Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 32

- Lindsey Hunter

Lindsey Hunter was finally crowbarred off the Bulls roster a couple of weeks ago. This was a good thing; Hunter hasn't been an NBA calibre player for 5 years, yet in all that time teams have believed so much in his off-court attributes that they have caved to his demands and signed him as a player, rather than as a coach. Never mind, it's over now; Hunter was waived a fortnight ago to make room for Chris Richard, and immediately was hired (reclassified) as a player development assistant.



- Othello Hunter

Hunter was one of eight signings made by the Atlanta Hawks for training camp, but he was the only one to win a spot. The Hawks decided to keep two open spots and Hunter in favour of any of Mike Wilks, Juan Dixon, Garret Siler, Mario West (who they later brought back anyway), Aaron Miles, Frank Robinson and Courtney Sims. Such is the current economic climate.

(By the way, for the last week or so, Courtney Sims's name has been awesomely misspelt on Latinbasket.com. They've corrected the mistake now, but for a while there, this is what it said. [Note; very NSFW.] At least they still list Antoine Walker as "Anthony Walker.")

Hunter stuck with the team until the contract guarantee date, playing all of 29 minutes in that time, recording 11 points and 12 rebounds. When waived, he went unsigned for a few weeks before joining the struggling Ilysiakos in Greece, currently last in the A1 with a 4-16 record. In two games for the team, Hunter has record 47 minutes, 17 points and 12 rebounds. One of those two losses was a 41 point defeat at the hands of Olympiakos.



- Ekene Ibekwe

Maryland graduate Ibekwe was having a good summer league for the Toronto Raptors this year, until he hurt his neck on a fall after performing a game saving block on a Goran Dragic layup. Mercifully, it looked worse than it was, and Ibekwe suffered no permanent damage.

Ibekwe initially returned to Turkey to play for Kepez Bld Antalya, but he was waived before the season began. Later on came a tryout with Iranian team Petrochimi, but that also didn't turn into a permanent gig, and Ibekwe remained unsigned. Finally, in mid-January, Ibekwe was able to hook onto another Turkish team called Genc Banvitliler. It's quite the coup for Genc; Ibekwe was one of the best players in Turkey last year, averaging 19/8/2/2 for Mutlu Aku Selcuk Universitesi Konya and being named a Turkish league all star. But strangely, Genc Banvitliler are a Turkish second division team. I am not sure of the reason why Ibekwe has had to (or chosen to) drop down a division. Nevertheless, he is inevitably beasting there, averaging 20.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 2.1 steals and 2.1 blocks in only 29 minutes per game.




- Mile Ilic

Former Nets draft pick Ilic spent last year in Spain with Cajasol Sevilla, but averaged only 2.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in the ACB. He spent the majority of this year unsigned, failing a physical with Crvena Zvezda back in November. However, earlier this month Ilic returned to action with Serbian team Metalac. In his first game with the team, he record 4 minutes and 2 rebounds.



- Joe Ingles

Australian international Ingles went undrafted this past summer, and then attended summer league with the Golden State Warriors. After that he moved to Spain and joined CB Granada, where he is averaging 11.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 rebounds in 29 minutes per game. He is shooting only 34% from three point range and has taken as many threes as twos, which is less than ideal.

Ingles's team mates at Granada include Jimmie Snap Hunter and Richard Hendrix, both recently covered on here. Another one is Icelandic guard Jon Stefansson, the emo one who once signed with the Mavericks. Stefansson had been nothing more than an average player in the German league when Dallas signed him, and since leaving he's bee little more than a bench player in Italy. So why did they sign him and stash him on the injured list for a whole year? Not sure. Either way, Stefansson is averaging 9.1 points for Granada this season, shooting 33% from two point range.

If Stefansson can play in the NBA, then so can Andy Rautins. Then again, Stefansson never actually did.



- Ibby Jaaber

Bulgarian international and Brooklyn native Ibrahim Jaaber was announced as a surprise inclusion on the Pistons summer league roster this year. Given his successful European career recently, he didn’t seem to need to be here. Apparently he realised this as well, because he didn’t turn up, and stayed with Lottomatica Roma for one more season. Jaaber is averaging 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 2.5 assists per game in SerieA, and averaged 10.4/4.4/2.2/2.5 in Roma's slightly underwhelming Euroleague campaign this year.

I have heard four versions of how to pronounce his surname; Jab-BAR (as in Kareem Abdul), JAY-ber (as in Katelyn Faber), JAR-burr (as in Tiki Barber) or Jabber (as in the Hut). After some research, apparently the last one is right.



- Bobby Jackson

Former NBA journeyman Bobby Jackson retired this past summer after seeing out his final season with the Sacramento Kings. He now works as an ambassador for the team, helping with their fund raising activities and such.

The Kings are holding "Bobby Jackson Night" on April 6th. For only $24, you too can attend an exclusive pregame question and answer session with the man himself, as well as a ticket to the game. The first 10,000 fanswill receive a commemorative Cache Creek Bobby Jackson poster. Be there or.....well, or don't be there.



- Jermaine Jackson

Former NBA journeyman Jermaine Jackson is doing the Langhi this year. Jackson signed last month with a Mexican team called Durango. I don't really understand Mexican basketball, but as far as I can tell, there appears to be two leagues; the LNBP and the CIBACOPA. The LNBP's season finished just last week, as Halcones Xalapa beat Halcones Rojos 4-1 in the Finals, so now the CIBACOPA has just started. Durango are an LNBP team, so Jackson left the team upon their elimination and moved to Argentina to play for Central Entrerriano, the team currently in last place in Argentina's LigaA with a 6-20 record.

For Durango, Jackson averaged 11.8 points, 6.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds. In his 4 games so far for Entrerriano, he is averaging 9.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds.



- Jim Jackson

Former NBA journeyman Jim Jackson last played in the 2005-06 season with the L.A. Lakers. He is now an analyst for the Big Ten Network.

Jackson still jointly holds the record for most NBA teams played for, tied with Chucky Brown and Tony Massenburg at 12. Drew Gooden is putting on a decent run at it, with 8 in the book before the age of 29; if only he'd played a game with the Wizards in his week there. Bobby Jones and Josh Davis, previously putting on decent runs at the title, appeared to have moved on. (Kevin Ollie is at 11; he's played for 12 different teams, but technically, the Seattle Supersonics and Oklahoma City Thunder appear to count as the same franchise. This seems unfair.)



- Luke Jackson

Former NBA journeyman Luke Jackson has been in the D-League with the Idaho Stampede for at least some of the past three seasons, trying to find his way back to the NBA. However, now 28, Jackson seems to have changed plan slightly, and has moved to Italy. Playing for Carife Ferrara, Jackson is averaging 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game, shooting 46% from the field, 38% from three and 75% from the line.



- Marc Jackson

Former NBA journeyman Marc Jackson was playing in Spain this year with Xacobeo BluSens Obradoiro in the ACB. He was playing well, too, averaging 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. In early February however, a couple of weeks after his 35th birthday, Jackson left the team, and retired from the sport to become a cowboy. True story. Or at least, that's what he said he was going to do. I see no reason to doubt him.



Finally.....

- Casey Jacobsen

Former NBA journeyman Casey Jacobsen has spent quite a lot of time lately in Germany, where he finds himself once again this year. Playing for Brose Baskets Bamberg, Jacobsen is averaging 11.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in the German league, alongside 10.5/2.9/2.0 in the German league. His jumpshot - which decided to stay in Germany when Jacobsen returned to the NBA for the 2007-08 season with the Memphis Grizzlies - is right by his side once again. Jacobsen is shooting a combined 38% from three point range in the two competitions, and has a combined true shooting percentage of .596%.

"Journeyman" is not meant as a pejorative, by the way. It means you've put work in.

Summer signings, round 15

- Chris McCray signed with Rimini in Italy, a town whose very name made it destined for basketball greatness (and thus, by proxy, destined for Chris McCray). While we're on the subject of people named McCray, I'd like to extend an RIP to Colin McRae. And Steve Fossett. And Glenn Miller. And Matthew Harding. And Bernie Mac. And Mother Teresa. And basically anybody who has ever died. Except for maybe Fred West. And Hitler. And Judas. And Saddam Hussein. And Mutsuo Toi. I'll stop this now before you find a less preachy blog to read instead.

- Andre Emmett and JamesOn Curry are both reportedly negotiating with Hapoel Jerusalem. I know that this blog is about "signings" and not negotations, since a whole lot more negotiating goes on than signing. But, sod it. I'm a maverick. I don't play by the rules. Not even the arbitrary ones that I created in the first place. (Kevinn Pinkney was also supposed to be talking to Hapoel, despite a previous blog post relaying the news that he'd signed for an Italian team. However, now another report has come out saying that he's signed with a third team, also in Italy, called Cantu. The lesson, as ever: screw Danny Ainge.)

- Eugene Jeter signed with Vive Menorca of Spain (specifically, the island of Menorca), much to the chagrin of at least one Minnesota Timberwolves fan who thought that Jeter could be the answer to their team's "oh Jesus, someone has to pass the ball?" problem. Since the drafting of Derrick Rose, Eugene Jeter is no longer the best professional point guard in the world with the nickname "Pooh", so the question has to be asked as to why we should still care about him. (Poor old Pooh Richardson is now down to third place, despite his basketball career being far more successful than that of Pooh Jeter's to date. These rankings might not be official, or accurate. Also, if anyone wants to conduct a study as to why only point guards are nicknamed "Pooh", I'll help finance your work, to the tune of a couple of quid.)

- The L.A. Clippers signed Jason Williams, thus pretty much concluding their business for the offseason. At times in these posts, I have slated the Clippers for what I deem to be some cap mismanagement. (I stand by it, although it has been pointed out to me that the Eric Gordon signing was probably necessitated by the common practice that dictates that rookies won't play in summer camps without a contract. I sort of knew that already, but I'm willing to concede the point anyway, because I'm entirely brilliant and just a little bit self-congratulatory.) However, they deserve due credit: this summer, they have signed Baron Davis, Ricky Davis, Brian Skinner and Jason Williams as free agents, while also taking on the market value contract of Marcus Camby while giving up nothing. That right there is a succession of moves that sees decent-to-fine players obtained for good value - Baron Davis signed for far less than the maximum, Ricky Davis signed cheaply for one year, Skinner took the minimum, Williams may as well have done, and Camby is tied in for two years at an extremely good price for an elite centre. For this, the Clippers deserve their due. I still worry about their long term future, or lack thereof (although they do have something of a 2010 plan on the go), and they aren't going to win much other than a playoff spot in the immediate future. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, and signing good players for good prices never is. So, kudos.

- The Josh Smith played itself out thusly: Atlanta refused to budge from their lowball of a 5 year, $45 million offer; Smith looked elsewhere; Smith signed a 5 year and $58 million offer sheet from Memphis; Atlanta quickly matched. So that's pretty sensible all around. The news that Memphis isn't entirely against the idea of spending their cap room comes as a welcome relief, though, and it gives me an idea, one which will future in the next blog post. (Hint: It's based around an anagram of Neb Gondor. And the fact that I just made that a link may give the game away slightly.)

- Josip Sesar has signed with Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia, and not the Boston Celtics. Damn shame.

- Sun Yue, second round pick of the Lakers last year, has agreed to sign with the team. Apparently, the important Lakers people reckon that Yue may get some point guard time, and Lamar Odom will also spent some time playing at the guard spots. Verdict: I think they're lying.

- Miami signed Yakhouba Diawara because they didn't think that they had enough players under contract yet.

- The Hawks signed Thomas Gardner and Othello Hunter. The Gardner signing, while largely inconsequential, gives the Hawks six guards not named Salim Stoudamire. That, plus this rather ominous blog report thing, gives me the vague idea that maybe Salim Stoudamire isn't going to back to the Atlanta Hawks next year. So, if there's anyone out there with sway in this 'ere NBA world - do me a favour. Either sign Salim Stoudamire, or help us find somebody who will. He's like Jannero Pargo, and everyone likes Jannero Pargo (or, rather, everyone hates playing against him.) He'll probably come cheaper, too. I demand that someone sign him. I have no leverage with which to make such demands, but that didn't do Luol Deng any harm. (Devin Brown also needs a home, but I think I'm over this now.)

- The New Orleans Hornets re-signed Ryan Bowen. Yeehaw. The Hornets' bench now reads thusly: Mike James, Rasual Butler, James Posey, Bowen, Hilton Armstrong, Julian Wright, and Melvin Ely. Who out of that lot do they expect to be a sixth man, exactly? They appear to have moved on from Pargo and Bonzi Wells, two players always willing to fashion a shot, even if they're not always a good idea. So who's going to provide the bench offense here? I'm aware that Chris Paul is basically Jesus, who could get even me an easy basket, but the real Jesus had a few days off, too. (He got his carpentry NVQ at a young age. Good plan. It's always a good idea to have a fallback option.) So the Hornets could really use someone that can find, take and make a shot off the bench. Mike James isn't getting it done, and Ryan Bowen really isn't getting it done.

Hey, I know! Maybe the Hornets could use Salim Stoudamire!