Amare Stoudemire is out for eight weeks after getting surgery for a detached retina on Wednesday night.  Phoenix Stan says "But here's the silver lining. The Bright Side. We are going to learn a lot about Amare by having him out."  I've got a little more silver lining for you, Suns fans.  After the success story that is Lou Amundson, along with employing former D-Leaguer Matt Barnes, why not hit the D-League up to fill Amare's spot for awhile?  Of course, you've already got Courtney Sims, but as Phoenix Stan told me earlier, we'll have to see what he can do in real life.

First, it sounds like back-up point guard is the number one option.  If you're going to look D-League, may as well look at the leading scorer, Will Conroy, who's played a bit in the NBA and is currently averaging 26.4 points and eight assists per game.  If Conroy's not what you fancy, I'm going to suggest Walker Russell Jr.  He had a tryout earlier this year with the Suns, but I really have him pegged going to the Knicks with openings and his dad being a scout there. Like he told me today, however, "It is a business."  On the season, Russell Jr is averaging 16 points and 11 assists per game.

I also know of a great prospect that is basically a Mini-Amare in the D-League.  Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who played 12 games with the Dallas Mavericks a couple years back before hitting the overseas circuit is currently dominating the D-League.

Mensah-Bonsu, who came out of George Washington undrafted, wound up playing/sitting/D-Leaguing it with the Mavericks his first season.  In the D-League that season, he averaged 15 and 10 along with becoming the All-Star Game MVP.  Then, after two years overseas, he came back this summer, playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves Vegas Summer League team.  He impressed everyone there, but didn't get an NBA contract, and thusly was on his way back to Europe.  After seven games in Europe however, the London native was injured.

When he reappeared, it wasn't overseas, but rather in the D-League with the Austin Toros.  So far, he's off to a torrid pace, averaging 25 points, grabbing 12 boards, and swatting nearly three shots a game.

Dear Otis Smith,

I'm not a fan of you right now.  I wasn't a fan when you signed Rashard Lewis to the first billion dollar contract in NBA history.  I wasn't a fan when you kept old Adonal Foyle over a developing James Augustine.  Today, I'm certainly not a fan of seeing you nearing a deal to trade for Tyronn "freaking ZERO Upside and PLENTY of downside" Lue.

I posted quite a bit over at ThirdQuarterCollapse over the last couple days, the official SB Nation blog of your Orlando Magic.  I put up a post here yesterday telling not to forget about the D-League and that post was picked up by Yahoo as well as HardwoodParoxysm.  How you missed all of this, I'm not sure.  The message was very clear: instead of going after an also-ran point guard, why not go to the D-League, where the talent is cheap, hungry, and at the very least has some upside?

I'll give you a bit of a history lesson, as you're obviously not all too familiar with the D-League.  The D-League, or NBA Development League, is a place where players under the radar go to recognized.  Some of them need lots of developing, yes, but others are NBA-ready and are just developing, honing their skills, waiting for the right situation to arise so that they can show the world what you, and other NBA general managers, have been missing.

See, there are quite a few players that have started in the D-League (or CBA before the D-League), got a call-up and their chance to shine, and now are success stories for the whole basketball world to admire!  My first example is going to be one that your constituency will remember fondly, Darrell Armstrong.  See, Armstrong originally went undrafted by the NBA, played in the Global Basketball Association, the USBL, and even the CBA before finally getting a look from your Orlando Magic.  Darrell, besides his 1996 dunk contest entry, turned out to be a pretty good player, didn't he, Otis?

Hey Otis, how about Mike Wilks?  You obviously thought he must have something to bring to the table after bringing him in this preseason.  See, Mike played two seasons in the NBDL with the Huntsville Flight before getting a look in the NBA.  Looks like he's put together a decent body of work over the past six seasons for a man like yourself to be giving him an opportunity.  

Now, and stay with me even though we're moving a bit out of your comfort zone, I'd like to direct your attention to some other players that have turned out to not be terrible that started their career in the minor leagues: Lou Amundson, Stephen Jackson, Ronny Turiaf, Rafer Alston, Mikki Moore, Bobby Simmons, Devin Brown, Ime Udoka, Bruce Bowen, Von Wafer, Kelenna Azubuike, Malik Hairston and even your own Jeremy Richardson started their career as an NBA Call-up!

After seeing that, Mr. Smith, why is it that you were so afraid to look at one of the hungry, talented, hard-working, passionate individuals just waiting for that chance to prove to you just how much they belong on the NBA hardcourt.

Sincerely,

Ridiculous Scott

P.S. Please forward this on to your other friends in the NBA world, as they may as well take advantage of these players sitting right under your nose if you're not willing.  Thanks!

As we all know, a couple of days ago, Deane Martin was awarded the first annual D-League Assistant Coach of the Year So Far award after coaching the Jam to a 4th quarter victory.  In that post, I mentioned his official Bakersfield bio saying he's had "hands on action" in developing Larry Hughes and Marcus Banks.  Not exactly something to be proud of.  At the bottom, there's also a little snippet that mentions former D-Leaguer Lou Amundson (albeit of the Philadelphia 76ers).  This guy is something to be proud of, and Deane was coaching at UNLV while Lou was there.  Come on VP, hype that!

Ben over at Ben's Suns Blog had a great profile on Lou today, featuring everything from his days at UNLV to his current times as a Sun.  On the season, Lou has played in 28 games this season, and although he's only averaging 3.3 points and 2.8 boards per game, over the last six games, he has been getting some pretty good minutes.  On January 7th, against the Indiana Pacers, Lou put up nine points and grabbed 14 boards, nine on the offensive end.

In Amundson's D-League career, he averaged 11 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in 25 minutes of action.  Other than the blocks, that's nothing spectacular, especially when you look at him being a couple inches shorter than the 6'9" he's listed at.  However, if you watched him play, he was always doing the little things, diving for loose balls, working his butt off to grab the boards, and not worry about his numbers.  This eventually earned him a call-up for the end the season with the 76ers, where he stuck for the following season.  Now, after a good Summer League with the Warriors, he's with the Suns and playing well.

It'd be great to see more guys in the D-League model their game after Lou.  Amundson proved that you don't have to put up numbers to get noticed, but if you play hard, hustle, and can D up, the NBA will take notice and the call-up will come.  Having a bad ass pony tail and passing gas on Pau Gasol may or may not help your cause.