Antoine Agudio Of all the undersized jump shooters in the D-League, Agudio might be the best. The cheerful looking one is the all-time scoring leader in the history of Hofstra, beating out former Bulls guard Norman Richardson when he averaged 22.7ppg in his senior season. Agudio is a 6’3 pure shooter, who last year for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds averaged 15.1ppg, 2.5rpg and 2.8apg with 44% three point shooting. He’s strong, able to also create off the dribble, and tries hard defensively to overcome his height disadvantage. Yet the height disadvantage is pretty large. Jaycee Carroll has much the same profile and is a very awesome player, but it’s also significant that Jaycee Carroll is not in the NBA. It would benefit Agudio to leave the D-League and go do something similar to what Jaycee is doing in Europe. He is capable. John Bryant Santa Clara centre Bryant was also a D-Leaguer last year, spending the year with the Erie BayHawks. He was remarkably inconsistent on his way to averaging 13.2 points and 9.5 rebounds in only 29 minutes per game. Bryant is a huge fella, which enables him to gobble up rebounds and be a defensive presence by default in the lane; the downside to that is that he is really quite slow. This doesn’t stop him from being a tremendous defensive rebounder, though, and I can’t imagine he’d do any worse in the NBA than Aaron Gray does. Paul Delaney Delaney was also on the Bucks summer league roster last year, and spent his time between in Israel, where he did more of the same of what he did at UAB. Delaney averaged 15.2ppg, 3.3rpg, 3.1apg and 1.6spg, while shooting 50% from the field. Such efficiency is not unusual from the 6’3 guard, and he’s also a good defensive […]
DeJuan Blair I really don’t think DeJuan Blair needs to be here. Summer league is designed for players who need to prove something; those barely on a roster, those looking to make it onto one, draft picks trying to prove their worth, and also-rans looking to use the opportunity for good European gigs. But the only thing DeJuan Blair has to prove is the long term health of his knees. And unnecessary playing time is not the answer for that. Michael Cuffee Cuffee turned 27 yesterday (happy birthday!), and joins the Spurs for his second summer league stint. He was also with the team in 2008, easily the two highlights of his career. The rest of Cuffee’s CV reads Middle Tennessee State, WBA, Denmark, Finland, USBL, D-League, Lega Due (Italy) Turkey, and then the Lega Due again; last year for UCC Casalpusterlengo, Cuffee averaged 11.2 points and 5.2 rebounds. Those are rather average numbers from the below average Italian second division, and it’s hard to see what the Spurs see in Cuffee other than his tremendous athleticism (which isn’t worth a lot unless you turn it into production). Bryan Davis I have written before about the Spurs’s constant attempts to keep young players that they are interested in around their roster, if not strictly on it. By doing things such as owning their own D-League affiliate (thereby ensuring generous assignments) giving Curtis Jerrells $75,000 to attend training camp even when he has absolutely no chance of making the team (and subsequently having him assigned to the Toros for that reason), signing Marcus E. Williams at every possible opportunity, and using part of their MLE on signing Alonzo Gee and Garrett Temple when there’s a matter of days left in the season, the Spurs bypass the maximum roster size while keeping […]
Antonio Anderson Anderson was previously covered in the Bobcats summer league roster round-up of last week. As it happens, however, Anderson played only 89 seconds for the Lolcats, recording nothing but a trillion. Per 48 minutes, that’s still a trillion. Romel Beck Beck is a 6’8 Mexican shooting guard out of UNLV with a whole load of scoring talent. However, in his life he has only ever had one NBA contract; a training camp contract with the Rockets last year that ultimatey amounted to nothing. And the reason for that lack of NBA airtime is how ridiculously selfish of a player he has been throughout his career. Beck’s scoring talents are legitimate; for example, last year in the D-League, Beck averaged 17.9 points per game for the Dakota Wizards, shooting .543% from the field and .445% from three point range. He’s improving his decision making, and can still create his own shot with relative ease. But his reputation still precedes him, and it might be too late. Brian Butch Butch, a jump shooting big man, is signed for this season to an unguaranteed minimum salary contract. Because these posts are not quite the previews that they were designed to be – sorry – Butch has already gotten hurt in this summer league tournament, dislocating his kneecap. The rule with unguaranteed contracts is that, if a player is injured while playing under contract, the contract is guaranteed until they are able to play again. (This is why Mike Wilks spent the 2008/09 season on the Magic roster, despite being unable to play.) So even though Butch is no doubt in a lot of pain, and suffering a serious career setback, it could well be a bit of a financial windfall for him, unless some hitherto unknown technicality is in place that […]
Rather than repeating myself unnecessarily, I shall instead just link to to my breakdown of the Chicago Bulls’ 2010 Summer League Roster, written at ChicagoNow.com, where I front the premier Bulls blog, Bulls Confidental. Breakdown of the Chicago Bulls’ 2010 Summer League Roster The typo of Morris Almond’s name is a particular highlight.
These things tend to tangent. Stick with it. Luke Babbitt I’m still not sure of why Portland has been trying to acquire small forwards so proactively. The Luol Deng rumour won’t die, even if you want it to, and the team just signed Wesley Matthews to a full MLE contract. They also traded for Babbitt’s draft rights and signed him straight away, despite already having Nicolas Batum on the roster. Batum is really good and already has a capable backup in Dante Cunningham in place; now with Babbittt as well, I don’t see the need for this constant desire to get another one. Jimmy Baron Baron holds every Rhode Island shooting record going. He is an absolute 100% pure, unsullied, virginal shooter, who unfortunately doesn’t do a lot else. Baron’s first and only professional season thus far saw him play for Mersin in Turkey, where he averaged 16.5 points in 28.6 minutes with 43.4% three point shooting….and nothing else. Such is the Jimmy Baron experience. Not a bad thing, but not an NBA thing. Dante Cunningham Considering he’s always been a power forward in a small forward’s body, Cunningham made a pretty decent effort of pretending otherwise. Given plenty of opportunities due to injury, Cunningham shot his customary mid range two’s well, rebounding well enough for a man of his size, and proved he could play defence on both small forwards and power forwards. He also turned it over only 25 times all year, leading all rookies in turnover percentage at 6.0%. This is helped significantly by the fact that he doesn’t dribble, but nevertheless, it’s a hugely impressive number. (Tyler Hansbrough was next lowest at 7.1% in his part-season of work; Marcus Thornton was third at 7.3%. The worst? Jrue Holiday, 21.9%. Then James Johnson. Then Hasheem Thabeet.) In […]
Earl Clark Clark’s rookie year was not great, due in no small part to a lack of opportunities. He averaged only 2.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, shooting 37% with an 8.5 PER, and not always playing the quality defence for which he (should) be known. The departure of Amar’e Stoudemire should in theory have gotten him more playing time; however, the acquisitions of Hakim Warrick, Josh Childress and Hedo Turkoglu, plus the retention of Grant Hill and Jared Dudley, and the possible re-signing of Louis Amundson, seem to have snuffed that out again. Where Clark’s minutes will come from next year is once again unclear. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really do not like the Turkoglu acquisition. Dwayne Collins As a third stringer slightly undersized centre in an up-tempo system, Collins should do quite well. Regardless of his lack of size, Collins goes and gets rebounds; regardless of the tempo you play it, you need rebounds. Collins’s offence at this point is pretty much only the finishing of easy ones, but Steve Nash is his point guard now. Easy ones will be there. Zabian Dowdell The Suns were going to bring in Dowdell for training camp last year, were it not for an injury that Dowdell suffered before it started. The injury kept him on the shelf until mid-December, when he returned to play with the D-League’s Tulsa 66ers and averaged 12.9 points/3.7 assists. Dowdell then moved to EuroLeague calibre team Unicaja Malaga, but struggled mightily over there. In 21 ACB games, Dowdell averaged only 6.4 points and 1.7 assists per game, shooting only 36% from the field and 24% from three point range. Dowdell is best defensively and usually a better shooter than that, yet it’s worrying numbers in Dowdell’s highest standard of play […]
Derrick Caracter Caracter stayed out of trouble in his time at UTEP, and began developing into the player that he could always have been. He’s lost weight, shaved his stupid hair cut, and doesn’t have to worry about academic problems any more. Now, barring any petulance relapse, Caracter gets to just be a player. He’s becoming a decent one, too. Devin Ebanks Given time, Ebanks will be able to do a decent if slightly lesser impression of Trevor Ariza during his Lakers days. Ebanks can’t dribble or shoot, but he will run the court and defend whomever you want him to. I have been saying this since about February 2009, so the fact that Ebanks is now a Laker is pretty cool. It gives me the opportunity to say it for another seven years. Gerald Green Last year, Gerald Green played in Russia. Playing for Lokomotiv Kuban, Green averaged 16.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, shooting 44% from the field and 35% from three point range. Unfortunately, there’s no stat for whether he “gets it” yet. Rob Kurz Kurz was a Chicago Bull as of 9 days ago. He never played for them, but got a few grand and great playoff seats for the privilege of spending two months with the greatest team in the world. Kurz is an NBA calibre player with very good rebounding numbers, decent defence and an old-school one handed jump shot, a face-up combo forward with occasional post offence who should be in the NBA somewhere next year. However, I’m not sure it will be with the Lakers. He would be a luxury for them, i.e. a non-rotation player. And they can’t really afford those. Ibrahim Jaaber Jaaber was announced as a member of the Pistons summer league roster last year, but […]
Solomon Alabi If you read my draft recap, you’ll know how I feel about the Alabi pick. I’m pretty much all for it, and believe he has a chance to be a good contributor in the NBA. At #50, I think he was a steal. Even with hepatitis. If you haven’t read my draft recap, go do so. But you might want to book a day off work in advance. It’s a bit long. Bobby Brown Brown just completed a two year guaranteed minimum salary contract, initially given to him by the Sacramento Kings. He won that contract because of his play in summer league 2008, where he scored a lot of points in a variety of different ways. The Kings didn’t play Brown much in any regular season games, and later included him in the trade that brought over Shelden Williams from Minnesota, as was their perogative. Minnesota forwarded him on last summer to New Orleans as a throw-in to the Darius Songaila trade, as was their perogative. Once in New Orleans, Bobby started to get regular minutes. Byron Scott played him as the primary backup guard, often ahead of Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, but it really did not go well. Brown shot the ball every time he touched it, taking 152 field goals in only 328 minutes, and attempting only 8 foul shots. To put it bluntly, he chucked. (Byron Scott was later fired, Collison and Thornton started to play more, and the Hornets’ season was salvaged. These things are alll related.) Brown was traded to the Clippers in a salary dump later in the season, where he did more of the same; 191 minutes, 85 field goals, 7 foul shots. Brown took a three pointer every 5 minutes last year, and didn’t seem to mind that […]
Will Blalock Blalock’s recovery from a life-threatening stroke continues, as he gets back to nearer his NBA-calibre best. He started last year with the Maine Red Claws, and was traded after 25 games to the Reno Bighorns, for whom he averaged 11.8 points and 7.4 assists per game. Blalock has battled weight problems since his stroke, but he lost weight during the D-League season and improved as the campaign went along. Blalock turns 27 in February and will probably never get back to the NBA, but his good D-League season, aided by a decent summer league performance, should see some good European gigs in the near future. Andre Brown Brown is back for his seventh consecutive season on the cusp of the NBA. After hundreds and millions of summer league appearances, mini-camp tryouts and training camp contracts, the former DePaul forward has 75 NBA games played to his credit, and is looking for the big three figures. Brown is athletic and a good rebounder, but is not without his flaws; his defence is more energetic than effective, he never ever passes, and his jump shot and free throw strokes are poor due to a bad cross-handed release that he has never corrected. Brown is 29 years old now and hasn’t got any better; what he is is pretty good, but what he is is permanently juuuuuust on the outside. Brian Chase Chase is a 5’9 scoring guard with a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. That doesn’t bode well for a man’s NBA prospects. Chase has actually spent time on an NBA regular season roster when he spent the first two weeks of the 2006-07 season with the Utah Jazz; however, he did not appear in any games. More than a little bit like Earl Boykins, Chase is extremely quick and a very […]
Roddy Buckets The final year of Jason Terry’s contract is only partially guaranteed. Only $5 million of $10,658,000 is guaranteed; the rest becomes guaranteed dependent on how many minutes Terry plays. Terry’s contract will become guaranteed if he plays in more than 60 games and more than 1,500 minutes next year; if he doesn’t, and he’s waived before next July 15th, then whoever owns him could get a break of a few million dollars. I’m telling you this because Boobwar is making Terry available. Mouhammad Faye Faye turns 25 in a couple of months, and just finished a season where he averaged 10/5 for Southern Methodist University in Conference USA. The Georgia Tech transfer would have potential if he was 19, for he’s an athletic 6’10 small forward with fledgling ball handling and shooting skills. But aged 25 with little to show for five years of college play, it’s not going to happen. He’s only three months younger than Darko Milicic, for God’s sake. And Darko’s been done for five years. Shan Foster Foster is a former Mavericks draft pick and shooting specialist who hasn’t added to his game outside of the shooting. He was drafted out of Vanderbilt in 2007 after shooting 47% from three point range in his senior season; however, since that time, he has been pretty ordinary. In Turkey last year, Foster averaged 9.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 26 minutes per game for Kepelz Bld Antalya. He shot 39% from three point range, but if it weren’t for his draft spot, we wouldn’t be talking about him. J.R. Giddens Giddens started last year with the Celtics, and with the news that he wasn’t having the third year option on his rookie contract exercised. This made him only the 7th player all time to […]
This post is a bit late, considering the Magic have played their games. However, the site’s outages just before free agency started set us back a bit, and then obviously free agency itself kind of blew the cock off the whole thing. Sorry about that. Since I’d already started it, we’ll do it anyway. Jeff Adrien It’s hard for a 6’7 power forward to make it in the NBA. You have to be pretty exceptional at something to do it. Adrien, though, is exceptional at nothing. He’s solid at most things except foul shooting; decently athletic, willing and able to rebound, capable of defending the post, prepared to run, and able to shoot right handed hook shots. But despite his height, he’s in absolutely no way a small forward. He’s a very undersized power forward who is neither really athletic nor Chuck Hayes. Adrien played in the LEB Gold last year, averaging 12.3ppg and 7.7rpg for Breocgan Lugo. It’s a league ideally suited for him. Joe Crawford Crawford is slightly undersized for a shooting guard at 6’4, could use a slightly better three point stroke (and definitely from the foul line), and is not exactly consistent; he is, however, a talented and versatile scorer, mainly through penetration. Crawford is a former draft pick of the L.A. Lakers, 58th overall back in 2008. Had he been drafted somewhere else, he might have stuck in the NBA by now. He’s good. As it is, he’s appeared in only 2 games, for the Knicks in the last week of the 2008/09 season. He scored 9 points in 23 minutes. Not bad. Joe Crawford fact: Joe Crawford is Hawks draft pick Jordan Crawford’s brother. That is all. Paul Davis Davis has spent at least part of three years in the NBA, including starting last […]
Alexis Ajinca After giving up a pick with very lax protection to get him – in the end, it became the one used on Luke Babbitt – Charlotte have spent two years not playing Ajinca. Jinx played 182 minutes only on his rookie season, and topped that in his sophomore season with only 30 minutes played all year. He spent a lot of the year on assignment in the D-League, averaging 14.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, 3.0 turnovers and 3.9 fouls in 26 minutes per game, showing some signs of scoring and shot-blocking ability while committing far too many mistakes and not defensive rebounding much. However, entering his third year, the D-League is now no longer an option. If Ajinca is going to do anything Theo Ratliff-ish, he’s going to have to do some of it in his third year. If he doesn’t, there might not be a fourth. Alade Aminu Despite doing little in four years at Georgia Tech, Aminu was drafted 10th overall in the D-League draft. And despite doing little in the D-League, Aminu managed to get a 10 day call-up from the Heat last year. The oft-banded about comparison for Aminu is Chris Andersen, and however raw he is right now, he’s got more offensive talent than Andersen had when his raw untattooed self stumbled into the Nuggets rotation once upon a time. But whatever Aminu is going to be, he’s a long way from it yet. He’s too inconsistent, and just not especially productive as a shot-blocker or rebounder right now. Antonio Anderson Anderson signed with the Bobcats in training camp last year, but did not make the team. At the time, with Ronald Murray and Raja Bell at shooting guard alongside D.J. Augustin and the recently drafted Gerald Henderson, and with Raymond Felton […]
Ryan Brooks Ryan Brooks is a shooting guard whose nose is a different colour to the rest of his body. He just graduated from Temple, where he led the team in scoring in his senior season with 14.6 points per game. He also chipped in 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, while turning it over only 1.2 times, an incredibly solid number. He’s a solid all-around player and a quality college guard; unfortunately, there’s nothing that stands out about his game. Brooks is slightly undersized, a mediocre athlete, a crafty scorer but not a standout shooter, an interested and pretty effective defender without the physical tools to be so at the next level, a man who doesn’t make many mistakes but who doesn’t create much either. That’s a summer league calibre player, but not an NBA calibre player. Not at 6’4, at least. But he’ll make some money in Europe. Ndudi Ebi Sandwiched amongst all their vetoed Timberwolves first rounders from the Joe Smith debacle came Ndudi Ebi, a half-British man who was a first-round draft pick of the team in 2003 out of high school. He did not justify his draft billing and failed to even get to the third season of his rookie contract, but not before a shambolic a moment that saw the Timberwolves ask the NBA if they could send Ebi down to the D-League for his third season, in circumvention of the rule that states only rookies or sophomores can be assigned by teams to the D-League. Their justification for the request? Ebi hadn’t played much, and thus didn’t really have two years experience. The NBA denied the request, and Ebi was waived to accommodate the incoming Ronald Dupree. After leaving the NBA, Ebi spent a couple of years in the D-League (fittingly), playing […]
Jaycee Carroll If Jaycee Carroll was 6’6, he’d be in the NBA and Matt Carroll wouldn’t. But he’s not. He’s 6’2, not a great athlete, and nearer to 30 than 20. So now it doesn’t matter how much Carroll scores and in what league; it just won’t be good enough. Carroll is a seriously big time scorer, mainly on jump shots and floaters. He is extremely good at both of those things, and it is not by chance that he led the Spanish ACB (the world’s second best league behind only the NBA) in scoring this year at 18.8ppg. Carroll knows how to get open off the ball and can create his own shot with it, an incredibly efficient scorer even when up against world class defences. However, 27 year old undrafted 6’2 unathletic scoring guards do not get into the NBA. If anyone can, Carroll can. But Carroll can’t. Semih Erden The last pick in the 2008 draft, Erden signed with the Celtics today after spending two years developing at Fenerbahce in his native Turkey. In 42 TBL games this season, Erden averaged 8.2ppg and 5.1rpg in 21 mpg, shooting 62% from both the field and the line. The TBL is neither a bad league nor a great league, although Fenerbahce have won three titles in the last four years, so Erden has the experience of being a starting centre on a championship calibre team. Erden is an athletic 7 footer whose skills (particularly offensively) are improving; however, despite turning 24 next month, Erden is far from ready. He could use some toughening up (with a tendency to put his little paws on you defensively rather too cheaply), and his offence is more opportunistic than deliberate. He hasn’t really lived up to the billing of his potential so far. […]
Paul George The Pacers have done nothing to advance their team since the awesome 61 win team of 2003-04. In that time, their win totals have tapered off slowly; 44, 41, 35, 36, 36, 32. They make moves more befitting of a championship contender (Dahntay Jones for 4 years? Earl Watson for one? Drafting Tyler Hansbrough? Trading for Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy?) when they haven’t the core around which to build. Apart from catching lightning in a bottle with the drafting of Danny Granger, the Pacers have done nothing to build a young foundation, nor have they done anything to build an old foundation. George represented the Pacers highest draft pick since 1996, when they picked Erick Dampier 10th overall. Indiana normally drafts low because they’re good – in the last few years, however, they’ve been drafting in the late lottery. They are not good enough to make the playoffs, yet their needless short term moves also ensure they are not bad enough to draft higher than that. Not since George McCloud in 1989 have the Pacers drafted in the top 10; not until next summer will they have any cap space. Without those things, the Pacers have been unable to land a star or any significant young talent, and while the #10 pick in a strong draft represented a chance to do, all Indiana have done is use it on a player who plays the same position as their best current player. This is a re-think on my draft night stance, admittedly. Nevertheless, we’re going to have to sign away one more season of moribund stalemate for the Pacers. When 2011 free agency comes around, maybe they can finally build something significant. Richard Hendrix I have long since clamoured for Hendrix’s NBA talent, going as far as to […]
Cliff Hammonds Former Clemson guard Hammonds is an unusual find on the Thunder roster, because he’s already signed for next year. He spent last year in Greece with Peristeri, averaging 12.9ppg, 3.1rpg, 3.7apg, 1.5spg and 2tpps (timely paychecks per season), shooting 48% from the field and 42% from three. He even up his usually dreadful free throw percentage to a vaguely tolerable 71% (still sub-par for a point guard, but no longer sub-50%). Hammonds has signed in France to join ASVEL Villerbanne, a normally elite French team (with 18 championships in 61 season) coming off an unusually dreadful sub-.500 season. It seems strange that ASVEL would let him play here as well. Nevertheless, it’s all good for Hammonds, who gets a decent chance at free exposure before beginning his decent new French gig. James Harden QUESTION: If the Bulls manage to sign Dwyane Wade, they are then left with the awkward pairing of he and Derrick Rose in the backcourt. Talent wise, it’s the best backcourt in the league; fit wise, however, it’s far from ideal. Therefore, how far away is a trade that sees Rose traded to Oklahoma City in exchange for Harden, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green? (Westbrook isn’t a great fit with Wade, either. And he’s not an insignificant downgrade. However, it may be an acceptable one considering the other parts of the package. Westbrook has significant value and talent, not as much as Rose, but enough to either make it work alongside Wade or land something awesome via trade. Just thinking out loud.) (And yes, Derrick Rose is quite a lot better than Westbrook. Westbrook is very good, and Derrick most definitely has his flaws, but Rose’s consistent ability to score in the halfcourt is bettered only by the game’s very elite. How much is that […]
Something I had forgotten about in the Hornets summer league round-up, pointed out to me by ticktock6 of Hornets Hype.com, was that Craig Brackins and Quincy Pondexter will be joining the Hornets roster once their as-yet-uncompleted trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder goes down. This goes some way to explaining why their roster is, frankly, a bit weak. However, a look at the upcoming Nets roster also highlights the flaws in the Hornets’s lineup. New Jersey have on their team many undrafted players from this year’s draft class, several of whom could easily have been second-round picks. There are a couple of also-rans, of course, but with roster spots to be won, the Nets have drawn a crowd of players who can certainly win them. This is in contrast to the Hornets roster, which, apart from the NBA players on it, has few possible NBA players on it. (If that makes sense.) Julian Wright was intended to play on the Hornets team as well, but he opted out. Doesn’t seem like a smart move for a man who needs to both win favour and improve greatly. A.J. Abrams There are many undersized shooters in the world, most of them pretending to be point guards to advance that career. However, Abrams has no such pretense; he’s a shooter and plays accordingly. This is evident in his first professional career, where he played for Trikalla in Greece and put up A.J. Abrams-like numbers; 17.3ppg, 1.6rpg, 1.0apg. Abrams left the team in December and did not play elsewhere that season. He was on the Nets summer league roster last year as well, but did not make the team. Indeed, as a 5’11 shooter with no point guard skills, he never will make an NBA team. He is what he is; undeniably talented, but […]
Darren Collison Last year at this time about Darren Collison, I wrote this: Big fan of Collison. He’s like Chris Duhon except with a mid range game and the ability to recognise when to shoot. And Chris Duhon with those things added to his game would be a fine player. Turns out he was even better than that. Duhon’s career has been peppered by games in which he plays outrageously well, mired amongst weeks of mediocrity. Those are called, by me at least, “Duhon Games.” Collison’s rookie season was made up solely of Duhon games. It was a beautiful thing. But don’t be mistaken. Collison’s awesome rookie season does not make Chris Paul available for trade. The only way Chris Paul gets traded is if Chris Paul demands it. And if the Hornets succumb to that pressure before they do everything possible to better the team – which includes, but is not limited to, getting value for that Peja Stojakovic expiring – then they should be ashamed. Darren Collison is good, but Chris Paul is an all-time calibre point guard. You don’t trade all-time calibre point guards just to move Emeka Okafor. Aubrey Coleman It was a surprise to see Coleman go undrafted, and as such, if the Hornets have the room under the tax, then he figures to be a candidate for a roster spot. Coleman’s numbers last season – a Division I-leading 25.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game – make him appear faultless. Of course, he is not faultless. Coleman has a good pull-up mid range game, but is not much of an outside shooter, and is also only about 6’3. He also dominates the ball (which he can’t do at the NBA level), takes wild shots, turns it over too much, and […]
Free agency is going on, and big names are moving all over the world. However, so are the little names. And since half of this website is devoted to the little names, there follows looks at the summer league roster for all NBA teams. These posts will be in no particular order. Sundiata Gaines Gaines made a name for himself quickly last season, when he hit a desperation game-winning three-point jump shot for the Jazz in a win over Cleveland. It was only Gaines’s fifth game, ninth day and sixteenth shot with the team, yet it gained him a legacy. Gaines later signed a second ten-day contract with the team, and then signed for the remainder of the season and through 2010/11 when that expired. The 2010/11 contract was fully unguaranteed, becoming $25,000 if not waived on or before July 1st (which he wasn’t); it’ll become $50,000 guaranteed if he makes the team’s roster for their first regular season game. He probably will do that. Despite his legacy, Gaines is not really a shooter, but he fills up the stats. He’s an athlete who thrives in the open court and scores heavily, who can score in isolation and in the half court, and who doesn’t turn it over too much. He’s not better than Ronnie Price, and Utah still needs an upgrade at their backup guard spots, yet they could also use some cheap depth. Gaines is that, and he should make the team. Dominic Waters Dominic Waters has been playing in the NABL with a team called the Portland Showtime. The NABL (stands for National Athletic Basketball League) is a new minor league in the northwestern United States that plays from March until May, that uses NBA rules and NBA franchise principles (ambitiously), and that has six teams; the […]
