While this picture is from Johnson's pre-draft workouts and taken by Draft Express, I I felt it applied so I used it.

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Sources close to the situation have confirmed that Sioux Falls Skyforce forward Alexander Johnson and former Portland Trail Blazers bigman Shavlik Randolph competed in a tryout Monday with the Milwaukee Bucks for a potential roster spot.

It sounds like Johnson  (I recently did a complete report here) had the better tryout, beating Randolph in three of the four "one-on-one type games," though without actually being there, I can't confirm this information.  Johnson was apparently hitting his jumper, the one part of his game that's been hit and miss this season in the D-League.

Both players reportedly ended the workout sloppily due to it being fairly long.  This surprised me a bit because Johnson is in pretty good shape, but after having played in a game the night before (playing 41 minutes while putting up 25 points and 18 boards) and then flying into Milwaukee on what must have been the last flight afterward, it's understandable.

I'm told the front office and coaches in attendance "loved (Johnson's) body, explosiveness, and physicality."

The Bucks are said to be deciding between the two and a wing player right now for a run at the playoffs, with a decision expected before the end of the week.

More photos » Wilfredo Lee - AP

Reggie!

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Sorry for disappearing there for a few days, everyone.  I had a succession of relatives and friends come into town (okay, one relative and one friend) and couldn't catch many D-League games.  But!  I'm back now and here to report on how all of those D-League call-ups are doing in the NBA.  The bottom line: pretty well.

Reggie Williams, Golden State Warriors - As Scott already has written, Williams has been making the most of his NBA opportunity.  There was that 28 point, six assist game of course, but he also had 14 points on seven shots against Portland and 12 points on six shots against Toronto.  The fact that his incredible scoring efficiency is translating to the NBA is great to see.

Anthony Tolliver, Golden State Warriors - Tolliver's best game this week was a 14 points, 11 board performance against the Blazers (six of those rebounds were offensive), but he also had five rebounds in 25 minutes against the Hornets.

Chris Hunter, Golden State Warriors -  Yes, Virginia, there is defense in Golden State.  Chris Hunter's hallmark as a call-up this season has been his D, and he was solid this week against Juwan Howard (yeah, it's Juwan Howard, but still), Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh.

Cedric Jackson, San Antonio Spurs - Cedric Jackson has only played in blowouts so far, but he's showed off a nice combination of skills.  Jackson had four assists, three steals and two blocks in a little less than 15 minutes against the Clippers, and grabbed three rebounds in less than nine minutes against Minnesota.  He's missed some shots, but the Spurs don't really need him to score.

Alonzo Gee, Washington Wizards - Gee has been providing energy off the bench, and also dunks.  The Wizards haven't been all that competitive in March so far, so Gee mostly has been playing when the game outcome is already decided.  Maybe this week he'll show off that well-rounded game he talked about in this interview.

Othyus Jeffers, Utah Jazz - Jeffers managed to grab three rebounds in just over two minutes against the Bulls, although he hasn't played much since.  Sundiata Gaines hasn't played a whole lot either.  Thumbs down, Jerry Sloan.

Others in brief: Jawad Williams had 13 points and five boards against the Spurs; Malik Hairston has seen his playing time increase for the Spurs (including 28 minutes with 6-8 shooting against the Clippers), and Gregg Popovich seems to be pleased; Former D-Leaguer Shaun Livingston has been up and down for the Wizards, but Flip Saunders seems to be gaining confidence in his play.

Alexander Johnson is the most NBA-ready big man the NBA Development League has ever seen.  There, I said it.

What's that? You want me to blow your mind by backing that outlandish statement up? Okay, will do.

Alexander Johnson is 6-foot-9, 240 pounds and a relative beast in the D-League.  When I say beast, I mean he's averaging 23.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting better than 55% from the field.  The best thing is that this is production off of the bench, as he's started just four of 16 games since joining the Sioux Falls Skyforce at the end of January.  To put those numbers into perspective, he currently ranks fourth in the D-League in scoring and third in rebounding and efficiency.  Not bad, huh?

Typically the reason players have trouble getting called-up from the D-League, as far as I can tell, is due to a lack of an NBA resume.  Johnson was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the second round  of the 2006 NBA Draft out of Florida State University (Beat the Zags!), but eventually ended up with the Memphis Grizzlies after a couple of draft day trades.

With Memphis, Johnson started 19 of 59 games as a rookie, averaging 12.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per 36 minutes.  The following Summer, though, he was surprisingly released - though quickly signed a deal with the Miami Heat.  With the Heat, Johnson played in 43 games, starting six, and put up similar statistics to his first season.  Still, he again didn't get an NBA contract following the season (I have no idea why, but it doesn't seem to be due to on-court issues) and thus went to Germany to play last season.

This season, though, Johnson decided to give the NBA another shot by going to camp with the Utah Jazz.  Johnson played well enough for the Jazz this preseason, it seems, but the Jazz had a bevy of big men in camp, leaving Johnson on the outside looking in when the Jazz made their final cuts.

Now that you know what he does, you're probably wondering how he does it.

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Kenny Hasbrouck drives past a Vanderbilt defender while in college at Siena.

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Kenny Hasbrouck, a former March Madness hero for Siena, is on his way to the Miami Heat according to sources close to the situation.

Hasbrouck, a 6-foot-3 guard, had been averaging 16.9 points while shooting better than 50% with the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers.  Hasbrouck follows in the footsteps of fellow/former Vipers Mike Harris, Will Conroy, Garrett Temple and Antonio Anderson as players that have earned a call-up from Rio Grande Valley

While this would typically come as a monumental surprise considering he wasn't really on any radars as far as I had heard, it makes perfect sense for Hasbrouck to be called up in this situation: the Heat opened a roster spot when Miami moved Rafer Alston to the suspended list for the remainder of the season,apparently clearing the way for an addition, either from the free agent pool or the D-League.

So why would the Heat call up a guy we've barely talked about on Ridiculous Upside?  Well, essentially because he has ridiculous upside. they're very familiar with him and he's proven to be a serviceable basketball player.

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You're probably tired of seeing this picture, but I couldn't find a youtube video of Notorious B.I.G.'s Everyday Struggle.

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The General D-League Blogosphere's Randy Livingston Memorial On The Edge Call-Up Rankings are back with a vengeance!

Since our last rankings came out (February 16th), the following nine players have been called-up: Antonio Anderson, Mike Harris, Reggie Williams, Will Conroy, Chris Richard, Garrett Temple, Othyus Jeffers, Alonzo Gee and Cedric Jackson.  That said, there were more call-ups in March last season than any other month, leading me to believe that while the talent pool is a bit picked over, the call-up's aren't going to stop.

Might as well rank 'em!

As always, the comments are mine (I'm dedicating them to the late Notorious B.I.G. who passed away 13 years ago today) unless noted otherwise.  Please address hate/fan mail to Scott Schroeder, unemployed D-League scribe.  Thanks.

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More photos » Patrick Semansky - AP

Golden State Warriors forward Reggie Williams (55) drives around New Orleans Hornets guard Marcus Thornton. New Orleans won 135-131, despite 28 points from Williams.

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I'm just going to throw this out there:

Reggie Williams shot 10-of-16 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line to finish with 28 freakin' points off the bench. 

Plus he had six assists, two steals and a block.

Oh, and he finished with a +9, highest of anybody on the Warriors, so that "he can't play defense" thing was probably a bit overblown.

Wait, you're wondering why I didn't tell you he was going to be great, especially for Golden State? I did (in December):

Williams is my favorite player to watch from this selection, and thus, my favorite for the Golden State Warriors call-up.  He led the nation in scoring twice while playing at VMI and is second only to Almond in the D-League thus far this season.  He's not just a scorer, however.  Williams isn't exceptional at anything, but he really seems to get it - he does whatever it takes and plays within his limitations, which is actually a compliment.  Offensively, his jump shot has improved immensely, which, not surprisingly is why he's shooting 60% from the field.  He also gets out and runs very well, which would fit perfectly in Golden State.  Defensively, he's not exceptionally quick, but he's long enough and crafty enough that he's not going to kill a team defensively.

It's tough to find good highlights of him in the D-League - he's number 11 in white here.

Cedric Jackson will be called-up to the San Antonio Spurs according to a tweet from Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski (I spelled that without looking).  Jackson was averaging 15.8 points, 7.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals while shooting 41% from the field for the D-League's Erie BayHawks.

Jackson has previously played out two 10 day contracts with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but I was kind of under the impression that call-up was because he played for the Cavs D-League affiliate and therefore was familiar with their system.  Obviously, that's not the case with the Spurs, however (Austin's Curtis Jerrells would have been the equivalent), so let's delve into this call-up in-depth.

First, I'll give you a primer with my thoughts on him right before the Cavaliers called him up:

Cedric Jackson (Erie BayHawks, 16.5 ppg, 8.2 apg, 4.7 rpg (as a starter), 40% FG, 30% 3pt) - Jackson's the best defensive player on this list not named Jefferson. The Cleveland State alum was actually the Horizon League defensive player of the year last season. With the Cavs D-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks, he's recently earned himself his spot in the rotation as a full-time starter - Since January 6th, the 10-13 BayHawks have won six of their past eight games, all Jackson starts. Jackson doesn't really have a jump shot (the numbers aren't lying), but he does very well at working off the pick-and-roll and getting to the bucket, either finishing below the rim or getting to the free-throw line. The Cavs' brass should be very familiar with him as he played right underneath their nose at Cleveland State and is now playing for their affiliate in Erie. While this is probably a long shot, I'd welcome this call-up because, if nothing else, it'd be a nice way to reward the rookie's solid play with a 10-day contract and see how he does on the big stage. He's also a pure point in the same way Mo Williams is a pure point, if you catch my drift.

Now, let's dig a bit deeper!

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I don't know for sure if me breaking the story of Hasheem Thabeet being sent to the D-League has made NBA front offices start reading Ridiculous Upside, but it sure seems like it.

First, Reggie Williams was called-up after I'd touted him for the Golden State Warriors for two solid months.

Next, Will Conroy picked up a 10-day with the Houston Rockets right after my post titled "Will Conroy Showed Why He Deserves A Call-Up Last Night In The D-League."

Then, Othyus Jeffers was picked up by the Utah Jazz after I'd been touting him for an NBA job since last May.

And now, today, the Washington Wizards have called-up Alonzo Gee, whom I raved about in my recap of the most recent Austin Toros game.

Gee is a 6-foot-6, 220 pound well-built forward out of Alabama who was averaging 21.0 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 51% from the field in the D-League.  Essentially, his upside is ridiculous and at this point in the season, he's a guy I assumed would be getting a lot of looks because of this.

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