The Purpose Of Waiving Deron Washington Was....I Don't Know.

Yesterday, the Detroit Pistons waived 2008 second draft pick and flopper extraordinaire, Deron Washington. They had initially signed him back in August to be their 14th and last man, giving him a two year minimum salary deal with $250,000 guaranteed in the first season. Yet after bringing in Chucky Atkins on an unguaranteed one year deal for training camp (a move that they won't have foreseen prior to the Washington signing), the Pistons began to feel that Atkins was more deserving of the 14th man spot, and so they waived Washington to allow them to keep Chucky.

That's the official line, at least. It doesn't really make a lot of sense though.

Disregarding the respective talent levels and fits on the roster of the two players, the finances of the situation seemed to dictate that Deron stayed on. Washington's large amount of guaranteed money (over 50% of his overall contract for this year) meant that the Pistons could have kept him on until the league-wide contract guarantee date of January 10th, without having to pay him a single extra penny outside of meal stipends. Waive him yesterday, and he'll cost $250,000; waive him on January 6th, and he'll still only cost $250,000.

Therefore, why waive him?

The Pistons aren't pressed for cash - after a summer of cap room, they rock a payroll of only $58,597,137, 25th in the league. They've run out of cap room and exceptions, hence the need for all the minimum salary deals, but they'll spend what they can anyway. They can afford to swallow Washington (giggidy) without any repercussions coming from it; they'll lose very little from it. They've lost a player that wasn't in the rotation, and no extra money than what they had already committed. But they'll also gain absolutely nothing from it. Even if Washington only played about 14 minutes between now and the guarantee date, it's 14 minutes more than an empty roster spot will fill.

Yet for some reason, they really want that extra spot.

Detroit said from the start, even before bringing in Atkins, that they only wanted to keep 14 players on the roster this year. They signed Washington with that in mind, and signed Atkins more in hope than expectation. Yet after Atkins (seemingly) showed that he had enough left in the tank at age 35 to be a more worthwhile investment than the 23 year old athletic project, they switched the two while sticking to that plan of keeping 14.

Why they're so staunch about keeping the fifteenth spot clear remains a mystery; even if they're planning to accommodate a midseason pick-up at some point, they don't need the spot until they need it, and they don't need it right now. (They don't need Washington, either. But he's a free player. How bad can that be?) So what they've done is open a roster spot for a possible move that isn't even scheduled, without saving any money in doing so.

I don't see it. Even if you really need Chucky Atkins - and they don't - why not keep Washington as well?

The only risk to keeping Washington would be if he were to get seriously injured, at which point Detroit is bound to keep paying him until he's healthy again. This annoying if justified stipulation caught out Miami and Orlando last year, who became stuck with paying fully guaranteed contracts to Jason Richards and Mike Wilks respectively after they both suffered bad knee injuries in training camp. But that risk is minimal, and it's even smaller if you consider that Washington was only scheduled to be an inactive list talent.

Now, since Washington has been waived, he can't be traded. He can't play for the team. They no longer have any rights on him of any sort. And they still have to pay him $250,000.


Maybe this could be a similar situation to the one that the San Antonio Spurs have going on with Malik Hairston and Marcus E. Williams. (Wink wink.) Maybe it's a precursor to a two-for-one trade in the next few days, as unlikely as that seems. Maybe Washington asked for his release for some reason, and the Pistons were feeling remarkably generous. Or maybe it's just not something that's been thought through.

Detroit used a draft pick on Washington, stashed him for a year, let him develop, then gave him some guaranteed money, yet now they've cut him before they see a single minute's return on that. They've not cut him for a salary saving, and they've not even cut him for Chucky Atkins; they've cut him for a roster spot that they don't need yet, and may never need.

It may have only been a 59th pick and $250,000, but it's all now gone to waste. And it needn't have done. Just think of what Deron Washington could achieved between now and early January.



(As always, if there's some logic or crucial information point here that I've missed, do please let me know. But if there is, I don't see it right now.)

Summer league round-up: Detroit Pistons

View the Pistons summer league roster.

- Michael Bramos: Bramos is a Greek shooting guard who recently finished his senior season at the University of Miami, Ohio. (It was news to me that there were two Miami's. Seems unnecessary.) On offense, he's largely an outside shooter since he can't dribble, but he's not a great shooter, shooting 40% from the field and 36% from the three point line in his senior season. He's pretty athletic and very strong for an off-guard (standing 6'5 and 221, which is pretty freaking heavy for a man that height), and he also has a hell of a wingspan. These reasons and more are why Europe is his inevitable destiny; that and the door-opening Greek passport, obviously.

- Will Bynum: Last year was a strange one for Will Bynum. Michael Curry played him and played him and played him and played him for three months, and he sucked. Then, in March, Bynum somehow broke out. He became able to get to the rim at will, and drained 21 footers like he'd never been able to do. Eventually he became a key contributor for the Pistons, had a 32 point 7 assist game versus Charlotte, and averaged nearly 12 points per game for Detroit in the playoffs. And now Pistons fans are grateful that Bynum's going to be on their roster and earning the minimum salary next year.

- Austin Daye: Detroit bailed out Daye's decision to declare way too early by picking him 15th overall this year, a pick with which I am not overly fond. They clearly see more in this athletic jump shooting specialist than I do. (This is a position that, in the long run, I am willing to modify. I admit that I didn't see a lot of Daye in his college career. But I also didn't see a lot in him, either. Yes, he might be the next poor man's Rudy Gay, but remember something; Rudy Gay isn't that good. And that's why Gay's ass is going to be traded at the deadline.)

(Hehe, "Gay's ass".)

- Ibrahim Jaaber: it's quite the surprise to see Jaaber on here, in amongst the undrafted talent and regurgitated D-League filth that so permeates summer league rosters. Jaaber has become a star in Europe recently; as a starting guard for Lottomatica Roma last season, Jaaber averaged 14.1 points, 2.6 points and 2.5 steals in the Italian league. But clearly the NBA is on his mind, or he wouldn't be going to down the summer league route. He is capable of a way bigger stage and way more money than this. Still, good luck to him. It's the American dream.

Ibrahim Jaaber fact: Ibrahim Jaaber, a Brooklyn native who has never played in Bulgaria, has a Bulgarian passport. So does Olympiakos and former Grizzlies forward Mike Batiste. And Chicago Bulls draft pick Mario Austin was offered one, but gallantly refused it. It all seems a bit illicit, doesn't it?

- Jonas Jerebko: Jerebko was one of twelve small forwards drafted by the Pistons this year, but since they're apparently going to sign Deron Washington to a guaranteed deal (which I'll believe when I see it), then it looks like there's no spot for Jerebko to come over this season, even if Walter Sharpe is dumped. Jerebko averaged 9.1 points and 5.5 rebounds for Angellico Biella last season, but still needs to improve his dribbling and his jumpshot. So keeping him overseas seems like the best thing to do. At least give Dajuan Summers the opportunity to flame out first.

- Dwayne Jones: Considering that the Pistons currently only have Kwame Brown at centre, and that Dwayne Jones is kind of NBA calibre-ish, then you have to think that he has a decent chance of making the roster at some point, unless he completely screws the pooch. Jones played 49 minutes with the Boobcats last year, totalling 12 points, 12 rebounds and 6 fouls, and also played 7 minutes in Turkey, totalling 1 point, 1 rebounds and 3 fouls for Efes Pilsen. He spent most of the season in the D-League, playing for three teams; the Iowa Energy (1 game, 1 point, 1 rebound, 4 fouls), the Idaho Stampede (12 games, averaging 14.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks) and the Austin Toros (22 games, 17.2 points, 13.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks). He's never significantly developed his offense, and is now 26, but he's a good enough player to be in the NBA, and he seems to have picked his summer league team wisely. Good chance here.

- Andre Owens: Owens is a former Jazz and Pacers guard who spent last year as one of the two American imports for Crvena Zvezda, the other one being Lawrence Roberts. Those two were also the two oldest players on the team, as the roster outside of them was made up almost exclusively of Serbian and Bosnian youngsters, most of whom will be draft candidates one day soon. (And some of them, including Nemanja Bjelica and Elmeden Kikanovic, are slated to be second rounders next year. But more on them later.) As the veteran star on the team, a role that he's never had anywhere before, Owens averaged 10.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in the Eurocup, doing a little bit of everything and shooting fairly well from outside the arc. But Detroit might not have the room for him.

- Trent Plaisted: Plaisted playsted with Jerebko at Angellico Biella last year, which may explain why Detroit zoned in on JJ so early. However, Trent only played in two games with the team - both in October - before being injured and missing the rest of the season. I don't know what his injury was, because I can't read Italian (although I do know that coglioni = bollocks), but the fact that he was sent overseas for a year and yet missed almost all of the year due to injury would imply that a second year abroad is on the cards.

- Walter Sharpe: Sharpe barely played for the Pistons last year, totalling 20 minutes, yet spent hardly any time in the D-League. When he did finally play in 4 games for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, he kind of sucked, averaging only 10.8 points and 3.5 rebounds. The Pistons drafted three small forwards last year, which also can't bode well for Sharpe's chances. But his guaranteed contract for next year might be his saviour.

- Dajuan Summers: Pistons GM Joe Dumars almost picked Summers at 15, and was happily surprised when Summers fell to their second pick at #35. Not sure why, though, since the only thing the guy can do is shoot. It's nice to be athletic and strong, like he is, but if you can't/won't penetrate (giggidy), and if you can't/won't play defense, then that's worth a whole lot. Still, Summers has potential, and should make the roster.

- Clay Tucker: Tucker was on the Cavaliers team last year, where he was so keen to demonstrate his scoring ability that he didn't make one single pass. He started last year with BC Kyiv, but left when the team released all of its foreign players due to bankruptcy. He then closed out the year in Spain, where he averaged 17.5 points per game for Cajasol Sevilla. Despite now being 29 and having had several goes at it, Tucker has still never gotten an NBA contract, and this time might not work out either.

- Deron Washington: Washington, supposedly, has a guaranteed contract lined up for next season, which isn't something I'm prepared to believe right now. If he does, though, then that'll be something of a surprise. Washington played in Israel last year, averaging 14.1 points and 7.0 rebounds for Hapoel Holon, but he still can't shoot well, and, given their recent draft which I've kind of overrelied on lately, you can see how Detroit may have had other options at the small forward spot. And Arron Afflalo's presence negates any spot minutes that Washington might have gotten as a big two guard. And that's why I don't really believe it. But I'll report it if it happens.

Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 55

Didn't get on the telly. Shame.

- Charlie Ward retired in 2004, and briefly became an assistant coach with the Rockets. However, he left that gig, and has instead found a place and a job that caters to his three biggest passions in life; basketball, American football, and Christianity. Ward is now the head football coach at Westbury Christian School in Houston, Texas, as well as an assistant coach on the basketball team. He also recently quarterbacked again, albeit only for a fun day. Question: if you were to ask Charlie Ward whether he regrets turning down an NFL career for his decent if underwhelming NBA career, what would he say? Genuinely intrigued by that.

- Darius Washington signed with the Bulls for preseason, and played very well in one of the preseason games. He didn't make the cut, though, and nor was he ever going to. Washington then signed with Ural Great Perm in Russia, where he is averaging 13.0 points and 3.6 assists per game in the EuroChallenge, along with 14.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in the Russian league. Did you know that Darius Washington is now a Macedonian citizen? Fun fact.

- Pistons draft pick Deron Washington is averaging 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.2 blocks per game for Hapoel Holon in Israel. He recently helped the team to win the Israeli Cup, but is only shooting 23% on the year from three point range. So he still can't shoot.

- Darryl Watkins did not make the cut from the Spurs training camp, and then went to TianJin in China. Everyone loves Chinese numbers, and a post on this subject may well be soon appearing, so until then wrap your lips around this bad boy: 20.8 points, 14.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

- Jameel Watkins is also in China, playing for the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons. His numbers are highly comparable to the other Watkins, but slightly worse: Jameel averages 20.7 points, 13.5 rebounds, 4.6 fouls and 2.1 blocks per game.

- Clarence Weatherspoon is not in China, but it would be great if he was.

- Chris Webber now does TV work on both NBA TV and Inside The NBA, and is supposedly writing a book, presumably one about basketball and not metamorphic rock identification or anything. He also just had his jersey number retired by the Sacramento Kings, somewhat needlessly. Fun fact: did you know that Chris Webber released an album back in 1999? You may well have done. But I didn't. Genuinely intrigued by this, too.

- Frederic Weis recently moved from Iurbentia Bilbao to ViveMenorca, both Spanish ACB teams. Weis averaged 2.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in the ACB for Bilbao, and has totalled 6 points and 19 rebounds in the 60 minutes that he has played for Menorca through three games.

- Jiri Welsch is playing for Unicaja Malaga, averaging 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists in the Spanish league, alongside 8.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and an insignificant number of assists in the Euroleague. His stats from previous seasons can be found here, on his personal website, as can a deeply sinister picture of him looking like a recently goosed Frankie Dettori.

- David Wesley was traded as an unguaranteed contract twice in the 2007 offseason, and was waived by New Jersey before the season began. He hasn't signed since, and isn't going to, either. Fun fact: did you know that David Wesley is Michael Dickerson's cousin? No, me neither.

- Finally, you probably already knew that Bonzi Wells signed in China this season, and you probably knew that he has since left. And you probably knew that he stuffed the stat sheet in every plausible way during his time there. But you might not know the specifics, and so I'm here to oblige you with that.

On the season, in only 14 games, Bonzi averaged 42.1 minutes, 34.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.8 steals per game. He shot 45% on the year, and 70% from the free throw line, and certainly wasn't waived because he wasn't producing. But a closer look at the numbers reveals a man who miiiiiiight not have been trying that hard. In those 14 games, Bonzi shot 156 three pointers, which for maths fans out there is a shade over 11 attempts per game. This seems like it's too many ('ooh, you think?'), but particularly so for a man who hit them at only 33%, and who hasn't shot the three pointer well since a fluke season in 2001/02. (For comparison's sake, Bonzi shot 50 three pointers combined last season in 73 NBA games for the Rockets and Hornets, hitting 12. And he hit 11 combined the previous two seasons.) Bonzi started out with a bash (giggidy), averaging 47 points through his first four games, shooting a Damon Stoudamire-like 57 threes in that span. But he scored only 3 points in a foul-plagued fifth game, and averaged a far more normal 32.2 ppg after that. The three's continued to go up, though, and with the foul plagued fifth game excluded (in which he shot only three), Bonzi never attempted less than seven 3 pointers in any game. I do not know why.

Bonzi Wells would be in the NBA right now, earning about $8 million, if Geoff Petrie had had his way. Something to consider.

Summer signings, round 22

- A while ago, I helpfully wrote this.

Taurean Green is about to sign with some team in some country in Europe. And I forgot to write down who and where.

Well, I now know! Green has signed with CAI Zaragoza, which is a team in Spain. ShamSports.com - where uninteresting news is broken later than on other sites, and not very informatively at that.

- Oklahoma City signed Kyle Weaver, which gives them something they otherwise sorely lack - a shooting guard. (I mean, they have a looooooot of forwards. Desmond Mason and Joe Smith are only there as expirings, even though they are decent players. But even without them there's too much forward depth going on. This is making my great plan to pawn Cedric Simmons off onto them slightly harder to achieve.)

- There was a weird trade what happened, there be. Houston traded Patrick Ewing to New York for the draft rights to Frederic Weis. Houston did this for the same reasons that they traded Sean Singletary and Steve Novak before him - to dump salary so that they can re-sign Carl Landry and Dikembe Mutombo. But it must be pretty weird for Ewing Jr to be going to the team where his old man is revered as a bit of a legend, when he himself is going to struggle to make the regular season active roster. I can only imagine that that adds more pressure to a pretty desperate situation.

(Also, re: the Knicks - you trade away Renaldo Balkman because he doesn't "fit in", and then you trade for Patrick Ewing Jr. Hmmm. What did I miss?)

As for the hows and whys of Weis's involvement, read the bottom half of this page. I KNEW that writing all that bobbins would be worth it one day!

- And finally (yes, so soon!), Hapoel Holon signed Deron Washington, who will pair up with P.J. Tucker to form what no one is calling "The Wing Of Dreams". Speaking of Deron Washington, here is a list of all of this year's second rounders and what they've done with their lives, as well as possibly some nob jokes.



- Nikola Pekovic is signed in Europe, as well Minnesota knew when they drafted him. He has moved from Partizan Belgrade to Panathinaikos. He's also the eponymous star of a slightly pornographic Eastern European remake of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

- Walter Sharpe signed with the Detroit Pistons, and I forgot to tell you. Sorry.

- Joey Dorsey has not yet signed with the Houston Rockets, but he will do.

- Mario Chalmers has signed a three year deal with the Heat, who nevertheless have said that he won't be the starter next year. Which means that, by default, Marcus Banks or Chris Quinn will be. That can't be good. But it could be worse. It could be Stephon Marbury.

- DeAndre Jordan signed with the Clippers, as mentioned repeatedly already.

- Omer Asik isn't going to join the Bulls for at least two years, as he is signed with Fenerbache until that time. When he does join the NBA, he's probably going to be brilliant.

- Cucumber A Moute is signed with the Bucks and currently represents every decent defensive forward that they have.

- Kyle Weaver - look up, towards the bit where it says "Oklahoma City signs" and then where it says "Kyle Weaver" immediately afterwards.

- Sonny Weems is unsigned and recovering from hernia surgery. Will Denver sign him for camp? Probably. Do I have evidence of that? Nope.

- Chris Douglas-Roberts signed with New Jersey. I forgot to tell you this, too.

- Nathan Jawai signed with Toronto. I forgot to tell you this, too, too.

- Sean Singletary signed with Sacramento, then got traded to Houston, then got traded to Phoenix. Bobby Jones is worried. But Phoenix is expected to keep him now.

- Patrick Ewing also signed with Sacramento. Patrick Ewing also got traded to Houston. But, in a move that seperates him from the Sean Singletarys of this world, Ewing was then traded to New York. (Confusing, I know.) Look up for scorn.

- Ante Tomic......err, well, I can't find anything definitive either way, but I'd basically guarantee he's not signing this year. He's not signed a deal with the Jazz, and Kyrylo Fesenko and Kosta Koufos are already under contract. So why bring in Tomic? Who needs three tall European centres?

- Goran Dragic was the compelling protagonist of a "will he won't he" love epic that still hasn't entirely finished yet. It is said that he will sign with the Suns, but he hasn't done so yet.

- Trent Plaisted is signed with Angellico Biella in Italy.

- Bill Walker signed with the Celtics.

- Malik Hairston is unsigned and probably at least going to camp with the Spurs. I say that with nothing to back it up other than the fact that he's a Spurs draft pick who hasn't signed in Europe yet. If you have Malik Hairston news (I can find none! What the deuce!), fire it off below.

- Richard Hendrix signed with the Warriors way back in the day.

- DeVon Hardin signed with Belediyespor in Turkey.

- Shan Foster is signed with Juve Caserta in Italy.

- Darnell Jackson will be going to camp with the Cavaliers, which is a Python-esque sentence if you don't know what your NBA lingo.

- Tadija Dragicevic is staying with Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda) for at least one more season.

- Maarty Leunen is, according to the Rockets, destined for Europe. But Leunen hasn't signed there yet, perhaps hoping that the Rockets will miss Steve Novak more than they thought. If this wild unsubstantiated theory is in any way true......Maarty, don't bother going to Houston's camp this year. They'll just cut you. They can't even seem to fit Carl Landry in, for God's sake.

- Mike Taylor signed with the Clippers a good long while ago.

- Sasha Kaun signed with CSKA Moscow back on part two of this summer signings list. Bloody hell. That was ages ago. I'm still shooting for fifty, by the way, despite the fact that the news is drying up thick and fast. I'll invent it if I have to.

- James Gist has also signed with Angellico Biella.

- Joe Crawford signed with the Lakers already.

- Deron Washington - look up.

- Semih Erden isn't coming over this year. (Giggidy.)


As for the first rounders, everyone signed with their team, apart from George Hill (who should do, last I heard), and Serge Ibaka (who won't).

Hey look, only one cock joke!