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Training Camp Invites - New Jersey Nets

The next team up is the New Jersey Nets, and the jokes about possible Russian ownership of the team that are now required by law (it's a real law, I looked it up so you don't need to bother).  I don't know why, but for some reason I still find jokes about the Soviet Union hilarious, or at least jokes that were made at the time, such as "The Last Stand of Yakov Smirnoff" from the Ben Stiller Show or SCTV's CCCP1 episode.  Anyway, in Soviet Russia, training camp is invited to you!  You viewers at home are enjoying this, I'll bet.

Will Blalock - From the 2006-2007 season to 2007-2008, Blalock went from a point guard who picked up almost nine assists per 36 minutes who couldn't shoot to a guy who made 38.5 percent of his three-pointers but dished out less than six assists on a per-minute basis.  His rebounding also dropped from almost six per-36 to three.  He can get away with that kind of increased shooting output and decreased everything-else in Europe (although he shot 3-17 from three while playing for Germany's Artland Dragons last year, so that didn't happen either), but NBA teams likely want him to be able to combine the two.  The Nets already have three point guards and five guys who can play shooting guard, so Blalock will likely be headed back overseas.

Bennet Davis - Davis is a 6'8" power forward whose main skill is his shot-blocking, and he's very good at it.  The Utah Flash played him at center a few times last season, mostly in the playoffs and finals, but that didn't work very well.  He doesn't score very consistently, and the Nets have a ton of forward-center types on their roster so Davis would be a longshot anyway, but he only started playing basketball when he was 17, so he still could develop an offensive game.

Brian Hamilton - Hamilton is another former Utah Flash player, though that was two seasons ago.  He attending the Nets' training camp last year as well, and spent last season playing in the Philippines.  Hamilton's calling card is his defense, and there are second-hand accounts that it's real, and it's spectacular.  In the D-League he scored at a decent per-minute rate, though he has no real outside shot.  The Nets already have several good wing defenders in Courtney Lee and Trenton Hassell, but another team might take notice of Hamilton's work and give him a shot.