The last time we checked in on Eric Daniel Brunson, he was the director of men's basketball operations at the University of Virginia. He's moved now, however. After Virginia head coach Dave Leitao resigned last April, Brunson took over the head coaching role until his replacement announced, a role that didn't involve a huge amount of coaching as their season had already finished. Once the handover was completed, Brunson left the program and became an assistant coach at Hartford, where he remains.
Bryant went undrafted out of Santa Clara on the basis that he was really really slow. He went to the Kings for summer league, but played only 8 minutes, even after Spencer Hawes decided not to turn up. Bryant then went to the D-League, where he averages 13.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game for the Erie BayHawks. The rebounds rank 4th in the league, and two of the three ahead of him are NBA assignees (Joey Dorsey and D.J. White). However, he also averages 4 fouls in only 34 minutes.
Buckner was waived by the Mavericks in training camp and has not signed elsewhere since. His unguaranteed salary would have been a pretty awesome trade chip at the deadline, but the Mavericks - already with Erick Dampier's unguaranteed contract for next year, Josh Howard's team option, Drew Gooden's expiring/unguaranteed and Shawne Williams' expiring - figured they had enough trade chips already. To be honest, I think they should have kept Buckner's unguaranteed over Williams' expiring, as the value of that unguaranteed would have been magnified in this economy. But I guess even the Mavericks have a budget limit, which is fair enough.
Remember the LoveMayo trade on draft night 2008? Eight players were involved; Love and Mayo (obviously), Brian Cardinal, Mike Miller, Jason Collins, Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric and Buckner. Minnesota took the opportunity to get a good contributor in Miller (which, it later turned out, was also a big part of getting Ricky Rubio), while Memphis traded up for the player they wanted more, taking the opportunity to open up $6 million in 2008/09 cap room in the process. All things considered, a win win situation. But the four players Minnesota received (Love, Cardinal, Collins and Miller) are still in the league, while three of Memphis' four acquisitions are out of it already (Jaric, Walker, Buckner).
I just thought that was interesting. It probably isn't.
Rodney Buford has been around the houses lately, touring the Far East last year, and spending at least parts of the last three seasons in the Ukraine. This year he's gone to Germany, playing for Eisbaeren Bremerhaven. Buford averages 31 minutes, 17.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, shooting 48% from three point range.
Bullock is into his sixth season with Real Madrid. He's averaging 10.4 points per game in the Euroleague and 11.1 points per game in the Spanish league. He's shooting only 86% from the line, however. I say "only" because this man never seems to dip under 92%. On the flip side, he has 83 points on 47 Euroleague shots and 187 ACB points on 113 shots, with a combined true shooting percentage between the two of .682%. As shooting/scoring specialists go, that's kind of handy.
Pat Burke is unsigned. Last year in the Euroleague, he averaged 10.7 points, 6.9 rebounds for Prokom Sopot of Poland, but they did not bring him back this summer.
Pat Burke is also 36, so he may be unsigned from here on out. I'm assuming he's retired, but the only thing online I can find that suggests that is this. And I don't think the seminal sentence "Pat Burke announced his retirement from pro baskeball dis summer!!" is quite the authentication that I'm looking for. But it's a hint, at least.
Burks is still recuperating after being the victim of a near-fatal shooting last summer. Burks was a spectator at an illicit backyard dice game that he probably shouldn't have been at, when two teenagers tried to rob the game. One of them, 18 year old Darquan Swift, shot Burks in the abdomen and fled the scene. Burks almost died from his injuries, spent several months in hospital (much of which was spent on a ventilator), and had to survive multiple life saving operations; he has only recently gotten out of a wheelchair and into the crutches phase. Swift was arrested after an anonymous tip-off and was charged with first degree murder; the case is ongoing.
The news doesn't really get any better for Burks; not only does he have to face extensive rehab from his injuries, but he also has some criminal proceedings to go through. He turned himself into the authorities only a couple of days after appearing in court to identify Swift, the warrants against him being for unpaid child support, driving without a seatbelt and driving with a suspended license. Burks claims he was unable to pay the child support (which happened before the shooting) because he was suspended from playing basketball, which is also true; he was suspended by FIBA for a year in November 2007 after walking out on his previous team, Crvena Zvezda, in April. Crvena Zvezda hadn't paid him for a month, yet apparently that wasn't deemed valid enough of a reason to leave, and Burks was forced to miss the whole 2007-08 season. And while he was able to play in 2008-09, splitting the season between Bulgaria and Poland, he didn't play especially well and probably didn't earn a huge amount in the process. And then the shooting incident happens.
Former Bobcats guard Burleson is in Romania, playing for Ploiesti. The Romanian league is.....well, it's God awful in the grand scheme of things. But Ploiesti are a EuroChallenge team, which gives the gig a small degree of pedigree. Burleson averages 11.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the Romanian league, alongside 12.3/3.4/1.8 in the EuroChallenge.
Burrell is in Belgium and putting up by far the best assists numbers of his young life. In 27.7 minutes per game for Verviers-Pepinster, Burrell is averaging 9.7 points, 5.2 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals, shooting 48% from the field (albeit with only a 60% free throw percentage). After never averaging more than 3.8 assists per game in his college career, and only 2.0 last year in the D-League, Burrell this year has only three games in which he had less than 5. And those are continental assists, which are harder to get. The 5.2 assists also leads the whole Belgian league; it officially is Hammer Time there right now.
Steve Burtt went to Cyprus this summer. I don't know why such a large amount of semi-decent players went to China this year compared to usual. We've already had a couple, and there's more to come. But what I do know is that there's no Cyprolian statistics available, and that Steve Burtt was released soon after arriving. He has not signed elsewhere since. And he also shut down his Twitter account.
Jackie Butler has disappeared off the map. It was two and a half years ago that the Rockets released him in preseason despite his guaranteed contract, and he has not signed anywhere else since. His only scheduled appearance was at the Vegas Summer League in 2008 with the Charlotte Bobcats, but he did not turn up. Butler was rumoured as a candidate for a spot in the Chinese Basketball Association this season, but I don't think it ever got beyond the whispers stage, and he is not there now.
Ohio State guard Jamar Butler is in Greece, playing for Gymnastikos Olympia Larissas. (Larrisa is the place, not a thing. It's not "the Olympia Larrias" as in "the Charlotte Bobcats". If you must put it in that way, it's more liek the Larrisa Gymnasts.) For the Gymnasts, Butler averages 13.3 points and 3.1 assists per game, shooting 45% from the field and 41% from three point range.
Why do all Greek surnames end in -s?
Ten posts in and we still haven't reached the letter C. This might take a while.
Almost all of this year's NBA free agents crop has now been signed. Of the few that remain, most have already finalised which training camp they're going to, and training camp contracts have already begun to be signed. However, these are far from being the only players in the world. A shedload of remaining NBA calibre players remain unsigned, as rosters across the whole of FIBA are being trimmed and cheapened due to the current economic thing that you may have heard about.
At the moment, including qualifying offers that are as-yet pending, there are 421 players in the NBA, out of a potential maximum of 450. That total does not include people who have committed to sign but that haven't done it yet (Garrett Temple, Rodney Carney, Curtis Jerrells, Russell Robinson, etc). Assuming (wrongly) that all of those 421 are here to stay, there are a maximum of 29 places left in the NBA; however, considering that many teams will run with 13 or 14 man rosters this year, and we're already averaging 14 players per team, the real amount is even less than that. As such, there's nothing but a scant few places available in the world's strongest basketball league, and several jillion candidates fighting for them. But this shouldn't stop them from fighting, and nor will it stop me from listing.
There now follows a list of the best of what's left of this year's free agency market. Listed in no particular order. Also note: there's lots of NBA calibre players that aren't in the NBA. But if they're not in this free agents list, then they're signed elsewhere. Check the other countries rosters to find them.
Point Guards
- Raymond Felton: The only guards who shot a worse percentage on inside shots than Raymond Felton last year were Derek Fisher, Luke Ridnour and Sebastian Telfair. The fact that Felton shot only 29% from three point range doesn't help, either. But despite Felton's perpetually inefficient scoring and his career PER of 13.7, the market for Felton shouldn't have been as slow as it has been. It's been non-existent, in fact. The only suitor, it appears, is the Bobcats. A report came out the other day, presumably based out of whispers from Felton's camp, that said a deal in the $7 million a year range would get it done. It probably would. But it's also too much. Felton looks like an inevitable candidate to re-sign for his one year qualifying offer, being as it is for a sizeable (and apt) $5.5 million.
- Nate Robinson: Robinson, too, looks like he's inevitably re-signing to a one year deal. For those unsure of quite how annoying the Knicks 2010 plan is, let me tell you that it's really, really annoying. And if it works out, it will be even more annoying. Not because of jealousy (although that will factor), but because this is no way to manage an NBA team. If you want to make salary cutting moves such as Jamal Crawford for Al Harrington, then feel free to do so. Good move, that one. And if you want to attach an asset to a bad contract just to shift it for more cap space, then that's fine too. But don't do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL. That's not good for the game. And it's also really boring.
- Jamaal Tinsley: Tinsley sat out all of last year (without wanting to) and played only 39 games the season before. He is now 31 years old, and hardly viewed upon in favour by an NBA world that hasn't seen him for God knows how long. But despite all that, despite his startling inconsistency, despite his tendency to be around while crimes are being committed, despite his penchant for cheeseburgers and despite his jarring scoring ineffiency, Jamaal Tinsley is very talented. Not many people can pass and handle like he can, and not many point guards can rebound like him. He can defend pretty well, too. Of course, it doesn't help that Tinsley himself only plays like Jamaal Tinsley can once a week, but there's really a lot of talent there. This is a man who posted a 23 assist game in his rookie year. 23 assists. That's a lot of freaking assists. That one outing may have been 8 years ago, but it was also only 18 months ago that Tinsley was averaging 8.4 assists per game. That, too, is a lot of freaking assists. Miami were said to be interested, but other teams should be too. Unless he's gotten really fat or something.
- Tyronn Lue: Reports came out that said that Tyronn Lue had signed in Greece. Then reports came out that said that Lue had turned down the offer from Greece. Now, a new wave of reports have come out saying that Lue has signed in Greece. I don't know where we stand on that right now. Either way, the team that's trying to sign him (PAOK) only just staved off bankruptcy two months ago, so this doesn't seem like a long term solution. Boston were said to have been chasing Lue at one point, but that broke down, which is a shame because they could use him.
(EDIT: It's now been said, again, that the PAOK transfer fell through because Lue asked for too much money. PAOK have now signed William Avery instead. Slight difference.)
- Carlos Arroyo: Arroyo has been the compelling protagonist in a lot of made-up rumours about him this summer. From Chicago to Milwaukee, via the Clippers and the Sixers, lots of teams were said to have been interested in his services, sometimes with absolutely no truth to it whatsoever. So, always keen to get in on trends, I'll play along; according to an unnamed Western Conference executive, Arroyo is set to sign a three year deal with the expansion North Texas Fresh of the ABA. You heard it here first. You heard it here only. Because it's not true.
- Chucky Atkins: Atkins is not a free agent, yet. But he will be. Currently, Minnesota holds his unguaranteed contract, which has only $760,000 of $3,480,000 guaranteed. They'll probably hold onto it for a while - they essentially have a free player until December - trying to use him as a trade asset. There's lots of teams that need to save money this year more than Minnesota does. But wherever he ends up, Atkins will be a free agent at some point in the next three months, adding another veteran point guard to a market quite heavy in them. The difference is that this one can shoot.
- Earl Boykins: Boykins' year in Italy didn't go too well. At all. He was almost released at Christmas time for going home without permission. Nevertheless, he saw out the season with La Fortezza Bologna, but I don't think they're friends enough for a retrial. This puts Boykins back on the market for an NBA team, should they so choose. If you need a midrange jumpshot-shooting offense-first player with no three point shot and permanent defensive disadvantages, then this is the guy for you.
- Dan Dickau: The Celtics have apparently invited Dickau to training camp, which ones again craps on my stupid theory that no one ever goes to the German league and comes back to the NBA. I don't know why I say these things sometimes.
- Brevin Knight: Knight had a good bounceback season last year, after a few years of steady decline. Oh wait, no he didn't; he boasted a career low PER of 9.3. Never mind then.
- Mike Wilks: Perhaps against my better judgement, I have long advocated the virtues of Mike Wilks. He's only 5'10, which is reason enough to (in fact, as far as I can remember, the only guaranteed contract he ever had was when he was signed and traded to the Bulls; he was waived before playing a game). But he's not that bad. He's been in the NBA for bit parts of 6 years because he's all right. The question now is whether his knee - which he badly tore last October, causing him to miss all of last season - is good to go yet. If it is, then I advocate him as a signing. But only for the inactive list.
- Eddie Gill: Eddie Gill was in the NBA last year. You might have missed this, because it was quiet and pointless. But it happened. Gill was first in the NBA way back in 2000, and he's still going, because there's still Scott Skiles' out there who lobby for veteran point guards. Fun Eddie Gill fact: Eddie Gill scored the 6 millionth point in NBA history. So he'll always have a legacy.
- Jacque Vaughn: Vaughn is now 34, and hasn't been good since he was 26. Last year was particularly bad. It doesn't look as though there's anything left; your front office may disagree, however. You can't put a price on old point guards, apparently.
- Sean Singletary: True to their policy of not spending a single dollar this offseason, the Bobcats declined Single Terry's team option and left him unrestricted. He has since remained unsigned. Terry played in summer league with the Pistons team, started every game, and did all right, but the Pistons have decided to sign Curtis Jerrells of Baylor to audition for the third point guard spot instead. This can't be good for Singletary's chances.
- Jason Hart:Memphis worked him out at one point; indeed, Memphis worked out every free agent guard at one point. They didn't sign him, though, instead deciding upon the infinitely more talented duo of Allen Iverson and Marcus Williams. The Nuggets ended last season with both Hart and Anthony Carter on the roster (presumably making Hart the shooter of the two), but they've decided they don't need both now, which is probably best. Hart was genuinely decent for the Bobcats back in 2004/05, but that was a while ago now. Since then, it's been mostly nothing.
Shooting Guards
- Ronald Murray: Murray has gone from overrated to underrated. He became overrated after his scoring explosion as a Sonic back in 2003/04; now, he's underrated after a fine season of 6th man scoring for the Hawks. The Hawks had signed Murray to only a one year, $1.5 million contract in the first place, and got great returns for their money, yet now they'd rather pay Jamal Crawford $20 million to do exactly what Murray did last year. It makes no sense, and what makes less sense is how few other suitors Murray has had. Memphis gave him a workout, but that's about it. And this isn't right. You mean to tell me that the Sixers can't crank off $2 million for one year of their untouched MLE to obtain a decent and sorely needed backcourt scorer? He's not the best shooter in the world, but he's better than Willie Green. At everything. He doesn't even have to affect your pretty desperate 2010 situation. This doesn't seem right. If someone signs Ronald Murray for the minimum this year, they'll be stoked with their returns.
- Rashad McCants: McCants has been for workouts with the Nuggets and Cavaliers, and has a camp invite for unguaranteed money from the Heat that he hasn't accepted yet. It's quite the fall for a man who was the second leading scorer on the Timberwolves two years ago on not-terrible efficiency. Last year, though, was a complete brainfart: McCants, always a chucker, chucked more than ever, and his efficiency tumbled off the charts. His defense still consists solely of fouling, and he's less and less interested in offensive continuity. If he calmed down and embraced a role similar to J.R. Smith's on the Nuggets, he might be all right. But it hasn't happened yet.
- Luther Head: A personal favourite of mine, Head would be ideally suited to a team with a superstar swing man, a team that needs a complimentary shooter and defender at the point guard spot, someone who doesn't have to do much dribbling ro playmaking. Think of him as kind of a crap Derek Fisher, with far less ball handling. Someone's got to need this, surely? Boston? Cleveland? No? Damn.
- Thomas Gardner: Gardner has a career PER of 2.4. However, he averages only 7.2 minutes per game for his career, so per 36 minutes that's a PER of 12.0. Which is better. [That was a joke.]
- Salim Stoudamire: The Bucks mercifully waived Salim aabout six weeks ago, and he hasn't been heard from since. Salim is another personal favourite of mine, but the thing with undersized shooting guards is that there's loads of them, and so even the good ones usually only have an NBA shelf life of about 3 years. Salim's had three years and then some, so I don't know where this puts him.
- DerMarr Johnson: DerMarr barely played last season, spending 8 games in the D-League in March and 11 games in Puerto Rico in May. That was it. He's now 29 years old, hasn't corrected the flaws he came into the league with, and is unsigned.
- Coby Karl: I'm telling you. Nuggets. This isn't a scoop; it's just an inevitability. Has your dad ever tried to get you a job at his company? Mine has. He even wanted me to take over his company for a while. It's the done thing. George Karl will do the same. Watch and learn.
- Greg Buckner: Like Chucky Atkins, Buckner is not a free agent. Yet. The Mavericks currently have a 17 player roster, and Buckner's contract is less than 25% guaranteed. This makes him an obvious cut should it come to that; however, there's no doubt that the Mavericks are whoring out this unguaranteed contract as a trade chip, along with those of Drew Gooden and Shawne Williams. If they can't get a deal done (meaning, if they can't get Philly to accept Matt Carroll in a deal for Sam Dalembert), then Buckner will be cut, at which point he is free to join pastures new. If he can find them.
- Kirk Snyder: Snyder was on this list last year. That's the only reason why he's on this one. Latest Kirk Snyder news: after months of being force fed his food and medication, Snyder has been found competent to stand trial. His bond was reduced from $500,000 to $25,000, and his lawyer said they could pay it, so presumably Snyder is now out of jail/hospital. If he is, he is to be fitted with a monitoring device and ordered to stay out of Warren County. No trial date yet.
- Morris Almond: Almond was with the Knicks for summer league, and scored quite highly. Then again, scoring was never his problem. It was expected that the Knicks would bring him in for summer league, but they've already started their summer league signings, and Almond wasn't one of them. So this remains up in the air.
- Juan Dixon: Dixon's days of masquerading as a scoring specialist look pretty much numbered. Last year he did his usual thing, and totalled 261 points on 259 shots. He's all right, but if your team is looking for a shooting specialist at guard, wouldn't they be better off with a player with a true three point shot?
- Bobby Jackson: Jackson's been slowing down for a few years, but he's not done yet. He can't get up and down like he once could (giggidy), but he can still score the ball off the bench. He sounds like a good fit for Boston, even if they don't really know it yet.
- Kareem Rush: For years, Kareem Rush has been signed to be a shooter. But this year, it hasn't happened. Has the league finally cottoned on?
- Mario West: West is supposed to be going back to the Hawks for training camp. Clearly Atlanta thinks he's going to show something that that he's kept craftily hidden for the last two seasons. I know he's really a decent defensive player and all, but West does extremely little on offense. At what point does that cancel out the defense?
- Damon Jones: Jones has always been a good shooter, despite all the huge gaping flaws in his game and his excessive swag. The league always needs catch and shoot players, and Jones is one of the best ones left. So why is no one signing him? Well, because they have no reason to. Just know that he's there if you want him.
- Anthony Roberson: The Bulls did the inevitable and waived Roberson in mid-July, after Gar Forman had spent summer league cussing him out for how bad he was. Good times. Roberson is unsigned and unheard of, although Jack McClinton called him "A-Robe" in a Tweet the other day, which was strangely fun. He's still a manslut.
Small Forwards
- Sasha Pavlovic: Any day now, Pavlovic will be waived. And when that happens, he'll probably get a new contract fairly quickly. This is because he has a good reputation, and not because he has a huge degree of skill. I don't want this piece to be too PER-centric - and it kind of gets like that near the bottom - but Pavlovic's career PER is 9.0, and his highest in any season is 12.1. That's crap. The man may have wanted a 6 year, $35 million contract back in the day, but he's worth roughly the minimum. Let's hope no one outbids themself for him.
- Desmond Mason: Mason was one of those "if only he can develop" a jumpshot players for a long time, but those days are long gone. Mason never did develop a jumpshot, and has lost whatever fledgling one he had. He's now a bit part player, a defensive specialist with occasional post offense, whether he wants to be or not. Larry Harris' decision two years ago to give him a 2 year, $10.3 million contract after back to back seasons of 10 PER was pretty stupid at the time, yet now that the contract has expired, Desmond can't even get the minimum. The Thunder have ruled out re-signing him. Tough times.
- Wally Szczerbiak: The days of Wally Szczerbiak being able to play as a big guard are probably over; he was always slow for the position, and he's not gotten any faster. But Wally is still good at the only thing he was ever good at - shooting - and that's not going to change either. He should catch on somewhere, even if Denver decide against him.
- Gerald Green: Green didn't do anything last year to change his reputation. He jumped a lot, scored a bit, and gave back even more at the other end. That said, as flawed as he still is, he's also still good enough to be in the NBA, and he's still only 23. It's surprising that someone hasn't taken a chance on him yet. As reclamation projects go, you could do worse.
- Ime Udoka: There's a rumour that Udoka is to return to the Blazers as a training camp invitee. If he does, then things are looking pretty bleak for him, because the Blazers already have Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw and Nicolas Batum at the small forward position. Udoka is 32, so he's old, but not THAT old, and while he didn't have a very good season last year, his comparatively short NBA career might be good news for his longevity. I'm reaching here, but you can see my point. Probably because I'm not wearing any trousers.
- Ronald Dupree: Dupree is going to go to camp with the Utah Jazz, rightly deserving of his place in the NBA once again. It might not last long, though, because the Jazz are on for their biggest ever payroll by miles. And they won't want to spend on a 15th man unless they have to.
- Rob Kurz: Who was it who wrote that article about Rob Kurz potentially being the Cavaliers missing piece? Yeah. No. He might not even join them, reputedly now favouring the Nuggets instead.
- Bonzi Wells: Wells wants to join the Heat, but no one has said if the Heat want Wells to join them. Every year, Miami seems to obtain a small forward, someone to further guarantee that Dorell Wright never sees the court. This year, they've already gotten Quentin Richardson, and so they don't really need another. They didn't even need Quentin. But must that stop them? (Also, how bad has the Heat's offseason been? If you want to convince Dwyane Wade to stay, don't just rest all your Stan Laurels in the 2010 basket. Do something. Spend some tax. Get some players. Richardson doesn't count. Do what Toronto did. Try and do it better than they did, obviously, but follow their lead. Be proactive, not reactive. You're not holding the cards right now.)
- Linton Johnson: Johnson is to go to camp with Orlando, who have built themselves a nice veteran bench. However, there's not much in it for Lint; Orlando doesn't really need him, because they already have Matt Barnes. And they don't even really need Matt Barnes. So before the ink is dry, someone could still swoop in and give Linton a better option. Probably.
- Patrick Ewing Jr: The Knicks still haven't signed him, and they're carrying a very full roster now. Can't be good news for Pat.
- Sun Yue: The Knicks are reportedly going to be signing Sun Yue. Don't worry, though. You didn't miss out. He'll be a free agent again six weeks time. He's all yours then.
- Joey Graham: After 4 years of up-and-down medicrity, Graham is now out of a job. Speaking of....
- Ryan Bowen: Look at it this way. Bowen never had any skill. So he can't have lost any, can he?
Power Forward
- David Lee: Lee is either seconds away from re-signing to a one year deal, or he isn't. It depends on who you read. Either way, in a different market, this guy's rocking a five year contract from someone right now. If this was last year, he might have gotten $65 million. It's been a bad year.
- Stromile Swift: Stromile Swift is a far better player, on both ends, than many people seem to give him credit for being. He may not be the most adept at learning the playbook, and he's not able to bast the world's most svelte back-to-the-basket game. But he makes good things happen. He has a career PER of 16.1, for God's sake, and even though last year was a nothing year for him, he's not even 30 yet. It's not like he's lost it all. It was as recently as the 2007/08 season that Swift was a useful scorer and shot blocker off the bench. And it was 18 short months ago that he had one of the more underrated dunks of the decade:
Someone should sign him. Unless Swift really did fall off that much at age 29, they'll be grateful that they did.
(Tyrus still bites on all fakes, by the way.)
- Darius Miles: On the power forward list for the simple reason that he's not the athlete that he was, Darius remains unsigned, which seems both fitting and awkward considering the furore that surrounded his signings last year. Memphis achieved their goal and stiffed Portland, and Darius achieved his goal and got paid. Everyone's a winner, except Portland. And except Darius, who got done for DUI.
- Mike Sweetney: After summer league, we know he's still alive, and we know he had a bag of skills back in the day. Do we really need any more than that? (Note: don't say yes. Even though the answer's yes, don't say yes. I don't want to hear it.)
- Donyell Marshall:Charlie Villanueva told me that he'd keep me posted on Donyell Marshall's situation. True story. I'm not sure I believe him, but he said it anyway. Marshall is apparently considering multiple offers, but the fact that he remains unsigned so late in the day would suggest that none of the offers are particularly brilliant.
- Andre Brown: Isn't it about that time that Andre Brown appeared on someone's training camp roster? I've never been entirely sure of what he's done to deserve it, but it's become an annual thing, so let's not be disappointed here. Someone make it happen. In four out of the last five years, Brown has at least a training camp roster, and dammit I want more. No man should have to fight so hard for a meagre 599 NBA minutes.
- Ruben Patterson: The last full year that Ruben Patterson played in the NBA was his best. As a member of the 2006/07 Bucks, Patterson set career highs in points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game and field goal percentage, scoring 14.7 points a night on 55% shooting and putting up a PER of 18.5. Since then, though, his NBA career has seen only 20 more games and one unguaranteed minimum salary contract. This isn't befitting of a man of his talent and playing resumé. But then again, he is a 34 year old convicted rapist. So it's swings and roundabouts.
- Paul Davis: Davis claimed on Millionaire Matchmaker that his next contract would be for 5 years and $35 million. If by that, he really meant "I'll be getting a workout with the Heat next offseason," then he was right. But that's all he's gotten.
- Shavlik Randolph: Randolph has worked out for the Heat, as they continue to search for the piece that will keep Wade there in 2010. That sounds like his best bet right now, if not his only bet. Even though Portland unrenounced him after Paul Millsap's QO was signed, there's no room for him there after Jeff Pendergraph and Dante Cunningham were brought in.
- Othello Hunter: Hunter played on the Warriors summer league team, but only because the Hawks didn't have one. He is expected to return to the team, even though they don't really need any more. Hunter has a long way to go before he lives up to any Brandon Bass comparisons, but he's all right.
- Malik Rose: Rose's PER has gone downwards or 7 consecutive seasons, as his salary increased for seven straight seasons. The Spurs got this one a bit wrong back in 2002.
- Melvin Ely: It's about time that people realised Melvin Ely was crap. After his one good year in Charlotte, he got an unfounded reputation as a good young post player, and.....no. He doesn't rebound, is a highly inefficient scorer, and is already 31 years of age. He's unsigned for a reason, and the reason is because he's not very good. Even the Hornets, who have struggled for frontcourt depth all season long, realise this now.
- Michael Ruffin: Like Rybo, Ruffin never had anything to give, so he can't exactly have lost it. After sitting needlessly on the Bulls cap for most of last season, he was traded to Portland as necessary filler in the highly worthwhile John Salmons deal, where he actually played a bit for no real reason. Portland then decided to draft and sign two power forwards, which kind of pissed on Muffin's chips. Ruffin is unsigned, and Ruffin is going to stay unsigned, because not even the Bulls need him any more.
- Maceo Baston: Baston will reportedly go to camp with the Pistons. But he shouldn't. Because if he does, he'll lose. The Pistons don't need him, and he doesn't need the Pistons. It's not a good fit at all. Baston's 3 year NBA redux has been quiet; he's appeared in only 89 games over those three seasons, for a total of 725 minutes. But even at age 34, he's still got some talent left. And going to the Pistons just to be waived in deference to Jonas Jerebko doesn't seem like the best use of it. Could Charlotte not ask?
Centres
- Courtney Sims: Sims is one of the better American centres not currently in the NBA, if not the best. I haven't heard about him signing anywhere for training camp, but he has done these last two years, and he really ought to. If your team signs him, he may well make your regular season roster.
- Chris Mihm: The centre crop can't be very strong when Chris Mihm is the second available free agent centre that I could think of. Mihm used to be good, but he has spent several years recovering from a severly injured ankle. He's still suffering from it, too; Mihm featured in scrub minutes of 16 games for the Lakers last season, after missing all of the 2006/07 season and playing only 23 times in 2007/08, but after being salary dumped to the Grizzlies he underwent yet another ankle surgery. Mihm is done until further notice, and seems like an inevitable candidate for a training camp spot and accompanying fluff pieces in October 2012.
- Jermareo Davidson: The Warriors waived Davidson, and later signed Mikki Moore. I have no idea why they did this. Then again, I have no idea why they do most things. Davidson is about to turn 25 and has made no obvious improvements, but he's on the fringes of the NBA nonetheless, so a return to the D-League looks inevitable.
- Brian Skinner: Brian Skinner is an overlooked player. He has the worst hands in showbusiness and all the polish of a dart player's scrotum, but he gets things done on the defensive end. Last year was no different; he averaged 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in only 16 minutes per game. His offense has always been poor, and always will be, but he'll block shots and rebound. Teams need this. Teams need Brian Skinner. But no team has Brian Skinner. And Brian Skinner is probably regretting opting out of a guaranteed $1.2 million right now.
- Aaron Gray: Gray looks like a certainty to re-sign with the Bulls for their guaranteed $1,000,497 qualifying offer, but he and his agent continue to search for a two year deal. Good luck with that.
- Calvin Booth: Calvin Booth played 1206 minutes in 2003/04, and has played a total of 1,341 minutes since. He sported a PER of 39.8 with the Timberwolves last year, but that's what 1 minute sample sizes can do to a man. Booth is now 33, and has not done anything since that 17 minute, 2 point, 0 rebound, 10 block outing back in January 2004.
- Jarron Collins: Jarron Collins is no worse than Jason Collins. In fact, I'd even say he was slightly better. Both suck, of course, but Jarron hasn't got the reputation that Jason has, back from when Jason was good. And that's why Jarron is looking for work. Jarron recently worked out for the Cavaliers, but they're already three deep at centre, and they're supposed to be bringing in Darryl Watkins for training camp. So there might not be room there.
- Dwayne Jones: Jones is in and out of the NBA, appearing in 6 games for the Bobcats last year. Teams always need defensive centres, and Jones will probably get picked up again at some point. But maybe not for very long.
- Jackie Butler: Remember this guy? He hasn't played for two years; not just in the NBA, but anywhere at all. After being waived by the Rockets in 2007 training camp, despite having a $2.3 million guaranteed contract, Butler has not signed anywhere in the world. His last game played was two and a half years ago. It's weird in a way, because Butler is only 24, and proved he could score the ball at the NBA level in his short time here. But he hasn't made it back. Not sure why.
- Mouhamed Sene: The Knicks have brought in a load of draft busts this summer, including Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Yaroslav Korolev. But they couldn't bring it upon themselves to keep Sene, who they waived. That's not a glowing endorsement of the man, and nor was his summer league output, where he once again demonstrated that all he can do on an NBA court is block shots.
- Robert Swift: Swift used to be a reasonable athlete, believe it or not. He was far from fast, and far from what his surname would have you believe, but he didn't move too badly. That was three years ago, though. And the three years hence have been full of injuries and rehabbing. Swift is now as mobile as a back-alley Spanish Peugeot, and where his career goes from here, I wouldn't like to guess. Not even Danny Ainge wants him right now.
- Jake Voskuhl: The Raptors were so desperate for size last year that they signed Voskuhl, who promptly demonstrated he has nothing left and put up a PER of 0.4. So that didn't really work out. Voskuhl will probably now join the long line of aging 7 footers who remain unsigned while waiting for the Batphone to ring once again; these players usually slowly dribble out of our hearts and minds, and into the world of real estate, without so much as a press release. Shame.
- Mark Madsen: Mark Madsen's Twitter says he doesn't know whether to play, coach, or go into media. Considering his PER's these last two years have been 0.2 and -0.1, I'd probably rule out the playing. It's not coming back to you.
- Lorenzen Wright: Wright's PERs the last three years have almost been as Madsen's; 6.6, 2.5, 4.0. It was a slightly staggering -11.7 in his time with the Kings. I don't want to know how much lower it can get.
There are others that could make this list, including some who have had NBA workouts this summer. John Lucas III, for example, or the long awaited return of Greg Ostertag. If you really want to push it, there's luminaries like Mountain Man Steven Hill and Austin Croshere still out there. Even J.R. Rider is supposed to be lining up a Dickerson-style return for some bizarre reason. And players such as Keith Brumbaugh (Nuggets) and David Monds (Lakers) are said to have been offered training camp spots already. But considering how few available spots we're talking about here, this list seems long enough already.
A lot of people are called Brown, I've noticed. How fascinating.
- Dee Brown started the year with the Wizards, but was then waived when it emerged that he wasn't much god, nor was he the answer to Washington's pretty severe outside shooting problems. He then went to a Suns mini-camp, where he beat out Eddie Gill, Damon Stoudamire, Darrell Armstrong, Walker Russell and Troy Hudson to win Phoenix's mandatory 13th roster spot. He's since had his arse waived again this week, due to the mandatory contract guarantee date of January 10th. The Suns, seemingly, are going to do what they so love doing - keeping the bare minimum of players at all times, going to 12 as and when they can, to avoid paying out as little money as possible. This from the team that traded away Rudy Fernandez and Rajon Rondo just to save money, and who then gave Goran Dragic more than either of them. Even the Jason Richardson trade saved them money, It kind of makes you squirm, doesn't it?
- I've been literally inundated with one request for news on Never Gonna Keep Me Down Elton Brown. Oddly, that request comes from soneone who already knows the answer. But, sod it, let's play along anyway. After spending the preseason with the Chicago Bulls, and having trouble getting a shot away without it being blocked by a defender and/or the rim, Elton went to Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel-Aviv, hoping to be good again. However, Elton appeared in only one game, scoring two points with two rebounds, before it was announced in late December that Maccabi were releasing him, supposedly because they were disappointed with his conditioning. Whether he has actually left yet, I'm not sure, but he's not playing with the team, and any remaining chance of some dramatic turnaround with the team is going to be made even less likely once Marcus Fizer makes his return from long term injury lay-off, which will happen in the near future. So, the D-League it is then.
- Andre Brown started the season with the Charlotte Bobcats, after surprisingly making the team out of training camp. (Their quest for a big man started with Brown, then included Linton Johnson, saw a brief sojourn with Dwayne Jones, and eventually they settled on Juwan Howard. Somewhere in that cycle, they waived Jermareo Davidson. In case you didn't know, Larry Brown now coaches the Charlotte Bobcats.) Waived soon afterwards, Andre Brown now plays in the D-League with the Austin "Danger" Toros, thereby guaranteeing himself a contract from the San Antonio Spurs at some point. Brown averages 16.1 points and 10.0 rebounds whilst remaining the worst free throw shooter alive today.
- Eric Daniel Brunson is still the director of men's basketball operations at the University of Virginia, where he presumably extolls the virtues of being all heart.
- Rodney Buford is currently unsigned, which, in a sense, isn't a bad thing. I think he's found the solution to his endless suspensions. If he's not under contract, he can't be suspended for smoking weed, can he? That's genius Rodney, that is.
- Pat Burke is playing with Prokom in Poland, where he averages 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. He also just had a 20 rebound performance in the Euroleague, which is nigh on impossible to do, but which will guarantee him work for a while.
- Antonio Burks is no longer suspended, after being forced to sit out all of last season after walking out on a team that wasn't paying him. Seemed like an unfair suspension when so simplified, but, whatever. Burks signed a few days ago with Slupsk in Poland, if only for the name alone, and he has not played a game for them yet.
- Kevin Burleson is unsigned, and not even the Bobcats want him right now.
- Steve Burtt Jr is playing in Israel, where he averages 21.0 points and 3.4 rebounds for a team called Ashkelon. Fun Steve Burtt Fact, If Fun Is The Right Word For It: Steve Burtt Jr returned from his Christmas trip back to America a day late, after his mother forbade him from returning to the country until living arrangements were made for him in the middle of the country, out of the way of all that current Gaza shindig. Nasty business, that.
- I have no idea where Jackie Butler is. None whatsoever. The Rockets waived him last preseason, after only accepting him as pennance for getting Luis Scola for free. He then sat out the whole of last season. Butler was then supposed to join the Charlotte Bobcats for summer league, but didn't, and he hasn't been signed anywhere this season either. Keith Glass, if you're reading this, then let me know. And Keith Glass, if you're not reading this, I'm going to go back and re-write the review I gave your book. (Also note, re: the Bobcats summer league team - how stacked was that lineup? How the hell did it go 2-3?)
- Jamar Butler signed with Eldo Caserta in Italy, but left after only two games after disagreements with the coach, and has not played since. It's been said that he'll sign in Turkey, and it's been said that he'll sign in Germany, but at the time of writing he hasn't signed with either.
- Derrick Byars is with the Jam in the D-League, where he averages 16.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
- Finally, fabled basketball vagabond Rashid Byrd is also in the D-League, where he averages 4.3 points and 3.4 rebounds. His free throw shooting percentage (44.4%) is higher than his field goal percentage (39.3%). It's also enough to make him a better free throw shooter than Andre Brown.
ShamSports.com - Doing the hard work so that you can steal it. Salaries excluded.
Taking Shots, By Keith Glass (Oh, I see what he did there.)
Keith Glass is a basketball agent. You may or may not have heard of him.
He isn't a powerhouse agent - you know, one of the ones that you've heard of, such as Arn Tellem or Mark Bartelstein. Indeed, unless you're exceptionally hardcore and boring like me, then you may have heard of him only from reading the literature of Paul Shirley, who is one of Glass's clients, and who neatly ties into Glass's self professed niche market of Tall White Boys. Glass's list of current and recent NBA clients is, as far as I can tell, limited to Shirley, Scott Skiles, Royal Ivey, Jackie Butler, Quincy Douby and Joseph Blair.
That list probably didn't get you semi-erect, no matter how much you love Scott Skiles.
Still, something else that you also probably didn't know about Keith Glass is that he has written a book, a somewhat autobiographical venture called "Taking Shots: Tall Tales, Bizarre Battles, and the Incredible Truth About the NBA".
(Ridiculously cheap second-hand copies of this book are available from Amazon Marketplace. I also bought an album by a band named Midget Handjob from there while buying this book, purely so that I could say that I got a midget handjob for £1.99. I lead an exciting life. But anyway, back to the topic at hand.)
This book is, in many ways, interesting. To say that may not seem like particularly incisive book reviewing on my part, but remember that I'm not a particularly incisive book reviewer. Nor am I a book reviewer at all. Nonetheless, "interesting" is still the most apt adjective that I can muster to describe the book, despite its chronic overuse.
I use "interesting" in place of "good", not because the book is bad, but because of some rather indefensible flaws.
The book covers topics as diverse as The Adventures of Thomas Hamilton (for those unaware, Thomas Hamilton was an NBA player in the 90's, represented by Glass, who was really really fat, and who had little interest in doing anything about that), Glass's days as an assistant coach to Larry Brown (for those unaware, this was for the UCLA Bruins in the 70's, when Keith had a truly shocking moustache), and the Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf saga (for those unaware, buy the damn book). With 13 chapters for 13 different mini-stories, interest (there's that word again) is peaked. If you're fascinated by Keith Glass the man, there's some to be found. If you're an avid collector of black and white photographs featuring a man with a jewfro in a black leather jacket, then this book should speak to you. If you're looking for some insight into how agents do what they do, there's some of that, too. And if you're looking for amusing tales of NBA people that you've heard of, then there's some of that thrown in as well.
But, undermining all of these high points are three flaws that shine through relentlessly:
1: The book suffers from really sloppy editing. Whether this is the fault of the editor (or lack thereof), or whoever printed this particular version of the book, I couldn't say. But it really is truly sloppy, with commas frequently in the wrong places, or missing altogether. Many names are misspelt, due to what can only be sloppy typing, unless someone out there really does think that the NBA Commissioner's name is Davis Stern. This might not seem like a deal breaker, but it is annoying, and really kills the cohesiveness of the writing - then again, with Glass's tendency to rant about whatever he wants whenever he wants, cohesiveness is never entirely secured anyway.
2) Keith repeats himself. Quite a lot.
3) A more apt title for the book would be "Why Everything That Went Wrong When Larry Brown Was Around Wasn't Larry Brown's Fault". (Glass and Brown's lives, both professional and personal, are heavily intertwined in ways that Glass elaborates fully on, and that I can't be bothered to explain. The offshoot of this is that Glass somehow works the topic of Larry Brown into pretty much every issue he talks about. And never is anything Larry's fault in Keith's stories.)
This gets amusing in places, for at times it borders upon the hallowed "Old Man's Amusing Rant About The Way Things Were" turf that can occasionally carry Boston Celtics broadcasts. Glass appears to have written the book to rant about things that piss him off, rather than to recant interesting tales for the purposes of entertainment. And that's fine. A positive side effect of this is Glass's staunch defiance and insistence that he is right, and also in several cases his willingness to call those out by name who have annoyed or wronged him. (This is something that his client Shirley could, and should, have done way more often in his book, which will be reviewed soon.)
Another positive side effect of Glass's ranting was when, while ranting about how to fix the USA's recent Olympic bronze medal winning woes, Keith's 'This Team Would Win Easily' roster included Quincy Douby and Jackie Butler. That was fun. I bet Paul Shirley was pissed off, though, for seemingly Jared Jeffries took his place.
But it also leads to agendas, as seen above with the frequent mentions of Larry Brown. Glass points out what he believes is wrong with the NBA, some of which is obvious, some of which is insightful, some of which still rings true, some of which has been corrected, and some of which he's just wrong about. His solutions to the problems are sometimes lacking, and sometimes not cohesive - for every good point addressed (e.g. the need to rectify the system in which as player can fire an agent with no forewarning or severance, as often as they so choose), he tells you something that you already know (we are all aware of the excessive timeouts at the end of games, and the NBA is aware enough of our awareness to have addressed it slightly), and something that makes you wonder where the hell he's going with it (players fouling out is far from the top of the NBA's problems list, Keith).
Taking Shots tells you a lot of things that you want to hear, and some other things that you never thought that you wanted to hear. It provides a genuinely insightful view into the workings of the NBA from an inside perspective, and sheds light on some luminary NBA personalities. All this is done with a small but pleasurable dollop of humourous garnish, as well as the bizarre inclusion of the aforementioned picture of his jacket. Yet in doing so, Glass sets out to prove some other points about things that are clearly bugging him, and the doesn't prove them very well.
And no matter how "interesting" the book is, that doesn't excuse having no one proof-reading it.
T-Air Brown is playing for Varese of the Italian league, and avergaing about 11 points and 3 assists. I was going to include statistics for everybody before I realised that I couldn't bothered, so there's Tierre's as a compromise of sorts.
Kedrick Brown, who was waived by the Sixers in February 2005 and who hadn't taken a basketball job since, is finally back playing, in the D-League, for The Arse (Anaheim Arsenal). Where he was in the mean time is unclear, but, depending on who you believe, he wasn't an alcoholic.
Perennial training camp hopeful Damone Brown has made his way to the Dutch league, playing for the Eiffel Towers Den Bosch. Why they are thus named is not immediately clear, but with this stint in Holland, Damone Brown has now officially played "everywhere". Even Utah. So well done him.
Denham Brown is playing for Tisettanta Cantu in the Italian league.
Dee Brown is playing for Galatasaray in Turkey, as mentioned before.
Bobby Brown - no music career jokes please, because they aren't funny - is playing for ALBA Berlin, who are in Berlin. Which is in Spain. Seriously.
Rick Brunson is "Director Of Men's Basketball Operations" at the University of Virginia. What he does with the women's basketball team is anybody's guess.
Rodney Buford is playing for Azovmash in the Ukraine, after recently coming off of his fifth career suspension for waccy baccy smoking, this latest suspension three months in length. Time to re-think your lifestyle choices maybe, Rodney.
Pat Burke is playing for Kihmsky Moscow in the Russian League.
Antonio Burks was playing in the basketball Mecca that is the Bulgarian league, until November. Then he got suspended by FIBA for a year. Apparently his decision to walk out on his previous team - Red Star Belgrade - was deemed unlawful. Not knowing most of the facts of the case, I'm tempted to support Burks's decision to do so since the team hadn't paid him for a month. But, hey ho, what do I know. Unjust punishments for the win!
Kevin Burleson is playing for Mersin Buyuksehir Belediyesi in Turkey.
Jackie Butler hasn't been heard from since Houston waived him this October. But the chances are that some people will still tell you that he's a future starting centre in the NBA.
In answer to someone's question of "are you really going to go through the entire alphabet, 12 at a time?", the answer is yes.
Sham is a miserable and self-effacing little bastard, whose basketball opinions are often riddled with bias, insecurity, and rank immaturity. He has also never played the sport, and the only game he has ever been to see was a Ware Rebels game back in 2001. The night bus didn't show up and he had to walk the 9 miles home. It was after this that his passion for basketball really took off.
He considers himself to be Britain's foremost NBA expert, an arbitrary title that carries with it no basis in fact, or any worldly significance. He also wrote this section of the website in third person narrative, purely for reasons of arrogance.
Copyright ShamSports.com, 2005-2010. Every published word on this website
is copyrighted to the website's owner, including (but not limited to)
the really stupid ones that I wish I'd never written.
- Rick Brunson
- John Bryant
- Greg Buckner
- Rodney Buford
- Louis Bullock
- Pat Burke
- Antonio Burks
- Kevin Burleson
- Stanley Burrell
- Steve Burtt
- Jackie Butler
- Jamar Butler
