How did the Legends do last season?
As has been the case since their move to Texas, the Legends failed to eclipse .500 plateau as they finished 22-28 on the season. Despite the lackluster season, there were some bright parts throughout the season that include the rise of Eric Griffin. An unsung forward out of Campbell, Griffin stood out as the finest 3-and-D wing in the NBADL as he averaged 18 points, 6.6 boards and 2.4 blocks per game on 45% from the field.
How will Texas do this season?
After a stretch of disappointing seasons, the Texas Legends looked to start anew by hiring former NBA All-Star Nick Van Exel to be their new head coach. Alongside that, the team seems to finally have an emphasis on development due to the addition of Indian prospect Satnam Singh and Filipino guard Bobby Ray Parks, who are both newcomers to pro basketball. Alongside that duo includes the likes of Brandon Ashley, Patrick Miller and Toure Murry.
Ashley was one of the bright parts on a solid Arizona squad where he displayed an ability to be as efficient from mid-range as he is from inside. We've covered former Tennessee State guard Patrick Miller in the past, and he has the potential to surprise people based on his scoring ability. The 6'1 guard averaged 23.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals. Toure Murry can now be looked at as a D-League vet, as he's played with three separate teams since 2012-13. In that time, he's established himself as a pretty solid facilitator as he averaged 5.9 steals during the 2014-15 season.
Who is the most likely call-up?
In a league that has become so driven around guard play, the Texas Legends would seem like a solid hot bed for NBA to look. The aforementioned Toure Murry has prior NBA experience and could become a solid temporary backup guard. Tu Holloway is a former third-team NCAA All-American and Xavier standout that has had success in countries like Mexico, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Bobby Ray Parks is probably the most intriguing prospect as he's coming to the league after being a huge standout in the Philippines.
Who is the most likely assignee?
As has been the case since Mark Cuban bought the Mavericks, the team has been headlined by a core of veteran players. On the active roster, there are currently seven players that are over 30 years old. That kind of situation obviously doesn't lead to many potential assignees but there is a prospect that stands out: Justin Anderson. Anderson was an extremely talented two-way forward at Virginia and has only averaged 8 minutes per game during the young NBA season. Those kind of scenarios should allow Anderson to see time with the Texas Legends during his rookie season.
Will the Satnam Singh experiment work?
That's probably the most glaring question facing the Texas Legends this year due to the organization's inability to develop their prospects into valuable NBA prospects. Not counting this year, Jared Cunningham and Jae Crowder are the only players drafted by the Dallas Mavericks since 2009 that are currently in the NBA. While some of that has to do with how the Mavericks drafted, some of that blame could go to the Legends. Since their arrival, it seems that they're more interested in housing over-the-hill NBA players (Delonte West, Mike James or Greg Ostertag) than developing players for their big league club.
However, with Nick Van Exel now leading the core, that mindset could change. The transformation should become incredibly visible as 7'2, 290 pound Indian prospect Satnam Singh will be with Texas for the entire season. The 56th overall pick in this past year's draft, Singh is a huge unknown as the only experience at playing against quality opponents is only 35 minutes in Summer League.
Despite the unknown, there's a lot of promise surrounding Singh. Of course, his status as the first Indian-born prospect in the NBA Draft could allow the Mavericks organization to open up the game to a nation with over 1 billion people that are starving for a basketball figure to look up to. While the process of building Singh from an unknown to an actual NBA player that can help the Mavericks in future years, the end result could become more rewarding than we'd ever know.
