A couple of players with NBA potential will soon be joining the D-League as rookies Matt Bouldin and Arinze Onuaku will clear waivers Wednesday afternoon and join their new teams soon after.
Bouldin, a 6-foot-5 guard, Finished sixth in career scoring (1,683 points), third in steals (170) and fifth in assists (444) during his four-year career at Gonzaga. The former Bulldog was averaging 9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals for Iraklis Thessaloniki earlier this season, but was released in January after failing a drug test (he was replaced by the now heavyset Smush Parker).
I have semi-high hopes for Bouldin's D-League career after being impressed with his play for the Chicago Bulls in the Vegas Summer League where he averaged 6.2 points, 2.4 assists and 2.2 rebounds. He'll also immediately be put in a good situation as league sources have indicated that the Tulsa 66ers will claim him with the top pick on the waiver wire. Tulsa has already moved Zabian Dowdell up (to the Phoenix Suns) and Tweety Carter on (to Latvia, which almost assuredly pays better) so Bouldin should be given plenty of minutes to prove himself.
Onuaku finished his career up at Syracuse last season, but the D-League will be his first foray into playing professional basketball after sustaining what was rumored to be a minor leg injury heading into March Madness last season, but later turned out to be a torn quad that's rendered him unavailable up until now.
A rather large dude at 6-foot-9, 260+ pounds (last time we heard from him), Onuaku could become a very good player in the D-League if he's in any sort of basketball shape following the year-layoff. It also won't hurt if he's given Jeff Adrien's minutes if he's claimed by Rio Grande Valley Vipers, a "good possibility" as far as I've heard.
Without many NBA call-ups so far this season, I don't have high hopes that these guys will make the NBA this year, but a solid performance in the D-League definitely won't hurt their future earning potential, either.
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