Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 28

One final Mengke Bateer note - while I called him Mongolian earlier, he's actually from Inner Mongolia, which is considered part of China, in much the same way Vermont is considered part of the USA. I didn't realise that there was a difference between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, but there is, and so I will bring that difference to you now.

And for some old dudes.


- Penny Hardaway

Hardaway last played in December 2007 with the Miami Heat. Finding anything that he's done since then has not been easy. His website is just a shade out of date, and if he has business interests then I don't know what they are. What we know for sure is that two years ago he gave a million dollars to the University of Memphis two years ago, because John Calipari has a way of making things like that happen.



- DeVon Hardin

Thunder draft pick Hardin played in Greece last year, but now he's back where they can keep an eye on him. Hardin is with the Thunder's D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers, but he's not doing very well there. In 27 games with 20 starts and 20.5 minutes per game, Hardin is averaging only 5.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, with 155 points on 122 shots and a foul every 8 minutes. It should be somewhat simple for an NBA calibre big man to put up near-double double stats in the D-League; even Chris Richard managed to do it, when his 9/8 for the 66ers was deemed sufficient to be signed three times by the Chicago Bulls. But Hardin hasn't done it, nor has he come close to it. His minutes have affected somewhat by the Thunder's assortment of assigned players, including big men D.J. White and B.J. Mullens at various times. Yet it's not really an excuse.



- Matt Harpring

Harpring was a member of the Thunder's roster until just after the trade deadline, when the Thunder quietly waived him. Before that time, Harpring was doing TV work for the Utah Jazz; after that time, he still is.

Dallas' deadline deal for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood was proof, to an extent, of what I said at the time about the deal that first brought Harpring and Eric Maynor to Oklahoma City. Had OKC held on to that cap space longer, I believe they could have gotten more for it; by offering some long term salary relief (which OKC could do), as well as short term salary relief (which OKC could do even better than Dallas), OKC could have received the package that Dallas did instead. The Thunder are already very good, but put Brendan Haywood on this team, and they become amongst the West's very best. This was doable. And so while Maynor is a nice player for them, I still think it was premature, and a misappropriation of their unrivalled resources. (Of course, this can never be proven. But the Dallas deal suggests it was the case.)

Also, by not getting under the luxury tax despite trimming so much salary, Utah fails. Close, but close wasn't enough. Since it's the kind of thing I like to wonder about, I wonder if there were avenues available to them to do so that they just deemed to be too far. For example, OKC and Presti were the ones who gave C.J. Miles that contract in the first place; is there no conceivable way in which Utah could have palmed him off there, even if it's only for Kyle Weaver? Just thinking out loud here. Maybe they decided dumping three rotation players just to save money was too much to justify. But whatever the reason they had for not getting under the tax - be it by choice, or because they couldn't get it done - Utah know that it's possible to dump a good player on an average salary and pick up a comparable player for the minimum. They know this because they've done it, and so if they could have done it one more time with this Miles to OKC deal, then perhaps they should have.

The counter argument to that says that, if C.J. Miles is so readily replaceable with a cheaper player, then OKC could just pick up the cheaper player instead should they need to. That counter argument makes a valid point. And so perhaps that answers my own question as to the viability of a Miles-to-OKC deal. (The fact that the Thunder have acquired Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden since that offer sheet was signed is also not insiginificant. Oklahoma City no longer have a place for Miles.)

But the larger, general point remains. You see it a lot, when D-League players come in and contribute at least 85% of what the multi-year veteran they're replacing can give, to a watching audience shocked by their competence. This happens every year, and this year has been no different, with players such as Sundiata Gaines, Reggie Williams, Anthony Tolliver, Chris Hunter and others readily contributing to NBA teams. Utah themselves kind of did this when they brought in Wesley Matthews in the offseason, a man so beautifully average that he made Ronnie Brewer expendable. About 40 or so NBA rotation players are entirely replaceable by players outside of the NBA, who would be deemed to have NBA talent had they had the opportunity/fortune of those in front of them. This is particularly the case with wing players, but also applies to all positions, and it's not just something that's been the case since the D-League existed. For example, for all these years Calvin Booth has been bringing in paychecks and signing multi-year contracts, how much worse than him has Zendon Hamilton been? Pretty much no worse at all, really. But Booth had opportunity and fortune, and Hamilton did not. So Hamilton grafted for whatever money and employment he could get, while Booth got much more money than his play merited and a prolonged career based off one timely summer. It's somewhat unfair, but it's just how it is. (And despite how it may appear, that's not meant pejoratively towards Booth. Take what you can get, Calvin, and God bless you for that.)

The NBA prefers familiarity, and familiarity breeds the opposite of contempt. Some players get more than they deserve, while their comparable peers run up the air miles just trying to find the right situation. There is nothing especially wrong or flawed about this circumstance, and it sure as hell applies to all works of life in some way. Yet it perhaps should be less of a surprise when a D-Leaguer or undrafted free agent is brought in and is able to be a consistent distributor in an NBA rotation. It's normal, it's sensible, and it's worth considering when you start giving average players MLE money. Any team that does its homework can find minimum salary talent. Utah are one such team - they've since done it again with Othyus Jeffers - and it's a shame they didn't have one more left in the gun.



- Adam Harrington

Every year, I mean to keep a list of players who were bought out of their D-League contracts midseason to go and play somewhere else around the world. And every year, I forget. I do keep a list of NBA call-ups and assignments, but that's not the same thing. I'm talking about moves such as Carlos Powell to Liaoning, Courtney Sims to Puerto Rico, Zabian Dowdell to Unicaja Malaga, etc. But I never remember.

One such move that was entirely overlooked was that of Adam Harrington, who started the season with the Springfield Armor before being bought and moving to Poland to join SKK Kotwica Kolobrzeg. (The very same.) Harrington averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Armor, compared to 11.2 points and 2.0 rebounds for Kolobrzeg.



- Lorinza "Junior" Harrington

Junior Harrington is also in Poland, playing for Asseco Prokom Gdynia. Gdynia are still in the Euroleague, preparing for a quarter final matchup against the mighty Olympiakos. So despite how much they've achieved just to get this far, they're in trouble now. Harrington is a small part of this run, averaging 3.5 points and 1.7 assists in the Polish league, alongside 1.8ppg, 1.4apg and 1.3 spg in the Euroleague.



- Othella "Senior" Harrington

Othella played 3 games in the D-League last year, after taking a long time to recover from knee surgery. He did not play very well in them, yet they were his only games all season. And this year, Othella has played 3 fewer games than that. He tried out for a spot with Petrochimi in Iran back in December, but did not make the team. He remains unsigned.



- Lucious Harris

After many years of trying, we might have found something.



- Mike Harris

Harris has had three stints in the NBA this year. He started with the Thunder, with whom he signed for training camp before being waived in favour of Ryan Bowen, and later returned to the Rockets for a couple of weeks, for whom he appeared in 2 games. Later on came a ten day contract with the Wizards, for whom he played 13 minutes and scored 4 points. And in between those gigs has been the D-League, where Harris once again finds himself. For the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Harris is averaging 27.0 points and 10.3 rebounds, leading the league in scoring and ranking third in rebounds per game.



- Paul Harris

Syracuse grad Harris started the season in training camp with the Utah Jazz, but that earlier rant should give you an inclination of how that worked out. Harris got injured in camp and never appeared in a preseason game, and even though he was later taken 8th overall in the 2009 D-League Draft by the Maine Red Claws, he hasn't played in the D-League this season either due to the injury. Harris declared after his junior year, and could be on the number 1 ranked Orange right now, but as it is, he sits unsigned in the D-League player pool rehabbing an ankle injury. This isn't the ideal way to start a professional career, but bad luck can't be helped.

Paul Harris looks pretty freaking similar to Mike Harris in that picture, does he not?



- Terrel Harris

As described here, Harris started the year in France, but it didn't go too well. Upon being released, he returned to America and joined the D-League, being acquired by the Maine Red Claws. In inconsistent playing time over a few months, Harris has averaged 6.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, yet shot only 32% from three point range.



Finally....

- David Harrison

Harrison was covered in the 2010 CBA Season Round-up from last week. The CBA regular season just finished, and Guandong won with a 30-2 record. Seasons are finishing and yet I'm only up to H in the alphabet. Eep.

Summer league round-up: Cleveland Cavaliers

About bloody time.

View the Cavaliers' long overdue summer league roster.

- Christian Eyenga: Everything I know about Christian Eyenga can be found here. Nothing has happened since then to really advance my knowledge. But I'll add this unoriginal thought: This is a Cavaliers team that is trying to win now. It really is. If you trade for Shaquille O'Neal, you're trying to win now. They're the rules. So why then would you take the biggest prospect in the draft with your sole first round pick? I'm not saying that any of them are brilliant players or difference makers, but players like Sam Young, Dejuan Blair, Jermaine Taylor....these are potentially useful pieces, and as things stand, the Cavaliers bench is pretty bare. Would it not have been worth taking one of their ilk instead? What is the percentage possibility of Eyenga becoming a better NBA player than these others? I don't know. But it'd have to be quite a way above 50% to make this make sense.

- Jamont Gordon: Jamont Gordon fills up the stat sheet in all categories, but he has his flaws. He's an inefficient scorer, he turns it over too much, his own hairline hates him, and he's too short for his skillset. But one of the biggest flaws has always been his jumpshot. And, based on last year's play, it still is. Gordon averaged 11.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals in 24 minutes per game for Upim Bologna last season, but shot only 32% from three point range. He drew a lot of foul shots as per usual, but also missed a lot as per usual, shooting 68% from the stripe. Gordon's an unconventional kind of smallish guard, but he's quite a good one. He's just going to have to improve his decision making and/or shooting before he cracks the big league. If that happens, we'll forget about his fivehead.

- Danny Green: I like to think of Danny Green as being a bit like a crap Shane Battier. I like to think I know things. I don't.

- David Harrison: Harrison's rookie contract expired last summer, and after a brief training camp tryout with the Timberwolves, he left the NBA altogether. He buggered off to China, where he did the usual Chinese thing and put up a crapload of stats all across the board. Harrison totalled 21.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 2.3 blocks and 4.2 fouls a game, shooting better from the field (62.1%) than the foul line (56.9%). Thems is good looking numbers, for sure, but good looking numbers are easy to achieve when you're over 6'8 tall and even slightly mobile. May I remind you once again that Olumide Oyedeji averaged almost 20/20 in China last season. Even Priest Lauderdale put up big numbers, bigger than Harrison's, to the tune of 21/13/4. And he's not even mobile. (By the way, add Priest Lauderdale to the list of American players who have obtained Bulgarian passports. But at least Priest had the decency to play there for four years.)

Harrison turns 27 next month and has never really developed. Don't let me be catching you talking about him as having potential. But more importantly, here's a Priest Lauderdale fact: Priest Lauderdale was once banned from playing in the Phillipines Basketball Association because the league ruled he was too big. The PBA atthe time had a rule which stated that teams could field two imports with only a combined of 13 feet six inches, and the 7'4 Lauderdale had a 6'4 team mate (Jermaine Walker). That rule has since been dropped due to its inherent stupidity. Good times.

- Robert Hite: The ironically named Hite was in the Belgian league last year, averaging 16.3 points and 4.8 rebounds for Oostende. But Cleveland, if you want Robert Hite, sign Luther Head. I'm seriously.

- Darnell Jackson: Jackson has an unguaranteed salary for next year, and if the Cavaliers get serious about winning now and decide to stock up with veterans, then his roster spot might be in jeopardy. But, since there's no real threat of that right now, he should be fine.

- Tarence Kinsey: Kinsey last season played about 13 important seconds all year. The rest of the time he saw was garbage time. Since you will no doubt know that Tarence Kinsey is the Kingsey Of Garbage Time, it might not surprise you to know that Kinsey managed to record a true shooting percentage last season of .595%. And this from your 13th man. Not too freaking bad, is it? Kinsey's contract is unguaranteed until July 28th, but I'm pulling for him to make it. And if he doesn't, I want my Bulls to get in on that. (Giggidy? Maybe.)

- Leo Lyons: Lyons was covered in the Indiana Pacers round-up of the other day. Nothing has happened since then to make me change my mind.

- Maureece Rice: Rice was one of about 46 people to get a training camp contract with the Sixers last year, but he never really stood a chance of making the team. After that went south, he went north, and was acquired by the Erie BayHawks of the D-League. He didn't start out too well, but things got better, and he ended up averaging 19.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists on the year. Rice is still a bit fat, but he slimmed down a bit, and returned to his more suited position of shooting guard. He's managed to rebuild his resume after a bad previous 18 months, and another year like the second half of last year, and who knows; he might get somewhere. By the way, a slightly dodgy anagram of his name is "eerie cum race." Remember; everyone gets an anagram now. Peruse at will.

- Jawad Williams: Williams signed with the Cavs in training camp, and beat the long odds to make the team pretty much on the basis of his performance in one preseason game. He then sat on the inactive list until the contract guarantee date came around, at which point Ferry waived him. As soon as he cleared waivers, though, Jawad was bizarrely brought back for two ten contracts, where he once again sat around doing nothing. Clearly, Dan Gilbert was paying for a winner.

Then, disaster; the Thunder bought out Joe Smith, who signed with the Cavaliers, and Williams lost his roster spot. (By this time, he had played all of 10 minutes in 9 games.) That looked to be the end of that, and Williams slunk off to the D-League to average 25.7 points in 19 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

And then he bounced back. The overdue medical retirement of Eric Snow finally went through, and the Cavaliers had a roster spot open again. They wasted next to no time in burning it on Williams again, signing him through 2010 and giving him the opportunity to once again sit on the bench. They even let him play once; in the Cavs final game of the season, when they rest as many vaguely capable players as they could, Williams came off the bench to score 8 points and pull down two rebounds in 10 minutes. In the 81 games before that, he had managed only 2 points and 0 rebounds in the same amount of time. It truly was a breakout of Ndudi Ebi-like proportions. And boy, did he deserve it.

Will Williams make the roster again? I doubt it. There's no reason why he should (no offense). However, considering Jawad's amazing powers of survival in the Ohio area, I'm not putting it past him. And if he does, I'll be sure to tell you.

Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 23 (again)

Might have hit the post button a bit early there. Sorry about that. I know how itching you are for your Adam Harrington news, and by God I'm going to bring it to you.

- Othella Harrington's option was not picked up by the Bobcats this year, which was about as surprising as finding vegetables in a bowl of vegetable soup. He remains unsigned, and maybe always will.

- Junior Harrington, meanwhile is not unsigned, and is playing for Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia. Junior has only played 4 games with the team, three of which were in the Adriatic league, but in that time he has totalled 53 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. More important, he has shot a combined 9-13 on three pointers, which is fantastic news if you're the kind of person that likes to use 13 game sample sizes as the sole indicator of whether a man has fixed his broken jumpshot or not.

- Adam Harrington is signed with Limoges in France, averaging 16.3 points and 2.6 rebounds. There's nothing quite like the French second division for really bringing a man's true talent out.

- Padraig Harrington recently became the first man to par the par-three Extreme 19th Legend Golf & Safari Resort in Limpopo, South Africa.

- Don't know what Lucious Harris does now.

- Mike Harris is in China, and, as is customary with the Chinese league, his statistics are amusingly warped. For the DongGuan New Century, Harris averages 41.5 minutes a game, 32.2 points, 15.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.6 blocks a game, Wilt Chamberlain-like numbers. The talent pool in the Chinese league is bloody woeful, as they continue to adapt their league and their game to the new, correct rules, and to a more athletic style of play. All teams are allowed two import players, and almost all of these teams use them on former NBA players (for example, Harris's teammate is journeyman centre Jamal Sampson), and all these former NBA players get to put up absolutely dominant statistics while playing pretty much every minute of every game. It's kind of weird. Fun, though.

- David Harrison is another American werewolf in China. Playing for the Shougang Beijing Ducks, Harrison averages 20.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.4 fouls and 2.3 blocks a game. See? The Chinese league makes even David Harrison look good. (Harrison's numbers, however, pale in comparison those of his teammate, Dontae - not Dahntay - Jones. Dontae averages 33.2 points and 14.2 rebounds in 44 minutes a game, proof enough that any 33 year old former NBA player can go to China, shoot 43% from the field, and still look brilliant. Bear this in mind.)

- Donnell Harvey is signed - you guessed it! - in China. He, too, has truly awesome statistics that need to be taken with a pinch of Anthrax. For the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons of Nanjing, Harvey averages 29.2 points, 15.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks a game, which is in keeping with the rules outlined above. David Harrison is starting to look pretty poor now, isn't he?

- Hairy Ass Matt Haryasz is NOT signed in China, which is a shame, because he could probably use the statwarpage on offer. For BC Oostende in Belgium, Haryasz averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in the Eurocup, good numbers that look damn near insignificant after all those Chinese ones above. Haryasz also shot 3-14 from the free throw line (21.4%), which is pretty special. In the Belgian league, Haryasz averages 11,6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game, with a much healthier 70.6% success rate from the foul line.

- Juaquin Hawkins might still be with his Australian team, the Gold Coast Blaze. I can't seem to find out for certain whether he was officially released or not. Either way, he got injured in October and hasn't played since. The Blaze brought in Justin Bowen as Hawkins's replacement, and Bowen has done all right, but apparently not well enough, for the Blaze are currently last in the NBL with a 5-22 record.

- Brandon Heath is in the D-League, being allocated to the Los Angeles D-Fenders as a result of his short stint with the Lakers in training camp. Note to all teams - buy your own affiliate. Heath averages 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists for a crappy D-Fenders team.

- Alan Henderson is unsigned, presumably still waiting for the promised phone call from the Sixers that never came.


Finally, some updates about people that we've previously covered, but whose cirumstances have since changed.

- T.J. Cummings (giggidy), who left The Arse earlier this year, has signed with Liege in Belgium.

- Kyle Davis has rejoined the D-League, being acquired by Reno.

- Andre Brown has left the Austin Toros and signed in Turkey for Kepez Bld Antalya. His Toros team mate, Charles Gaines, has also left the team, and has landed a pretty plush gig with Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Maccabi waived Marcus Fizer, unhappy with his performances in return from long term injury. Seems harsh.

- Jamon Gordon signed with KK Split in Croatia after being released by the Koeln 99ers.

- And some bonus info - Desmond Penigar (THE Desmond Penigar! Orlando Magic Ten Day Contract Recipient About Five Years Ago, Desmond Penigar!) has rejoined basketball after two years out, and signed in Austria with Furstenfeld, the team that won't play Tony Gipson. What has become of my life when I'm tracking the progress of bench players in the Austrian basketball league? I don't know. I think I hate myself.