Summer league round-up: Denver Nuggets

Since Cleveland and Dallas haven't announced their rosters yet, and Charlotte aren't having one, we'll advance list this along to Denver, whose summer league effort this year is a strange one. Their roster is only small (for not, at least), but they've made a decent effort nonetheless.

View the Nuggets summer league roster.

- Derrick Byars: Byars survives as a testament to the reign of Billy King as Sixers general manager. The Sixers acquired the 30th pick in the 2007 draft as a part of the Allen Iverson to Denver trade, but they decided that they didn't want the guaranteed contract that it necessitated. Therefore, on draft night, the Sixers traded the pick to the Blazers for the number 41 pick and cash, using the 41st pick on Byars. They then waived Byars in training camp, and wound up with just the cash. Nice return on a first round draft pick, that, particularly one which featured a second round with Marc Gasol, Ramon Sessions, Glen Davis and Carl Landry in it. Byars' only other NBA flirtation came when he signed with the Thunder in training camp last year, but he didn't make the team. He then went to the D-League, and averaged 17.7ppg and 4.9rpg for the Bakersfield Jam, but there's a guy elsewhere on his list who has taken any potential roster spot that Byars may have had. (Clue: it rhymes with "creams".)

- Dontaye Draper: Draper is a 5'11 guard out of the College of Charleston, who was also on the Nuggets 2007 summer league roster. He split last season between France and Belgium, averaging 20.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists in the EuroChallenge for Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket (the French half of that split). Draper has been trying to reinvent himself as more of a pass first guard over the years, which is kind of necessary when you're 5'11, but while the assist numbers have continued to go up, so have the turnovers (he averaged 5.1 assists in the French league last year, but against 4.5 turnovers). He also doesn't shoot well, shooting poorly from the foul line and inconsistently at best from three point range. As quick and explosive as he is, it's difficult to play in the NBA if you're a 5'11 shoot first player who's prone to turnovers and not the best shooter. Although maybe it's not all about the NBA.

- Ronald Dupree: Dupree was in camp, too, but with the Cleveland Cavaliers. If you're willing to count that, he's now been in the NBA for parts of the last 6 years, which is not bad going. Dupree spent last year in the D-League, averaging 19.8/6.6/3.7 for the Tulsa 66ers, and 17.3/7.2/3.9 after a midseason trade to the Utah Flash. That's not half bad from a guy who's better on the defensive end, and if the Nuggets decide they can't be arsed to overpay Dahntay Jones, then Dupree is a minimum salary replacement waiting to happen. But then again, Captain Creams might be in his way, too.

- C.J. Giles: Giles went to summer league with the Raptors last year, and played sufficiently well for them to get a training camp contract with the Lakers. If that makes sense. His only real skill is his athleticism, but then again, the same can be said of DeAndre Jordan, and people love him. Giles spent last year in the D-League, averaging 12.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 4.5 fouls per game for the L.A. D-Fenders, and 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 0.9 blocks and 2.8 fouls for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He then buggered off to the Phillipines in May for the Asian Club Championships, where he totalled 73 points and 46 rebounds in four games. Giles has no significant NBA resumé to speak of, having been kicked off of two college teams, having only one professional season under his belt, and having highly underdeveloped skills. But he's tall and jumpy, and people like that.

- Richard Hendrix: Last year, the Warriors drafted Hendrix 49th overall, and signed him to a three year contract. They then waived him in December when Monta Ellis returned from the suspended list, choosing to do so over waiving Rob Kurz (who just left as an unrestricted free agent) and Marcus Williams (who they waived later anyway). Williams never appeared in a game for the Warriors, yet he got paid a guaranteed salary anyway, and is even going to get $100,000 from the team this season as well. His situation is kind of symptomatic of the Warriors management last season. It was shite.

Hendrix then went to the D-League, and averaged 11,6 rebounds in 31 minutes per game for the Dakota Wizards. If he sounds like a man who has NBA talent to you, that's because he has.

- Coby Karl: Karl was covered in the Celtics round-up, but he features on the Nuggets roster as well because his dad is the head coach. And that makes it easier to make rosters. Walker Russell was once briefly a Knick because his dad is a scout for the team, and Jason Capel was a Bobcat for a couple of weeks because his dad Jeff was an assistant coach at the time. It's all very incestuous, this NBA thing.

- Tywon Lawson: I want it on record that I don't think Ty Lawson will be much worse of an NBA player than Jonny Flynn, the man taken twelve places ahead of him. I will accept the shellacking if I'm wrong, but take your time in reminding me of that, since one of them has Chauncey Billups for company next year, and one of them have Sebastian Telfair.

- Kareem Rush: Rush is still a one-dimensional scorer, and he's still not a very good one. He scored 54 points on 58 shots last year with the Sixers, lowering his overall career numbers to 2,204 points to 2,178 shots. The Sixers appear to have realised that they, as the less than proud owners of Willie Green, are the last team that needs another shooting guard like that. And they're right. But then again, no one needs Kareem Rush. And that goes for the Nuggets too.

- Cedric Simmons: If you're an optimist, you'll look at Cedric Simmons' age and his draft position, and think that he's a worthwhile prospect for your team to take a flyer on. "There must be something there", after all. Well, there isn't. He is one of the worst offensive players in the game, is a sub-par rebounder, doesn't move too well, hasn't NBA size, is clumsier than a wolfhound in slagboots and has all the polish of a schoolyard bundle. He is good for one or two poster blocks a year, and that is it. He shoots worse from the foul line than Ben Wallace or Chuck Hayes. Just don't go there, I'm telling you.

- Sonny Weems: Weems is partially guaranteed for next season, to the tune of $174,284, a seemingly arbitrary amount the logic behind which I can't figure out. Nevertheless, he should make the team easily enough, and might even get an expanded role if Dahntay doesn't return. Weems spent most of last year in the D-League, where he averaged 21.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 28 minutes per game for the Colorado 14ers. Pretty bloody good, that. And that's why the first two players on this list need to turn Buddhist.

Preview Sort Of Thing: Chicago Bulls

The Bulls are, quite possibly, the hardest team in the league to gauge right now. Every one of their significant players is a massive question mark. Other than predicting Larry Hughes will shoot a pull-up 18 footer on 85% of the fast breaks that he's involved in, there's nothing that you can say with any conviction about this current Bulls roster. It's a poser.

Theoretically, they could be great. This is still, essentially, the same 49 win second round team of the 2006/07 season, with only a few changes. The corpse of P.J. Brown has been replaced by Joakim Noah. The corpse of Ben Wallace has been replaced by Drew Gooden. And Chris Duhon has been replaced by Derrick Rose, which may or may not be an upgrade. (Sarcasm!) So, with those three upgrades, plus the return of Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni and Kirk Hinrich, plus the overdue-but-genuinely-forthcoming breakout of Tyrus Thomas, the Bulls should easily be able to usurp that 2007 team. Shouldn't they?

Well, no. The other change between then and now is the entire coaching staff. As outlined in the Milwaukee Bucks preview, Scott Skiles's coaching jobs have a shelf-life, but until it goes horribly wrong, he can make teams overachieve. The Bulls achieved what they did in 2007 despite having only the NBA's 20 best offense, purely because they had the best defense in the league. Skiles was directly responsible for that. However, after he lost the team last year - and after his replacement Jim Boylan proved to be about as much use as a surfboard with handlebars - the Bulls defense regressed to being middle of the road, and the offense was no better.

It's not known what Del Negro will try to do, and it's futile to guess. But it's a safe assumption to say that he won't bring the level of defense that Scott Skiles did, because almost no one does. The hiring of Vinny The Black, and the new assistant coach lineup of Bernie Bickerstaff, Bob Ociepka and Del Harris, shows a clear intent to focus on the long term, and to concentrate on player development, something badly mismanaged during the Skiles era. It's the right approach, and winning the lottery gives General Manager John Paxson a second chance to clear up the collateral from the Ben Wallace disaster. Yet, for all horny long term projections, the Bulls are currently awash in highly paid underachievers.

Additionally, those players have regressed. Players were paid in accordance of what they were expected to go on and achieve, but after last year's diarrhoea of a season, no one did what they were supposed to. Nocioni used to play with a clean form of aggression, one where willpower and effort overcame his inability to dribble and penchant for leaving jumpshooters often. But these days, he chucks, and he pouts. Ben Gordon briefly became a near-All Star 20 ppg scorer, with good scoring efficiency, and an improved ability to dribble without falling over. But this desire to fit in with the offense seems to have left him. Luol Deng's jumpshot was infallible, but only for one year. And Kirk Hinrich has managed to get worse at every single facet of the game. This isn't the team it once was, despite it still being the same core.

The talent is still there. The Bulls still have a 20 point scorer at shooting guard, a potential 21/8 small forward with fine defense, and a combo guard with elite defense and a good jumpshot. Added to that, they now have a young Stephon Marbury at point guard, plus whatever you think of Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah. Furthermore, only one of those players is over 25. As young cores go, this one is still good.

As of right now, though, the roster is a clusterfuck. All the pieces that used to fit seamlessly, no longer do. And they're not as cheap as they used to be, either.

It's turnaroundable, if that's a word. The players that broke themselves can mend themselves. But it will take dramatic improvement from a unit that spent all of last year going backwards. Hinrich needs to find his footspeed again. Gordon needs to develop some humility. Deng needs to get his jumpshot back, and add four feet of range to it. Nocioni needs to pretend he's playing for Argentina every night. Thomas needs to learn how to make layups. Noah needs to learn how to make layups. Thabo Sefolosha needs to learn how to shoot. Hughes needs to learn how to play. And Drew Gooden needs to stop pratting about with his facial hair. (This won't help his performance any. It's just a general point.)

If this was another team, we'd probably be watching them intently, fawning openly, dicks in hand, doused in our own pre-ejaculate at the exciting and potential-laden duo of Rose and Thomas, despite them sounding more like the compelling protagonists in a Baroque-era love story. But that's not going to happen here. This is the Bulls. It's been nothing but false dawns for ten years. No one's leading them anything. This time, they're going to have to win our trust, by winning something.

Quite right too.

Summer signings, round 11

- Darius Rice has left the immortally named Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants from the Phillipines, and is about to sign with Montegranaro in Italy. I think that translates as "Bread Mountain". I hope it does, anyway.

- A previous blog post talked about how Ivan Radenovic had had his contract with Akasvayu Girona extended. That news is now bunkum, for Girona have gone bankrupt, and are not playing this upcoming season. This leaves Radenovic now unsigned, unattacthed, undervalued and undernourish. (I still want you to buy Scouting For Girls CD's, by the way. I will keep pushing this until you do it. Buy buy buy.)

- The "points per shot" fans amongst us - basically me and me only - were extremely moist to hear that the Philadelphia 76ers have signed shooting guard Kareem Rush to form an incisive and efficient off-guard partnership with the incumbent Willie Green. These two players have a role to play for the Sixers, in that they are the only two guards currently under contract who can actually hit a three point shot. This is a positive. But the negative side-effect is that both of these players are really, really bad. The pair are both deemed "one dimensional scorers", but neither is any good at scoring. Willie Green last season scored 921 points on 870 shots, for a spectacularly bad 1.06 points per shot, a number that still somehow managed to raise his career average to a heady 1.02. Rush is even worse, scoring 588 points on 569 shots last year for a 1.03 PPS average, against a catastrophic career average of 1.01. Yeesh.

For the sake of a point of reference, free agent Sixers backup point guard Kevin Ollie has a career points per shot average of a modest 1.21. That from a man who has 9 made career three pointers. Technically, if you need someone to hit a shot, you are better served going to Kevin Ollie than Kareem Rush or Willie Green. While that statement lacks important context....it's something to think about. Supposed "scorers" suck at scoring, and it's not difficult to see this.

- In one of the more bizarre moves of the offseason so far, the Detroit Pistons signed Kwame Brown for $8 million over 2 years. How the HELL does Kwame Brown still keep getting these huge salaries? Have people not noticed that he's really bad, and has gotten worse for 4 years?

(Hey, do you remember when Kwame Brown was an athletic power forward with a decent face-up offensive game, reasonable touch, a shot, and the ability to catch? Yeah, me too. I want that Kwame back. Not this slow old centre who doesn't need to try or care anymore as people keep paying him anyway.)

- Former Net prospect Mile Ilic has signed for two years with Cajasol Sevilla in Spain. He replaces English legend, Andy Betts. I am not happy about this.

- The L.A. Clippers have used the last of their cap space on Ricky Davis. In terms of value, it's not a bad signing. The same could be said of their acquisition of Marcus Camby and Baron Davis. But what the Clippers have now is a nice veteran team, that isn't going anywhere. They might make the playoffs, but what then? What's going to put them over the top? Not sure. But, still. It'll be nice to have at least that, I guess.

(Bonus points to Art Vandelay for making the Joke I Wish I'd Thought Of: "I guess Baron Davis was just an addition to help Ricky score." If you don't know what that references, you suck.)

The Clippers are also reportedly talking to Shaun Livingston and Paul Davis, both of whom they have already renounced, but both of which would be decent pickups for the minimum. All told, they've had a reasonable if mismanaged offseason.

- Pistons draft pick Trent Plaisted has signed with Angellico Biella in Italy. You know that joke that I always make about Angellico Biella? Well, I'm not going to make it this time. No way. Nope. Non. Nein.

- The Raptors signed Will Solomon on the basis that they needed a third point guard, and they hadn't signed anyone from a European league for about three weeks. (I'm sorry, but if they want the stereotype to stop, they know what to do.) The fact that Solomon isn't really a point guard is something we'll overlook for the moment.

- Consistent NBA oversight Zendon Hamilton is still fighting the good fight, switching Russian teams from Enisey Krasnoyarsk to Spartak Primorie Vladivostok. Hamilton averaged 19ppg and 8.4 rpg last season on a really bad team, which is something that I just wanted you to know.

- Finally tonight, a rumour. The Bulls are apparently talking to the Kings about a trade that would involve Brad Miller, Cedric Simmons, Andres Nocioni and a lottery protected first round pick. The link comes from this blog, which you will never have heard of before, because it hasn't existed for very long. Normally, this is the kind of thing we should disregard off-handedly, but the guy who runs the blog has a proven reputation, and has been breaking Bulls news for a number of years now. Just not in the form of that blog. (He has a family connection within the Bulls front office, or something. Can't remember exactly.)

Will it come to fruition? I don't know. I hope so. But if it does, remember that you heard it here first. And if it doesn't, remember that you heard it there and there only, and all I did was steer you towards it, thus this is in no way my fault.

Offseason Preview: Chicago Bulls

The first in a new series of posts detailing teams financial outlooks for the upcoming free agency period, what cap room they have, what exceptions, what draft slots, etc. Should be fascinatingly fascinating, if you're easily pleased.

No information is 100% guaranteed accurate, but unless you're privy to hitherto unknown information, or just better at this than I am (highly possible), then it's probably more accurate than you.

To be completed in an order best described as "Random".

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  Chicago Bulls


Currently Committed Salary, 2008/09:

Larry Hughes - $12,827,676*
Kirk Hinrich - $10,250,000*
Andres Nocioni - $8,000,000
Drew Gooden - $7,151,183
Tyrus Thomas - $3,749,880
Joakim Noah - $2,295,480
Thabo Sefolosha - $1,931,160
Cedric Simmons - $1,742,760
Aaron Gray - $711,517
JamesOn Curry - $711,517 (not fully guaranteed)

Total: $49,371,173


(* = has incentives. Hughes's salary listed WITHOUT incentives, that are dependent on win totals, and thus won't be considered likely. Hinrich's salary listed WITH incentives, which probably won't be considered likely either.)



Unrestricted Free Agents:

Shannon Brown (cap hold - $1,116,960)
Chris Duhon (cap hold - $6,496,000)



Restricted Free Agents:

Ben Gordon (qualifying offer - $6,404,749, cap hold - $14,645,007)
Luol Deng (qualifying offer - $4,452,574, cap hold - $9,961,017)
Demtris Nichols (qualifying offer - $886,517, cap hold - $512,596)



Draft picks:

First round: 9th pick, subject to lottery results. (Cap hold - $1,840,800)
Second round: 39th pick (no cap hold)



Cap room/exceptions:

Nada room, MLE, BAE, and a $5,205,000 trade exception.




Mario Austin:

Is brilliant.



Depth chart if you take all the free agents away:

PG - Hinrich, Curry
SG - Hughes, Sefolosha
SF - Nocioni, Sefolosha
PF - Gooden, Thomas, Simmons
C - Noah, Gray



Sensible things to do:

Let Chris Duhon go. Gas Larry Hughes. Don't lose Gordon and Deng for nothing - either re-sign them, or get value in a sign and trade. Try and wriggle out from under Simmons's final guaranteed year. Add a veteran centre and a veteran point guard. DON'T BLOCK THE YOUNGSTERS. Get a coach that's better than the cataclismically bad Jim Boylan. Learn how to spell cataclysmically. Explore the possibility of debilitating widespread roster overhaul, but don't for the love of God make a losing trade involving a young player whose value is way below its best. Not again.

Transactions explained

For those wondering how or why two of today's transactions took place, I'll explain a bit:


Number 1:

   New Orleans trades David Wesley to New Jersey for Bernard Robinson, Mile Ilic and cash considerations. New Orleans then promptly waives
them both.

Wesley's contract is for one year at $1,750,000, but only $250,000 of it is guaranteed, which is why it's been passed around twice in the coming months. New Jersey traded two meaningless players on guaranteed contracts for Wesley's unguaranteed one in a bid to cut payroll, which will happen when they cut Wesley. They haven't done it immediately because there's no reason to - with the $250,000 guarantee, Wesley is essentially costing them for a short time, so they can keep him to explore trade possibilities. As for why New Orleans did it, we can only assume that New Jersey gave them enough money to make it worth their while, but it really does cement once and for all the fact that they flat old sold Cedric Simmons. And that deal still remains odd.


Number 2:

   San Antonio trades Beno Udrih to Minnesota for a protected 2008 second round pick and cash. Minnesota waives Udrih immediately.

Same sort of thing - San Antonio needed to shave some off their cap figure, so they dealt Udrih to Minnesota (Minnesota used part of a trade exception to absorb his salary), and gave the Timberwolves enough money to cut him for no cost, plus a little bit more on top for their troubles. The pick Minnesota gave up is havily protected, and so they probably won't lose it.


Updated salaries to be upped shortly.