’s Left
September 15th, 2009
Almost all of this year’s NBA free agents crop has now been signed. Of the few that remain, most have already finalised which training camp they’re going to, and training camp contracts have already begun to be signed. However, these are far from being the only players in the world. A shedload of remaining NBA-calibre players remain unsigned, as rosters across the whole of FIBA are being trimmed and cheapened due to the current economic thing that you may have heard about. At the moment, including qualifying offers that are as-yet pending, there are 421 players in the NBA, out of a potential maximum of 450. That total does not include people who have committed to sign but that haven’t done it yet (Garrett Temple, Rodney Carney, Curtis Jerrells, Russell Robinson, etc). Assuming (wrongly) that all of those 421 are here to stay, there are a maximum of 29 places left in the NBA; however, considering that many teams will run with 13- or 14-man rosters this year, and we’re already averaging 14 players per team, the real amount is even less than that. As such, there’s nothing but a scant few places available in the world’s strongest basketball league, and several jillion candidates fighting for them. But this shouldn’t stop them from fighting, and nor will it stop me from listing. There now follows a list of the best of what’s left of this year’s free agency market. Listed in no particular order. Point Guards – Raymond Felton: The only guards who shot a worse percentage on inside shots than Raymond Felton last year were Derek Fisher, Luke Ridnour and Sebastian Telfair. The fact that Felton shot only 29% from three-point range doesn’t help, either. But despite Felton’s perpetually inefficient scoring, the market for Felton shouldn’t have been […]
“That Guy We Drafted,” 1996
September 8th, 2009
For those who missed my Tweets on the subject, I wrote a guest post at the San Antonio Spurs blog 48 Minutes Of Hell, talking about the Spurs finances and Brian Cook and stuff like that. Please go and read it. Also, if you own a good team-specific blog and want me to do the same for your team, be really quite sickeningly nice towards me and you might have a chance. Might. The following is a round-up of the life, times and afterlives of the entire 1996 NBA Draft. Note: in the event that a player is still in the NBA, I’ll assume that you know that and will talk about something else. 1st pick: Allen Iverson (Philadelphia) – Everyone has made the same comment about Iverson potentially joining the Memphis Grizzlies. Everyone in the land has made some comment to the effect of “there’s only one ball,” “who’s going to pass,” “how could you pair him up with Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay,” “how is it going to work long term” etc. And the answer to that is simple; it’s not going to work long term. But it’s not supposed to, either. Randolph has only two years left on his contract, and Iverson will be signing a one-year deal. They’re only supposed to be short-term improvements, for a team trying to improve whilst unable/unwilling to take on long term commitments. It would be bloody lovely if they could have gotten Paul Millsap and Nate Robinson instead, but that was never realistic. When you’re at the bottom with no money to spend, you have to live off the draft, minimum salary steals and retreads. That’s how it has to be, and that’s what Iverson represents. As retreads go, though, may I point out that Iverson was averaging 28 points […]
Where Are They Now: 2009 NBA Summer League Teams Part 3
September 3rd, 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. New York Knicks – Wink Adams: Adams is signed with Oyak Renault Bursa in Turkey. – Alex Acker: Almost as soon as he was back in it, Acker is out of the NBA again. He is signed with Armani Jeans Milano in Italy. – Blake Ahearn: See Nets/Sixers entry. – Morris Almond: Almond is unsigned. I haven’t heard anything about him agreeing to a training camp invite anywhere, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it was with the Knicks. – Warren Carter: Unsigned. – Joe Crawford: Crawford is, and always was, under contract through 2010. So he’s going to camp. – Toney Douglas: Douglas shot badly in summer league, but passed for an impressive seven assists per game. If he’s going to try and reinvent himself as a playmaking guard in the up-tempo system, then that’s a pretty good start. However, the entire team shot less than 39% for the tournament, which is less complimentary of Douglas’s offence-running skills. – Patrick Ewing Jr: Ewing missed summer league with injuries. He is unsigned, and sounds like a training camp candidate. – Jordan Hill: Jordan Hill may well prove to be the second-best big man in this draft. This says more about the draft than Jordan Hill. – Ron Howard: Unsigned. – Yaroslav Korolev: For the Knicks to have thought they could have gotten anything out of Yaroslav Korolev was ambitious. Although not nearly […]
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 […]
Where Are They Now: 2009 NBA Summer League Teams Part 1
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. Boston Celtics – Nick Fazekas: Fazekas has signed in Europe for next year, with Dijon of France. The longer this goes on, the more it looks like Fazekas is never going to get back into the NBA. Even though he led this Celtics summer league team in points and rebounds, the NBA doesn’t seem to want to know. If that continues to happen, it’ll be…..well, it’ll be strange. – J.R. Giddens: Giddens is still with the Celtics, as Boston tried valiantly to convince Indiana that they wanted him as a part of a Marquis Daniels sign and trade. The Pacers refused. – Lester Hudson: Hudson hasn’t signed with the Celtics yet, but it’s likely that he will do. The Celtics really should try and find a veteran backup option first, even if the pickings are pretty slim now. But if they were going to do that, they probably would have done it already. – Coby Karl: Karl remains unsigned. He also played on the Nuggets’ summer league team. The Nuggets are publicly in the market for a good-shooting two guard. Coby Karl is a good-shooting two guard. The Nuggets’ head coach is George Karl. George Karl is Coby Karl’s dad. It’s going to write itself. You can just feel it. – Chris Lofton: Lofton is unsigned, but won’t be returning to Mersin, who have already replaced him with Richie Frahm and Jimmy Baron. – Bryan Mullins: Southern Illinois’s very own […]
More Creative Financing In The NBA, 2009
August 28th, 2009
Here’s a longer list of things that were not included in the original Creative Financing post, either because I forgot to include them, or (in one instance) because the sweet prince who called our hotline with the information had not yet come forward. Remember; all calls are anonymous and you could receive a cash reward for information. (Wait, no you couldn’t. That’s the slogan they use on Crimewatch. Ignore that.) – As a part of the new scheme of turning this website’s salary information from a static exhibit into a working reconstruction of life in First World War France, there now exists a page that lists all remaining salary cap exceptions for every NBA team. Of note on this list is the curious case of Channing Frye, the former Blazers and Knicks forward whose transformation from the next Dirk Nowitzki to the next Malik Allen is almost complete. The Suns signed Frye last month to a two-year, $4,139,200 contract; not coincidentally, that is the same amount as the full value of the Bi-Annual Exception. However, the Suns didn’t actually use their Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. Knowing that they wouldn’t be using the full MLE to sign somebody due to their payroll concerns, the Suns cleverly (and creatively) used an equivalent chunk of their Mid-Level Exception instead. As the name would suggest, you get to use the Bi-Annual Exception a maximum of once every two years, so if the Suns used it this year, they wouldn’t get it next year. But if they roll it over, they do. It’s pretty shrewd, when you think about it. (Teams that should have done this but didn’t include Washington – who used their BAE on Fabricio Oberto, and who won’t use their MLE – and Chicago – who used their BAE on […]
