According to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Bobcats/Maine Red Claws center Alexis Ajinca needs thumb surgery and is out at least six weeks.
Losing Ajinca - a first-round draft pick who scored 25 points and grabbed 16 boards and four blocks in his last game - would typically be a huge blow to a D-League team, but I don't see this hurting the Red Claws because they just picked up former NBA players Paul Davis and Maurice Ager.
Davis is probably most famous for his charismatic-as-Scott-Schroeder appearance on Millionaire Matchmaker, but he's actually a serviceable basketball player as well, especially in the D-League. After being released by the Washington Wizards early in the season, he made his debut for the Red Claws on Sunday, scoring 20 points, grabbing seven boards and adding five STOCKS (Steals + Blocks, last time I'm telling you) in 25 minutes of action.
Ager was a teammate of Davis at Michigan State and the Mav's first round pick in 2006.
I'll get a bit more in-depth with the Red Claws later this week (tease!), but let's look at the talent this team currently can put on the court because they're easily the team with the most future NBA talent in the league right now.
First, I'll note that they're currently without Ajinca and J.R. Giddens, two NBA players who would more than likely be current Red Claws had they not suffered injuries with the team. They're also missing Mario West, who was recently signed for the season by the Atlanta Hawks.
- Russell Robinson, last cut of the Cav's this Fall and former NCAA National Champion with the Kansas Jayhawks, is currently their starting point guard
- Tony Bobbitt played in a few games for the Lakers during the 2004-05 season. He was also pretty good with Cincinnati way back when. Currently, he's mostly crazy and hitting 3-pointer's like it's his job as the starting 2-guard.
- Trey Gilder came off the bench for the league champion Colorado 14ers last season and made the Memphis Grizzlies to begin this season. Like Davis, he was also cut pretty early in the season, but to have a player that's played in the NBA this season is a pretty nice thing to have. He starts at the 3.
- Noel Felix has been a Summer League stalwart for quite awhile and played 12 games for the Sonics back then they were still the Sonics. He doesn't seem to be NBA-caliber anymore, but still can light it up when called upon. I'm not sure if they'll start him or Darnell Lazare with Paul Davis.
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