by Darron Cummings - AP

The Houston Rockets said goodbye to Pops Mensah-Bonsu this week. Frowny face.

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A few relatively big moves happened (in our world, at least),  but before I get to those, I realized that I never discussed the D-League trades from a few weekends ago at any length, so here we go:

Fort Wayne Mad Ants traded 10 pick (Alade Aminu) to the Erie BayHawks; Erie BayHawks traded Rob Kurz to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants

At least as it stands now, before any games have been played, this looks like a pretty good trade for both sides.  Fort Wayne returns Chris Hunter and Sean Sonderleiter in the middle, so as talented as Aminu is the team was already set at center.  Sure, Aminu most likely would've been an upgrade over Sonderleiter, Hunter gets the bulk of the minutes there anyway, and since he's a very good D-League center the Mad Ants were able to flip their pick to address other issues.  The team also has several other forwards back from last year, but they're mostly defense or rebounding specialists.  Rob Kurz should allow the team to stretch the defense a little more, to use that cliche, and because I assume he's going to start, it will be interesting to see if his presence at power forward pushes Anthony Kent to the bench, or whether Kent moves over to the 3 and Ron Howard, last year's starting small forward but 6'5", heads to the backcourt.  If the latter is the case, then Kurz's shooting skill will be even more of a necessity as Howard's not much of a shooter (or scorer generally, come to think of it).  Fort Wayne also had been angling to get Kurz as a local allocation player because of his time at Notre Dame, so the team is hoping that bringing him in (along with other Notre Dame players) will help them at the gate as well as on the court.

For the Bayhawks, Alade Aminu seemed to be one of the most sought-after players in the draft, at least among teams looking for raw talent.  Aminu didn't play a whole lot for Washington's Summer League team, though his defense was alright when he did, and the Miami Heat gave him a look during the preseason.  Aminu was a bit turnover-prone in college and needs to develop some post moves (along with some strength), but he's very athletic and handles the ball fairly well for a 6'10" guy.  Erie needed a center to replace the departed Erik Daniels, and as I wrote around the draft, bringing in actual centers like Aminu, John Bryant and Jeff Skemp is a step in the right direction.  Erie already had some guys sort of like Kurz (Ivan Harris is a three-point shooting forward, Jarvis Gunter is an okay rebounder but doesn't do much else), so they didn't need to duplicate efforts there.

Los Angeles D-Fenders traded Earl Barron to the Iowa Energy; Iowa Energy traded Anthony Tolliver to the Idaho Stampede; Idaho Stampede traded Dar Tucker to the Los Angeles D-Fenders

I've given some brief comments on this one, but to recap, I like this trade for both Idaho and Iowa, but I'm a little baffled by what LA is doing.  To elaborate, let's start with Idaho.  Last year Bob MacKinnon's Colorado team liked to run, and they led the league in pace.  Sure they had Joe Dabbert and Kentrell Gransberry in the middle, but each of those players' proclivity for fouling meant that Josh Davis saw a fair amount of time at center.  Anthony Tolliver isn't the same player Davis is, specifically in the area of three-point shooting (Tolliver is okay but not great there), but he's a good passer, a pretty good rebounder and post defender, and he can score a little bit (in the D-League, anyway).  Tolliver should be a solid anchor for the Stampede, at least for as long as he's around (he has a history of leaving the D-League either to play in Europe or the NBA).

Iowa-wise, Earl Barron is a solid center with some shot-blocking talent and NBA experience (specifically with Miami).  Barron upped his per-36 minute scoring averages and lowered his foul rates every year that he played for the Heat, so he's been improving.  He's 28 years old now, though, so this may be his last go-round in the D-League.  The Energy drafted a lot of scorers and wing players, and while Tolliver is a good player (see above) he likely would've taken up a lot of possessions that can now be distributed a little more equally.

As for the D-Fenders, it's not that Dar Tucker isn't talented, it's just that his shot selection is shaky.  He made less than 30 percent of his three-pointers last year at DePaul, which wouldn't be great even if he hadn't averaged more than six three-point attempts per game.  He shot just 39 percent overall, so it's not like he was great inside the arc either.  He also averaged more turnovers than assists and can't really go left.  Tucker is athletic, does a decent job of getting to the rim and is a decent rebounder, but his offensive game has a lot of negatives.  Plus there's the fact that he's a shooting guard, and that LA already has Joe Crawford and Charlie Parker, who are nominally point guards but are more scorers than distributor, Ryan Forehan-Kelly, who's a swingman who can do a lot of things but who also probably got accustomed to having the ball last year, Deron Washington, who's another (more efficient) slasher, and Jeremy Wise, a shooting guard.  As for big men, let's see...how does Longar Longar strike you?  It's entirely possible that Barron asked for this trade, but as it stands now the D-Fenders have a glut of shooting guards and/or backcourt scoring without a ton of guys who can rebound or defend the post.  This team could be really fun to watch, or it could be a horrible mess.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers traded Marcus Hubbard to the Reno Bighorns; Reno Bighorns traded Haminn Quaintance to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers

Here's the thing about Marcus Hubbard - I make snide comments about his game, but he's a decent player.  At least he could be.  He certainly has his moments.  He's athletic, he can rebound a little bit, he stays out of foul trouble.  But, somewhere in his career (it may have been at the beginning, who knows) he started viewing himself as a mid-range/perimeter player, and he's not very good at it.  He likes shooting threes, and he's about as good at it as Dar Tucker is.  Now that the Rockets are running the show, he really didn't fit what they look for in a big man, so it wasn't a surprise to see him go.

Quaintance, on the other hand, does seem like a Houston-type guy.  I don't know much about him, and called him a "three-point shooter" around the draft based on last year's EuroChallenge, but he's actually a power forward who was an excellent defender in college (he was MAC defensive player of the year as a senior) and gets steals blocks as well as blocks, plus he can score a little bit and passes pretty well for his position.  Oh, and he's athletic.  He profiles very well, so I'm curious as to why Reno gave him up.  He likely wouldn't have gotten a ton of minutes behind Boom Tho Rod Benson and non-boom tho Cezary Trybanski, but he could've slid into the lineup in the event of a Benson call-up just as well as Hubbard can.

Moving on to this week's, uh, moves, after the jump...

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More photos » by Mike Roemer - AP

Derrick Byars is taking his shot (and the rest of his game) to Germany.

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Now that all the draft hubbub has died down a little bit, it's time once again for the weekly transactions report.  Not much this week, as a lot of guys were likely waiting to see if/where they'd get drafted by the D-League before looking at signing overseas or elsewhere.

November 3: Derrick Byars - signed with Alba Berlin (Germany) Richard Roby - signed with Maccabi Haifa (Israel); Goran Suton - signed with Spartak SPB (Russia)

None of these guys were in the draft pool, of course, but for slightly different reasons. Roby is an Israeli league vet, and he was the University of Colorado's leading scorer in college.  He likely would've been a high pick in the D-League draft had he chosen that route, but he fits the Euro-ball profile.  Roby went to Summer League with Oklahoma City, but didn't play a whole lot.  Suton also likely would've been a high pick given his NBA draft-ee status, but as a center with a mid-range game Europe is a good fit for him as well.  He had a somewhat up-and-down Summer League for Utah, and the Jazz already have a passel of big men so his being cut wasn't a huge surprise.  Suton's deal is reportedly for three years, so we probably won't be seeing him for awhile.  Byars wasn't available to be drafted because he actually made an NBA roster.  I thought he played reasonably well for the Bulls during the preseason, but they cut him one day into the regular season.  Partially guaranteed vs. fully guaranteed contracts, etc.  Byars chose the Europe route rather than diving into the D-League player pool (sorry) because he's 25 years old, which isn't that old for an NBA player, but he's been out of college for several years now and Chicago was the best NBA opportunity he had.  Since that didn't work out, he chose the larger paycheck instead of waiting around for a potential call-up.  I do wonder if we'll see Byars in the D-League in the future or if it's Europe from here on out, where truth be told he should do very well.

November 4: Robert "Tractor" Traylor - signed with Martos Napoli (Italy)

Were you aware that Traylor was still playing basketball?  Because I wasn't.  Now that he's playing in Italy (he was in Turkey) he'll get all the carbs he can handle.

November 5: Chris Ellis - signed with Union Atletica (Uruguay)

Ellis spent the bulk of his D-League career in Tulsa, although he split last season between the 66ers and Sioux Falls.  He never put up a great shooting percentage as a 6'9" power forward but he's a decent rebounder.  Come to think of it, I don't recall him being on any Summer League or preseason rosters.  The only offseason action he's had was participating in the NBA Asia Challenge, which raises the question of why it's taken him so long to sign an overseas deal, since the NBA clearly wasn't calling.

November 6: Memphis Grizzlies - waived Trey Gilder

I became engaged in a Twitter discussion with Mark Deeks from ShamSports about Gilder's being waived, and as you'd imagine I made my standard points about Gilder being cheaper than players that Memphis isn't playing and who are terrible, like Steven Hunter or Marko Jaric.  Deeks made the competing (valid) point that waiving Gilder is a money-saving move in itself because he wasn't even on the active roster.  At the heart of our 140-word discussion was a disagreement over whether Gilder can play in the NBA.  I obviously believe he can, and as quoted in that profile, so does his 14ers coach and former NBA scout Bob MacKinnon (and I realize a coach isn't going to badmouth his player, but coaches also don't just offer up the phrase "NBA prospect" all the time).  Deeks noted that Gilder was a sixth man in Colorado, but he actually started about a dozen games, and he was behind players like James Mays and Josh Davis on the depth chart, so I don't think there should be any knock on him there, particularly since undebatably-NBA-level-talented Sonny Weems also came off the bench for that team at times.  Gilder isn't perfect as a player, of course, and I think he'd do well to come back to the D-League this season where he'd be more accessible to NBA scouts, and work on building up some muscle and maybe a mid-range game.  I don't think he's very far from making another NBA roster, though.

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

So long, Will Conroy! (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Things returned to relative quiet this week, as NBA teams finished waiving whomever was to be waived, and those players are now deciding what to do with themselves.

October 26: Red Star (Serbia) - waived Dwayne Jones

Huh?  That was quick.  Jones had only been with the team about five days before getting the boot.  My guess is that he might've asked out of his contract to come back to the D-League and the Toros, but perhaps there was some other issue involved (anyone know if he was injured?  Sham?).  According to this the team cited a "personal problem," which is pretty vague and hopefully not too serious.

October 27: Shaun Pruitt - signed with Peristeri (Greece)

Pruitt was waived by the Golden State Warriors last week, and while coach Don Nelson said that Pruitt had impressed him, who knows what that means anymore.  He's relied mainly on his size (about 6'9" with a 7'1" wingspan, 240 pounds) up to this point in his career, though he has been working with Tim Grover and others on his shot, among other things.  Pruitt spent last season playing in the Czech Republic, Latvia and China, so he's used to the overseas grind.  He's a pretty good rebounder, although he needs to work on his foul shooting and being more efficient overall.  He'll give you 15 points on six shots one night and seven points on five shots the next.  So I guess that's really more of a consistency issue.  He seems to be on NBA radars, and would likely do well in the D-League, but as I keep saying, this is the year of not blaming anyone for playing overseas.

October 29: Orlando Magic - waived Linton Johnson; Dontaye Draper - signed with Prima Veroli (Italy)

I didn't expect Johnson to last long on the roster, as he was mainly there because of Adonal Foyle's injury, and the rehab is apparently going well.  It will be interesting to see what Johnson does from here, as he has enough NBA time under his belt where the D-League would be something of a step down, but he's never been much more than a 14th or 15th man anyway.  He'll likely either head overseas or join the pool of unsigned NBA players hoping to become a midseason injury replacement.  Draper played in France and Belgium last year, where he was a pretty good three-point shooter (save for his 10 games in France, where he shot less than 28 percent).  Six and a half or seven assists per 36 minutes is okay for a point guard, but that was his high point.  He turned his scoring up for his Belgian team in the EuroChallenge, averaging around 21 points a game.  He's 25 now, and is likely a career overseas guy, but he's a pretty good one.

October 31: Will Conroy - signed with DongGuan New Century Leopards

Happy Halloween, Will Conroy.  This was a little surprising to me, as the Rockets had Conroy on both their Summer League and preseason rosters and gave him a fair amount of playing time (at least in Summer League), so I thought there might've been a chance they tried to keep him around on the Vipers.  I guess not, according to what we're hearing.  Assuming he doesn't come back at some point mid-season, the D-League will certainly miss his sportsmanship this year.  Conroy turns 27 in December, and may be reaching the point where he thinks his chances won't get much better than the one Houston gave him.  Conroy should do well in China, even though three-pointers aren't a huge part of his game, but he should still score at a pretty good clip and rack up the assists kicking the ball out to shooters.

by Chris Young - AP

Pops! (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

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We wrap up our look at which players got waived last week and which made their respective teams with the Divisions Atlantic and Southwest.  Really, I promise those are the correct divisions.  I know some of these cuts happened a while ago, but I think that seeing them all as a group helps give a broader perspective as to which teams around the league are filling out the end of their benches with cheap talent (and it is talent).  Here's part 1, and here's part 2 (and ignore the whole "Derrick Byars made the Bulls" thing.  It happened, then it didn't happen.)  Part 3 is here:

Boston Celtics

Who got cut: Mike Sweetney

Who got kept: No one.

Well, not no one, but their third-string guards are going to be recent draft picks Lester Hudson and the J.R. Giddens Rebounding Machine.  Mike Sweetney is trying, he really is, and he's mostly fine on the offensive end.  His conditioning is awful, though, which means he gets hurt and that he's several steps too slow on defense when he makes it onto the court.  There's been some suggestion that he could try working his way back into shape in the D-League, and it will be interesting to see what he does from here.  J.R. Giddens will likely see some D-League action himself, as his shooting is still really bad.  I'm guessing Lester Hudson will as well.  After all, the Celtics have a team in their own backyard, and they can't make Danny's son look bad by withholding their NBA talent.

Dallas Mavericks

Who got cut: Jake Voskuhl

Who got kept: No one.

What, you want me to talk about Jake Voskuhl?  The Mavericks also rid themselves of Nate Jawai, who hadn't been there all that long, but I suspect that was more of a cap move than anything.  D-League-wise, ESPN's Marc Stein things that rookie Rodrigue Beaubois could see some time in Alberquerque, as minutes could be hard to come by for him in Dallas.  Beaubois is definitely talented, and he had an intriguing Summer League, so he could be fun to watch for the Thunderbirds.

Houston Rockets

Who got cut: Will Conroy, Romel Beck, Garrett Temple

Who got kept: Pops Mensah-Bonsu

The Rockets had to waive Brent Barry in order to keep Pops, so that's something.  It's a shame Conroy couldn't stick around, as he played very well in Summer League and decently when he got preseason minutes, but the (ridiculous?) upside is that he hopefully showed other teams around the league that he can run an offense and is ready to play in the NBA.  It's great that Mensah-Bonsu made the team, obviously, but it shouldn't really be that much of a surprise.  A power forward/center somewhere between 6'6" and 6'9" who rebounds the hell out of the ball?  Sounds like the Rockets to me.  Add to that the fact that the team doesn't really know what it's going to get from new center David Andersen either, and you can see why they might want some extra frontcourt help behind Scola, Hayes and Landry.  Mensah-Bonsu's offense will be up and down, but as Rockets fans are finding out, that's going to be true for a lot of their players.  I'd definitely expect to see Jermaine Taylor and hopefully (for his and the team's sake) Chase Budinger in Rio Grande Valley at some point later this season.

Memphis Grizzlies

Who got cut: Mike Taylor, Thomas Gardner, Leon Rodgers

Who got kept: No one.

Again, it's not really "no one," as Trey Gilder is still around after signing a partially-guaranteed contract back in August.  Mike Taylor has proven that he can play in the NBA, provided he can keep his turnovers to a minimum.  It will be interesting to see what he does, as other players with less NBA experience have already said they're fed up with trying to make it out of the D-League and are heading to Europe.  Taylor probably could lead the Euroleague in scoring, but he'd also be perhaps the number one call-up candidate should come back to the D-League, based on his NBA experience and ability.

New Jersey Nets

Who got cut: Bennet Davis, Will Blalock, Brian Hamilton

Who got kept: No one.

I didn't really expect any of these guys to stick around.  Blalock and Hamilton are headed back overseas, I suspect, while Davis would do well to go back to the D-League and either develop an offensive game or become a top-notch post defender to go with his elite shot-blocking ability.

New Orleans Hornets

Who got cut: Earl Barron, Larry Owens

Who got kept: No one.

The Hornets are one of those teams that clearly don't care about the D-League, so I'm not really sure what to write here.  Pass?  Incomplete?  Not qualified?  Earl Barron has a D-League pedigree, sure, but even given his time with the Miami Heat this was pretty clearly not going to work out for him unless Hilton Armstrong went down with an injury.   I'm guessing Barron goes the overseas route, but seeing him in the D-League would be a pleasant surprise.

New York Knicks

Who got cut: Warren Carter, Sun Yue, Ron Howard, Gabe Pruitt

Who got kept: Marcus Landry

Plus, don't forget the team also cut partially-guaranteed guys Chris Hunter and Joe Crawford.  This team is all about winning on the cheap, right?  And yet they cut several good, cheap players.  But hey, have fun with that whole Jared Jeffries thing.  Carter is probably going back to Europe, though I think coming to the D-League might be worth his time, because as I've noted several times before he has a David Lee-ish game.  Ron Howard may come back to the D-League, though I'm less certain about Sun or Hunter.  I wouldn't be surprised if Sun entered the draft, as he's become a semi-prominent example of a Chinese basketball product aiming for the NBA, and to give up on that while he's so young could be somewhat embarrassing.  It also would give the D-League someone to market with so many players headed overseas this year.  If he does enter the draft, it will be interesting to see both where he ends up and in what round, as the league considers him somewhat of a star, and while NBA stars can play pretty much anywhere, I'm not sure the same is true for the D-League.  A crazy thought popped just into my head: would the Spurs/Toros be interested in giving him the Marcus Williams Treatment?  Sun's offense isn't nearly at the level that Williams's is and was, but the Toros essentially created an NBA point guard where there wasn't one, which is what Sun Yue is.  Or isn't.

Philadelphia 76ers

Who got cut: Stromile Swift, Sean Singletary, Rashad Jones-Jennings, Brandon Bowman, Dionte Christmas

Who got kept: No one.

So the 76ers apparently were comfortable with their roster as it stood.  How's that working out?  Yeah, yeah, they already had a lot of guaranteed contracts, and it's not like Sean Singletary is the bee's knees, but this is yet another team that doesn't really care about the D-League, or where their end-of-bench guys come from.  Singletary could benefit from some D-League time, but a lot of European teams don't really care whether their point guards can distribute the ball as long as they can score, so that's likely where he's headed.  Christmas could stay in the U.S., if for no other reason than to be on hand if the 76ers decide they want to sign him to a 10-day and then not play him.

San Antonio Spurs

Who got cut: Marcus Williams, Curtis Jerrells, Dwayne Jones, Jack McClinton

Who got kept: Malik Hairston

San Antonio went with Keith Bogans over Marcus Williams, even though Bogans played pretty poorly in the preseason while Williams barely played.  I say that Williams was waived instead of Bogans and not Malik Hairston because Hairston played so well in both Summer League and the preseason that I would've beeen pretty shocked to see him gone.  McClinton, Jones and Jerrells have already signed overseas, and Williams is another guy who it will be interesting to watch, because he'd be at the front of the call-up list should be come back to the D-League.  He'd probably also be a first-round D-League draft pick and maybe the first player taken overall.  As much as we praise him here at RU, Williams does still have some work to do as a point guard, mainly getting his turnovers down.  And, if he tries to hang around the Spurs universe he'll have to become a better-than-passable defender.  But the fact that he's gone from a gunning wing to a high-scoring, (mostly efficient), high-assist point guard in the span of less than a year is a testament to Williams's talent and how hard he's willing to work to improve his chances, which speaks well to his basketball future.

Toronto Raptors

Who got cut: No one.

Who got kept: No one.

Okay, this is who should get the pass/incomplete/not qualified.  They didn't sign any waiver fodder, so they didn't have to cut any waiver fodder.  All is not lost, however, as Sonny Weems seems to have landed solidly in Toronto after being traded twice this offseason.  He's begun the season on the inactive list, where I suspect he'll see a fair amount of time, but still.

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Quit with the fake smile, Derrick. You knew it was too good to be true.

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Derrick Byars, loved by many, known by few, was cut by the Chicago Bulls today.

Yes, the Bakersfield Jam already sent out a press release that stated he and Patrick O'Bryant, proud alumni of the Jam, had already secured spots on NBA teams for the 2009-10 NBA season.

Yes, some dude named Mark Deeks said Byars is pretty good and that Byars should make the Bulls.

Yes, he was cut even though the same team employs Lindsay Hunter and Jerome James.

Tomorrow, my friends, we shall cheer against the Bulls and for the Spurs. 

Wait, they cut Marcus Williams.

I can't wait until the D-League season, when these guys will get the playing time they deserve.

And, hopefully, by then the tears will be gone and paragraphs will include multiple sentences.

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Go ahead and smile, Derrick Byars. You made the team. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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Today we continue our look at the players waived or, occasionally, kept by NBA teams as the regular season begins. Next up we move into the middle of the country, or as I like to call it, "America's already-bloated snackhole."  (I can say that because I live there.)  That's right, it's the Central and Southwest Divisions.  (Except that I was looking at the wrong division list when I wrote this and it's actually the  Northwest Division.  Deal with it, America.)  And if you're just tuning in, don't forget to check out part 1.

Chicago Bulls

Who got cut: Curtis Stinson, Chris Richard, Steven Hill

Who got kept: Derrick Byars

Forget Stinson and Hill, this really came down to Byars vs. Richard for the last roster spot.  And with all due respect to Richard, they made the right call.  Richard played okay, although he averaged less than seven points per 36 minutes, and given that the team that already sports Joakim Noah in the frontcourt they really probably can't handle yet another guy who can't produce on offense.  Not that Richard unequivocally can't, he just didn't demonstrate that sort of ability in the preseason, which is when he needed to demonstrate it.  Byars helps the team in case Deng gets hurt again, or if John Salmons starts creaking (he turns 30 later this year).  I won't discuss Byars in great detail here, because you can read this.  It probably makes up for the Bulls cutting DeMarcus Nelson, maybe.  Stinson and Hill are both probably headed to Europe, though I could see Stinson sticking around the D-League.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Who got cut: Luke Nevill, Andre Barrett, Russell Robinson, Rob Kurz, Darryl Watkins

Who got kept: Coby Karl

See Marge?  These guys get it.  Karl actually didn't play particularly well in the preseason, but he had a pretty good Summer League with Denver, and he's definitely talented.  He's a nice multi-faceted player who can shoot (and make) threes, help distribute the ball, pick up some steals and rebound a little bit.  So in other words he's exactly the right kind of guard for Cleveland.  He's also worked damn hard, and he deserves another shot at the NBA.  It never feels good to get cut (I'm assuming), but it's probably especially hard for Rob Kurz, who was starting for the Warriors just last season.  He'd definitely be a prime call-up candidate should he go to the D-League, as he's a 6'9" guy who can make threes, although he could stand to pick up his rebounding and defense.  He also profiles well as a Euroleague guy, so he could end up there.  Russell Robinson also could pick either option.  He played pretty poorly both in Summer League and the preseason, with turnovers being the major problem.  Another stint in the D-League could help that, as he averaged just two and a half per 36 minutes for Reno last season.  I'll mention again that I haven't been including Jawad Williams in this discussion because he was signed at the end of last season and has a partially-guaranteed deal, so while he theoretically could be waived later on, the team has been somewhat more committed to him than these other guys.  I'm somewhat optimistic about Williams's playing time, since at this point he's more capable than J.J. Hickson or Darnell Jackson, but Leon Powe and maybe Jamario Moon are around to take most of the backup forward minutes.

Denver Nuggets

Who got cut: James White, Kurt Looby, Keith Brumbaugh, Dontaye Draper

Who got kept: Joey Graham

Massive disappointment here, although there's nothing personal against Graham.  There was just so much hope that this would be White's year in Houston, then the team decided it wouldn't be, then Denver decided it wouldn't be his year for them, either.  Looby getting cut isn't a huge surprise, as he's still carpaccio-raw.  But, White getting the boot on top of Sonny Weems being sent away is enough to make one question Denver's commitment to Sparkle Motion the D-League.  That would be rash, of course, and unfair to Denver who is clearly trying to win soon.  Graham's per-36 numbers are almost identical to White's NBA figures, but I guess there's still too much uncertainty over what White can do when there really shouldn't be.  He's headed over to Europe now, I assume, since he's said he's done with the D-League, and who can blame him.  If an NBA team says they're committed to your development, then semi-promptly gets rid of you, that would be disheartening for anyone.

Detroit Pistons

Who got cut: Maceo Baston

Who got kept: No one.

Sorry, Maceo.  Have fun at your House Party.  (Admit it, that's not the clip you were expecting.)  (Also, note to self: when you get older, shave your head but leave the sideburns and add a mustache.)  But hey, here's a crazy idea; the Pistons also waived their second round pick Deron Washington, who's a 6'7" small forward.  James White is a 6'7" small forward.  WHAT IF THEY'RE ABOUT TO SIGN JAMES WHITE?  They're probably not, but they should be.  While Austin Daye looked really, really good in Summer League, and Jonas Jerebko could be pretty good, it seems a bit crazy to rely on three rookies (remember DaJuan Summers) as key bench contributors, rebuilding or no rebuilding.  And while James White doesn't have that much more NBA experience, he's been around for a few years and he can contribute.  Come on, Joe Dumars.  LET'S DO THIS.

Indiana Pacers

Who got cut: Rod Benson, Demetris Nichols, Lawrence Roberts

Who got kept: No one.

Rod Benson is probably going back to Europe this year, even though he didn't have the best experience there last season (although being injured didn't help).  I'd guess Nichols goes the same route, and both of them are good enough to play in the NBA right now.  (Roberts is already over there.)  As for the biggest question, whether we'll seee a return of Boom Tho-ness, I have no idea.  Personally I wouldn't expect too much except maybe a continuation of his posts over at Ball Don't Lie.  If this website were FreeDarko I'd probably launch into a discussion about whether this year's return to (or first crack at) seriousness for Benson and Gilbert Arenas reflects some kind of "down to business" vibe given off by the Obama Administration, but I have neither the time nor the ability to get into that right now.  Or who knows, maybe Benson could write a book that would probably be better than Paul Shirley's (which I haven't read, but Benson's a better writer than Shirley so it's pretty much a lock.)

Milwaukee Bucks

Who got cut: Marcus Hubbard, Mark Tyndale, Charles Gaines, Dominic James

Who got kept: No one.

This was bound to happen eventually, but I don't really have much to say about these guys.  Hubbard could do with another season or two in the D-League and work on either a.) becoming a proper interior player, or b.) shooting better than .256 on his three-pointers.  Because this in-between thing isn't working.  Gaines played well for Austin last season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes, and shot a good percentage with Maccabi Tel Aviv.  I'd like to see him in the D-League again this season, but I'm not sure he's close enough to a call-up to make it worth his time.  Let's see, what else can I talk about with these guys...uh hey, I think Ersan Ilyasova can be pretty good, but that's not really under the purview of this series.  Three or four players likely going over to Europe.  Whee.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Who got cut: Jack McClinton, Alonzo Gee, Jared Reiner, Devin Green, Mustafa Shakur

Who got kept: Jason Hart

I don't have much to say about Jason Hart since he's 31 years old now and last played in the D-League eight years ago.  This is probably a stale comment by now, and the team waived Antonio Daniels so they haven't gone completely crazy, but what's the deal with Minnesota and point guards?  Who are these people?  Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one?  I've already written about this, but whatever NBA team ends up with McClinton (and there will be one, eventually) is going to love having him, and kick themselves for not having him earlier.  Reiner got a raw deal by getting cut right before the game in his hometown, sure.  But Nate Jawai is in Minnesota now, and that's something, right?  It's at least as much a something as Oleksiy Pecherov being there, certainly.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Who got cut: Michael Ruffin, Tre Kelley, Mike Harris

Who got kept: Ryan Bowen

I saw Kelley play a little bit, and he looked pretty good.  He's very quick, and he can get to the basket.  Of course, he was being guarded by Curtis Jerrells at that point so take it with a grain of bacon salt.  He's almost certainly headed to Europe.  Michael Ruffin, eh.  I have a sort of personal animus against him through no fault of his, since Eddie Jordan overused him when they were both with the Washington Wizards, but he's already landed on his feet overseas.  The question of what Bowen can give the team at this point in his career is a good one, as he's 34 years old and has been pretty inconsistent the last few seasons.  I just have to keep telling myself that the Thunder still have D.J. White and Serge Ibaka, and be content with that.

Portland Trail Blazers

Who got cut: Ime Udoka, Jarron Collins, Donell Taylor, Quinton Hosley

Who got kept: No one.

I wonder what will happen to Udoka, as he's probably still good enough to contribute at the back of someone's rotation, but he's also 32 years old and most of the teams that would be interested in him are already full up.  He's a solid candidate for a mid-season replacement in case some small forward somewhere gets hurt.  He can shoot the three a bit, his rebounding has improved the past few years and he doesn't turn the ball over much.

What, you want me to talk about Jarron Collins?

Utah Jazz

Who got cut: Ronald Dupree, Alexander Johnson, Paul Harris, Spencer Nelson

Who got kept: No one.

Wes Matthews and draft pick Goran Suton aren't really included in this, but in the interest of full disclosure Matthews is in and Suton is out.  Suton would be a solid big man in the D-League should he decide to go that route.  You're probably expecting me to express disappointment at Dupree being waived, but the fact is that he didn't play well in the preseason.  At all.  Well, I suppose that's not completely true as he averaged about ten points per 36 minutes, but he's capable of much more than that, and he didn't really contribute much in the way of rebounds, assists or steals.  He's really only had one good game, though, against the Clippers when he shot 4-7 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line, and in the rest he shot 5-13 overall.  I'd like to see him in the D-League again this year, and maybe if he plays his normal solid, slashing game he'll restore some of his call-up-ability.

by Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP

Paul Davis poses for trading card photo. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

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Here it is; the long-awaited (okay maybe not), oft-promised look at who got waived and who made an NBA roster.  I'm breaking this up into three parts, and here's what they'll look like: for each team, there will be a list of who got cut and who got kept (and yes I know the grammar isn't great, but that's what I've decided to go with).  To make it interesting, I'll look at one Eastern Conference team and one Western Conference team each day.  I probably won't discuss every player, since at this point in his career Juan Dixon can do whatever as far as I'm concerned, but I'll try to hit most of the players who either previously spent time in the D-League or might be considering it as an option this season.  I'm also operating under the assumption that the vast majority of guys that I talk about will be playing in Europe.  The season's already started over there in a lot of places, but there's usually room for one more skilled American player.  Nonetheless, I'll try to keep the D-League optimism up.  Okay?  Okay.  So here we go.  First up: the Southeast and Pacific Divisions, below the jump.

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Nate Jawai is on the move once again. Maybe he'll enjoy Sioux Falls more than he did Boise.

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So last week was a bloodbath.  Today is the deadline for NBA teams to submit their regular season rosters, and most of them knew who they were keeping awhile ago.  So did pretty much everyone, really.  But you'll notice I'm not talking about guys who have been waived, and that's because, well, today is the deadline, and some teams still have some decisions to making.  Whether to keep Derrick Byars or Paul Davis, for instance, or Malik Hairston vs. Marcus Williams.  So don't worry, I'll be breaking all of that down through the rest of the week.  Today, though, I thought I'd devote the regular transactions space to looking at moves that didn't involve waiving a really solid third point guard because you love Brian Cook for some reason.  Ridiculous.

October 21: Dallas Mavericks - traded Nathan Jawai and cash to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a second round pick.

With Kevin Love out 6-8 weeks the Timberwolves found themselves in need ot some frontcourt depth, and as much as Oleksiy Pecherov gets buckets, son (and is actually a pretty terrific rebounder), he's not really capable of contributing on a consistent casis.  I mean basis.  Not that Jawai necessarily is, either, but he cost what, a protected second-rounder?  And Minnesota picked up some cash on top of it?  It's a decent low-cost move for the Timberwoves, and while they could've waited a few extra days and picked up a different big man who would potentially give them more than four points and four rebounds per 36 minutes (in fact I would hope so), or even Jawai's D-League numbers of 16 and 10 (again, per-36), Jawai definitely has talent.  He just needs to cuts down on the fouls and maybe improve his attitude.  Jawai didn't really fit on the Mavericks' roster anymore since their backup big men are more of the Drew Gooden/Tim Thomas variety.  They didn't really get anything back, and had to give the T-Wolves some money, but I assume this helped relieve their cap space a little, so...good?

October 24: Utah Flash - hired Mark Madsen as assistant coach

I already discussed this on Saturday (however briefly), but to flesh this out a little more, it's always hard to judge first-time coaching hires, but I could see this working out fairly well.  Madsen graduated (right?) from Stanford, so he's clearly a bright guy.  He's also Mormon, so he'll likely be embraced by the Flash fanbase.  And, whether it was because of team chemistry or other reasons, a nine-year NBA career is something that pretty much every D-League player aspires to, so he'll likely have their attention as an assistant.  He only played for two teams over his career, though, so he's not a typical journeyman who has experience learning new offensive systems quickly, but he can probably pick up enough of the Flash/Jazz system quickly enough to be able to say things other than "hey, Goran, rebound...better, I guess?"  I do wonder, though how long Madsen has been looking at coaching and how much of this desire arose when his internet domain name

October 25: Jack McClinton - signed with Aliağa Petkim (Turkey)

It's a bit disappointing to see that McClinton won't be playing in the NBA this year, since he certainly has the ability.  It's also somewhat of a shame that he won't be in the D-League, since he'd be at the top of the call-up candidate list pretty much from the start.  But this year I have a hard time holding it against guys for going to make money overseas.  Plus, the Turkish league has a decent enough reputation (as far as I know; Ball in Europe never answered my question about the various European leagues, although admittedly that was a different question than "how well-regarded are the various leagues," although it still would've helped to know and they still didn't answer it, but it's still a good blog and I'm sure they're good people; no, I'm not just trying to fill space) that he might get some honest looks from NBA teams next year.  McClinton joins Quinton Hosley, who signed with Petkim a few days earlier, on a team in its second year of existence.  I don't really know if that makes a difference, but it means there likely isn't the institutional structure and stability of, say, an Efes Pilsen (feel free to tell me I'm wrong, someone).  Izmir, where the team is located, is beautiful though, which I bring up mainly to brag that I've been to Turkey.