Alright, now we know what teams have which players coming back. Frankly, I'm a little excited. Here are my quick thoughts.. More likely coming once the final player list is out.
First off, looks like there could be a lot of good teams returning good players:
Albuquerque could same noise with Will Conroy, a former NBAer, along with NBA camp guys Cheyne Gadson and Cory Underwood, who apparently blogs. Though Anaheim got Cedric Bozeman, a former T-Bird, which I thought was interesting.
Anaheim brings back Mario Boggan and Mike Efevberha, who both played in a few games with the Arsenal last year, along with Noel Felix and Cedric Bozeman, both former D-League guys.
Austin brought back Marcus Williams and added Malik Hairston and Charles Gaines. Both Hairston and Gaines were in camp with the Spurs last month. They also brought in Tack Minor from local tryouts. I always thought Tack would be a stud at Georgia Tech, but never really panned out.
Bakersfield did alright for themselves, bringing back Mateen Cleaves and Trey Johnson to put together a solid back court and being allocated Jeff Trepagnier, whose been playing in Europe since 2004 after a season with the Nuggets. Not sure why Trepagnier was allocated to Bakersfield as he went to school at USC (located in LA, where there's also a D-League team). Never been a fan of Nick Lewis.
Colorado was allocated Josh Davis and Joe Dabbert, two good players, but not sure why both went to Colorado. Dabbert played for Sioux Falls in the CBA, and Josh Davis has played a few seasons with Idaho. Neither went to school in Colorado.
Dakota returned 7 guys from the past two seasons, four from the 2006-07 season when they won the D-League championship. As it looks right now, there isn't a deeper backcourt in the D-League, as Ahearn and Baker have both played in the NBA, and Jefferson was one of the last cuts in the Clippers camp. Throw in David Bell and don't expect Coach Ticknor to take too many guards on draft day.
Erie brought in Jackie Manuel, but the rest of their guys aren't really household names. Mike Cook played at Pitt, Geary Claxton at Penn State. Ivan Harris out of Ohio State could put up some points.
Fort Wayne looks pretty much as expected. They brought back who they planned to and didn't get much in the way of allocation players.
Idaho looks like they'll be strong. Bringing back Brent Petway and Jamaal Tatum, being assigned Coby Karl, and getting rookie Reggie Larry out of Boise State will give Coach Gates a solid foundation to build on.
Iowa has Dwayne Mitchell and Courtney Sims to build around, and that's a good thing. They also bring in the Dawg, Aristide Sawadago, who I know best for
riding ostriches while he was in camp with Dakota last season.
Los Angeles, returning just one player from last season (Darren Cooper, who I don't recall at all) got lucky with some good allocations.. They were allocated two of the better rookies, Laker draft pick Joe Crawford and Patrick Sanders, got Brandon Heath, who was in Lakers camp, and had two former D-League players at their local tryout camp in Rashid "SEVEN AND SUM CHANGE" Byrd and Ryan Forehan-Kelly..
Reno put together a good team through the expansion draft. Damone Brown is one of the top players in the D-League. Tony Gipson lit it up for Dakota at the end of last season. Andre Patterson has averaged 10 points, 7 boards, and 1.5 blocks in 52 D-League games. Jesse Smith averaged 9 and 7 for RGV last season. Jamaal Thomas brings 92 games and 9 points per game in D-League experience. For getting what other teams didn't want, this team could surprise you.
Rio Grande didn't bring back anyone too exciting, nor were they allocated anyone too exciting. Hopefully they draft well.
Sioux Falls is one of the only teams that could possibly pencil their starters in just from returning players (Dakota is the other, but a big man would be nice). They bring back Frank Williams from two years ago at the point, Carl Elliott at the 2, NBA vet Bobby Jones at the 3, Michael Joiner at the 4, and Chris Alexander at the 5. Looking good for Coach Tibbetts, Fritz and friends.
Tulsa has Keith Closs. Really, what more is needed? They're also bringing back Russell Carter, who made a six game cameo for the team last season, and were allocated Terrell Everett, a lefty guard out of Oklahoma. Ryan Humphrey, a first round pick of the Jazz in 2002 was also allocated to them.
Utah brought back D-League vet Brian Jackson, but not much else.
No Love for Royce Parran. Hope he gets a shot. Another guy I'd like to see get drafted is Bennet Davis, a rookie out of Northwestern, who played with a former great in the D-League, Jose Juan Barea.
