Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 31

I wasn't initially going to mention this, not until we got to Marko Tomas's entry at least. But, browbeaten/prompted by Jonathan Givony, I will relent and do it now.

An amusing scandal has broken out in the world of Croatian basketball. A team called Cibona Zagreb are perhaps the best team in the country; they were in the last 16 of the Euroleague just last month, and currently lead the powerhouse Adriatic league with a 19-5 record. Players on that team that you may have heard of include former Bulls centre Dalibor Bagaric (whose name was brutalised into Dalibor Ballagachayridge by inept English commentator Roy Birch last week), former Real Madrid sharpshooter Marko Tomas, Slovenian shooter Samo Udrih (Beno's brother and one time Maverick), and balding former Mississippi State guard Jamont Gordon (covered here earlier this week). It's a deep team that also houses upcoming draft prospect Bojan Bogdanovic (a tall wing player with a fine jumpshot, if not much else) and Leon Radosevic (a 19 year old big man who, in true Croatian style, cannot rebound). Cibona have long had a strong youth movement, and this continues today.

Cibona Zagreb's captain is 27 year old Croatian national team veteran forward Marin Rozic. Rozic is currently injured and has been out of action for the last three months, but this doesn't mean he hasn't been keeping himself busy. News reports out of Croatia claim that, in a homage to former England captain John Terry, Rozic has been knocking off Radosevic's woman on the side, despite the two being teammates. It was Radosevic himself who went to the press, and, via the awkward medium of Google Translate, here's the gist of the story:

- I went to training and left to record their conversation. A day later I am still shocked and listen - told 24 hours Radosevic and briefly recounted the contents of their conversation.

- Euphoric spoke as she went with him into the apartment, but apparently nothing happened because they did not have condoms. Only the love.

.......

When he discovered the affair, called the girl and brought the completed act.

- First denied and then I let her recording of the conversation. Picked up the items and left the flat.

The gist of that, confirmed by this English language version of the story, is that Radosevic's girlfriend told him that a (female) friend of hers was going to come over to their place while he was at practice. This prompted Radosevic to set up a covert recording of their liaison, as he claimed that he 'liked to hear girls talk.' When he returned from practice and replayed the tape, he found that his girlfriend's actual visitor that day was Rozic, with whom she had been making out on the couch. (Although, as you can see above, apparently they avoided bumping uglies due to a lack of penis wraps. So they're not animals.)

The seediness of Radosevic's actions - who seemingly was covertly recording his girlfriend with another woman just to add to his own personal spankbank - has been overlooked by the two reports that instead seem to focus on Rozic's moral disobedience and general douchebaggery, as well as the girlfriend's deviance and slagginess. This is, perhaps, fair enough. Yet I don't believe it should be overlooked that, if what I can gather from the various reports is correct, Radosevic was illicitly recording other people's conversations. If he did so because he suspected she was straying, that's one thing, but it doesn't look like he was. It looks like he was just being a bit of a deviant himself. And that's pretty weird, dude.

Radosevic has asked to be released at the end of the year; fortunately, with Rozic's injury keeping him away from the team, they should be able to avoid any conflict between now and then. If there's any justice, Rozic will be the one released, but he's the better player and that often counts for a lot. So we'll wait and see.

As for the girlfriend in question, this is her. She's 8 years older than Radosevic; in fact, she's even older than Rozic. She seems to be claiming that she and Radosevic had already broken up, and that her and Rozic are just friends. The tape would suggest otherwise. Rozic refuses to comment.

It's funny, yet it isn't.

And now for some red hot Where Are They Now action.


- Jeff Horner

Iowa product and D-League veteran Jeff Horner started the year in Belgium, which is only fitting because he's American. However, he was released by Aalstar after posting 0 points and 1 assist in 47 minutes, while still recovering from a twice-broken foot. He then took up coaching, starting at Des Moines area high school, moving to Grandview University, and has now joined Iowa University's player development program.

Horner was the first player acquired in the history of the Iowa Energy D-League franchise. This was for his local ties more than anything else.



- Robert Horry

Horry last played two years ago, and he's not coming back now. In retirement, Horry has done a bit of TV work for ESPN, appeared in a reality tv show called "The Superstars" (which sounds like a tacky American imitation of the seminal British classic), and has opened a sports bar in Houston. He'll also appear at your club, for a fee.



- Daniel Horton

The last two years of the Daniel Horton Experience have not gone well. Last year, due to a combination of injuries and Pau Orthez's struggles, Horton played in only 4 games all year, averaging 11.3 points and 4.0 assists. And this year has been even worse; now with a different French team (Hyeres-Toulon), Horton played the first three games of the French league season before getting injured. He missed two months of action and only returned in the new year; since then he's played seven more games. Yet in these ten games, Horton is averaging only 3.4 points and 3.0 assists in 22 minutes per game. He is shooting 10-46 from the field; 8-33 from two point range and 2-13 from three. Toulon have now released Horton, who remains unsigned.

Another Hyeres-Toulon player is Pierre Pierce. Now into his second year with the team, the infamous former Iowa player is averaging 14.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, albeit shooting only 39% from the field, 28% from three and 56% from the line. (The assists rank fourth in the league.) Pierce is more notorious for his criminal history, which is rather well-sculpted; he was released from prison in September 2006 after serving 11 months for assaulting his girlfriend, serving 332 days after pleading guilty to intent to commit sexual abuse, false imprisonment, third-degree burglary and criminal mischief. Pierce is to stay on probation until October 2010, and has to register as a sex offender wherever he goes, and while he played in summer league for the Warriors in 2007 - and playing rather well at that - in doing so he violated his probation and served 30 more days.

Pierre Pierce, everybody. Charge your glasses.



- Quinton Hosley

Fresno State product Hosley signed his first ever NBA contract this past October when he joined the Portland Trail Blazers for training camp. However, he was an early cut, never challenging for a roster spot. Rebounding from that didn't take long, as Hosley returned to Turkey and promptly began to beast. On the season for Aliaga Petkim, Hosley is averaging 18.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.9 steals per game. He's 5th in the league in PPG, 2nd in RPG, 1st in SPG, and only just outside the top ten in APG (Emir Preldzic is tenth with 4.0apg). He's arguably the best player in the country. But due to a lack of domestic support, Aliaga are 12th in the league with a 9-13 record.



- Allan Houston

Houston was never the compelling protagonist of his own amnesty clause, as was erroneously expected by a large contingent of the mainstream media. This is because he didn't need to be; the Knicks knew that they could get a retirement exemption thing on Houston's salary eventually, and they finally did so in October 2005.

Houston wasn't done, however; he launched two comeback attempts, both with the Knicks, who signed him for training camp in both 2007 and 2008. However, Houston made neither roster, and the comeback attempts appeared to be more in hope than expectation. (If he really wanted to get back in the NBA, he wouldn't have signed with the Knicks; the roster situation was always against him. Loyalties were a big factor.) It was, however, a more noble way to go out than before. Houston is now working for the Knicks as an assistant to team president and part time mafioso, Donnie Walsh. He also co-owns the clothing label UNK NBA, and is a prominent charity event organiser.



- Ron Howard

Valparaiso graduate Howard is again in the D-League, and again he's with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. This is his third consecutive season there, and he has improved every time. His first year, he averaged 11.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, rising to 18.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists last year. He has had training camp contracts after the conclusion of both seasons, first with the Bucks and then last year with the Knicks.

This year, Howard - best on the defensive end - has improved his numbers even further. He is averaging 20.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, shooting 46% from the field and 80% from the free throw line. Better still, he's now shooting threes. In his first two seasons with the team, Howard went 0-16 from three in 95 games and 3,073 minutes, but this year he's shooting 42-109 from out there, a 39% clip. Howard can't improve his age (27) or his height (6'5 small forward), and he hasn't improved his rebounding, but he has improved his jumpshot range. So now he's a 21ppg defensive specialist. Can't be bad.

Worse players than him have been called up before. Stick with it, Ron.

[EDIT; Howard left the Mad Ants two weeks ago to go and play in China.]



- Marcus Hubbard

Like Howard, Hubbard is in the D-League. Like Howard, Hubbard has had training camp contracts the last two seasons; with the Hawks in 2008 and the Bucks in 2009. But unlike Howard, Hubbard is on the cusp of nothing. In 37 games this season, 17 with the Reno Bighorns and 20 with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, Hubbard is averaging 8.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. But to get those numbers, he's shooting only .376% from the field, with 312 points on 314 shots. And that's a 6'9 forward. Hubbard is athletic, but all he really uses that for is to get elevation to take a lot of long twos. And that's not getting it done.



- Troy Hudson

Hudson last played with the Warriors in the 2007-08 season, when he appeared in only 9 games and shot 29%. He has not signed anywhere since. Hudson was trying to make a comeback as recently as August, when he sponsored and played for a team in the Howard Pulley Summer League. The Howard Pulley Summer League is a summer league (obviously) centred around former and current Minnesotans; also involved were Trenton Hassell, Quincy Lewis, Rich Melzer, Khalid El-Amin, and pretty much every member of the current Gopher squad (including Paul Carter, Al Nolen, Ralph Sampson and Damian Johnson). He also had workouts with multiple NBA teams in the summer, including Detroit. But nothing came of it.

The website for his record label no longer exists, and there's no word on whether his album's sales figures ever cracked the three figure mark. However, Hudson continues to pursue an entrepenurial dream. Hudson still has a website for his own musical endeavours, T-HudOnline.com (although it is remarkably out of date), and Nutty Boyz Entertainment has become Hudson Records, a subsidiary of Hudson's larger company, Troy E. Hudson Enterprises. Included in Hudson Enterprises are the record label, a sports management firm, and Undrafted Pros, a sports recruitment firm of sorts.

In addition to this dream, Hudson is still "in the streets in every city and hood" promoting his music>, and is also writing a book. More on that when it is known. Until such time, would you like to hear a Troy Hudson song? You would? All right. But make sure that you do before you play the following clip.



And if you'd like to see how that musical sensation was created, why not watch this mesmeric behind-the-scenes video?



That looks like my old bedroom. Or the bedroom of one of many thousands of other teenage boys with musical dreams around the world. Good luck though, Troy!



- DeeAndre Hulett

Raptors draft pick DeeAndre Hulett is a veteran of the Central American leagues, yet he had disappeared from the scene in December 2008 when he left his Mexican team, Potros. Over a year passed, but he eventually reappeared last month when he signed with the Domincan Republic team, Cupes De Los Pepines (which I think translates as "Cucumber Coupés"). Statistics are unavailable.

Somewhere, I read that this transaction also marks the end of Hulett's two year ban from Dominican Republic basketball. However, I can't find where I initially read this, and nor do I know what the ban was for. Any details welcomed.......but it seems unlikely that anyone cares enough.



- Ryan Humphrey

Humphrey is playing for Grupo Begar Leon in Spain's LEB Gold. He's averaging 15.3 points and 7.5 rebounds in 26 minutes per game, shooting 56& from the field and 62% from the line. The Magic may once have tried to turn him into a small forward/shooting guard, but it hasn't happened. And it's not going to, either.



- Brandon Hunter

Brandon Hunter is playing for Hapoel Jerusalem, where it has been my very great privilege to watch him quite a few times this season. For those wondering, he is still really really really strong, still bald, and still an out and out post player that can't (doesn't) shoot outside of the paint. And he's still awesome. On the year Hunter is averaging 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the Israeli league, alongside 8.2 points and a surprisingly low 3.8 rebounds per game in the Eurocup.



Finally.....

- Jimmie Hunter

Snap has been in Spain since early 2006, and is currently in his second season with CB Granada. He is averaging 12.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in the ACB, but is shooting only 28% from three point range. As the one time CBA Three Point Shootout Champion, this is quite the drop off.

Knicks sign Jonathan Bender wait what the hell really oh christ wow thats amazing lol

I like to think that I keep my ear pretty close to the ground. If you're going to know about such perfectly useless things as Kevin Burleson signing in Romania, then you kind of have to. Yet I had absolutely no idea that the Knicks were considering signing Jonathan Bender, nor that they were even able to. Quite literally shocked to see that headline today.

Bender retired in February 2006 after being assumed to have been retired for a long while prior. He had begun to break out in the 2001-02 season when he averaged 7.4 points in 78 games for the Pacers, but not only was that the best he'd ever play, it was almost the most he'd ever play. Bender's games played total plummeted from there on out; from 78 in 2001/02, to 46 in 2002/03, to 21 in 2003/04, to 7 in 2004/05, to only 2 in 2005/06. He suffered from a degenerative knee condition that caused chronic pain due to the destruction of the knee's cartilage, and there was no way back from that, forcing his retirement. There still isn't, really, which is why I wrote this when we last covered Bender back in January:

Jonathan Bender is still retired, and probably always will be.

Apparently that was not true, though. Bender is now back, joining up with the general manager that traded for him and gave him the $28 million with which he built his business empire. The league once again has a 7 foot shooting guard, and not the Primoz Brezec type of 7 foot shooting guard.

In his time away from the game, Bender has become a successful entrepreneur. He owns a charitable organisation - the Jonathan Bender foundation - as well as Jonathan Bender Enterprises, a real estate development and property management company. Both of those organisations are based in New Orleans, helping to restore the city's infrastructure. Bender also owns an Italian wine company, a record label, an island in the Carribean, multiple real estate holdings (including Kingdom Homes, a company that buys and restores flood-damaged properties in disadvantaged New Orleans neighborhoods), and is trying to patent a fitness device called "Bender Bands." As someone of comparable age but completely incomparable success, I am jealous of this.

The last time someone returned from a career ending injury to play in the NBA was last year, with the whole Darius Miles debacle. That saga did not go particularly well - particularly not for Portland - due to all the shenanigans surrounding it. Miles played fairly well in his comeback, which was a plus, but it was all secondary to the drama, and it was not an enviable situation for any of the neutral parties. It finally ended this past summer when the Grizzlies let Miles walk unchallenged, unsatisfied as they were with his performance off the court. (As if to prove them right, Miles then got arrested.)

The last time it happened with the Knicks was with Allan Houston, who made two abortive comebacks in training camps 2007 and 2008 after succumbing to knee injuries in 2005. He never played another NBA game.

However, Bender is only 28 years old. There is no disgrace to be found here. If he can go, he should, and if he can't, then it cost nothing significant to find out.

What the Knicks stand to gain here is not particularly obvious; Bender stands to be the 15th man in an 8 man rotation, and given the aforementioned strength of his non-basketball career, he doesn't appear to need the money. The ignonimity of being on the inactive list alongside Cuttino Mobley doesn't seem like any more of a proud way to go than the original medical retirement, and the risk for the Knicks is that, if he gets hurt again, they're stuck with paying him.

But hey. Why not. Good luck to him.

Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 25

- Little Jeff Horner - who is kind of like John Stockton, only with better rebounding - averages 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals for Antibes. Antibes play in the French second division (ProB), which undermines that Stockton comparison a bit. But still. Stockton didn't play much in his rookie year, either. Give Horner time. He's only 25 dammit. By the way, that bulge in my cheek is my tongue.

- Robert Horry is unofficially, but effectively, retired.

- Daniel Horton was released by Pau Orthez in December, after totalling 45 points on 49 shots, with 16 assists, in 4 games.

- Quinton Hosley is playing for Real Madrid, where he averages 6.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 16 mpg in the Spanish league, and 9.1 ppg and 3.3 rpg in the same amount of time in the Euroleague. Other Real Madrid guards include former Michigan starlet and booster recipient Louis Bullock (one of the team's leading scorers), former NBA journeyman Pepe Sanchez (who is still painfully bad at scoring; on the season he has 48 assists to 20 points, on 6-28 shooting), Marko Tomas (who isn't playing any more than he was last time he was at Real), Raul Lopez (we'll come to him later), and my own personal favourite, Sergio Llull. Nothing says "YES!" more than a 21 year old 5'10 point guard with terrific athletic ability and three point range. I like this guy.

- Allan Houston is now a part of the Knicks front office, something which hopefully means no more comeback attempts. I know you don't like how it ended, Allan, but to be honest I can't see it ending any better even if you did make a mini comeback. You did fine, really. Plenty of money, an NBA Finals appearance, two All Star games.....yeah, you should totally be contented with that.

- Ron Howard is carrying basically the entire offense of his D-League team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Howard averages 16.6 points and 4.8 rebounds a game, but hasn't hit a three all year, which is a valid concern when you're trying to consider the NBA prospects of a 26 year old 6'5 swingman.

- Marcus Hubbard is also in the D-League, averaging 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in 27 minutes a game for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Hubbard (often) starts at centre for the Vipers, and is a fairly strong and supremely athletic centre, in a league with an emphasis on pace and devoid of much size. And yet, he grabs less than 5 rebounds in 27 minutes a game. That's not good enough, hammer fred.

- Troy Hudson is unsigned, and recently asked Olympiakos if they would sign him. Olympiakos said no.

- DeeAndre Hulett is also unsigned, as he was recently released by his Mexican team, Potros ITSON, who currently rank last in the Mexican league with a 8-34 record. Here's a quick explanation of who DeeAndre Hulett is: DeeAndre Hulett was a second round draft pick of the Raptors back in 2000. He played one year of college ball, for the Division 3 school "College Of The Sequoias". (Yeah, that powerhouse.) Hulett left after one season and went to the IBL in a bid to raise his draft stock. (Yeah, that powerhouse.) After a season of averaging roughly 8/2, he declared for the draft, and was picked 46th, basically on account of his 48 inch vertical leap. Since then, Hulett has done the rounds, playing for at least 4 Domincan Republic teams, as well as stops in the CBA, USBL, NDBL [as it was], Italy, France, Germany, Finland and Iceland (yeah, that powerhouse), performing reasonably well against low standards of opposition.

But here's what I'm thinking: Hulett never signed a contract with the Raptors at any point. He went to their summer league a few times, but that doesn't count. As a result, the Raptors still own his draft rights. And right now, they need a swingman. And DeeAndre Hulett just left his Mexican team. Can you see where I'm going with this? It's basically inevitable. Basically.

- Big Comfy Ryan Humphrey is also in the D-League, averaging 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 28 minutes per game for the Tulsa 66ers. He also averages 4.1 turnovers, a simply staggering amount, particularly in so few minutes a game, and when playing in the paint. By the way, out of all the stupid nicknames I had to invent for players for this site (after my initial genius of idea of "yeah! Let's list everyone's nicknames!" unravelled when it dawned on me that only about 1 in 4 players have them), Big Comfy Ryan Humphrey is the one I'm most proud of. It has it all - rhyming, a Bryant Reeves reference, an accurate description of the player in question (Ryan Humphrey has been know to be a tad fat, thus he's big and comfy).......yes, I'm proud of myself here. Less proud of the fact that this is what I do with my life, but justifiably proud at the sweet stench of unimportant success.

- Brandon Hunter is with Bread Mountain in Italy, averaging 14.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. Montegranaro are right in the middle of the table in Serie A, with an 8-8 record, despite Hunter's big numbers. It probably doesn't help that their team leader in assists is former Illinois, Magic and Kings point guard Kiwame Garris, who averages all of 2.4 assists per game.

- Jimmie "Snap" Hunter is the leading scorer (13.4ppg) on a CB Granada team that hangs a lot nearer to the bottom of the ACB than they would like.

- Finally, since it's becoming a habit now, here's some more Kenny Adeleke news, not obtained via his Facebook - he failed his medical with ALBA Berlin, thus nullifying the contract he had recently signed with them. Bugger!

Summer signings, round 28

- Continuing a recent tradition, the Knicks signed Allan Houston for training camp, seemingly not telling him at any point that he's just not going to make the roster. Don't worry, we won't call it a comeback. Their other camp signee, swingman Dan Grunfeld, has equally little chance, but he's going to enjoy his moment in the spotlight nonetheless.

- The Lakers chose to re-sign Didier Ilunga-Mbenga because he's tall and nimble, the fact that he's about to turn 28 and has never doen a damn thing be damned.

- Jamon Gordon has signed with Trikala in Greece. Insert your own yodelling reference.

- Three months after drafting him, and many weeks after pretty much all other first rounders were signed, the San Antonio Spurs finally took care of business and signed George Hill. More importantly, however, they also signed Salim Stoudamire. I'm sort of happy about this. Salim's a good player and a good fit for the Spurs, but he's now one of 18 players on a 15 man roster, and one of only a few without a guaranteed contract. Also, if San Antonio decides to keep an extra shooter - and they should - then the odds favour Desmon Farmer, a man coming off a blazingly hot season down in the D-League, and no less of a fringe NBA talent than Salim. Desmon's advantage over Stoudamire is that he is of a nromal shooting guard's height, whereas Salim is a comparative midget. With Hill now signed, Tony Parker as the lifelong starter and Jacque Vaughn here whether they like it or not, the Spurs probably won't want four guards that are 6'2 or under. And that's a damn shame.

- The Carl Landry saga is finally over, and in a really shoddy way. After maintaining for ages that they wanted the MLE (or at least, that's what we public were told), Landry and his agent Buddy Baker ended up signing a paltry 3 year, $9 million offer sheet from the Charlotte Bobcats. The Rockets matched almost instantly, scarcely able to believe their good fortune. When was the last time someone held out until training camp, and won? Carl Landry hasn't. Sasha Pavlovic didn't. Anderson Varejao didn't. So, Ben Gordon, if you're watching.....let's end the charade. In additional Rockets news, GM Daryl Morey says here that he expects Maarty Leunen to sign with a club "associated" with Efes Pilsen in Turkey. God knows what that means.

- Juan Dixon has returned to the Wizards as a half-arsed but far cheaper replacement for Roger Mason Jr, who signed with the Spurs earlier this summer. On an non-guaranteed minimum salary contract, it's a good move for Washington, but one which leaves Linton Johnson stuck on the outside as the 16th man. Damn you and your guaranteed contract, Stewie Griffin.

- Kaniel Dickens signed with Italian club Napoli way back in the day, but since that date, Napoli have found themselves in trouble for cooking the books, not paying proper taxes or pension payments. Their registration in the Italian league has since been revoked, and Dickens has left the team. He has stayed in Italy, however, and signed with Varese. Gary Forbes, another player who recently signed with Napoli, has also left the team, and is as yet unsigned.

- Former Raptors camp fodder LaVell Blanchard has signed with AEL Limassol in Cyprus. Cypriot basketball news! Right here! Get some!

- Omar Cook signed for Malaga in Spain. If you take a keen interest in those NBA players (or near-NBA players) who wind up playing for other countries because they can obtain passports based on residence (such as Jabari Smith playing for Qatar, J.R. Bremer playing for Bosnia, or Chris Kaman playing for Germany), then add this one to your list - Omar Cook has received a Montenegran passport, and will probably play for their national team once they commence international competition next year. Other eligible Montenegran players that you may have heard of include Nikola Pekovic (31st pick of the Timberwolves in this year's draft), Mladen Sekularac (2002 second round pick of Dallas, now belonging to Golden State after he was thrown into the Erick Dampier trade), Predrag Drobnjak (smelly journeyman), Zarko Cabarkapa (former Warriors first rounder whose back held him back), and Slavko Vranes (Knicks second rounder in 2003 - very tall, very bad). Good information all.

- Jiri Hubalek is the name of the man unflatteringly referred to in this post as "some white guy". That post mentions how Hubalek (going under the pseudonym of "some white guy") was to sign with the Phoenix Suns for training camp. Well, scratch that - Hubalek has instead signed with Solsonica Rieti in Italy. If you're eagerly awaiting news of who replaces him in Phoenix, wait until the next post. If you can.

- Finally, Robert Pack has packed it all in, and has been hired as an assistant coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League. That right there represents the best pun that I've ever made. Pity me.

Summer signings, round 14

- Good news: Bobby Jones was claimed off of waivers. Bad news: Miami did it. Why is this bad news? Because Bobby Jones has already spent time with Miami, and going back to a team that he has already been with doesn't help Jones's quest to have briefly been on the roster of every NBA franchise before the start of the 2010 season. So far, in 2 seasons in the NBA - and if we rather generously include the 2006 draft, as Jones's rights were traded that night - Bobby has spent times with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Denver Nuggets, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Houston Rockets, the Miami Heat, the San Antonio Spurs, Denver again, the New York Knicks, and now Miami again. That's 8 franchises in 24 months, a rate that not even an in-his-heyday Josh Davis could match. So, Miami - do us a favour and trade him to Atlanta for his namesake Solomon Jones or something. Don't be selfish.

- Allan Houston wants to make another comeback attempt. Great. Good luck with that.

- The two remaining Oklahoma City unsigned draftees - DeVon Hardin and Serge Ibaka - have both signed contracts in Europe. Ibaka signed a three year contract with Ricoh Manresa of Spain, a deal which allows him to leave and return to the NBA after each year should he so wish. Hardin meanwhile signed with Belediyespor in Turkey on a one year deal. Neither signing is interesting.

- Earl Boykins has signed a one year, $3.5 million contract with Virtus Bologna in Italy, thereby making the remaining available point guard crop even worse. Not that the presence of Earl Boykins really did it much good.

- Filiberto Rivera has signed with Bamberg in Germany, thereby making the remaining available point guard crop even worse. Not that the presence of Filiberto Rivera really did it much good.

- For those keenly following the progress of Ivan Radenovic (if such people exist, I keep them well fed), Radenovic has upped sticks and moved to Greece, to play for Panellionios. If you couldn't be bothered to read previous posts on the subject of Ivan Radenovic, the Spanish team that he played for - Akasvayu Girona - extended his contract, and then went bankrupt, which was hopefully nothing to do with the size of Radenovic's contract. I'll miss Girona, you know. We got a few games of theirs on TV over here last year, and every time they were on, a staggeringly hot Spanish woman was the sideline reporter for the night. She spoke broken English in a hot accent, which just made the total package that much more enticing. You know how it is when women are so unbelievably good looking that it becomes impossible to rank their beauty when compared to other unbelievably good looking women? Well, she was one of them. So it's a shame that I won't be able to look at her talk four times a year for twenty seconds at a time A damn shame. And that's why I'll miss Akasvayu Girona.

- Jannero Pargo was reportedly on the verge of signing with the San Antonio Spurs, but now reports say that Miami has made a late bid for him. Since the Heat have spent most of their MLE on the unflinching duo of Mario Chalmers and James Earl Jones, the most that they can offer Pargo is the Bi-Annual Exception, which starts at $1.91 million, you have to wonder why Pargo opted out of the contract that would have paid him $1.976 million next year. Pargo has now opted out of his contract for two straight seasons, yet he remains unable to get the one massive paycheck that he's looking for. The chances of him signing a third straight two year contract with a player option, and then opting out after the first year, look impressively high. And that's got to be a world first. These are the things that I think about, by the way.

- Louis Williams re-signed with the 76ers, ensuring that they will have at least one shooting guard who will score more points than he will have attempted field goals. No, I haven't gotten over the Kareem Rush move yet.

- The Bobcats signed Shannon Brown, a move which doesn't seem to solve anything. By the way, if you are Shannon Brown, and you've just had your rookie scale contract cut down to only two years by Cleveland, and you're allowed to walk away unchallenged by your hometown Chicago Bulls, what reason would you possibly have for not joining on with a summer league team? Wouldn't it be a good idea to get in as much shwocasing as you can? This is what I would do, I'm pretty sure. (Note: if Brown was injured or otherwise incapacitated, therefore making my rant unjustified and ill-founded, please do not hesitate to keep that information to yourself.)

- The Rockets traded Steve Novak to the L.A. Clippers in order to save some money, so that they can try to re-sign Carl Landry and pay as little tax as possible. Or, ideally, none at all. It makes sense for Houston to dump the guaranteed money of an inconsequential player, but if someone could explain to me why the Clippers held onto Nick Fazekas for an unnecessarily long time, just to then trade for his older brother in Steve Novak, then please do that. Where's the vast gaping chasm of seperation between Fazekas and Novak, exactly? Is it a bigger or smaller gaping chasm of difference than the one that the Clippers saw between Jason Hart and Brevin Knight? An answer on those would be good, because I'm clearly not smart enough to get it. By the way, God bless Steve Novak. Class.

- Tarence Kinsey signed with the Cavaliers. Have I mentioned that Memphis waived Kinsey in preference to waiving Casey Jacobsen? I have. Will I mention it again? Probably. i just think it bears repeating, you know? The Memphis Grizzlies, everyone.

- And finally, what you've been waiting for - recently cut Nugget (so to speak) Taurean Green is about to sign with some team in some country in Europe. And I forgot to write down who and where.

What you've just witnessed, ladies and gentleman, is the work of an amateur. Be proud. Give generously.

30 teams in 36 or so days: New York

Players acquired via free agency or trade:

Zach Randolph (acquired from Portland)
Dan Dickau (acquired from Portland)
Fred Jones (acquired from Portland)



Players acquired via draft:

First round: Wilson Chandler (23rd overall)
Second round: Demetrius Nicholls (53rd overall, rights acquired from Portland, not yet signed)



Players retained:

Malik Rose (opted in)



Players departed:

Kelvin Cato (unsigned, largely inept)
Channing Frye (traded to Portland)
Steve Francis (traded to Portland)



Bobbins:

If he has not done so already, Isiah Thomas needs to write an autobiography. Actually, he needs to write about 3. One about his time as a player, one as a General Manager, and one for amusing miscellany. I can safely say without a shadow of a doubt that I would buy all three. Not even a moment's hesitation needed. And I think the same applies to about half of you. Maybe give him his own TV channel, and just run endless documentaries on him. I'd watch them. There's just too much fun yet inexplicable stuff going on at all times where Isiah Thomas is concerned.

Win or lose (but normally lose), these Isiah-led Knicks have been an absolute fixture at the top of the NBA's "sweet merciful crap, did you hear this?" listings. From the moment he took over, 'forfeiting' the 'future' of the franchise by trading for Stephon Marbury (the notion that Milos Vujanic constituted most of the Knicks future is still funny), Isiah has continued to dumbfound, amaze and amuse in equal measures. Whether it be by making the type of trade for which they had to invent their own category ("A Trade Only Isiah Could Make"), or for one of many stories that come out about him (such as his role in instigating the brawl against Denver, or wanting to kill Bill Simmons, which is the Tarantino film they never made but should have done), Thomas and the Knicks in general always seem to rustle up something with which to entertain. You can't help but disbelieve the roster moves that he makes, and you can't help but believe the stories that you hear about him. He's just that sort of person. Never say never with Isiah Thomas. (Or is that Mike Tyson? Hmmm. Anyway.)

This offseason, he went and did it again. Twice.

Apart from the occasional grumbling about potentially re-signing Allan Houston - a man Thomas tried to dump in any way possible when he first joined the Knicks, before Houston finally accepted a medical retirement, a decision he seemed to have reneged on - no news really comes out of Knicks land these days unless it's about the sexual harassment brought against Isiah by Zach Ra......err, Anucha Browne Sanders, former Knicks marketing vice president or something. Everything that I know about the subject has come directly from Bill Simmons's recap of the whole shebang, which answered many of my questions, but with two glaring omissions:

1) What the hell does Stephon Marbury have to do with any of this? What does his desire to cop some free ass have to do with her being fired for being crap at her job?
2) And who cares who called who a bitch? I dunno, maybe I'm just naive.

Either way, I'm not going into the subject further. There it is for you all to see.

Isiah's other storyline came before the start of the trial (which seems so long ago now), when he made the biggest headlines on draft night, trading Channing Frye, Steve Francis and a future second rounder to Portland for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, Fred Jones and the draft rights to Demetrius Nichols. With an overflowing roster, it is entirely possible that only one of those last three makes the team this season, or none if Allan Houston is signed. So they're not really factors here. Additionally, Francis was traded to Portland knowing that:

a) Portland would buy him out, and
b) Had New York been unable to deal him, they would have bought him out instead. Francis was merely salary filler.

The trade was essentially therefore just Frye for Randolph. When you put it that way, it sounds OK. But let's look a little deeper.

The Knicks of last year were a talented, but ill-fitting group of players, with a lot of distinct weaknesses to address. A very good rebounding team in spite of having Eddy Curry at center, the Knicks consistently had trouble defending the perimeter, ranking third last in the league in three point percentage against. They also turned it over way too much, ranking dead last in the league with 17.1 a game, whilst also ranking second last in blocked shots per game with 3.1, a mark bettered (or worsened) only by Milwaukee.

Now to get rid of Francis goes some way to helping with these deficiencies, particularly those of the turnover rate and offensive stagnificationness that the Knicks would go through at times last year. The offense revolved around force feeding Curry, who responded with almost 20 points a game, but it wasn't exactly the most inventive or successful strategy, and it was to cause problems whenever New York needed somewhere else to turn. Inefficient scoring from the perimeter players, plus the team-wide turnover woes, left New York as a one dimensional offensive team. And that offense was rather easy to nullify with a bit of common sense and flopping, as Chicago demonstrated on more than one occasion last year. When combined with New York's poor defense, it didn't make for a very promising lineup, which was reflected in their final record - New York ended up 32-50, firmly entrenched in the lottery. And they didn't get to keep their lottery pick, either. But you probably knew that already.

Why, then, did they decide Zach Randolph would somehow solve these problems?

While far from an exact clone of Eddy Curry, Randolph and he do share similar weaknesses. Both are poor defensive players, with mediocre at best man-to-man defense and abysmal help defense. Both players also turn it over way too often, stagnate the offense due to their lack of passing skill and passing desire, and are also almost exclusively to be found in the low post on offense (or that's where Randolph should be, at least). Also, New York has a relatively young core of players - is that really the kind of scenario in which you want to bring in Zach Randolph, Mr Locker Room Chemistry 2006?

Portland certainly didn't think so - they would rather pay Steve Francis $30 million to never ever turn up than they would have Randolph around their group of young players.

Then again, it's only Channing Frye, so maybe it was worth a flyer. Maybe it'll be so quirky that it works, in the same way that Rick Brunson is so bad that he's great. Maybe.

There's also the whole "is Marbury on crack?" thing to reflect upon, but I'm not sure I can think of anything interesting to say about it. However, in the extremely unlikely event that you have no idea what I'm talking about, watch this.

(And this.)



Next year:

One thing the Knicks on-court product of last season never lacked in was drama. If you were a Chicago fan rooting in your heart of hearts for the Knicks to lose (as was I), or just a Knick fan hoping in your heart of hearts that the Knicks would win, then you ran the full gambit of emotions throughout their season. Whether they won or lost, whether they were being blown out or were miles ahead, and whether they were playing a good team or a shit team, all Knicks games seemed to culminate with high drama finishes. Sometimes, they were on the winning end - see David Lee's tip in versus Charlotte, Eddy Curry's three pointer vs Milwaukee, or Steve Francis's three versus Washington. And sometimes, they were on the losing end, such as with Josh Howard's game saving block for Dallas early on, or Marbury's missed final second free throw versus Seattle.

Whatever the result, it made for some entertainment. And that's a good thing. This Knick team has got some fight, and some pride within them.

They just haven't got the ability, nor the cohesion.

The old saying goes that 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts'. And it's true. San Antonio proves this adage time and again, continuing to win championships with only three legitimate NBA players (I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea). New York Knicks teams under Isiah's regime have proven much the same in the complete opposite way: continuing to add talented players time and again, it so far hasn't helped any, as the Knicks continue to miss the playoffs.

Next year figures to be no different. Adding an extremely gifted player who is the total package of talent, attitude and contract while solving none of the team's weaknesses and also consequently forcing arguably their best player to the bench doesn't seem like a winning formula to me. It sure as shit wasn't when Isiah tried it with Steve Francis, or Stephon Marbury, or Jalen Rose.

But, I guess we'll see. I'm a natural cynic, what would I know about anything anyway?

(Also, gambling tip for you gamblers out there - go and bet on Renaldo Balkman leading the Knicks in blocked shots per game next year. Because it's going to happen. And it's probably going to be around about 0.9 a game. Good fun.)