Summer league round-up: New Orleans Hornets

View the Hornets summer league roster.

- Earl Barron: Barron had played three straight seasons with the Miami Heat from 2005-2008, but his luck with that ran out last offseason. He signed with Upim Bologna, but got injured before the season started and never played for the team. Barron (so named because it's impossible for him to ever get pregnant) didn't reappear until March, when he was acquired by the L.A. D-Fenders of the D-League. He averaged 28 minutes, 9.9 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.7 blocks and 3.5 fouls per game, shooting 41% from the field and scoring 128 points on 131 shots. For a 7 footer in the D-League, that's pretty jank. Still, if the Hornets decide not to bother with Sean Marks again, then Barron has a vague chance.

- Earl Calloway: Calloway went undrafted in 2007, but instantly put up a blistering season in the D-League, averaging 19/5/6 on 49% shooting (40% 3pt, 88% FT). He still didn't make the big league, and signed in Croatia with Cibona Zagreb, for whom he averaged 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Counting against Calloway's NBA prospects is the fact that he'll be 26 by the time next season starts, and that he has only a couple of good seasons under his belt. The numbers are good, though, and he keeps landing this gigs. Why he's chosen the Hornets is a valid concern; as desperately thin and skint as the team is, small guards are the last thing they need. Then again, it shouldn't really matter to Calloway, who has already signed for Khimki next season as the replacement for Milt Palacio.

- Jaycee Carroll: Carroll was a spectacularly efficient scorer for Utah State, leading the WAC (giggidy) in his senior season with a 22.4 points per game scoring average on percentages of 53%/50%/92%. His NBA prospects suffer from the fact that he's 26, and that he's also a 6'2 shooting guard that's not particularly quick, who is an out and out scorer and not a point guard. But this doesn't stop him in Europe, and last year Carroll scored 15.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, shooting 51% overall, 47% from three and 83% from the line for Banca Teramo in Italy.

Same problem as Calloway, though; why try out here?

- Darren Collison: Big fan of Collison. He's like Chris Duhon except with a mid range game and the ability to recognise when to shoot. And Chris Duhon with those things added to his game would be a fine player. The Hornets now need only three backups before they're ready. Oh, and one more starter.

- Brian Cusworth: Cusworth is an occasionally bearded 7'0 centre, Harvard graduate, all-Ivy League second team member in 2005, former winner of the Estonian National Championships and former Estonian league MVP. He won those awards in 2007/08 and was able to turn it into a prolific gig in the Spanish second division, with a team called Leche Rio Breogan Lugo. Cusworth averaged 27 minutes per game, totalling averages of 15.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. He's succeeded everywhere that he's played. But that's because he's never played at a standard this good before.

- Terry Martin: Martin averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds for LSU in his senior season, shooting 36% from the floor. I don't know why he's here.

- Luke Nevill: Luke Nevill continues a fine pedigree of Australian centres that we've seen in recent years, from Andrew Bogut to Chris Anstey to Luke Schenscher to A.J. Ogilvy. For some reason they seem to be way better at producing centres than guards, Patty Mills excepted. Nevill just played 5 years at the University of Utah, averaging 16.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game on 61% FG and 79% FT. However, in the piss weak draft for centres that we just witnessed - so weak that Goran Suton, Chinemelu Elonu and Robert Dozier managed to get picked - Nevill still didn't get taken. Strange. Nevertheless, as with Barron earlier, no team needs big man help more than the Hornets. And if that help comes at the rookie minimum salary, they'd be quite content with that.

- Larry Owens: Larry Owens has just played two consecutive seasons in Belgium. Last year, for Belgacom Liege, Owens averaged 12.8 points and 4.2 rebounds. One in every three of his field goal attempts was a three pointer. But he shot only 16% from three point range. I have absolutely no idea why he's here, either. The Hornets aren't THAT desperate for a small forward.

- Marc Salyers: Salyers is an add choice to get a summer league invite. Summer league is usually for team's recent draftees, undrafted seniors and one or two year pros. But Salyers is a 30 year old Samford graduate who has been a professional since 2001. He was a Hornets summer league participant four years ago, too, so clearly they're checking back in. In his career, Salyers has played in Poland, Italy, France Germany, spending last year in the Ukraine. He averaged 11.8 points and 4.5 in the Ukranian league as the starting small forward for Azovmash, the team that won the Superleague title. But that doesn't make him any less of a summer league invite. But, still. His chances of making the team in Ryan Bowen's place have got to be higher than those of Larry Owens.

- Courtney Sims: Sims was a training camp signee of the Hornets last year, but didn't make the team. He then spent some time with the Suns and Knicks, while averaging MVP calibre numbers in the D-League (22.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 61% shooting). Of all the unsigned players in all the summer leagues who are looking to make an NBA roster, the hooking up of Courtney Sims and the New Orleans Hornets looks to be a match made in heaven. But then again, the same was true of last year.

- Marcus Thornton: Thornton has already signed, thereby closing the door on Calloway and Carroll's chances. He also presumably is at least partly the reason that his former teammate, Terry Martin, is on this team. The Hornets correctly seem to have realised how staggeringly crap their depth was last year, and obtaining Collison and Thornton in the draft is a good start to correcting that. But Christ do they need some big man depth. Speaking of.......

- Anthony Tolliver: Tolliver played with the Hornets last year on a ten day contract. Well, I say that; he didn't actually play in any of their games. He just hung around for a bit. Tolliver also guest starred (if that's the term) with the Spurs, who gave him plenty of air time for no particular reason. In that time, all Tolliver really demonstrated was an increased boner for his recently discovered jumpshot. He shot 22% from three point range. Maybe put it to bed for a bit, Anthony.

Tolliver also played in the D-League, splitting his time between the Iowa Energy and the Austin Toros (while on assignment from the Spurs) and averaging roughly 14/8 between them. He left the D-League to sign with Galatasaray for the end of the Turkish season, and averaged 12.9 points and 6.5 rebounds in the final 15 games of their season. He, like Sims, has to have a chance of a moving reconciliation with the Hornets, considering how thin they are up front.

- Quinton Watkins: Watkins shouldn't be here. He should be in college. But it went wrong, quickly, and twice. Watkins was recruited by Illinois and supposed to play there, but he didn't make it due to academic ineligibility. He later moved to San Diego State, practiced with the team for a few months and expcted to play there....but again, he didn't, leaving in April 2008 due to "personal reasons". He hasn't been heard from since, until now. Watkins was once a highly sought-after shooting guard prospect out of high school, but you don't go from that to an NBA roster without something in between. And Watkins has nothing in between. (No ears jokes, please.)

- Julian Wright: Julian Wright has had ample opportunity to prove that he doesn't suck, and has failed at every one of them. I expect him to do it again.

Where Are They Now, 2009: Part 47

We're starting to rush through these a bit quicker now, because I'm kind of desperate to get to the letter U for reasons that will soon become anti-climactically apparent. And also because you love it.

- Chester "Tre" Simmons is signed with Maccabi Tel-Aviv, but is not in the rotation, averaging only 9.7 minutes and 4 points per game in the Israeli league with several DNP's thrown in. Simmons was also this week involved in a fight in (and outside) a nightclub that saw teammate D'Or Fischer have his face slashed by unknown assailants, resulting in micro-surgery needed to correct nerve damage. Allegedly, this group of unknowns had gone to the club to seek vengeance on Fischer's father, who was visiting Fischer at the time and with whom they had had a "run-in" earlier on. However, Fischer's father, who was at the club, had already left, and that's when it all kicked off. Simmons was unhurt, and it was him who took Fischer to the hospital, but by being out at the club in the first place the two were violating a team rule, and so will probably be punished. In Simmons's case, give how little they seem to need him (or like him), he might get released.

- Courtney Sims is back in the D-League after his second ten day contract with the Suns expired anonymously last month. He has totalled 53 points in the two games since his return to the Iowa Energy, and averages 23.0 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. The blocks per game numbers are coming way down, however, as Sims found it a tad tricky to keep up the average of 8 blocks per game that he held during the first two contests. (He had a 22 point, 17 rebound, 11 block triple double on his debut for the Energy. That's Olumide Oyedeji-esque.)

- Ha Seung-Jin's mate Nedzad Sinanovic is on loan from Real Madrid to Burgos in the LEB Gold (Spanish second division), where he frankly kind of sucks a bit. Sinanovic averages 9.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.1 fouls in 17.3 minutes per game, still seemingly extremely raw despite being about to turn 26. Nevertheless, regardless of his non-existent NBA prospect, his aborted attempt at a duel with Ha during the Blazers's 2005 offseason will forever cement his legacy as one of the game's true greats, even if his play is completely insignificant. Here is a picture of Ned, as well as a crudely translated and highly uninsightful interview with him.

- Ramunas Siskauskas, who declared for the NBA draft one year too early, is the best player on a CSKA Moscow team that is arguably the best in Europe. Siskauskas averages 12.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in the Russian Superleague (where CSKA are undefeated), and 10.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in the Euroleague.

- Marcus Slaughter started the season with Bremerhaven in Germany, but left after 8 games. He did, though, manage to average 18.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in that time. Slaughter then moved to France, where, playing for Le Havre (I've been there!), he averages 14.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals in the French league, alongside 12.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 steals in the six games he played for Le Havre's Eurocup campaign.

- Tamar Slay is playing for Air Avellino, a struggling Italian team. Slay averages 14.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in the Italian league (admittedly in only 3 games), along with 9.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in the Euroleague. Slay returned from a six week layoff on Sunday and scored a game high 17 points for Avellino in their SerieA match against La Fortezza Bologna. They lost anyway.

- My Facebook friend Uros Slokar is signed with Fortitudo Bologna (not the same team as La Fortezza Bologna). Slokar averages 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in the Italian league, but he hasn't played since late December. A quick scan of his Facebook wall shows a post that says "hi uros how is your hand?", leading me to believe that Uros Slokar has broken his hand. And this is why adding fringe NBA players to your Facebook friends list is worth it.

- Kirk Snyder is in China, so we'll cut the sizzle and give you the steak; Zhejiang, 32.8, 10.1, 4.4.

- Jefferson Sobral averages 14.1 points and 5.5 rebounds for Joinvile of Brazil. But before the next entry, a short quiz.

Q: Who the hell is Jefferson Sobral?
A: He's a man who earned a training camp spot with the Lakers in 2002, and again with the Nuggets in 2006.

Q: How the hell did he do that?
A: Don't know.

- D-League starlet Pape Sow is with Armani Jeans Milano, where he recently underwent surgery for a broken nose. (Or at least, this is my interpretation of the Italian sentence "Pape Sow e' stato operato nella mattinata al setto nasale". For the record, I can't speak a word of Italian.) Sow averages 8.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game in the Italian league, alongside 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the Euroleague.

- Finally, Vassilis Spanoulis is with Panathinaikos, where he has been since the whole NBA thing went wrong for him. Spanner averages 9.3 points and 3.7 assists per game in the Euroleague, alongside 9.0 points and 2.5 assists per game in the Greek league. I'm now off to watch one of his games. See ya.

Third Prize Is You're Fired

"Anybody wanna see second prize?"


"Second prize is a set of steak knives."



- Milwaukee signed Ron Howard, T.J. Cummings, Matt Freije and Kevin Kruger for camp. If you're wondering who Ron Howard and T.J. Cummings are......well, you have yourself a valid question, but both are represented by Elfus-Siegel Manegement, an agency quite adept at landing their players places on training camp rosters. (If you were wondering, this is how Garth Joseph rolled up on the Bulls training camp back in 2003, for one beautiful week.) That's basically the only reason that they're there, though, and be very careful when you Google-search T.J. Cummings's name. Freije gives the Bucks a weak-defending jumpshooting power forward, as they only have two right now, which just isn't enough. And Kruger gets to spend a couple of weeks in the NBA, even though he has no chance of making a roster that sees Luke Ridnour, Ramon Sessions and Tyronn Lue ahead of him, whether he likes it or not. Sham's prediction: The Bucks told Damon Jones not to report, and they'll try to trade him, but he will probably be waived if that can't be done. That would open up a roster spot for someone, but what would be the point of any of those four filling it?

- Minnesota made me a happy man this summer. Their camp signings were Kevin Ollie, Blake Ahearn and Rafael Araujo, while Chris Richard accepted his qualifying offer. Blake Ahearn is a nice player. Kevin Ollie is a moustachioed legend with something of a Brunson complex. But....Araujo? That's friggin' perfect, man, on so many levels. There's so much right about that move. Part of it is the way that Rob Babock won't let go, part of it is the fact that it's Rafael Araujo, but also because his signing allows for the existence of this picture:



Only Rafael Araujo could use training camp media day as an excuse to pull an unhateably funny face such as that, while sitting in a brand spanking new home jersey that he's already managed to dribble on. The NBA needs Rafael Araujo.

Sham's prediction: Unfortunately, it probably won't get him. These moves give Minnesota 18 players under contract, 16 of which are at least partially guaranteed (except for maybe Richard. Notice I said maybe). The two that aren't are Ollie and Araujo, which doesn't bode well for Hoffa, as much as we want him to make the team. As things stand, Minnesota has the unrivalled Frontcourt Fivesome Of Shite™, with Araujo, Brian Cardinal, Calvin Booth, Mark Madsen and Jason Collins all on the roster. I want this to continue on forever and ever. But it won't. (Ahearn makes the team, by the way, and Booth gets cut. This is the prediction that I promised you, from the website that occasionally keeps its promises.)

- New Jersey are good sports. With 15 guaranteed contracts already, and with Keith Van Horn still technically a member of their team, the Nets signed four players for camp anyway. One of them - Awvee Van Storey - has already been waived, but Julius Van Hodge, Keith Eddie Van Gill and Keith Van Brian Van Hamilton survive. The Nets could really use a third point guard, and Gill fits that bit. Hodge does, too. Sort of. And one of them may well make it. The Nets still have 19 players on their roster, but one of them is Van Horn, who isn't in camp, and who only survives on the roster should a trade opportunity arise that needs his unguaranteed salary. Hamilton is another easy cut, for his minimal skill level isn't needed on a forward-heavy roster. And Maurice Ager's sole leverage is his guaranteed deal, for his play these first two years has been awful. With the depth chart against him, he too is an easy cut. That leaves a spot free for one of the two, if the Nets choose to add a third point guard. Given that they don't really even have two right now, they should. Sham's prediction: Gill.

- New Orleans has done the bench-with-veteran's-minimums thing that Denver so enjoys, and all but Sean Marks ($200,000) are guaranteed. With 14 players on a largely completed roster, the Hornets' only camp signings were point guard Jared Jordan and centre Courtney Sims. Sims was in the NBA last year at least, as Indiana signed and waived him about 40 times, whereas Jordan spent the year on the continent doing literally nothing. Working in Jordan's favour, though, is the fact that MVP candidate Mike James is the only point guard option behind Chris Paul that the Hornets have. Sham's prediction: Jordan, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was neither. They're not that good, after all.

- New York took pity on Allan Houston, signing him for camp, kind of like how you'd do to a particularly needy tramp. You pass by him on the way to work every morning for several months, but eventually his sheer persistence means that you buy him a cup of coffee one winter morning in exchange for a stream of gratitude, a stream of gratitude which, if not forthcoming, will lead to you never acknowledging his existence ever again. Houston won't make the team, and neither with Dan Grunfeld, but at least they get some free coffee and the attention of passers-by for a few minutes. Even minus those two, the Knicks need to make a cut. They have 16 players, with Patrick Ewing Jr on the outside looking in. The sentimentality factor of him making the team might be nice, but he's the only one without fully guaranteed money ($200,000 guaranteed only), who plays a position where Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Jared Jeffries and Quentin Richardson all play ahead of him. To get Ewing on the team, either Ewing has to play so well that the Knicks are willing to cut Anthony Roberson (despite his guaranteed contract and skillset useful to the team), the Knicks have to hope Stephon Marbury reignites all the bridges he's trying desperately to rebuild, or the Knicks have to cut their losses and pay Jerome James to piss off. Sham's prediction: The latter one is his best hope.

- Oklahoma City need a third point guard, and managed to find one with marginal NBA talent and local ties in former Rocket and fan of trilogies, John Lucas III. They also signed former Sixer and MP for Tyneside North, Derrick Byars, as well as minor league star and former giraffe, Chris Alexander. Sham's prediction: Why they signed Alexander is a mystery. Alexander's a late bloomer with massive bounce-flavouring numbers in the D-League, and so another shot at the league seems fair, but the Thunder don't have any players under 6'9, and adding one more seems unnecessary. Byars doesn't really add anything that Kyle Weaver and Damien Wilkins couldn't sort out between them. Lucas has the best chance to make the roster on depth chart alone, but I wouldn't be surprised or remorseful if they cut all three.

- Orlando's three signings all respresent good value and fringe NBA talent - forward Jeremy Richardson (who the Hawks seem to let walk unchallenged, for some reason), big man Dwayne Jones (who is one of my favourite offense-free centres, if only for the moustache and crooked smile), and Mike Wilks (the point guard version of Zendon Hamilton - an NBA calibre talent who everyone overlooks for some reason, and who bounces around for a few years getting looks with many teams, yet who never gets the multi year guaranteed contract that the law of averages should provide for them). Sham's prediction: Jones and Richardson picked a bad team to sign with, particularly Richardson, who has the ability to play in the NBA, but who is now on a team already heavy with small forwards. Jones offers no improvement over Marcin Gortat, so he won't make it either. Wilks should stick.

- Philadelphia committed like the champions that they are, signing Justin Reed, Maureece Rice, Jared Reiner, Antywane Robinson and Andre Emmett. Reed was then almost instantaneously replaced by minor league journeyman and author Cory Underwood, without a word as to why Reed didn't turn up. Underwood, Emmett and Rice have already been waived. Sham's prediction: An extra small forward wouldn't go amiss in Philly, who have the class of Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young at the position, but who have no emergency third stringer there. However, they could also use a good shooter, and Robinson isn't it. He just thinks he is. Reiner's best hope is for the Sixers to suffer another frontcourt injury, who have already lost J-Smoove Jason Smith for a hundred million years. If that happens, he can play emergency backup to the emergency backup incumbent, Theo Ratliff. Robinson probably has the advantage, but dammit, you need a guard that can shoot. There's plenty out there. Look harder.

- Phoenix brought in Robert Hite and Trey Johnson, to battle Sean Singletary for what will almost certainly be only one spot on the deep bench. This is assuming that the Suns only run with the minimum of 13 players, which history suggests that they will. They also brought in big man Coleman Collins, but I'm not sure what they want from him. Sham's prediction: Singletary will win. He's the slightly better player than Hite, and also the finances are in his favour. Singletary has $200,000 of his $442,114 guaranteed, and Hite is a second year player. So, if Hite were to make the team, it would cost Phoenix roughly $1.8 million (Hite's salary of $711,517, doubled for tax, plus Singletary's $200,000 guarantee also doubled for tax), more than double what it would cost to keep Singletary alone. And also because he's better.

- Portland's 15th and final spot is between rookie point guard and former world heavyweight champion Drederick Tatum, Luke Jackson, Shavlik Randolph and the mountain man Steven Hill. Again, points are to awarded for box ticking - between those four players, the Blazers have managed to cover every position, all manner of standards (ranging from "fringe NBA talent" to "complete project" via "who the hell is that?"), while also bringing in a hometown guy in Jackson. This is how you play the damn game. Sham's prediction: There's not a great deal of point in any of them, to be honest. I would like to see quite where Shavlik Randolph could do after two wasted seasons, but the Blazers don't need him and never will. The depth chart favours Jackson.

- Sacramento signed a random 26 year old Chinese player called Zhang Kai. You've never heard of Zhang Kai before. There's a reason for that. The Kings also signed Bobby Jones (YES! Chalk up another!) and Noel Felix (YES! Chalk up another!), apparently identifying the need for a small forward on the end of the bench. Sham's prediction: Depending on what happens with Shareef Abdur-Rahim, the Kings might have some wiggle room under the tax in the near future. But, if Shareef's contract isn't removed from the books after his recent retirement, then they won't. In that event, the Kings won't be able to afford either Jones or Felix without straying ever so slightly into tax territory. So even if either one of them did make the team, they'd be cut soon enough anyway. Jones is far more likely to make it, though, because he's by far the better player. Felix looked intriguing during his brief stint with the Sonics three years ago, but he hasn't done anything since then. He's now 27, and still with the holes in his game that he's always had. Jamario Moon doesn't strike twice. Also note: Zhang Kai has about as much chance of making the roster as I do of getting a front office job in the NBA. That is to say, no chance whatsoever.

- San Antonio kitted out their inactive list with some class. Salim Stoudamire ($200,000), Desmon Farmer (none), Darryl Watkins ($20,000), Devin Green (nada) and Anthony Tolliver ($200,000) all signed early to various levels of guaranteed money, and the Spurs then added to those with further camp signings in Brian Morrison and their second round draft pick Malik Hairston. (Note: Morrison was waived almost immediately for Charles Gaines.) Those seven players are fighting against each other for two spots, as the Spurs have 13 guaranteed contracts other than they, with only Jacque Vaughn being expendable. Sham's prediction: If only for the level of guaranteed money, Stoudamire and Tolliver are the front runners for the two spots, but Desmon Farmer has NBA talent and a modicum of experience. The Spurs don't need both Green and Hairston, and arguably don't need either. Watkins gives the Spurs some size and shotblocking, but they don't particularly need either right now. What they could use is another shooter, which looks doubly good for Stoudamire. Counting against Salim is his small stature, something which Farmer isn't burdened with. But the level of guaranteed money infers that the Spurs aren't too bothered about that. Gaines hasn't a chance.

- Toronto are a boring bunch of boring bastards, who originally vowed to go into camp with only the 13 players that they already had contract, but whom eventually plumped for a 14th in Jamal Sampson only when rookie centre Nathan Jawai was ruled out with heart trouble. Sham's prediction: The reason they didn't bring anyone in despite having two spots available is that the Raptors have run out of wiggle room below the tax threshold. For this reason, Sampson won't make it, and if he does, it won't be for very long.

- Utah brought in Gerry McNamara, Britton Johnsen (quickly replaced by Gabe Muoneke after Johnsen took an offer in the Ukraine) and Kevin Lyde for training camp. McNamara gets his first shot in the NBA after a decent college career led to a less than decent Euroepan career. Muoneke is a training camp veteran of the best part of a decade who still hasn't managed to make an NBA game. And Lyde is a fat guy who the Jazz had in training camp last year, whom they let go for beign fat, and who has managed to subsequently get even fatter. A strange training regimen. Speaking of fat people, isn't it high time someone at least enquired about Michael Sweetney? Sham's prediction: All three had to have known that there was simply no place for them on the Jazz roster, with 15 guaranteed contracts in place and no one likely to be cut or traded.

- Finally, Washington brought in four players to fight for one spot - Linton Johnson, Juan Dixon ($150,000 guaranteed), DerMarr Johnson and Taj McCullough. McCullough seemingly did enough with his 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds averages during summer league play to earn a camp invite, but God knows what it was. The two Johnson's (giggidY) and Dixon (giggidy) are basically squaring off for the Wizards final roster spot - Dee Brown is only $125,000 guaranteed, but with so little point guard play in front of him, he has only himself to blame if he doesn't make it. Sham's prediction: Dixon makes it, unless the Wizards are suitably swayed by DerMarr Johnson's height in an otherwise small backcourt.