Ridiculous Upside: FanPosts

help wanted

2009-11-05T01:11:54Z

No, this is not a job posting. You all can go to craigslist for that. What I am looking for help with is the same thing many teams in the NBA are constantly in need of: tough, talented big men.

I am from Northern CA, and follow the Kings, and have as a child. I am not a complete homer, however, and I appreciate basketball in all forms as well as locations. Heck, I even watched some WNBA this season.

But I cannot help but mourn the fact that the Kings are lacking in frontcourt depth. They have some good young big men who were lottery picks. But they lack any real defensive presence around the hoop. They have little money to spend, but I personally don't think that means you turn to Sean May.

So, you avid authors and readers of RU, I turn to you. I beseech you. I implore you. The Kings, as well as a dozen or so other NBA teams, are in need of help in finding big men. Which D-Leaguers, if any, do you recommend? Why?

So there is my help wanted add. Inquire within.

what are the teams

2009-10-07T22:42:32Z

dudes

hey people of Ridiculous Upside it's Southman from Peachtree hoops would like to know the names of the teams from at least one of the divisions and which NBA team they are partnered with are they any good? are they like the Clippers or like the Lakers? or what? I need to know.. Great now I've ran out of ideas to say or ask blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

Mock GM Keeper League Starting Up. (It's Free)

2009-10-03T18:17:39Z

Hey, I have a Fantasy Basketball league that's starting up. Here are the details

1. It's a Keeper League

2. There are 30 teams

3. Each player picks an actual NBA team to be their team (Those are the players that you start with).

4. This is a mock GM league in which trades can be made and players can be signed.

4b. GM's that want to continue into future seasons can, those that don't will be replaced next year.

5. Not only do we need GM's, but we also need agents to negotiate contracts.

6. Scoring is different than in a typical fantasy basketball league. All of a players stats are combined into one number.

7. Basically a GM in this league can do just about anything that an NBA GM can do. (buyouts, Sending players overseas, D-League, Draft, Free Agency, Trades. etc..)

8. This particular league will start with rosters accurate as of August 31.

9. I expect that anyone who joins will be honest and fair.

10. I want this to be a very active league in which GM's are good about setting there lineups, along with checking their trade offers.

11. If you're interested got to this link http://paspn.net/default.asp?p=90&gmaction=34&leagueid=6191&seasonid=53

12. The pass code is Competitive

13. Please, only serious GM's

Thanks, I look forward to competing against you guys.

An Overly In-Depth Look at the Atlanta Hawks Training Camp Roster

2009-09-29T03:55:05Z

Hey everyone that reads Ridiculous Upside. I convinced Jon L that I can help cover the D-League this season so this is my second post (actually, I begged him in a few long e-mails... you can probably help too, if you're so inclined). Been a D-League (and recent RU) follower since we had a team here so I'll try to keep RU as on top of things as it has been in the past.

Since it's almost full-fledged basketball season again, I wanted to start out with something that hopefully we will be able to refer back to throughout the season, much like they did last season: A(n almost) comprehensive list of everyone that doesn't have an NBA roster spot locked up for this season. The idea is, with so many roster spots already gone overseas (We'll miss you, Trey Johnson), there aren't many spots left over there. And with most NBA teams seemingly leaning toward keeping the minimum of 13 players on their roster, there won't be a lot of options for the guys that don't make the League. Therefore, I'm guesstimating that a decent percentage of these guys will be coming to a D-League city near you. Or maybe far from you, if you live in Florida.

I'll start out tonight with a look at the Atlanta Hawks!

Atlanta already has 13 players on guaranteed contracts according to Sham, so I'm not sure why I'm even doing this. Still, I hope you enjoy it.

Atlanta Hawks (Peachtree Hoops)

Aaron Miles - Miles is 6-foot-nothing... His phone number may or may not be 913-345-9187... He's the career leader in assists at Kansas... He's mentioned as a tremendous pass-first point guard on his DraftExpress page about 46 times... Historically, this means Luc Longley had a better jumper, and looking at his numbers, history doesn't lie... He played 19 games with the Warriors in 2005 and since then he's been a perennial Summer League-then-overseas guy... In the Summer's, he's played for New York, Chicago, Washington and Seattle, but hasn't been able to get the NBA look yet... Looking at the Hawks invites', he's going to have to outplay Juan Dixon, Frank Robinson and Mike Wilks for the third-string point guard job.. Godspeed, A-Miles.

Juan Dixon - Since I don't want to spend nine days in my parents basement typing this, I'm going to do as much linking to pertinent people when possible. In this case, to learn more about Juan Dixon check out the comprehensive Juan Dixon eval over at BulletsForever... Then check ShamSport's Dixon bio to find out how much bitumen Dixon consumes before games.

Courtney Sims - To learn more than you need to know about Sims, check out these Q&A's done by my the RU blogfathers: Matt Moore's here and Scott Schroeder's here.

Garrett Siler - He's really big... like 6'11", 305 pounds (listed) big... Played at the world-renowned Augusta State, which explains the Hawks giving him a look... Scott wrote about him here and Wyn from CanisHoopus gave him a plug here...

Frank Robinson - No, not that Frank Robinson.... 6'4" shooting guard out of Cal State-Fullerton, which is typically known as a baseball school... Robinson had pre-draft tryout's with Sacramento and Indiana last season, which is where I was able to find the majority of my information I'll now regurgitate... Robinson was the defensive player of the year in the Big West conference so he's got that kind of going for him... he has a self-assessed 6'9" wingspan..

Mike Wilks - Wilks is what I'd consider an organic D-Leaguer in that he used his time in the D-League to become an NBA roster fixture, rather than being assigned to the league... I'm not sure how he parlayed 9.6 points on 42% shooting and 3.9 assists over 60 D-League games from 2001-2003 into an NBA job, but more power to him... Wilks is 5'10" and has played 229 games over six seasons with eight different teams, so that's something... Wilks was forced to miss last season after a devastating knee injury (don't worry, no video, just explanation)... his agent is Bill Neff, friend of Ridiculous Upside...

Othello Hunter - Hunter played for the Hawks last season after coming out of Ohio State, so he's probably got the inside track if they do actually sign one of these guys... hawksdawgs over at Peachtree Hoops hopes he can one day be an eighth man, so he's got that... Ben Q. Rock over at Third Quarter Collapse was excited enough about to put him "at or near the top of the list" for the Magic's last-string PF/C option...

I'm not sure what kind of contract he has (seems guaranteed), but he spent miniscule time in the D-League, so I'll include 'em here for fun:

Mario West - West has sort of played for Atlanta for the past two seasons, so I'm going to be a bit lazy and just direct you to where you need to go to learn more about this man of steel... First, he has his own word... he's good in the community... Finally, I end with a bit more info from Basketbawful about Super Mario's "lacktion"...

For Rod Benson, Does the NBA = No Blogging Allowed?

2009-09-26T01:33:29Z

Rod Benson, via Twitter:

Campin w Indiana. This will be my final tweet for a while. You can hit me on facebook, but no blogs or tweets. Old stuff wont be up either.

After reading posts here in the past, it was always questioned if Rod could make a serious run at the NBA and still do the personal blogging and twittering thing. I guess this kind of answers it.

Since he took down everything on Too Much Rod Benson, I'm assuming this was a mandate from the Pacers and not something Benson decided to do on his own.

Now, I'm not sure why he'd go to camp with the Pacers anyway since they have Jeff Foster, Tyler Hansbrough, Roy Hibbert, Solomon Jones, Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy already signed to guaranteed deals, but if they also said he can't blog and tweet, it makes it all the more confusing.

We all know Benson's D-League accolades, or we should by now - basically, he's proven all he can in the D-League. I mean, per 36 minutes, he's averaged 14.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. You'd think that'd at least be worth an NBA look.

So really, I think this will decide it: Either Benson's blogging is the reason he hasn't earned that NBA job yet and he'll catch on with the Pacers or another team after the preseason, or his game just isn't suited for the NBA level.

I'm leaning toward the former. What do you think?

Poll

Will Rod Benson make the Pacers out of training camp?

Yes, he's mad boom tho!

58 votes

Nope - he's just not NBA material.

37 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed

Springfield Armor Dance Team?

2009-07-16T00:12:13Z

[Just thought I'd update this since there was apparently some interest back in the day. From the press release, I've gleaned that the team will be called the Armorettes, dancers have to be at least 18 and it costs $25 to tryout.]

As a man who has grown up in Western MA and lived here all my life, I found that I was incredibly enthusiastic to hear that the NBA D-League would be expanding in our area. Although I am personally not a fan of the chosen mascot, I still feel this could go in a great direction.

So my question now is will the franchaise add a dance team, mascot, ect. as most other D-League teams have done?? Personally, I am not aware of many dance teams in the area, and I think it's about time we saw a little more. I've seen the Falcons "Ice Cast" once or twice, and was pretty indifferent on them. They're not a horrible looking group of ladies, and their dancing skills were short of spectacular, but they weren't "bad." I'm hoping the D-League affiliation at the Mass Mutual Center will kick this up a notch.

Anyone hear anything regarding the future of something like this? What in gods name do you call a dance team for the Armor?? Let's hope their uniforms don't try to match the mascot if there is one... Anyone have any opinions on what they'd like to see from a group of ladies representing the Armor?? Or do you think a dance team is unnecessary? I'm curious to hear takes on this...

Poll

Are you excited for the Armorettes!!?!??

As if there's a question...

27 votes

No, we don't need a dance team

3 votes

Won't notice them anyways...

3 votes

33 votes | Poll has closed

NBA Draft Rumors: A Round Up

2009-06-23T00:06:35Z

Promoted to the Front Page because I asked him to do it. Great stuff, CONTINUED IN THE COMMENTS -- Scott

The NBA draft, as you all know, is getting closer. Much closer. And, as a result, rumors are flying in every which direction. Some out there are started by teams hoping the guy the want falls to them, even if they have to mention injuries. Others are started with the hopes that some team ahead of them catches on and drafts a guy too high... letting a better player fall.

And some of the rumors are serious and have a good shot of happening. These are the ones that are rare... and these are the ones we're trying to find. I've been "collecting" rumors as of late (by collecting, I mean posting them on twitter) and will post them on here for everyone to read/contemplate/comment on/whatever else you do with rumors. By the way... the draft rumors can be found here... and it's nice that I'm the only one that seems to be using the tag. And if you want NBA rumors, this is your link. Both are to Twitter Search pages, where I seem to be using the tags the most.

I don't have the exact links, but most of these have come from RealGM.com, DraftExpress.com, NBAdraft.net or InsideHoops.com.

Players in the draft...

Jordan Hill: One rumor has it that Don Nelson has told him that he's not falling past #7... If he does though, there is thought that the Knicks would take him (even over Stephen Curry)... The Mavs like him too.

Omri Casspi: Might the Nets trade down for him? They're rumored to be really interested...

Johnny Flynn: Despite all my wishing that he'd fall to the Jazz, he's pretty much a lock to go between #4 (Kings) and #10 (Bucks). In fact, there is thought now that the Kings have soured on Rubio enough to take Flynn over him...

Ty Lawson: Unlikely, but he could go #10 to the Bucks. It seems likely that he'll go a bit after that though (#13 to the Pacers?), though he could potentially fall till about #19 or so (obviously, right before the Jazz)...

BJ Mullens: Reportedly, he has a guarantee from the Pistons at #15... That said, he's still been working out with teams picking below #15, maybe in case the Pistons end up trading down/out... He's working out with Chicago (#16) and Philly (#17) this week, which doesn't make sense with a guarantee at #15.

Tyler Hansbrough: If the Nets are somehow able to trade down to #16 (there was talk of a #16 + #26 to the Nets with #11 going to the Bulls deal), they could snag Hansbrough. I think he has another workout with them tomorrow (though I could be mentioning the wrong team)... He really impressed the Hawks in a workout today.

Toney Douglas: If the Pistons are able to get a later 1st round pick, this might be their guy.

Ricky Rubio: Ah, the overhyped PG (sorry, I just don't get it). He's not going #1... He reportedly doesn't want to play for the Grizzlies (#2) or the Wizards (#5)... His workout with the Kings (#4) didn't happen due to an injury or the flu or something... Could he realistically fall to #6 (or even beyond?)... The Knicks like him and could try to trade up. In fact, they're optimistic about their chances... The Thunder might take him simply because he'll be the best player on the board... The T-Wolves could be after him, which would explain why they're trying to get a 2nd round pick.

Wayne Ellington: There was talk of his stock falling a bit due to workouts... There's rumors that the Hawks like him at #19, and the Sixers are also considering him at #17.

Austin Daye: When he decided to stay in the draft, there was talk that he had a promise in the top-20. Could that be at #18 with the Timberwovles?

Earl Clark: Did he get a promise from the Suns at #14?

Jodie Meeks: It's being mentioned that he might have a early 2nd round guarantee from the Nuggets. (Is that the end of the Sonny Weems era?)

Jon Brockman: He seems to have an early 2nd round guaratnee from 1 of the Blazers/Spurs/Pistons.

Darren Collison: Fearful of not getting many minutes, Collison (a late-1st/early-2nd rounder) decided against working out for the Jazz because they have Deron Williams.

DeJuan Blair: Maybe his knees are okay after all. He is being strongly considered by the Pacers (#13) and the Bulls (#16). He has another workout with the Bulls tomorrow, and worked out with the Jazz today... If he falls to the Bulls, he could be their guy... The Blazers seem interested as they make their calls in hopes to trade up.

Taj Gibson: Could the Jazz throw a curve into the draft by taking him at #20?

Stephen Curry: He seems confident that he'll go in the top 5, and thinks he'll end up with the Knicks. We'll have to see how that goes... He could go as high as #3 to the Thunder... Curry seems to be the top guy on the Warriors board (which goes against what they've supposedly told Ellis & Hill).

Hasheem Thabeet: He has refused to workout for the Grizzlies, and seems to be trying to convince the Thunder that he's their guy.

Terrence Williams: There was talk earlier that if the Nets stuck at #11, he'd be their guy (providing he wasn't gone)... He's been working out with many teams though.

Jrue Holiday: His agent (Dan Fegan) doesn't want the Wizards taking him. He has the same agent as Rubio, and Fegan also spoke out about not wanting Rubio playing for the Wizards (or the Grizzlies. Man, Fegan just seems like an a**)... He has had 2 workouts with the Knicks, for what it's worth.

Brandon Jennings: He might feel that Rubio is overhyped, but others would disagree. Rubio will be a top-5 pick (barring a huge surprise), while Jennings might end up falling out of the lottery.

Players in the NBA at the moment...

Kevin Love: Rumors were that he was offered by the T-Wolves to the Grizzlies for the #2 pick (the Wolves would then take Rubio #2, and also have pick #6). This has since been debunked (I think).

Monta Ellis: The Warriors might've confirmed to him that he will be their starting PG next year and that they won't be drafting a "play-making guard" at #7.

David Lee: We've all heard the talk about him being traded. It would be a lot easier for the Knicks if Jordan Hill fell to them.

Wilson Chandler: There was talk that he was being offered to the Wizards for the #5 pick. Since then though, I've been reading that the Wizards like Larry Hughes or Jared Jeffries. I don't see how any of this matches up to the #5 pick though.

Mike Miller: The T-Wolves are making him available. There was the rumor of Foye/Miller/Cardinal/Madsen/late 1st rounder for #5... They offered Miller for Chris Kaman, but were shot down. The Clippers countered by offering Marcus Camby for Miller.

Raja Bell: The Warriors want to add some defense, and have been offered Bell. The Bobcats want Kelenna Azubuike and Marco Belinelli in return. The Warriors are mulling over this (and Azubuike would have to agree to the trade unless it happens after July 24th).

Shaquille O'Neal: We've all heard the trade talk. Including the Shaq for Ben Wallace & Sasha Pavlovic deal. This deal has been shelved for now, because the Suns want young players or picks coming their way as well... There was also talk (though I haven't heard anything since) of an O'Neal for Luol Deng deal.

Ben Gordon: It's technically not legal, I don't think, and he's shot it down, but there are rumors that Gordon has a $11 million guarantee from the Pistons once FA starts.

Vince Carter: Yep, he (like Shaq & Antawn Jamison) has been mentioned in potentially getting dealt for Ben Wallace & Sasha Pavlovic.

Rajon Rondo: There were some Rondo rumors out there. I don't remember them, partially because I thought it sounded stupid and ignored them.

Team rumors...

Nets: If they can't trade down, Terrence Williams could be their guy. Or they could reach for Tyler Hansbrough... If they do trade down, Hansbrough could be their guy.

Cavaliers: If they are able to trade up, it'll be for Sam Young, Ty Lawson or Earl Clark.

Thunder: If they keep the pick, the Thunder could look to take the best available PG at #25. Of course, that's dependent on them not taking Rubio #3... At least one 'NBA source' thinks that if Thabeet falls to #3, the chances of him going to OKC are at 100%.

Grizzlies: Ricky Rubio has refused to workout for them. So has Hasheem Thabeet. James Harden didn't impress in workouts, but could still be their guy simply because he's willing to play for them... Recent workout: Marcus Thornton impressed, Danny Green not so much... Consensus seems to be that the Grizzlies don't have putting a winning team on the floor as the #1 priority, and players/agents are trying to stay away as a result.

T-Wolves: They are desperately trying to move into the top-2 (maybe 3). The question is, is it for Rubio? Or Thabeet? Rubio makes more sense, but if they end up giving up Love, Thabeet would fit in well too... They're working out DeMar DeRozan this week. They tried to bring Curry in, but he refused... If they're not able to get #5, they might set their sights on #3... There were rumors of a Foye/Miller/Gomes for Ray Allen deal, but the Wolves quickly shot that rumor down.

Wizards: They continue to try to deal #5. Most recent rumor has it being packaged with Etan Thomas in a trade to the Mavs. Not sure who the Mavs would give up in return... There was the talk of Amar'e for #5, though that's died down... There were also rumors earlier of Antawn Jamison & Mike James for Sasha Pavlovic & Ben Wallace, but likewise, I haven't heard much since... If nothing happens, they could take Rubio (whether he has to stay overseas or not); they seem to be the highest on his potential

Hawks: They have put a combo package (Speedy Claxton + #19) on the market... They're also trying to land Amar'e.

Pistons: They seem ready to start over. Who's atop their FA shopping list? Hearing Gordon, Boozer, Millsap, Ariza... They also seem open to dealing (or at least listening to offers for) Rip Hamilton and/or Tayshaun Prince... BJ Mullens? Or Earl Clark?... They could potentially "give" Amir Johnson & #15 to the Thunder, which would clear space for them to chase Gordon and Boozer/'Sap (whichever one they prefer)... For what it's worth, Dumars is denying just about everything. He's not trading his pick. He hasn't made a promise. He's not looking at acquiring more picks. He's not looking to trade Prince/Hamilton. On and on... There top choices are Clark or Daye?

Nets: There were rumors that they were offering Devin Harris for the #2 pick, but that just sounds dumb. Though I guess that fits with some of the other rumors as well.

Blazers: Is this where David Lee ends up?... What about Hedo Turkoglu?... Will they sell their draft pick?...They're getting offers for Batum, Fernandez & Outlaw, but balking at dealing any of them... If Rubio seems likely to fall, the Blazers could get involved. Of course, trading up to #5 would probably cost them at least Bayless + Outlaw/Batum, and net them Etan Thomas as well... They really want Kirk Hinrich.

Kings: Talk about being in a hard spot. Earlier, there was talk that they'd even consider Rubio over Griffin (if they had landed the #1 spot). Now they're picking number 4, but might end up taking Flynn or Tyreke Evans over Rubio. It seems to be down to those 3 though... There was talk that the 5 voices that have a say were all saying different names. They're going to need to agree on someone soon.

Suns: If they're serious about dealing Shaq &/or Amar'e, do they consider Hansbrough or Mullens at #14?... Could be down to Clark & James Johnson (and Austin Daye?), unless a top player falls.

Mavericks: About the talk for trading up for #5, there is some history. In 2004, they traded Antawn Jamison to the Wizards in exchange for the #5 pick, Devin Harris.

Pacers: Larry Bird would prefer drafting a guy with a couple of seasons of college experience... They'd like to trade up to #5, but it's not likely... They see their needs as bigs, a wing and a PG... They seem to be down to a list of 4 players, at least 3 of whom should be available at their pick.

That's it for now. If I come across more, they'll be posted on my twitter page, probably on the twitter search ones (unless I forget or it's too long) and maybe in the comments here. Feel free to join and post rumors or opinions on the rumors. (If it's too long, I'm sorry. My posts always tend to be longer than I'd like...)

Sorry guys but yet another mock draft

2009-06-21T23:22:51Z

1. Clippers PF Blake Griffin Oklahoma

I don't think the Clippers will screw this up. Griffin is the clear cut #1 pick this year.

2. Grizzlies SG James Harden Arizona St.

Ricky Rubio doesn't want to play in Memphis do Chris Wallace and the Griz have the testicular fortitude to take him anyway like Milwaukee did with Yi Jianlian? Doubt it. While Thabeet fits a need a rebounder/shot blocker, that is all his game is as of now. Is that worthy of #2? Only Wallace can answer that. Now they have stated that they do believe Mayo is a future PG so drafting Harden to play along side him makes some sense. They could possibaly ship this pick to Minnesota who reports say like Thabeet and Rubio.

3. Thunder PG Ricky Rubio Spain

They could go with Thabeet to add some size up front. But with Rubio they can get a star to team with Durant. Some question if Westbrook can play without the ball. If not they have some nice trade bait.

4. Kings PG Jrue Holiday UCLA

Holiday has shot up draft boards. The Kings need a PG and were hoping Rubio fell to them. Word is the Celtics want to move up bad and could offer Ray Allen and/or Rajon Rondo. Not sure who the Celtics would target but if indeed they offer Rondo that is the PG the Kings need.

5. Wizards C Hasheem Thabeet UCONN

Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas are entering last year of their contracts so the Wizards would be lacking size. A foursome of Arenas/Butler/Jamison/Thabeet sounds damn good in the East if Arenas stays healthy and Jamison isn't traded.

6. Wolves G Tyreke Evans Memphis

Evans or Curry? Curry or Evans? Both are natural SG's who might be able to play the point. Evans is a bit bigger and younger so I gave the nod to him. It should be one of those two though.

7. Warriors PF Jordan Hill Arizona

Hill said he feels comfortable that he will be picked by the Warriors if still on the board. I don't know if they go for a Curry or Flynn or take a big guy in Hill.

8. Knicks G Stephen Curry Davidson

It just seems like a perfect fit Curry in D'Antoni system.

9. Raptors G/F DeMar Derozan USC

They could use some help on the wing and Derozan can play the 2 and some 3. Super athletic just needs to work on his shot.

10. Bucks PG Jonny Flynn Syracuse

Flynn could thrive under Scott Skiles a very good distributor who in high school played good one on one defense.

11. Nets F Earl Clark Louisville

Some speculation is Hansborough or Blair to beef up the frontcourt. With Clark he can play the 3 or if needed the 4 if Yi, Anderson, and Williams don't pick it up.

12. Bobcats SG Gerald Henderson Duke

I can see the Bobcats trading this pick to get either a veteran or some cap relief. If not then I believe the SG and Henerson is the guy.

13. Pacers PF Tyler Hansbrough N. Carolina

They could use a PG with Jack being a FA so Jennings or Teague could be the pick. Maybe a big guy like Mullens but I think it comes down to Blair or Hansbrough. With Blair's knees being questioned could he be in a fall like we saw Darrell Arthur last year?

14. Suns PG Brandon Jennings Italy (High School)

They could go with a James Johnson here or Clark if he is still available. Nash and Stoudamire are free agents next year they will most likely need to replace both.

15. Pistons C/PF B.J. Mullens Ohio St.

Word is they made a promise but who knows. They have some holes to fill most likely they go after Ben Gordon so a big seems likely at #15.

16. Bulls F James Johnson Wake Forest

With Mullens and Hansbrough gone it comes down to either Johnson or Blair and as I've stated I think Blair is in for a slide.

17. 76ers PG Jeff Teague Wake Forest

They will go PG it's just a matter of which one is it Teague or Lawson or Maynor?

18. Wolves F Austin Daye Gonzaga

He could be a steal and if he ever fills out he can play the 4. Evans and Daye is a nice start to the rebuilding project in Minnesota.

19. Hawks PG Ty Lawson N. Carolina

Who knows it's Atlanta but with Bibby a free agent a PG makes sense.

20. Jazz SF Sam Young Pittsburgh

Blair could be an option with the Boozer/Millsap contract situation. I think Young would be a solid pick for the Jazz.

21. Hornets G/F Chase Budinger Arizona

Budinger provides some versatility.

22. Mavs PG Eric Maynor VCU

Kidd is a free agent and that could leave a whole at the point. Maynor would add some depth and athleticism to the backcourt.

23. Kings F/G Terrance Williams Louisville

They got their PG at #4 so now they can focus on finding a wing player to pair with Kevin Martin. At #23 Terrance Williams could be a steal.

24. Blazers F DaJuan Summers Georgetown

This pick could be traded for a PG or SF. But Summers adds good versatility being able to play the 3 or the 4.

25. Thunder F Omri Casspi Isreal

They have their PG and could use a energy/garbage man player like Casspi. If he stays overseas for a year or two so be it.

26. Bulls SG Wayne Ellington N. Carolina

Would they pass on Blair twice? I don't know but they do need some insurance in case Gordon bolts. I was also considering Nick Calathes with this pick.

27. Grizzlies PF DeJuan Blair Pittsburgh

He slides no more.

28. Wolves G Nick Calathes Florida (Greece)

He has signed to play in Greece for at least a year so the Wolves will let him go there and possibaly next year bring him over.

29. Lakers F Jonas Jerebko Sweden

I don't know.

30. Cavs SG Jodie Meeks Kentucky

Kind of a stunner I know. But the Cavs need to win NOW for the chance to keep LeBron. Meeks is a great scorer which LeBron needs.

31. Kings PG Darren Collison UCLA

32. Wizards PG Patty Mills St. Mary's

33. Blazers PG Rodrigue Beaubois France

34. Nuggets G Toney Douglas Florida St.

35. Pistons F/C Josh Heyvelt Gonzaga

36. Grizzlies F Victor Claver Spain

37. Spurs G Nando De Colo France

38. Blazers SG Marcus Thorton LSU

39. Pistons F Derrick Brown Xavier

40. Bobcats PF Taj Gibson USC

41. Bucks PF DeMarre Carroll Missouri

42. Lakers F/G Danny Green N. Carolina

43. Heat SG Jermaine Taylor Central Florida

44. Pistons SG Sergey Gladyr Ukraine

45. Wolves PF Jeff Pendergraph Arizona St.

46. Cavs PF Jon Brockman Washington

47. Wolves G Jack McClinton Miami

48. Suns G/F Lee Cummard BYU

49. Hawks G Daniel Hackett USC

50. Jazz PF Henk Norel Netherlands

51. Spurs F Robert Dozier Memphis

52. Pacers G Patrick Beverly Ukraine (Arkansas)

53. Spurs PG Sergio Llull Spain

54. Bobcats G/F Paul Harris Syracuse

55. Blazers SG Dionte Christmas Temple

56. Blazers PF Dante Cunningham Villanova

57. Suns SF Joe Ingles Australia

58. Celtics PF Ahmad Nivins St. Joe's

59. Lakers PF Leo Lyons Missouri

60. Cavs PG A.J. Price UCONN

Scrubs? Not So Fast: The Production of D-League Players in the NBA

2009-06-10T22:24:18Z

From the Fan Posts, courtesy of my favorite Iceman. It also brings a bit of sexy, which is what you should be used to with Iceman's posts, courtesy of one Louis Amundson. Enjoy! -- Scott

I don't usually do these kinds of things. My usual posts are nothing more than a puppet show of bizarre characters lacking any discernible argument or thesis. But in this case I felt compelled to toss aside the Kool-aid of callous humor and address this idea head on. When it comes to the NBA Developmental League, the question on every GM's mind is: "How do I know the player I see in the D-League is the player I get in my locker room (or at the end of my bench, as the case may be)?" Scott and I have been kicking around this question as well, namely, how do you evaluate players to ensure that the guy you saw windmill dunking on scrubs isn't the same guy turning the ball over every other possession once he hits the NBA?

Kelenna Azubuike throwing it down before his big break and Pops Mensah-Bonsu showing GMs his silky touch

Well after a little statistical comparison, I have some conclusions about what numbers can transfer from the D-League to the NBA. Granted, this is not an expansive report spanning several years of data and hundreds of players, but it is a selection of player data analysis that can be used to loosely determine what you the fan can expect when you get a new D-League guy on your bench mid-season. (Here's looking at you Golden State - we all know Nellie loves him some player development).

Once again, I am not an expert in statistical analysis, nor have I much experience in this (my last fanpost was about a defunct dance squad). But what I decided to do in exploring this topic was to find some of the more successful guys to make a jump from the D-League to the NBA, essentially guys that played either multiple seasons in both leagues or played a significant number of games in both leagues during the same season. I figured at minimum 10 games or so would be enough to compare the averages and see what we came up with. I then broke the players down into three categories: Point Guard, Wing, Forward/Center. Once they were divided into their categories, I compared their D-League numbers to their NBA stats per 36 minutes, so as to gain some consistency to account for fluctuating playing time.

The other facet of the NBA/D-League statistical comparison was trying to catch guys on the upswing of their career, or during their development. So, take Eddie Gill for instance, he played in the D during the 2002-03 season and then in 2003-04 he played for the Pacers. You could make the case that his development and career was on the "upswing" at the point he signed with the Pacers. Therefore comparing those two seasons of his career made sense from the standpoint that a GM in 2003 would look at Eddie Gill as a promising prospect and wonder how his numbers would transfer to the NBA. Get it? No, you still don't? I mean, c'mon - I'm not friggin' John Hollinger here, that guy is confusing as hell. Although did I mention that I did use his PER method for evaluating players in both league settings? Yeah I'm that good. But I digress...

Hit the jump for my conclusions...

A lot of NBA fans are of the mindset that the D-League is a big train-wreck of castoff talent, but Von Wafer would like you to know that you can't overlook some of the productive players the D has to offer.

Point Guards

So you made it through my intro and decided to keep reading eh? Good for you, how intrepid. Let's get started by analyzing the Point Guards. For this category I've selected a couple players as examples whose statistics per 36 minutes you can see below:

POINT GUARDS
Player	League	YR	Gm	GS	Min	FG%	3P%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	PER
Eddie Gill	NBA	2003-04	22	0	157	0.417	0.375	0.9	3	3.9	3.7	2.1	0.2	2.8	3.7	11.5	13.2
Eddie Gill	DL	2002-03	35	34	1085	0.441	0.329	0.8	3.4	4.1	6	1.4	0.5	2.9	3.1	14.6	17.5
CJ Watson	NBA	2007-08	32	0	368	0.426	0.346	1.3	1.9	3.1	3.4	1.5	0	1.8	1.9	11.5	11.0
CJ Watson	DL	2007-08	16	12	607	0.504	0.4	1.1	4	5.2	5.5	1.7	0.2	3.3	3.1	24.9	26.2
Mike Taylor	NBA	2008-09	51	5	771	0.412	0.325	1	3	4.1	4.9	1.7	0	3.4	3.9	13.5	10.1
Mike Taylor	DL	2007-08	39	6	1085	0.482	0.338	1.2	3.3	4.5	5.6	1.6	0.3	4.4	3.1	18.8	16.3
Will Bynum	NBA	2005-06	15	0	162	0.404	0.222	0.7	2	2.7	4.2	1.6	0	3.1	2.2	12	8.7
Will Bynum	DL	2005-06	29	28	1094	0.468	0.301	0.6	2.1	2.7	6.4	1.6	0.1	5.4	3.3	22.9	19.6
Shannon Brown	NBA	2007-08	21	4	240	0.349	0.3	0.9	2.1	3	2.5	1.6	0.5	3.6	4.3	17.1	6.3
Shannon Brown	DL	2007-08	11	7	406	0.423	0.348	1.2	4.3	5.4	2.9	1.3	0.7	3.7	3.4	22.8	16.8

When looking at Point Guards you'd assume the most important stats would be Assists, Turnovers, Steals, and Points. You'll note that Shannon Brown is included with the Point Guards, although he's truly a SG. I included him here because his current role with the Lakers both from 2007-08 and 2008-09 was one of pseudo-PG in the Triangle Offense (Thanks for screwing this thing up Phil Jackson. What's next, you land a 6'9" Left-handed Chinese Point Guard?) Anyway, here is a rundown of what I've gleaned from analyzing these players' numbers:

Assists - Generally we see players assists go down by a little less than half, I imagine this can be accounted for by the speed of the game and the strength of NBA defenses. Again, Brown does not jive with what is commonplace for the others.
Turnovers - Surprisingly, of the players I analyzed, the majority saw their turnovers either decrease or stay about the same per 36 minutes. This is where the developmental "upswing" factor comes into play. You would assume these fluctuations would be the result of more conservative play and positive development either between seasons or as the result of D-League development.
Steals- This is one instinctive skill that translates very well from the D-League to the NBA. Granted, none of these guys are great pick-pockets ala Chris Paul, but on average they record 1.5 a game in both leagues.
Points - This is obviously one element of a Point Guard's game that will change from one league to the other. In the D-League most of these guys were often one of the top three scoring options, but in the NBA they might be 4th or 5th in a given line-up. But despite that, a safe assumption for the players analyzed here would be a drop of five to ten points per 36 minutes once they are in the NBA. NBA defense also comprises some the fluctuations in these numbers, as nearly all of these Point Guards saw their FG% and 3P% drop by four to ten percentage points per 36 minutes.
PER - This is an imperfect metric, but one that is still useful. On the whole, D-League Point Guards saw their PER average cut in half once they landed in the NBA, with most of them teetering around a PER of 10, which puts them below the league average of 15.

Wings

Now let's take a look at the Wing players who are essentially either Shooting Guards or Small Forwards. I wanted to look at them as a group mainly because this is the type of player that NBA teams usually grab from the D-League. PGs and PF/Cs are hard to come by and the good ones, or even just promising ones, get snapped up pretty quickly by NBA teams. That's not to say that there aren't good PGs of PFs in the D-League, but they are just not as numerous as the quality wing players.

WINGS
Player	League	YR	G	GS	Min	FG%	3P%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	PER
Kasib Powell	NBA	2007-08	11	4	304	0.368	0.242	0.9	4.3	5.2	2.1	1.1	0.2	0.6	2.1	9.9	9.0
Kasib Powell	DL	2007-08	40	38	1541	0.508	0.412	1.2	4.4	5.6	2.8	1.3	0.6	2.2	3.1	20.7	19.4
Kelenna Azubuike	NBA	2006-07	41	9	669	0.445	0.43	1.4	3.7	5.1	1.5	1.2	0.5	2.1	2.6	15.7	13.4
Kelenna Azubuike	DL	2006-07	12	12	503	0.514	0.485	0.6	3.7	4.3	2.7	1	0.5	2.3	1.9	22.3	20.9
Kedrick Brown	NBA	2003-04	55	26	969	0.461	0.384	1.5	3.9	5.4	2.4	1.1	0.3	1.1	3	10.7	12.5
Kedrick Brown	DL	2007-08	49	46	1714	0.447	0.29	1.7	4.3	6	1.8	1.4	0.4	1.7	2.7	15.7	15.0
Von Wafer	NBA	2007-08	29	0	154	0.279	0.154	0.2	4.2	4.4	1.6	0.5	0.7	3	1.6	10.8	1.0
Von Wafer	DL	2006-07	42	42	1351	0.486	0.453	0.5	2.7	3.3	3.7	0.9	0.4	2.5	2.4	23.6	20.6
Jawad Williams	NBA	2008-09	10	0	20	0.417	0.333	1.8	1.8	3.6	0	1.8	0	1.8	3.6	21.6	14.1
Jawad Williams	DL	2008-09	19	18	691	0.453	0.418	1.1	3	4.1	2.3	0.9	0.4	2.3	2.4	25.4	18.9
Gerald Green	NBA	2006-07	81	26	1779	0.419	0.368	1.4	2.8	4.2	1.7	0.8	0.5	2.4	4	17.1	12.0
Gerald Green	DL	2005-06	9	5	226	0.434	0.455	2.4	4.6	7	2.2	1.9	0.5	4.5	3.7	17	12.7
Dahntay Jones	NBA	2008-09	79	71	1426	0.458	0.647	1.5	2.8	4.2	2	1.2	0.5	1.7	5	10.8	9.0
Dahntay Jones	DL	2007-08	10	10	372	0.524	0.333	0.9	3.6	4.5	2.3	0.8	1.1	2.7	3.7	23.6	20.0

So for your standard SG and SF I figured that scoring and defensive stats were the most important, since most teams are looking for two-way players to come off the bench. So for Wings we'll examine Points, Shooting Percentages, Rebounds, Steals, and Turnovers.

Points- Unlike the PGs, this ranges all over the place base on different guy's games. Jawad Williams is a great scorer and doesn't bring a lot else to the table, so his scoring numbers remained pretty consistent from league to league. Most of the other guys saw a considerable drop of nearly five to ten points worth of scoring, most of the time due to the same factors the PGs faced: namely better defense and more scoring options on NBA teams.
Shooting Percentages- I didn't dig very deep on these numbers, just the FG% and 3P% per 36 minutes. Across the board we saw shooting percentages dip, for the obvious reasons stated above. Even for guys like Williams and Von Wafer who are known as solid shooters, the numbers dipped at least four or five percentage points, and for other guys with a much better slashing game, like Gerald Green and Dahntay Jones, we still saw a drop in numbers of nearly four to ten percentage points per 36 minutes. So in this case, it's best for GMs and fans to assume that the guys with the hottest hand in the D-League, on average, will lose a little fire when they jump to the NBA.
Rebounds - Everyone loves it when guards come into the paint and crash the boards, and there are many D-League wing players who do this effectively. On the whole, D-League wing players maintained and in some cases exceeded their previous D-League rebounding numbers. You may be able to chalk this up to D-League guys trying to find a role on an NBA team and make themselves "stick". Nothing is better for your rebounding numbers than playing your butt off just trying to stay on the team.
Steals- Many NBA teams are looking into the D for their next "defensive stopper", and there are plenty of those to be had. The steals numbers for this particular group over 36 minutes vary greatly. For a guy like Dahntay Jones, who is known as the defensive stopper on the Nuggets, his steals actually increased in the NBA, whereas a guy like Gerald Green couldn't physically dominate offensive players at the next level like he had in the D and saw his steals average drop.
Turnovers- In keeping with the D-League PGs, this set of wing players either maintained their turnover rate or lowered it upon entering the NBA. Again, this may be because these players were not forced to carry as heavy an offensive burden and were perhaps less brazen in their scoring efforts because of that. But this statistic generally bodes well for players in the D-League with already low turnover rates, as they can be predicted to turn the ball over even less upon entering the NBA.
PER - The changes between leagues definitely takes its toll on the PER numbers for this group. There is a wild fluctuation in the amount of change, but it is safe to say that most D-League wing players upon entering the NBA will more than likely see a dip of 10 PER points or more. The average for the players examined here was 10.1 after their stint in the NBA, which is once again under the league average.

Forwards/Centers

The Power Forwards and Centers may be the most difficult group to measure and that's mainly because there aren't very many players that received a call-up or spent much time in the D-League. But I did find a few gems that have risen from the D-League to a successful run in the NBA. Usually teams are looking for a big body to come off the bench and either play sound defense, grab plenty of rebounds, and/or score a little bit. Another key for big men is free throw shooting, which has been the Achilles Heel of even some of the great NBA players. As an aside I would like to point out that I am using Patrick O'Bryant as one of the examples, please feel free to bask in the unintentional comedy.

Louis Amundson: Because everyone needs a white forward that looks and sounds like a Swiss physicist. Didn't he invent gravity after running into a monstrous asteroid?

FORWARDS
Player	League	YR	G	GS	Min	FG%	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS	PER
	NBA	2006-07	12	0	71	0.647	9.1	0.389	4.6	6.1	10.6	0	0.5	0	4.6	4.1	14.7	11.6
Pops Mensah-Bosu	DL	2006-07	26	23	797	0.56	7.8	0.601	5.4	6.8	12.2	0.7	0.9	1.5	3.3	4.5	18.6	19.7
	NBA	2007-08	16	0	64	0.5	3.9	0.286	3.9	2.8	6.8	0	0.6	0.6	1.1	7.3	10.1	7.4
Louis Amundson	DL	2006-07	25	25	631	0.563	5	0.489	4.7	6.1	10.8	1	1.1	3.5	2.2	4.5	15.8	19.6
	NBA	2007-08	78	75	2166	0.485	1.4	0.741	1.5	6.5	8	1.5	1.3	1.8	0.8	2.5	11	15.0
Jamario Moon	DL	2005-06	3	1	52	0.231	2.8	1	0.7	4.2	4.8	1.4	4.2	0.7	0.7	3.5	6.9	10.0
	NBA	2007-08	62	0	764	0.558	2.6	0.673	4.1	7	11.1	1.4	1.1	3.9	1.8	6.6	10.4	17.5
Amir Johnson	DL	2006-07	22	22	775	0.623	6.2	0.746	3.5	6.3	9.8	2.1	1.2	3.2	3.3	4.5	19.3	23.8
Patrick O'Bryant	NBA	2006-07	16	0	119	0.313	5.1	0.647	2.1	4.2	6.4	2.7	1.8	2.4	2.4	7.9	9.4	7.3
Patrick O'Bryant	DL	2006-07	25	23	746	0.515	3.5	0.792	2.7	8.9	11.6	1.7	0.7	3.5	2.4	4.3	14.5	18.0

Most NBA teams scour the globe looking for solid big men. The D-League has had it's share of guys who weren't strictly assignees, but instead managed to play their way into the NBA. For this group I decided to look at FT Attempts, FT%, Total Rebounds, Blocks, Fouls, and of course Points.

Free Throw Attempts - This seems like a good indication of how often a big man gets to the line, and for this group it went down fairly steeply, by two or three attempts per 36 minutes in the NBA. The only exceptions were Pops Mensah-Bonsu (who is a beast) and the Notorious POB, both of whom created two more attempts per 36 minutes. Go figure.
Free Throw Percentage- Obviously, once a guy gets to the line you need him to finish. Only Jamario Moon shot higher than 70%. Amundson and Mensah-Bonsu finished with a dismal 28% and 38% respectively. For most of these guys, they did not play enough minutes to possibly level out their poor FT shooting percentages. There was, however, a noticeable dip in the overall percentages of most players, possibly due to not getting to the line as often.
Total Rebounds - There a few exceptions, but for most PF/Cs coming from the D-League, you can expect these numbers to drop anywhere from two to five rebounds per 36 minutes for most guys. The reasoning here is that bigger, strong, more athletic, and more skilled bodies in the paint make it much tougher to snare rebounds in the NBA.
Blocks - An excellent measure of PF/Cs defensive ability. NBA teams are constantly looking for a guy who can protect the rim. Of the sample players, every single one dipped in blocks once in the NBA, although the drop was relatively small, measuring only 0.6 fewer blocks per 36 minutes on average.
Fouls - Teams need guys that can stay on the floor (here's looking at you Greg Oden). For Moon and Pops this wouldn't be a problem as they seemed to maintain their fouling rate well. But on the whole I think it's safe to assume that these big bodies would need to adjust to the NBA officiating, as most PF/Cs fouling rate jumped up nearly three more fouls per 36 minutes!
Points - Oh you mean you want them to score too? Man, you are demanding NBA! These guys scored at a relatively good rate, only dropping an average of four points per 36 minutes once in the NBA. Their proximity to the hoop and ability to score on put-backs insulates this group of players more than some of the guards/wings who are very dependent on getting their shots to fall.
PER- Once again this is an imperfect measure, but it does give us some idea of the overall picture here. For the PF/Cs the drop in PER numbers is in line with the other two groups of players. A drop of anywhere from five to ten PER points is to be expected in the jump from D-League to the NBA. Bu with an average PER of 11.8, this group of big men is slightly higher than their counterparts in the D-League backcourt.

In conclusion... holy crap are you still reading this? I thought you would have nodded off by now. Well, excellent work on your part. I think the point of this entire post is to identify the attributes of players in the D-League that transfer well into the NBA. So think about that the next time you're watching a D-League game (if ever, but you should). Just remember that for the most part the guy you see posting up 25 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals will probably be more along the lines of a 14/5/3/2 kind of a guy once he's in the NBA. Once again, please remember that this is not a complete work, merely a sampling of some of the examples of guys to make the jump from the D-League to the NBA. I hope fans of both leagues find this somewhat helpful and hopefully acknowledge that the level of competition in the D-League is not so far off from the NBA.

Now since you've been so good....here's a little treat!!!

Poll

How do you feel about a D-Leaguer getting significant minutes on your favorite NBA team next season?

It's great! I love to see the scrappy underdogs get some love

43 votes

Okay, if we really need a rotation bench guy or something

10 votes

Meh...warm practice body I guess

4 votes

Aww heck noes! Get me another tired re-tread veteran please.

0 votes

I didn't even like/read this post, therefore I'm picking this choice because I always vote on random polls

2 votes

59 votes | Poll has closed

Short, Fast, and Australian: A Case for Patty Mills

2009-05-25T05:15:39Z

From the Fan Shots, via RU's own IcemanCometh -- Scott

Highly touted point guard prospect Ricky Rubio made a name for himself with American fans in his stint with the Spanish National team at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In his game against the United States, Rubio did everything he could to win the game: shooting, penetrating, and dishing to his teammates with a veteran flair. With each no-look pass and one handed alley-oop, Ricky won America's (and lottery teams' fans) hearts and minds (and checkbooks inevitably).

I would like to make the case that Ricky Rubio wasn't the only outstanding point guard prospect playing in the Olympics, but that a little known 6 foot wonder from down under was also making a splash with the Boomers.

Patty Mills: He's like Chris Paul, but he likes vegemite sandwiches

He's a fast point guard who blew by, yes, blew by the likes of Chris Paul and Jason Kidd! Okay, I know what you're saying, getting by Kidd isn't that I hard. In fact I could pretty much get to the cup hopping on one leg against Kidd right now. And I'm drunk! But I digress, Patrick Mills did everything he could to win his game against the USA in the Olympics this summer and now he's not getting nearly the love Rubio is heading into the NBA Draft. I have a couple thoughts why...

Hit the jump to find out what I'm thinking...

Before the jump I described my thoughts on Patrick (Patty) Mills, but let me explain a little further. During the 2008 Olympics with the Australian National team, the Boomers, Mills averaged 14.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2 assists, and nearly 2 steals a game. During his most memorable performance, against the Olympic Champion USA squad, Mills logged 20 points, 2 assists and 3 steals.

A lot of times during an NBA Draft you wonder how a player will stack up against NBA level competition. In the case of Rubio and Mills you know these kids can compete not just with NBA guys, but with All-NBA-Nuclear-Powered-All-Stars. During the Olympics, both Patty and Ricky (also the name of a early-60's beach band) reached down into their cajones and played like men against veteran NBA players on an international TV broadcast. Some announcers make a big deal about some College kids getting nervous about being on TV during some regular season game in November that no one cares about, but try playing the world's best veteran pros in front of everyone in the world.....ever. I mean for godsake, even remote African jungle villages were watching USA basketball last summer.

Patty doin' what he do:

Mills played his last two college basketball seasons at St. Marys in the WCC, which has enjoyed somewhat of a renaissance during his tenure, including a top 25 ranking for several weeks this season. Over two seasons he has averaged 18.4 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals per game for the Charging Nuns (I know, I know, they are really called the Gaels, whatever the hell that is). But there are some reasons why Mills may not be getting the love he deserves.

1. He got injured during the college season - When teams are playing during the bulk of their NCAA schedules before February and March, fans, GMs, and scouts follow certain players and guys' stocks typically pick up momentum until the fervor peaks during the tourney. If a guy falls off before then due to injury, or lack of solid play, then that guy becomes a case of out of sight, out of mind. And that's essentially what happen to Patty this year. He was averaging nearly 19 points, 3.9 assists and 2.4 steals a game, and had led St. Mary's to a nearly undefeated record and top 25 ranking. Then against Gonzaga he injured his wrist and was generally forgotten as the rest of college b-ball passed him by.

2. Draft Express is a bunch of Haters. Hi Hater. To truncate DX's results... He's short. He doesn't weight a lot. He's and inefficient scorer in certain areas. He has marginal point guard skills. WTF Draft Express? Have you not been paying attention...this dude is quick and awesome! Whoa, wait watch this:

At any rate, I happen to think that Mills can find a place in the NBA. He's only 20 years old and clearly has the speed to excel in the NBA. Here's hoping that he a gets a little more love from the scouts and analysist heading into the Draft. He's at least got to be better than Luke Schenscher.

Just for reference: LUKE SCHENSCHER (aka Irish/Australian Jesus):

Poll

What is Patrick Mill's NBA Future?

Austrailian John Stockton (But not as white)

133 votes

Damon Stoudamire (aka crappy)

27 votes

Mugsy Bogues (wait is this different than Stoudamire?)

22 votes

Who even cares, this guy is on the express train to Bust City

13 votes

195 votes | Poll has closed

AK1984's 2009 Mock Draft: Version 2.0!

2009-05-22T04:12:39Z

Ladies And Gentleman,

We've given you what we think will happen and what we think should happen. Now, from the fan posts, I give you AK1984's "What would happen if I'm brilliant beyond all belief and can predict trades and everything" mock draft. It's amazing(ly long after the jump.)

-Scott

1st Pick (Los Angeles Clippers)

PF Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) [Sophomore] {3/16/1989}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Blake-Griffin-1268/

According to most reports, the Los Angeles Clippers seem hell-bent on drafting Blake Griffin. Regardless of the possibility that this may be a smokescreen by Mike Dunleavy, Sr., it appears that Griffin is his man—no matter Zach Randolph.

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/59279/20090520/dunleavy_were_taking_griffin/

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/59287/20090520/clippers_begin_using_griffin_to_sell_tickets/

Now, if Griffin is indeed the choice, then Randolph will probably be on the move sometime after the July moratorium and before the 2009-2010 season; otherwise, there’ll be a glut of power forwards in Los Angeles.

For Randolph, though, I can’t see the Clippers getting anything more than salary relief — such as the rotting carcass of Jerome James and a return of the useless Tim Thomas from the Chicago Bulls — in return for him this summer. Then again, salary relief for Randolph would be addition by subtraction.

Trade #1

The Los Angeles Clippers trade Chris Kaman to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Earl Watson and Chucky Atkins; the Thunder subsequently waive Atkins, whose salary is partially guaranteed for just $760,000 during the 2009-2010 season.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cd39ka

For the Los Angeles Clippers, the team cuts future salary obligations and clears out some of its surplus of frontline players. Even if the Clippers are still stuck with Randolph to start the season, at least in this case there’d be 32 minutes of playing time to go around for him, Marcus Camby, and Blake Griffin — with spot minutes for DeAndre Jordan and Brian Skinner — so it shouldn’t be too tenuous of a situation.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team acquires a starting center in Chris Kaman to add to its frontline rotation of Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, Nick Collison, and D.J. White. While Kaman was hurt a bit last season and saw his production dwindle from the 2007-2008 campaign, it’s reasonable to expect that he’s once again a double-double threat when at 100% health.

2nd Pick (Memphis Grizzlies)

PG Ricky Rubio (DKV Joventut) [International] {10/21/1990}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ricky-Rubio-1155/

Even with Mike Conley, Jr. already on the Memphis Grizzlies, Chris Wallace would be foolish to pass on Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio if Blake Griffin is already off the board by the 2nd pick.

Unfortunately for Wallace and his co-workers, though, Rubio has made it known through his agent -- which is Dan Fegan (i.e., the guy who ultimately got Yi Jianlian out of Milwaukee) -- that he wants nothing to do with Memphis.

"Rubio doesn't want to go to Memphis, and he especially does not want to pay money out of his own pocket with that huge buyout for the honor of doing so."

http://deadspin.com/5264627/ricky-rubio-is-already-getting-the-hang-of-the-american-game

So, even if the Grizzlies do call Rubio's bluff and select him, my bet is that he'll eventually have his draft rights traded to a desired destination; otherwise, he'll just hang out in Europe and play for DKV Joventut through the 2010-2011 season.

3rd Pick (Oklahoma City Thunder)

SG James Harden (Arizona State) [Sophomore] {8/26/1989}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/James-Harden-1241/

Between James Harden and Hasheem Thabeet, it’s my belief that Harden would make a more immediate impact on the Oklahoma City Thunder. As was with Brandon Roy in 2006, Harden gets knocked for not having an enormous upside to his game; however, his refined isolation game on offense is perfect for the NBA, while he’s also well-built for a shooting guard and a solid rebounder for a guy at that position.

Next to Russell Westbrook, the only questions surrounding that backcourt tandem would be mediocre jump shooting shooting and a propensity for turnovers. Alongside fellow wing player Kevin Durant, there’s be some glaring problems defensively — since a disgustingly putrid defensive player like Durant is surely better off playing with a defensive-minded guy such as Kyle Weaver or Thabo Sefolosha — nonetheless, there’s no doubt that they’d form a dynamic duo on offense.

4th Pick (Sacramento Kings)

PG Brandon Jennings (Lottomatica Roma) [International] {9/23/1989}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Brandon-Jennings-1114/

The Sacramento Kings need a point guard, pure and simple. So, even though I’m not sold on Brandon Jennings — who’s been compared to guys like Damon Stoudamire, Kenny Anderson, Rod Strickland, et al. — the Kings are in a position to draft solely on need here. Hell, Beno Udrih obviously isn’t cutting it All in all, Jennings may backfire on the team in the long run; yet, it just makes perfect sense at this point in time.

5th Pick (Washington Wizards)

PF Jordan Hill (Arizona) [Junior] {7/27/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jordan-Hill-1222/

For the Washington Wizards, there’s been talk that Jordan Hill would be a nice choice — since Antawn Jamison is very soft on offense and weak defensively at power forward, as well as lacking a quick first step offensively and too laterally slow on defense at small foward — while Hasheem Thabeet might also be a nice choice due to the oft-injured Brendan Haywood being in the last year of his contract, JaVale McGee being a slight disappointment as a rookie, Etan Thomas being on his last legs, and Oleksiy Pecherov being a bottomless pile of suck.

I, however, believe that the Wizards owner Abe Pollin will demand his front office personnel to trade down from the #5 pick this season for financial reasons (i.e., to avoid paying the luxury tax next season). So, while the Wizards will officially pick Hill, he'll probably soon be on the move elsewhere.

6th Pick (Minnesota Timberwolves)

C Hasheem Thabeet (Connecticut) [Junior] {2/16/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Hasheem-Thabeet-1061/

If Hasheem Thabeet slips by both the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Washington Wizards, there’s no way that the Minnesota Timberwolves can pass up on a defensive anchor in the post. With defensive sieves like Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, and Craig Smith currently making up its frontline rotation — while scrubs Mark Madsen and Brian Cardinal ride the pine — a 7’3" tall monster with Dikembe Mutombo-esque potential would be a grand addition for the Timberwolves.

7th Pick (Golden State Warriors)

PF Earl Clark (Louisville) [Junior] {1/17/1988}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Earl-Clark-488/

With Robert Rowell, Larry Riley, and Don Nelson at the helm, the Golden State Warriors are in complete disarray. While I’m of the belief that Earl Clark is a prospect solely on talent alone and has a mediocre skill set, he’s nevertheless the kind of tall and lanky high-volume shooter at power forward who’d draw Nelson’s attention.

As was with Anthony Randolph last season and Brandan Wright the year before that, however, Clark would soon find his way in Nelson’s doghouse. So, as the old adage goes, those who don’t learn from their past mistakes in history are doomed to repeat them. Heck, Rowell’s recent hiring of Nelson’s buddy Riley to the GM position indicates the more things change in Oakland the more they stay the same there.

Oh, and sometime after the July moratorium and before the 2009-2010, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers sign off on a blockbuster deal like Jamal Crawford and Corey Maggette — so long as Crawford doesn’t exercise his early termination option — for Baron Davis, Al Thornton, and salary filler (e.g., Mardy Collins). Collins, of course, would be immediately released in that scenario.

8th Pick (New York Knicks)

SG Stephen Curry (Davidson) [Junior] {3/14/1988}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Stephen-Curry-1170/

While I believe Stephen Curry is the next in a long line of unathletic, undersized, one-dimensional shooters like J.J. Redick, Trajan Langdon, and Shawn Respert, Mike D’Antoni probably sees in him a perfect fit at shooting guard within that goddamn fast-paced, run-‘n’-gun offensive scheme. Luckily for Curry, though, an up-tempo offense would really suit him; plus, a backcourt teammate like Chris Duhon would mask his so-so playmaking abilities and atrocious defense.

With Curry in the fold, moreover, that’d allow Donnie Walsh and D’Antoni to let Nate Robinson ride off into the sunset. That’s not a bad thing, either, since re-signing him to a long-term contract this off-season would’ve cut into the Knicks financial resources heading into the summer of 2010.

Then again, D'Antoni may quickly gaze away from the overrated Curry and have his eyes set on a much bigger prize.

Trade #2

FROM INDIANA
PG Jamaal Tinsley ($6,750,000)

FROM MEMPHIS
SG Marko Jaric ($6,575,000)
PF Darrell Arthur ($977,160)
PG Ricky Rubio (# 2 Pick)

FROM NEW YORK
PG Chris Duhon ($5,585,000)
SG Stephen Curry (#8 Pick)
2012 First-Round Draft Pick
Cash Considerations ($3,000,000)

FROM WASHINGTON
PF Darius Songaila ($4,234,000)
PF Jordan Hill (#5 Pick)

TO INDIANA
SG Marko Jaric ($6,575,000)

TO MEMPHIS
PG Chris Duhon ($5,585,000)
PF Darius Songaila ($4,234,000)
PF Jordan Hill (#5 Pick)
2012 First-Round Draft Pick (Via New York)
Cash Considerations ($3,000,000)

TO NEW YORK
PG Jamaal Tinsley ($6,750,000)
PG Ricky Rubio (#2 Pick)

TO WASHINGTON
PF Darrell Arthur ($977,160)
SG Stephen Curry (#8 Pick)

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qkkssu

For the Indiana Pacers, it’s a lateral move that’s made solely to dump the unwanted Jamaal Tinsley.

For the Memphis Grizzlies, Jordan Hill is a power forward who’d complete the team’s starting lineup that already includes center Marc Gasol, small forward Rudy Gay, shooting guard O.J. Mayo, and point guard Mike Conley, Jr. While that’d be an entertaining quintent to watch on offense, they’re all anywhere from below average to abysmal defenders.

Also, as compensation for appeasing Ricky Rubio’s desire to play in a metropolitan area, the Grizzlies would essentially shave a year off of Marko Jaric’s overpriced contract — as Chris Duhon has a contract that expires after next season — along with getting $3,000,000 in cash considerations to pad Michael Heisley’s bank account and, last but certainly not least, a 2012 first-round draft pick as a future asset.

For the New York Knicks, eccentric Cablevision CEO James Dolan would probably wet his pants from the arrival of the shaggy-haired wunderkind, Ricky Rubio, who’s currently worth as much off the court as he is on it. No matter how you slice it, though, Rubio ending up in the Big Apple would be the dawning of a new age. Yet, that notwithstanding, essentially swapping Chris Duhon for Jamaal Tinsley would add an extra $7,500,000 to the team’s books for the 2010-2011 season.

That, therefore, would make moving Eddy Curry’s gigantic contract a necessity this summer, even if it’s in conjuction with a sign-and-trade of David Lee — who’ll command something like a six-year, $60 million contract this summer — to a team needing low-post scoring like the Miami Heat in return for some guys who’ve got expiring contracts (e.g., Mark Blount, Udonis Haslem, Dorell Wright, & Yakhouba Diawara). Otherwise, the Knicks will only have room to sign one maximum-level free-agent rather than two during the 2010 off-season.

http://www.blazersedge.com/2009/5/3/863462/miller-skips-out-on-team-meeting#15199866

For the Washington Wizards, Stephen Curry isn’t the pure point guard who I believe would work best in a backcourt with Gilbert Arenas. Yet, with Arenas being a high-usage player who often hogs the ball, a spot-up shooter like Curry would be a dangerous threat who’d allow Arenas to either iso his man one-on-one or have an efficient shooter to kick the ball out to in double-team situations. Curry and Arenas would be pretty porous defensively, though, so Nick Young would still get his fair share of minutes off of the bench.

Additionally, the Wizards would receive some salary relief in light of parting with Jordan Hill by swapping Darius Songaila for Darrell Arthur. While it ostensibly looks like Hill would be a nice piece in Washington, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are allegedly entrenched at the forward positions—regardless of their defensive limitations. The Wizards have a couple of so-so defenders playing behind Jamison and Butler, Andray Blatche and Dominic McGuire, but neither of them are well-rounded players capable of playing a truly substantial role, which is even despite them both earning several starts last season due to injuries.

Trade #3

The New York Knicks trade Jared Jeffries and Wilson Chandler to the Sacramento Kings for Kenny Thomas.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cy8lm3

For the New York Knicks, it’s all about slashing future salary obligations in anticipation for the summer of 2010. While Wilson Chandler is a decent player, the Knicks already have a satisfactory stopgap at small forward for next season (i.e., Quentin Richardson) and, moreover, have its proverbial eyes set on LeBron James in the distance.

Regarding Jeffries, a healthy Danilo Gallinari — who’s Mike D’Antoni’s pet project — would push him out of the rotation; thus, he’s expendable both financially and apropos of playing time. All in all, a trade of Jeffries and Chandler to the Sacramento Kings for Kenny Thomas cuts $9,014,282 from the 2010-2011 books.

For the Sacramento Kings, the addition of Wilson Chandler would allow Andres Nocioni to move back to his more natural sixth man role; plus, Jared Jeffries would be an upgrade over Kenny Thomas at the backup power forward spot behind Jason Thompson. Even if restricted free-agent Ike Diogu re-signs with the Kings, Jeffries would still provide the team with someone with a different skill set off of the bench.

9th Pick (Toronto Raptors)

SG Gerald Henderson (Duke) [Junior] {12/9/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Gerald-Henderson-1042/

Shawn Marion and Anthony Parker are unrestricted free agents this off-season, so replenishing its depth at the wing positions is a much-needed move by the Toronto Raptors. Henderson, who doesn’t necessarily have a lot of upside, is a well-rounded player — especially on the defensive end — who’d make a more immediate impact than a project like Tyreke Evans.

10th Pick (Milwaukee Bucks)

PF James Johnson (Wake Forest) [Sophomore] {2/20/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/James-Johnson-5053/

The Milwaukee Bucks will have a tough decision to make with its lottery pick during the 2009 NBA Draft, since both power forward Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions are restricted free-agents heading into the off-season. Since Bucks owner Herb Kohl is in cost-cutting mode, it’s likely that just one of Villanueva and Sessions will be retained this summer; therefore, GM John Hammond and head coach Scott Skiles will need to decide which position they want to fill come draft day.

Now, due to the fact that Skiles isn’t too fond of soft players like Villanueva and its easier for a power forward to transition quickly to the NBA game than a point guard, badass James Johnson — who’s fought professionally in MMA bouts — would slide right in by cheaply filling a need for the Bucks. Also, it’d give the Bucks some financial leeway in negotiations with Sessions in its attempt to re-sign him.

Trade #4

The Milwaukee Bucks trade Dan Gadzuric to the Dallas Mavericks for Matt Carroll.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qyksdw

For the Milwaukee Bucks, trading Dan Gazuric for Matt Carroll would cut $2,049,260 from its books for the 2009-2010 season.

For the Dallas Mavericks, Dan Gadzuric would provide the team with some depth at center.

11th Pick (New Jersey Nets)

SF Demar DeRozan (USC) [Freshman] {8/7/1989}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Demar-DeRozan-1319/

I’m personally of the mindset that Demar DeRozan is dramatically closer to Antoine Wright, Gerald Green, and Rodney Carney than Vince Carter — which is a pie in the sky comparison — however, it’s likely that some team will reach by taking him in the lottery based strictly on potential.

With that in mind, the New Jersey Nets need a long-term solution for its hole at small forward. At shooting guard, Chris Douglas-Roberts is already around to give Vince Carter some cushion; thus, a guy at the other wing position is needed to push Bobby Simmons, Jarvis Hayes, and Trenton Hassell.

So, even if DeRozan is ultimately a bust, he’ll at least give the Nets a slim glimmer of hope in the meantime.

Trade #5

The New Jersey Nets trade Bobby Simmons and Sean Williams to the New Orleans Hornets for Peja Stojakovic.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=ompntt

Regardless of whether or not the New Jersey Nets draft a small forward of the future like Demar DeRozan, that doesn’t change its need of a short-term solution at the position. Although Peja Stojakovic is a piss-poor defender — as is Vince Carter, who was actually underrated defensively until his lateral quickness gave way last season due to age — he’s still an efficient spot-up shooter from downtown over at the weakside corner.

For the New Orleans Hornets, dumping Peja Stojakovic for Bobby Simmons’ expiring contract and reclamation project Sean Williams — who’s fallen out of favor time after time in New Jersey — would cut $14,256,000 in salary obligations for the 2010-2011 season and provide the ballclub with some immediate frontline depth.

12th Pick (Charlotte Bobcats)

SG Tyreke Evans (Memphis) [Freshman] {9/19/1989}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Tyreke-Evans-1110/

The Charlotte Bobcats are pretty much set at every position over the next few years, with shooting guard being the lone exception. With Raja Bell entering the final year of his contract and about to reach the age of being beyond usefulness, a dribble-drive slasher like Tyreke Evans -- who, although eerily similar to Larry Hughes, should perform well in the right situation -- would be the perfect addition for the Bobcats. For Evans, a year as Bell’s understudy would suit him well for improving his jump shot and adjusting his defense to the NBA style of play.

13th Pick (Indiana Pacers)

SF Terrence Williams (Louisville) [Senior] {6/28/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Terrence-Williams-507/

Despite Brandon Rush’s shocking improvement to end his rookie season, the pending unresticted free agency of Marquis Daniels — as well as the unknown status of the oft-injured Mike Dunleavy, Jr. — could use some help at shooting guard. Even if Jarrett Jack is re-signed and shuffled over from point guard to shooting guard — which’d appease the disgruntled T.J. Ford — depth is still needed at the wing positions.

As a result, Terrence Williams of Louisville makes the most sense here. Williams’ versatile skill set makes him an all-around solid player, which compensates for him not being outstanding at any one thing. So, while Williams doesn’t have the upside of point guards like Johnny Flynn, Ty Lawson, and Eric Maynor, he’s a lot less likely than them to be a bust.

14th Pick (Phoenix Suns)

PG Eric Maynor (Virginia Commonwealth) [Senior] {6/11/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Eric-Maynor-1262/

With Steve Nash nearing the end of his career and Goran Dragic showing himself to be nothing but D-League fodder, a point guard is the direction that Steve Kerr and crew should be looking in at this moment. Eric Maynor, who’s got a nice assist-to-turnover ratio in spite of being a high-usage player with a propensity to oftentimes look for his own shot, would be a nice fit for the Phoenix Suns both in trasntion and in half-court sets.

Now, with regards to Steve Nash, I expect him to be dealt to the Toronto Raptors for Jose Calderon and salary filler (e.g., Kris Humphries) sometime soon after the July moratorium. Since Calderon and Humphries are currently base-year compensation players, a deal like that can’t be made at this point in time.

In any event, though, Calderon would give the Suns a top-notch starting point guard for now — while Maynor would come off of the bench with Leandro Barbosa — while the Raptors would get a cash cow in Nash, who's a Canadian legend. For the Raptors, selling tickets and somehow convincing Chris Bosh to sign a long-term extension — which is an altogether doubtful proposition — are vastly more important to the franchise than winning next season. That’s business for you, though.

15th Pick (Detroit Pistons)

PF DeJuan Blair (Pittsburgh) [Sophomore] {4/22/1989}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/DeJuan-Blair-5049/

For the Detroit Pistons, the selection of DeJuan Blair would be on the behalf of another franchise.

16th Pick (Chicago Bulls)

PG Ty Lawson (North Carolina) [Junior] {11/3/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ty-Lawson-485/

With both James Johnson and DeJuan Blair already off of the board — along with Patrick Patterson returning to Kentucky — Gani Lawal is the best availalbe banger. Lawal, however, is extremely raw and wouldn’t provide the Chicago Bulls with an immediate help on its frontline. As a result, the Bulls may as well select the best available player left in Ty Lawson.

Despite being undersized, Lawson is a heady floor general and outstanding long-range shooter for a point guard. Lawson is quick as hell and an outstanding ball handler, too, which’ll come in handy as Derrick Rose’s backup. With Lawson in the fold, though, that’d mean Lindsey Hunter is ready for retirement and Kirk Hinrich would be put squarely on the trading block.

Trade #6

The Chicago Bulls trade Kirk Hinrich to the Portland Trail Blazers for Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and the draft rights of Petteri Koponen; the Bulls would subsequently waive Blake and Outlaw, whose salaries are non-guaranteed for the 2009-2010 season if they’re cut on or before 6/30/2009.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cq9asz

For the Chicago Bulls, trading Kirk Hinrich for nothing but immediate salary relief would allow the team to re-sign Ben Gordon this off-season without going over the luxury tax next season.

For the Portland Trail Blazers, Kirk Hinrich is a lockdown perimeter defender and efficient shooter from beyond the arc. Alongside Brandon Roy in the backcourt, Hinrich is the perfect player to mask Roy’s solid, yet unspectacular three-point shooting and subpar defense.

17th Pick (Philadelphia 76ers)

SG Jrue Holiday (UCLA) [Freshman] {6/12/1990}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jrue-Holiday-1108/

For the Philadelphia 76ers, the team should select a combo guard who’s a first-rate defender and capable of running the offense when Andre Iguodala is on the bench. Without question, Jrue Holiday is the perfect fit for that position.

Since Willie Green and Louis Williams are better suited playing off the ball — while Royal Ivey ought to be a third-stringer who doesn’t garner regular minutes in the rotation — Holiday could definitely fill at least some of the void that’ll be left by the likely departure of Andre Miller.

18th Pick (Minnesota Timberwolves)

PG Johnny Flynn (Syracuse) [Sophomore] {2/6/1989}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jonny-Flynn-1245/

With Sebastian Telfair receiving numerous starts at point guard last season, it’s painfully obvious that the Minnesota Timberwolves need some major help there. Consequently, a dribble-drive/drive-and-dish distributor like Flynn would be the perfect guy to push Telfair next season.

While Flynn has some questions surrounding his recklessness, mediocre long-range shooting percentages, and defensive intenstiy, those aren’t negative qualities that’ve prevented Fred Hoiberg, Jim Stack, and/or Rob Babcock from going after a player in the past.

19th Pick (Atlanta Hawks)

PF Gani Lawal (Georgia Tech) [Sophomore] {11/7/1988}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Gani-Lawal-1269/

The Altanta Hawks are in a bit of flux, for its roster could be shaped in many ways this off-season. One spot that could use improvement is the backup power forward spot, as restricted free-agent Solomon Jones was an all-around average player — except for his relatively high field-goal shooting percentage — who could be easily replaced through the 2009 NBA Draft. Thus, with Gani Lawal, the Hawks would have a local product who could bang down low with the big boys for short spurts as a rookie.

Of course, the Hawks definitely need to make some other moves this off-season — such as re-signing both Mike Bibby and Zaza Pachulia using their Bird rights, re-signing Ronald "Flip" Murray to a two-year contract with the bi-annual exception, signing a true center (e.g., Marcin Gortat) with the mid-level exception to allow Al Horford and Josh Smith to shuffle down to their natural positions of power forward and small forward, and even possibly re-signing backup forwards Marvin Williams and Josh Childress to one-year contracts worth their respective qualifying offers — otherwise, the ballclub will continue to trudge through the waters of mediocrity with scrubs like Othello Hunter, Thomas Gardner, and Mario West taking up space on its roster.

Trade #7

The Atlanta Hawks trade Craig Claxton and Maurice Evans to the Milwaukee Bucks for Luke Ridnour and Charlie Bell.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=obx9zq

For the Atlanta Hawks, Luke Ridnour would provide the team with a fallback if Mike Bibby decides to sign elsewhere this off-season. Yet, even if Bibby re-signs with the ballclub, Ridnour would be an upgrade at the backup point guard spot over Acie Law.

For the Milwaukee Bucks, trading Luke Ridnour and Charlie Bell for Craig Claxton and Maurice Evans would cut $2,393,506 from its books for the 2009-2010 season.

20th Pick (Utah Jazz)

PF Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) [Senior] {11/3/1985}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Tyler-Hansbrough-288/

Because realistically there’s room to re-sign only one of Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap this off-season — with Millsap almost 100% assured of being the guy who’ll return next season — a backup power forward is a must-have addition.

With that noted, Tyler Hansbrough seems like the perfect fit to play within Jerry Sloan’s UCLA high-post offense — with a second unit of Kosta Koufos, him, Matt Harpring, Kyle Korver, and whoever the team signs this summer to play behind Deron Williams (e.g., Blake Ahearn) potentially being a full-on whitewash — although I can envision Kevin O’Connor selecting a point guard like Darren Collison or Nick Calathes to possibly replace either Brevin Knight or Ronnie Price, who are both unrestricted free-agents.

21st Pick (New Orleans Hornets)

C B.J. Mullens (Ohio State) [Freshman] {N/A}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/B.J.-Mullens-1107/

The New Orleans Hornets can afford to take a chance on a high-risk/high-reward project like B.J. Mullens, who’s been compared most favorably to Brad Daughtery, moderately favorably to Chris Kaman, and unfavorably to the likes of Kwame Brown, Robert Swift, and Patrick O’Bryant. For Mullens, he’d definitely be a third-string pivotman behind the oft-injured/much-maligned Tyson Chandler and Hilton Armstrong.

Oddly, Mullens is entering the league with the same question of rawness that surrounded Chanlder and the same question of stone hands that surrounded Armstrong. Yet, even if Mullens is turns into a total bust, he’s still no worse than Melvin Ely at the moment and isn’t a reach with the 21st pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. If anything, Mullens might buck the odds and turn out to be a nifty steal.

22nd Pick (Dallas Mavericks)

SF Chase Budinger (Arizona) [Junior] {12/31/1987}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Chase-Budinger-502/

Rather than explain my whole rational behind the Dallas Mavericks drafting Chase Budinger, let me instead detail my thoughts on how that franchise should handle itself this off-season.

1. Draft an offensive-minded swingman in the first round.

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Chase-Budinger-502/

2. Prior to 7/1/2009, trade Matt Carroll to the Milwaukee Bucks for Dan Gadzuric.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=d6834j

3. Prior to 7/1/2009, trade Erick Dampier, Jerry Stackhouse, and $3 million in cash considerations to the Phoenix Suns for Shaquille O’Neal.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cofwst

4. Tender restricted free-agent Ryan Hollins to a one-year, $1,215,726 qualfying offer (i.e., 125% of his previous annual salary).

5. Re-sign Jason Kidd to a one-year, $10 million contract.

6. Re-sign Brandon Bass to a five-year deal with his Early Bird rights that starts at the mid-level exception, but has annual raises of 10.5% rather than 8%.

7a. Sign Raymond Felton or Nate Robinson to a five-year offer sheet -- which could be matched by their old teams, since they're both restricted free-agents -- with the mid-level exception.

7b. Rather than sign Felton or Robinson, though, another option would be to sign a tall, defensive-minded veteran point guard from Europe (e.g., Dimitris Diamantidis) to a two-year deal with the mid-level exception; yet, in that case, Jose Barea would stay in the starting lineup, while the newcomer would come off of the bench with Jason Terry.

8. Release Shawne Williams, who’s officially a bust.

9. Release Devean George, who’s finished as a player.

10. Sign a few experienced veterans (e.g., Sean Marks, Damon Jones, & Kevin Ollie) or a few D-League standouts (e.g., Richard Hendrix, Luke Jackson, & Will Conroy) to one-year, minimum-level contracts.

C: Shaquille O’Neal
C: Dan Gadzuric
C: Ryan Hollins
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
PF: Brandon Bass
PF: Sean Marks/Richard Hendrix
SF: Josh Howard
SF: Chase Budinger
SF: Antoine Wright
SG: Raymond Felton/Nate Robinson
SG: Jason Terry
SG: Damon Jones/Luke Jackson
PG: Jason Kidd
PG: Jose Barea
PG: Kevin Ollie/Will Conroy

Unless O’Neal and/or Kidd falls apart or injuries are an issue, that’d probably be a 55-win team.

Oh, and on the topic of that above Shaquille O’Neal trade, the Phoenix Suns would possibly do it because Jerry Stackhouse’s salary for the 2009-2010 season is only partially guaranteed for $2,000,000 — so he’d be waived immediately after the trade — while Erick Dampier’s salary for the 2010-2011 season is fully unguaranteed if he doesn’t meet certain performance clauses.

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/notes/mavericks.htm

23rd Pick (Sacramento Kings)

SG Jeff Teague (Wake Forest) [Sophomore] {6/10/1988}

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Jeff-Teague-5293/

With Bobby Jackson seemingly ready to call it a career, the Sacramento Kings could use a high-volume shooting gunner -- which admittedly aren't my favorite type of players -- to fill his role on the roster. So, while I think Teague is no better than the Eddie House's and the C.J. Watson's of the world, there's no denying that those type of guys have a place in the NBA.

24th Pick (Portland Trail Blazers)

SF Austin Daye (Gonzaga) [Sophomore] {6/5/1988}

<p sty

A mock Draft where the Jazz don't take Hansbrough

2009-05-22T02:26:33Z

1. Blake Griffin- I don't trust the Clippers to not mess this up, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt. They draft the only sure thing for them and take consensus #1 Blake Griffin.

2. Hasheem Thabeet- Anyone who thinks the Grizzlies will draft Ricky Rubio, haven't heard that he won't play in Memphis or Oklahoma City. And it is his decision in part, because he can withdraw from the draft. Besides, the Grizzlies want Thabeet more than Rubio to shore up there interior defense.

3. Ricky Rubio- The Thunder front office are debating about whether Rubio should be the pick here and considering his aforementioned unwillingness to play in OKC, the Thunder will either draft James Harden or else address their need for a center by trading this pick with Washington's 5th pick and either Javale McGee or Andray Blatche. That is a sexier scenario, so it makes my mock draft and Washington drafts Rubio.

4. Jrue Holiday- The Kings are the victims of this lottery, because they are going to miss out on getting the point guard they desperately want with Rubio and will also miss out on getting Griffin or Thabeet. So they will have to address their point guard situation by drafting Holiday, who has a little more upside than Brandon Jennings or the other point guards.

5. James Harden- Having already grabbed their center on draft day, the Thunder will take the draft's supposed best shooting guard to pair with all of their other young studs who play not the shooting guard position.

6. DeMar DeRozan- The Wolves will love the versatility of DeRozan who can play either the 2 or the 3 in their offense, which is a need with an unproven Corey Brewer. And if DeRozan pans out, the Wolves will have an easier time moving obviously disgruntled small forward Mike Miller. He doesn't hate the team, he just hates going from southern weather to Minnesota weather. I would too.

7. Brandon Jennings- In case the Warriors aren't able to bring back Baron Davis, they will need to find a back court mate with newly extended Monta Ellis. Jennings hasn't looked great in Italy and will need some time to adjust to American culture, but he has slightly ridiculous upside.

8. Jordan Hill- I think New York is too well managed to stick to a supposed promise that they made to Stephen Curry. I think there is a good chance that the Knicks lose David Lee and Hill will be a cheap replacement to Lee's energy. If the Knicks retain Lee and let Nate Robinson go, then I think Curry is the more likely pick.

9. Tyreke Evans- Evans will add some much needed athleticism to the Raptor backcourt and will be just one of the offseason moves that the Raptors make in hopes of appeasing franchise guy Chris Bosh.

10. Jonny Flynn- Right now the Bucks are flirting with the luxury tax and are going to try to shed contracts in order to re-sign Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions. But as a back up plan, the Bucks draft Jonny Flynn in hopes of replacing Sessions. They need a point guard and they know that he is used to cold weather and smaller towns.

11. James Johnson- The Nets will be tempted to draft Curry in hopes of luring Lebron James to New Jersey in two years, but even if they aren't as dissatisfied with Yi Jianlian as reported, they need a big guy who can play along Brook Lopez. Johnson is the best bigman available at this point and adds some versatility to the Nets' lineups.

12. Stephen Curry- The Bobcats have been notorious for drafting hometown talents in hopes of selling tickets and they will have two such options available to them in Gerald Henderson and Curry. But Curry will win out, because the 250 fans in Charlotte will love him and loved Dell Curry when he was there.

13. Ty Lawson- The Pacers have a plethora of talented wing players and drafted a center last year. So with the possible departure of Jarrett Jack the Pacers will find his replacement by drafting National champion Ty Lawson.

14. Earl Clark- The Suns will draft Clark hoping that he is the second coming of Shawn Marion. Clark has an "odd game" as he himself described and the Suns thrive on getting athletic tweeners and letting them outathleticize everyone. Or at least that used to be the game plan. If Clark pans out and Stoudemire comes back healthy, then the Suns can consider moving Shaq to a contender for some pieces, or else just letting him expire.

15. Detroit Pistons- Gerald Henderson- The Pistons draft a Dukie in Henderson in order to pair him up with another new Dukie in Carlos Boozer.

16. Chicago Bulls- Austin Daye- If the Bulls are serious about shopping Tyrus Thomas this offseason for an upgrade at power forward, then they will want to add a wing or an athletic big man who can run with Rose. Daye would be one of the most talented players available and could share some time with Luol Deng.

17. Philadelphia 76ers- Eric Maynor- The Sixers are probably going to lose Andre Miller to free agency and they will need to draft a replacement. Maynor is going to establish himself as the best all around point guard not from Spain and will be a great pickup for the Sixers.

18. Minnesota Timberwolves- BJ Mullens- With three picks in the first round, the Wolves will have options, but I think they will take the risk with Mullens and hope that a serviceable point guard falls to them 10 picks later.

19. Atlanta Hawks-Darren Collison- The Hawks take Collison, in hopes of reconciling the past when they passed up on taking Chris Paul or Deron Williams. The Hawks then trade Marvin Williams and Acie Law, hoping that no one notices that they have officially given up on what they passed up the two point guards for. Everbody notices.

20. Utah Jazz- Dejaun Blair- The Jazz will go best player available at this spot and according to this draft, Blair would be that player. If Blair is gone at this point, the Jazz would draft the best available point guard, probably, Patrick Mills or Nick Calathes.

21. New Orleans Hornets- Terrence Williams- The Hornets need size, but they will take the best player available in Williams and hope he can replace Peja Stojakovic down the road.

22. Dallas Mavericks- DeJuan Summers- Its hard to see really glaring needs that the Mavs can fill at this pick, so they will draft Summers and look to shop Josh Howard in private.

23. Sacramento Kings- Sam Young- The Kings have plenty of shooters on the wing, but they don't have a strong wing player who can get to the rim. They take Young to fill that need.

24. Portland Trailblazers- Chase Budinger- There won't be a point guard or a center who will upgrade this team, so they will take a flier on Budinger, who is talented and has a pretty jumper, but has questioned toughness.

25. OKC Thunder- Gani Lawal- The Thunder will continue to stockpile young talent by drafting 19 year old Lawal.

26. Chicago Bulls- Toney Douglas- Drafting Douglas will give the Bulls a backup plan in case they can't re-sign Ben Gordon, the Bulls' top offseason priority. Douglas will also allow the Bulls to include Kirk Hinrich in any trade to upgrade the power forward position.

27. Memphis Grizzlies- Wayne Ellington- The Grizzlies will draft Ellington to give both OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay some backup minutes. Ellington has a winning pedigree and a sweet jumper and can play behind or along OJ Mayo.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves- Nick Calathes- The Wolves will take the best point guard available because they still aren't sure about Telfair or Foye.

29. LA Lakers- Damion James- The Lakers are probably going to lose either Lamar Odom or Trevor Ariza to free agency and while James isn't the player that either one of those guys is, he is strong, versatile and a tough defender.

30 Cleveland Cavaliers- Marcus Thornton- The Cavs love surrounding James with athletic scorers and three point shooters and Thornton has the offensive ability to step in possibly replace Wally Szczerbiak next season.

So there you have it. This is proof that you can make a mock draft without sticking Tyler hansbrough with the Utah Jazz.

If you don't like this draft or certain spots, then please comment. You can even insult me.

Do D-League teams do enough to market their players?

2009-05-14T18:45:29Z

Promoted from the Fanposts. I left my opinion... What's yours? -- Scott

I have heard very little to nothing about D-League teams having someone on staff who markets their players to NBA teams to help them get a chance to play.

This could be the result of a lack of interest from the media or the fact that teams expect players to have an agent handle the task, but I thought I would put it out there to the Ridiculous Upside crew anyway for comment.

If I was a team owner, I would have someone on staff who is pushing to get my players in the news, in front of NBA coaches, maybe even in front of European coaches. The more players you successfully send up, the more people will become aware of your team and league. I would hope this would increase the fan base in addition to giving more deserving players a shot.

As mentioned in another post, opportunity seems to be the one primary factor in a role player getting a shot in the NBA. Sometimes, you have to create that opportunity off the court, not on it.

Great Article

2009-05-14T18:24:55Z

ESPN.com Bill Simmons wraps with Malcolm Gladwell, author of Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, who surprisingly enough knows quite a bit about the NBA and NFL. Both talk extensively about the draft and about NBA tactics, focusing on the underutilization of the full-court press.

“You can easily find 10th, 11th and 12th men to make that press work. You know how many athletic swingmen are out there? Oodles. There's always another Dahntay Jones or Josh Powell killing himself in the D-League hoping for a chance.” states Simmons

There is also an interesting comment made about if the NBA's all-white guy team could compete with the NBA's all-black guy team. And, according to Simmons, foreigners don't count as white guys. My All-American White-Guy team- Bird, West, Maravich, Stockton, Walton and Bill Laimbeer.

Heres the link, it's spit into three separate articles:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090513/part1

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090513/part2

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090513/part3

Goodbye Jam Dancers, We Barely Knew Ye....

2009-05-05T03:59:09Z

This is from the Fan Posts, not my work, but truly something that Iceman worked long and hard on. It had me in tears. For that, I show it to all of you. Enjoy -- Ridiculous Scott

Jam Dancers: Angels among men, femininity perfected, mushroom-topping..uhhhh in spandex shorts?

Yesterday the Bakersfield Jam mascot, Swish, stopped by to share with RU his final, glorious performance. In a sad, yet celebratory five youtube minutes, Swish managed to Stanky Legg his way into our hearts forever. And may his efforts never be forgotten.

After much consideration, I realized I could not allow the efforts of the Jam Dancers to go unrecognized as well. Between the booty shakes, leg twists, and near-stripper-esque twirls, the Jam Dancers have kept ~~thousands~~ hundreds of people entertained when the snack bar couldn't.

The Bakersfield Jam website has recently been asking WHO WILL BE THE BIGGEST LOSER? Well I have the answer: Humanity. With the Jam Dancers out on the street doing the Soulja Boi for nickels, all of mankind cannot help but cringe at the loss of morale this disaster will create. Thus it is only right that we celebrate their many, many victories over boredom....

Take this little ditty for example:

She got a Donk indeed - it brings tears to my eyes. Little girls and boys in that arena had something to aspire to the day of that performance. The bottom line is this: these rag-tag girls will be missed, almost as much as the shenanigans of one Mister Swish.

Hit the jump for a few more remembrances.

Just in case the video above wasn't enough to satisfy your thirst for booty shorts, here is another dance routine straight from a by-gone era of cock teasing that straddles (pun intended) the line between strip dance and cheerleading... Good Ole Fashioned American Style.

Seeing as Jon L has been doing some player analysis, I will do the same for a few of my favorite Bakersfield Jam Dancers.

Christine

Height: 5'4"

Weight: 120

You were a fiery spark-plug of a gal. Popping and Locking your way into our hearts and minds was the easy part, but saying good bye will forever make me less of a man. May you find future employment someplace where your jazz hands will be appreciated.

Mallory

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 145

You remind me of the goth girl I dated in High School, and yes, that's a good thing Mallory. Your hips moved faster than Will Conroy's fists and smack-talking mouth this year. And that is both something to be proud of and to build on. Keep your chin up kid....

Amber E.

Height: 5'6"

Weight: None of your damn business

Amber E., you're my favorite Amber on this dance team (there are three), not only because of your rainbow display of highlights, but also because you're the bad girl of this dance squad sista! Your country-fried attitude seeps into your dance steps like lead paint into my water supply, making your hip tosses, splits, and booty shakes all that much more vivid and yet surreal.

Mia

Height: 5'7"

Weight: Debatable

Every dance team needs an anchor, and you Mia are it. With your Latin flair and Rubenesque form, you glide like melting butter across a skillet, seamlessly floating into my dreams. If Charles Barkley was The Round Mound of Rebound, then you Mia are the Cinderalla of Paella.

In closing, I would like to say that these Jam Dancers were more than just entertainment at a minor league basketball game. They are, in fact, the very essence of America. All of our ills and worries are summed up in a single flexing of the inner thigh. The crows feet drawn from the corner of an old man's eyes are quickly eased by the gyration of young, sort of good looking women in ill-fitting spandex. Isn't that what America is all about? And yet here, at the precipice of doom, these youths will press on, forever etched in our memories as doing just enough dancing to entertain, but not enough to knock out the Futurecast.

Goodbye Jam Dancers, We Barely Knew Ye...

UPDATE: I hope I don't get sued over this...only meant for comedy purposes.

D-League Teams Lacking Personality in Uniforms

2009-04-27T22:21:18Z

Promoted from the FanShots via Scott. Check out WTLC, SBNation's OKC Thunder blog, for more great stuff from Mr. Pappagiorgio!

As a fan, what is often the first thing people take notice of, when getting interested in and/or begin to follow teams? For me, especially as a young lad, it was team logo's, uniforms, and colors. Two of those three aren't a huge issue for the D-League as they generally have a pretty nice assortment of team logo's and colors. The third, however, is a bit of a different story, and this is where I'm talking about team uniforms.

The uniforms that players in the D-League are required to wear night in and night out, seriously lack in style and diversity. Essentially each team wears a solid colored uniform with the same Adidas stripes down the side of both the Jersey and pants. The Jersey color is either white or the team's primary color and trimmed in the teams secondary color. There is also a team logo on the front, with name and number on the back, and the strange part about that is that the player names are under the numbers. I suppose the reason for that is so that they can put the NBA Team logo above the numbers if the player has been designated for assignment by an NBA team. The pants also have a team logo, and NBA Affiliation logo on the trunks.

I also realize that the D-League isn't exactly the draw that the NBA is, but the fans that dole out money to purchase season tickets (as this guy has recently done) and who show up for each and every game to cheer on their hometown teams, deserve better. Would the cost of uniform design really be so much that teams can't afford to have them done? Or was this decision a mandate from the league in an effort to keep things toned down so as to not confuse people about the difference between the D-League and the NBA itself? Seriously, the minute anyone steps foot into a D-League arena, I think its pretty obvious that you're not showing up to watch an NBA game.

My hometown team is the Tulsa 66ers, and if they'd have a had a much nicer uniform design, there is no question that I'd have bought multiple different jerseys, as I have for the state's new NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. So as far as merchandising goes, I'm sure it's small potatoes compared to the NBA itself, but it would very much make a difference if the teams uniform's and merchandise in general had more personality. The D-League shouldn't underestimate the power of being unique, because to a lot of us, it makes a difference. But perhaps they have done enough research to know that the cost of making things unique outweigh the difference it would make in merchandise sales.

Anyway, the point of this post is, am I the only one that feels this way? Or do I just need to shut up and enjoy some great basketball and unbelievably low prices for the kind of seats we get to enjoy? I'm curious to hear what other D-League fans think, because for me, I feel like I'm missing out on what could be an even better experience than it already is.

Cat Fight In The D-League: Trouble is A-brewin' Folks!

2009-04-22T20:55:53Z

Promoted from the FanPosts - Little harsh, but this situation needed some publication and I'm still part-time. Thanks, Mr. IceMan, for getting on this so quickly -- Scott

With the first game of the NBA D-League finals getting ready to tip off in a few hours, the drama and suspense could not be more palpable. But just when you thought the explosive mixture of ~~borderline~~ NBA talent, roaring, packed to the brim crowds, and high quality, streaming video were too much to handle, this whole mess just got kicked up a notch. (By the way, if TNT knows Drama, then the NBA Futurecast knows drama... and buffering).

NBA D-League Finals.....Crazy Explosive!

Hit the jump to reveal the drama!

Just as the 2009 D-League Finals starts to heat up, in steps Brandt Andersen, the D-League's very own Mark Cuban, to add a touch of venom. All season Brandt has been asserting himself as the opposite of this kid, basically a vocal leader/owner/angry dude. Today, while taking a break from reading War & Peace, I stumbled upon Mr. Andersen's blog, or should I say the grammar how-not-to, and I found this charming little entry just after the one about suing people:

This (beating the 14ers) was particularly painful after their head coach told several people during the showcase that "the Flash cheaters" and "we will easily win again". That's right Bob-your comments were circulated.

So Bob if you are reading, try to control your emotions tonight-our fans are kids and families and they expect a certain level of professionalism.

And in an earlier post he said this:

Did anyone see the reaction of the head coach of the Colorado 14ers-Bob MicKinnon? I have rarely seen such a poor display of sportsmanship. After loosing the first game he claimed he was not coming back out onto the court. He was yelling and swearing at anyone he could find. Then after loosing the second game he refused to shake the hand of our coach. I hate loosing as much as anyone but that type of behavior is unacceptable... That was a classless display and I hope the league takes action against him for his behavior. For about a minute I considered saying something to him but there was nothing that was going to break my mood last night. Flash prevailed.

Just to clarify, it's MacKinnon. I also like that he wouldn't confront him in person.

What an angry, angry little man.

So Brandt Andersen is calling out Bob MacKinnon!?!? I can't wait for this meltdown. What if the Flash, to put in Brandt-speak, loose? What will happen then? Uber-meltdown followed by a fist fight at mid-court?

Which of these two men would you rather fight?

Yeah, exactly, MacKinnon with the beatdown.

But don't fret D-League fans, I'm sure this will all pan out in the end. Bob will take young Mr. Andersen out for a drink after the game after the macho posturing has ended (chocolate milk for Brandt of course). Coach MacKinnon will sit Brandt on his knee and apologize for using ugly mommy/daddy words in front of the Flash fanbase. Then Bob will begin to help Brandt hedge his words and examine his basketball IQ. Whatever that means.

ENJOY THE GAME TONIGHT!! Iceman out.

UPDATE: Check Andersen's blog comments for an epic struggle of Good Vs. Evil.

How did we miss "Pioneers" for the new D-League team name in Springfield, MA?

2009-04-20T21:57:34Z

Frontpaged (and slightly edited) via the Fanposts -- Scott

As you all may know the NBA’s development league has recently announced that it will open up a team in Springfield, MA for the upcoming season. Much like the Maine Red Claws, it recently engaged in a fan based voting campaign in order to name the teams mascot.

Why the names currently up for vote fall short:

Armor - "honoring the historic Springfield Armory". Really? REALLY?!? A team opens up in the Mecca of the basketball world, a city literally oozing with basketball history, and they want to name it after the local armory? I can just see the game day promotions now, "So is it during the first or second time out that we toss AK-47s into the hands of every Jack and Jill in the stands?" With all due respect to the "Reese Family" (responsible for the reopening of this historic landmark in 1974), I think even they would find such a nickname falls short of this teams potential ridiculous nickname upside.

Colonials - "paying tribute to Massachusetts being one of the original 13 British colonies that formed the United States". Aside from the fact that the team would have to compete with the illustrious George Washington Men’s basketball program for merchandise sales, the name Colonials doesn’t exactly single out Massachusetts, or more specifically Springfield. I won’t waste everyone’s time by naming the other 12, that’s what middle school history teachers are for, but again, with all of the basketball history in Springfield, how are we even considering names that have nothing to do with basketball? Also "13 British colonies", this sounds like the work of 2006 NBA draftee Joel Freeland, someone find out if he recently accepted a job working for the D-league.

Founders – "recognizing Springfield as the place where basketball was invented". Hey why didn’t I think of that? Right idea, wrong terminology. How did they get this far, use this explanation, and not hit on Pioneers?

Spirit – "celebrating the great history and civic pride embodied by Springfield, which was founded in 1635". We get it, Springfield is old. But it’s not even the OLDEST city in Massachusetts (that honor goes to Plymouth, MA). Also, I appreciate Springfield’s civic pride, I really do, but the National Basketball Hall of Fame isn’t in Springfield because of its civic importance.

Write-in candidate – "enabling the community to weigh in with original ideas". Here is where you, the reader, come in.

Why the Springfield D-league team should be nicknamed the "Pioneers".

Pioneer [pahy-uh-neer] - one who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress: example: James Naismith is the pioneer of basketball.

Let’s start with the obvious; Springfield is the birth place of basketball. Its one thing to be a founder, but its another thing to be a pioneer. Being a pioneer requires courage, strength, and often taking the road less traveled by. When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth rock, they had over come years of oppression and months of adversity at sea. From the efforts of these pioneers, comes the opportunity America offers today. When other colonies were perfectly comfortable taking a back seat to the whims of the infamous King George, it took the pioneers of Massachusetts to lead the charge towards independence. When James Naismith was inventing a new indoor game at the Springfield YMCA, he could have taken the easy way out and forced his students to play tunnel tag. However, greatness doesn’t come from those who settle for less, and neither will this team in Springfield. Whatever professional team Springfield is affiliated with can be assured that when a player is developed by the Pioneers, they will not only learn to play basketball at a high level, but they will be surrounded by an aura of historical greatness. This can’t help but push players closer to their potential.

End Soap Box.

In all seriousness Pioneers just makes sense. Executives can, understandably, sometimes get too wrapped up in all their duties, and over think even the simplest of tasks. As fans it is our job, no, our duty, to fill this glaring hole made by the omission of Pioneers on this list. Take up arms with me in this fight and go ahead and contribute to the write in campaign, and be a pioneer in the fight for senseical team mascots in the NBA Development League.

And in order to make your life easier I have inserted the link to the voting website at the bottom of the page. Don’t forget this when you are writing in "Pioneers" on the ballot. Vote Here.

"Red Claws"?!

2009-04-14T13:46:26Z

Curious as to what some D league fans think about the name for the Maine team. I for one am not a huge fan, but the list of potential names didn't offer too much anyways. Another question, which city is a better fit for the C's now that Springfield has announced a team as well? Now that there is another team in New England, i'm sure the Celtics organization is looking into it.

Poll

Which City would make a better Celtics D league team?

Portland, Maine

19 votes

Springfield, Mass

16 votes

35 votes | Poll has closed

D-League Mascots Part Deux: Freddy Finals

2009-04-13T18:39:36Z

As a fan of the NBA Developmental League, I am excited to watch (hopefully, damn Futurecast) the playoffs unfold. But the higher powers in the D-League offices have decided (and maybe rightly so) that my devout fandom was an exception to the rule. Hence we have been blessed with a new Mascot to perk up our D-League interest: Freddy Finals.

Freddy was first introduced a few weeks ago as a shadowy figure with nothing more than a ridiculous biography and the headline Who Is Freddy Finals? Curious indeed.

Who is this Character....ahh more D-League PR hilarity!

At first I was intruiged by all of this, then I actually read his "Bio". Sweet Jesus. Let me summerize for all of you, and save you the brain cell loss of reading through it. Freddy Finals was born in 1982, and has existed in a world where he only understands his reality through the various facets of the D-League. For instance, when asked about his favorite TV shows Freddy responds:

TV shows? Do they broadcast those on NBA Futurecast? I do tune into NBA D-League Central though.

And scene. So apart from his time spent at "Harvard Law", Freddy Finals is like a real life Truman show. Poor Bastard.

So in honor of Freddy Finals, aka D-league's newest "interest building PR tool", I have created a new batch Mascots that will help normal fans get excited about various aspects of the game!!!

So while D-league Fans follow along with Freddy's blog between the games, they can literally follow my new mascots during the playoff games themselves!

UPDATE: They've revealed Freddy's actualy identity! And he's a white guy who looks like he broke into Dan Reed's merchandising closet.

Straight from Freddy's blog: Are you "reddy" to get your Freddy on? Not sure I feel comfortable with that question Freddy.

The real Freddy Finals, some white dude rocking peach fuzz

After the jump meet the new playoff mascots!!!

THE NEW D-LEAGUE PLAYOFF MASCOTS!!! (click image for full view)

Billy Jean Technical Foul

Born in Marat Kogut's basement sometime within the last 3 years, Billy Jean is a bit nervous and has a bit of temper. Make sure not to rile this little fire ball up or she'll get you tossed! With her hands continually in the technical position, you'll be sure to see plenty of players fall for her in the playoffs. As of now she lives at Rasheed Wallace's house.

"Splash" The Sweaty Floor Spot

"Splash" is an especially relevant playoff mascot, as he happens to be much more present when players start caring and diving on the floor for loose balls. Splash's favorite movie is Rocky Balboa, because it's just like him: slowly secreted by someone else's better efforts. While Splash is a nice fellow, he also has a devious side, as he's well known for causing groin pulls and concussions if not properly looked after. The best place to catch Splash this off-season is within a 10-foot radius of Jasper Johnson, whether he's on the floor or not.

Timmy Timeout

Timmy Timeout is clutch, and you'll always find him at the end of playoff games. He's usually the first one off the bench listening to the coach. Timmy will also dance a round a lot with D-League dance teams, as it is Timmy's job to get fans pumped with obnoxious rap music, players focused with screaming coaches, and people watching the Futurecast a chance to pee. Timmy loves to be in any game that appears to be over, but the losing team refuses to give up. The one thing Timmy will never do is go to Chris Webber's house.

Quincy Quarter-Finals

On its surface a bracket seems extremely boring. But now with Quincy Quarterfinals on board, the D-League playoff bracket just got a whole lot more interesting! As a first cousin to Freddy Finals, Quincy has more teams involved in his round that Freddy does, but Freddy is always given more credit by the family. Hence Quincy is a little bitter. If he looks angry it's because he can never be as sexy as his cousin Freddy.

Patricia the Questionable PR Move

Patricia the Questionable PR Move is the illegitimate love child of this article and the Fort Wayne Mad Ant, and due to her genetic Moltov Cocktail she is continually confused, left-handed, and appears without warning on a yearly basis. "Patty PR" as she's known to her friends, loves to adorn the front of T-shirts and beer coozies, and will often run ads in your local newspaper. Patricia the Questionable PR Move's greatest accomplishment is her high level of unintentional comedy, of which she is unaware.

Poll

Is this post the bomb or what?

Heck yeah it's da bomb

6 votes

The only thing that bombed were your jokes

4 votes

Why is it always about voilence?

1 votes

11 votes | Poll has closed