The Phoenix Suns defeated the Golden State Warriors 92-87 in NBA preseason action Thursday night and then, instead of celebrating, they decided to release former NBA Development League players Dwayne Jones and Zabian Dowdell according to the Arizona Republic's Paul Coro. With these transactions, Coro says that it is "likely" that Garret Siler and Matt Janning have both made the Suns regular season roster.
And then I nearly peed my pants (With excitement, obviously, and not just because I'm on this random grapefruit juice kick at the time).
See, Siler has been a player I've been touting since I found out that he existed simply because he's a likable guy: he's larger than life, he's had to work for every look he's received since coming out of a Division 2 college, he's fun to watch and even more fun to root for just because he doesn't look the part of a typical NBA player. As far as Janning, well, he's a 6-foot-4 white kid from Minnesota who went undrafted out of Northeastern - what's not to like?
These are the types of players that I love to see get solid opportunities and I'm glad they were able to take advantage of them. Now, more than likely, I will assume the Phoenix Suns will probably keep at least one of them in the NBA Development League with the Iowa Energy this season because, well, they still need a bit of developing.
As far as Jones and Dowdell, it will be interesting to see what the future has in store simply because both have already been down the D-League route.
Jones has been one of the top big men in the D-League over the past few seasons and, while the Austin Toros still hold his rights, it's probably time to begin looking into European options if he's not immediately picked up by another NBA team considering he's now 27.
With Dowdell, it would be nice to see him return to the D-League as one of the best guard options in the D-League - at least until 10-day contracts are available - simply because he left the Tulsa 66ers just a bit too soon last season to play for Unicaja Malaga in Spain.
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