Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 27

- Marcus Haislip

An established and productive forward in the Euroleague these last couple of years - if kind of disliked by certain sections of the European audience who abhor athleticism when it comes at the expenses of pick and roll defense - Haislip left Unicaja Malaga this summer after two seasons to return to the NBA to play for the Spurs for the minimum salary. This represented about a 75% paycut for Haislip, yet he did it anyway, because American citizens like playing in America. It didn't work out for him, though; - in three months with the team, Haislip played all of 10 games and 44 minutes. Then in early January, Panathinaikos came in for him, looking for a short injury reinforcement. Haislip negotiated a buyout with San Antonio (which wasn't difficult; "you can forget what you owe me if you let me leave") and signed with Pana, for whom he is averaging 11.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in the Greek league.



- Mike Hall

Former Wizards forward Hall is with Armani Jeans Milano, a team based in Milano that are sponsored by Armani Jeans. He is averaging 8.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in SerieA, alongside 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the Euroleague, shooting 29% from three point range between the two. He had a nice game winning dunk in a Euroleague game recently, but Youtube doesn't seem to carry it. Or if it does, it's in Italian.



- Yotam Halperin

Sonics/Thunder draft pick Halperin is a member of Olympiakos, averaging 7.4 points and 1.8 assists per game in the Greek league, alongside 7.0 points and 1.1 assists per game in the Euroleague. His minutes have been inconsistent, as have those of all Olympiakos players, but perhaps moreso than the others. Halperin didn't play in Greek league games to begin the season, as Greek league games allow for only 6 non-Greeks per team per game, and Olympiakos had 7. But Halperin soon played his way onto the team - or rather, Von Wafer played his way off it - and he's been in the Greek league game rotation ever since.

Olympiakos later released Wafer, dropping down to 6 non-Greeks again, but then they picked up Scoonie Penn, putting them back at 7 again. Since then, Heat draft pick Patrick Beverley has been the one to sit; he hasn't played a Greek league game since January 3rd. He's also only played 33 Euroleague minutes in 2010, despite him playing well in the few that he's had. Speaking of Patrick Beverley, here's Patrick Beverley making it rain.





- Adam Haluska

Former Hornets draft pick Adam Haluska barely played last year for Hapoel Jerusalem, averaging only 3.4ppg and playing 141 minutes all season. And this year, he hasn't played anywhere at all. In fact, he might have quit.



- Darvin Ham

Ham last played in the 2007/08 season in the D-League, and is now an assistant coach for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. His son is now a standout high school player.



- Brian Hamilton

Hamilton is noted - by me, at least - for having a very limited professional career. Despite having two training camp contracts with the Nets in the last two years, and winning them over greatly, Hamilton's professional basketball career has been very short and very limited. Nonetheless, he's found ready employment this year in the D-League with the Utah Flash, for whom he is averaging 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.



- Venson Hamilton

Rockets draft pick Venson Hamilton's 5 year stint with Real Madrid came to an end this summer with the start of the Ettore Messina era. He barely even played last year, so it wasn't an important loss to the team. Hamilton has not played elsewhere this year and is currently unsigned, although he's reported to be training with Rincon Axarquia, a team in Spain's LEB Gold that kind of serve as Unicaja Malaga's reserves.



- Vernon Hamilton

Former Clemson guard and Cavaliers camp signee Hamilton started the year in Switzerland, where he averaged 19.0 points and 2.9 assists for SAM Basket Massagno before being released in November due to injury. He later signed in Ukraine with MBC Mykolaiv and averaged a further 6.7 points per game before being released again. Between the two, he shot 60% from the foul line. That's progress.



- Zendon Hamilton

Perennial journeyman Zendon Hamilton is still going, although his best days are behind him now since he's turning 35 next month. He signed with Al Jalaa Aleppo in December, a team in the mighty basketball powerhouse of Syria, but no statistics are available. He got injured in January and may have been released.



- Ben Handlogten

Former Jazz big man retired in 2006 after a season with Barcelona. He now owns and runs BBA Properties, a construction firm based in Charlotte. I first tweeted that back on November 28th, and then it curiously appeared in the Deseret News two days later. Sneaky dawgs.



Finally.....

- Travis Hansen

Hansen left Dynamo Moscow in the summer when the team ran out of money and released all their foreigners. It didn't hurt him, though, as he quickly moved to Real Madrid. Hansen averages 7.3 points and 2.5 points per game in the ACB, alongside 4.7 points per game in the Euroleague, shooting a combined 40% from three point range.

Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 22

Many of the following people are called Hamilton. If you don't want to know the result, look away now.

- Brian Hamilton signed with the New Jersey Nets for training camp after playing for their summer league team, which guaranteed him a free trip around Europe. Hamilton didn't make the team, though, and is currently unsigned. By the way, speaking of the Nets summer league team, look how stacked that bad boy was. They could have put together a depth chart of this kind of calibre:

PG - Jamar Butler, Will Conroy, Yuta Tabuse
SG - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Jaycee Carroll, Donell Taylor, Maurice Ager
SF - Julius Hodge, Marcus Slaughter, Brian Hamilton
PF - Ryan Anderson, Anthony Tolliver
C - Brook Lopez, Sean Williams

That team is friggin' stacked, even if it is (as are all summer league teams) a bit short. This wasn't quite how it worked out, as Jamar Butler didn't turn up, Sean Williams started at power forward, and a combination of Conroy and Carroll did most of the point guard work. But, still. In relative terms, that team is heaving. God I love summer league.

- Venson Hamilton is into his fourth season with Real Madrid. However, his playing time has all but disappeared. In the Spanish league, Hamilton averages 1.1 points and 1.8 rebounds in 6.7 minutes a game, slightly raising his scoring average to 1.6 ppg in Euroleague play. On the year, he has 18 points and 21 fouls. The money must be good, because the opportunity isn't.

- Vernon Hamilton was acquired yesterday by the Colorado 14ers of the D-League, where he can backup Eddie Gill at point guard, or replace him should Gill get a call-up. Fun Vernon Hamilton fact: the highest that Vernon Hamilton has ever shot in a single season from the free throw line is the 55.1% that he shot in 2005-06, while still a junior at Clemson. Nice.

- Zendon Hamilton is still going, albeit currently unsigned. The journeyman started the year in Russia with Spartak Primorie Vladivostok - the last placed Russian Superleague team that currently boasts Desmon Farmer amongst its members - but left after four games, totalling 28 points, 20 rebounds and 30% shooting in that time. Zendon Hamilton never got a fair shot in the NBA. Despite numerous try-outs and a career that spanned 6 fractured NBA seasons, Hamilton was better than a lot of the players that he kept losing out to. But because he never had a multi-year contract, he never stuck like he could have. There, I said it.

- Former Suns and Jazz centre Ben Handlotion hasn't played in three years. I seem to remember once finding a source that cited his retirement as being official, but I can't seem to find it again. But since he is 34 and has been out of the game since early 2006, you can probably go ahead and assume it.

- Tyler Hansbrough averages 22.7 points in less than 29 minutes a game for North Carolina. A senior, this is going to be the year that he finally gets drafted, whether he likes it or not. Watch as he plummets down the draft board, as teams pass over his prolific production in light of his lack of size and athleticism. (Note: I'm not saying that they're necessarily wrong for this. Just that it's going to happen. Just like it happened with J.J. Redick. And just like it should have happened with Adam Morrison.)

- Travis Hansen has been a very good swingman in Europe for a while now, and he's still with the Russian team that Jannero Pargo just left. Only just, though; there were strong rumblings of Hansen being signed by Lottomatica Roma. But it didn't happen, and Hansen stays in Russia, where he averages 15.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the Russia Superleague, alongside 14.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in the Eurocup. Now that Pargo and Hollis Price have left Dynamo, maybe Hansen will start getting paid on time.

- Penny Hardaway is unsigned and still not dead.

- Thunder draft pick DeVon Hardin signed in Turkey to begin the year, but left without playing a game as he was still recovering from injury. Seemingly better now, he signed this month with ESTIA Egaleo in Greece, and scored 7 points with 9 rebounds in his debut last Wednesday.

- Finally, I do do requests, and here are some of them now. Former Sixers centre Efthimios Rentzias retired in August 2006 due to chronic injury problems, aged only 30. In his final season, playing for a team called Forum Filatelico Valladolid (made up of Spanish stamp collectors, presumably), Rentzias averaged 7.8ppg, 4.0rpg and 1.2bpg in 10 games, before being waived due to his injury, and retiring for good a few months later. Former Louisville standout Taquan Dean is in Spain, playing for Polaris World Murcia, who are unfortunately second to last in the ACB. This isn't Dean's fault, as he averages 16.6. points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists while starting at shooting guard, shooting more threes than twos. And another former Louisville Final Four starlet, Juan Palacios, averages an uninspiring 9.2 points and 4.3 rebounds for CB Vic, one of the worst teams in the LEB Gold.

As for the guy who really wants Zoran Planinic information, check this website EVERY DAY, and eventually you'll get lucky.

Second Prize Is A Set Of Steak Knives

I should have written this note before I did. But you're not the boss of me. Unless you are the boss of me. In which case, hey. Sorry I'm late. Traffic was bad.

These are the camp signing and battles that we are to watch with captivated interest. If you're not even slightly interested, then don't worry, because I'm intrigued enough for the both of us.


- Atlanta re-signed Mario West, and signed Marcus Hubbard, Frank Robinson and ShamSports.com favourite Olumide Oyedeji, after having earlier signed Thomas Gardner and Othello Hunter. These moves give them three shooting guards to battle for one backup spot, but Gardner has the advantage of 50% guaranteed money. Hubbard and Hunter will fight for the inactive list power forward spot, but Hubbard's grand total of three NCAA games can't work in his favour. (If anyone can tell me why he played so little, please do.) Oyedeji has already been waived, which is a damn shame. Sham's predictions to make it: Gardner and Hunter.

- Boringly, Boston only signed one player for training camp, with the re-signing Sam Cassell taking their roster to 16 players. Come on now. Even if they haven't a hope of making the team, play the game and bring in some fringe D-Leaguers. You don't have to give them any guaranteed money, and you get to look at players that might help you one day. Even if they don't, you lose nothing but the tiny amount that you have to pay them for the fortnight that they're there. Signing only Cassell, though, is still enough to give Boston a problem, for they now have 16 players for 15 spots, with no obvious cuts. Maybe the Darius Miles comeback story isn't going to be quite as fairytale as we had hoped, for his fully unguaranteed contract looks very expendable right now. Sham's prediction: Sorry, Darius, but you're a massive health concern, you have a 10 game suspension to deal with, and Bill Walker just got a 4 year contract. I'm not seeing where you fit any more. Failing that, someone might remedy the situation by trading a second for Gabe Pruitt. Someone like the Thunder, maybe.

- Charlotte took on three guys, like the slut that she is. New head coach Larry Brown has always had a thing for guards with no offensive skill who work hard on defense. so that, plus the Bobcats lack of third option at point guard, might bode well for Donell Taylor. Other camp invites Marcus E. Williams and Andre Brown have less of a chance - the Bobcats have enough inconsequential players at Brown's power forward spot, and while Williams has the ability to make it, he just so happens to play the one position that Charlotte doesn't need any help at. Sham's prediction: Donell makes it. How long he lasts for, is another matter.

- Chicago beautifully combined the training camp signing requisities of "fringe NBA talents" and "hometown guys to give people something to care about", when they signed Elton Brown, Roger Powell and Darius Washington. Powell, the hometown boy, has no chance to make it as a reformed small forward, given Chicago's present depth there. Brown isn't exactly the calibre of post scorer that Chicago needs, but his skillset fits the team, and he has NBA talent. Washington has less of a chance, given the team's guard depth, but the Bulls could still use an extra defender at point guard, which gives him a chance. Sham's prediction: Since Ben Gordon took the qualifying offer like a damn fool, the Bulls are now able to afford 14 players. So Brown should make it, along with Demetris Nichols, whose $150,000 guarantee and good outside shot serve him well. Also note - I didn't mention Michael Ruffin - the Bulls other camp signee - at any point. There's a reason for that; the Bulls need an extra centre, particularly a defensive one.....but they don't need Michael Ruffin.

- Cleveland made some of the best signings ever, bringing in Ronald Dupree, Vernon Hamilton and Jawad Williams, as well as making the ultimate random camp signing in Michael Dickerson, a man who medically retired five years ago. The randomness of that group is sublime, and is the reason that I love summer league. Those four, plus holdover Lance Allred, are battling for what is more than likely only 1 roster spot. (Note: Eric Snow will never play again, but they can't trade his expiring contract if they waive him, so he'll probably prop up the inactive list until the trade deadline. Also, Lorenzen Wright is D-U-N done and shouldn't be taking up a spot, but he got guaranteed money, so they're probably stuck with him too.) Sham's prediction: Erm, don't know. Dickerson is (or was) easily the most talented of the bunch, and the Cavaliers could use an extra shooting guard, particularly one with decent size. But the man retired in his prime with an assortment of injuries - now 33, and after 5 years out of the sport, how can we accurately predict what he can offer this season? We can't, so I'll go ahead and assume that it's nothing, due to a lack of alternatives. (I'd dearly like to be wrong on that.) The other invitees offer little. Allred perhaps has the most talent, but after bringing in Wright and drafting J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson, the Cavaliers don't really need an extra big man any more.

- Dallas have given themselves a pleasant predicament. After signing Gerald Green, Keith McLeod and James Singleton spectacularly early (during the moratorium, in fact), the Mavericks then added some more players, signing JaJuan Smith, Cheyne Gadson, Reyshawn Terry and Charles Rhodes for camp. Green has a guaranteed contract, so he's in, but the rest have a problem, and there are only two spots left to fill. In this blog, I have previously mentioned how Singleton is an NBA calibre talent and a good signing for Dallas, but unfortunately for James, so is the other power forward, Charles Rhodes. Rhodes had a fine summer league, and has shown himself to be a fine candidate for this year's Craig Smith Award™ (an award annually given to the undersized power forward that either goes undrafted, or who slides into the second round, because scouts overlook their skill set, believing it to be less important than the inch or two of height that would make them ideal for their position. Formerly known as the Chuck Hayes Award.) The Mavericks don't need both players, and so it looks as though they're fighting for one spot. Working in Singleton's favour is that Rhdoes largely duplicates Dallas's other power forward backup, Brandon Bass; working against Singleton is the fact that he's four years older than Rhodes. Neither can play centre, and so the Mavericks can't really keep both, so there's a legitimately interesting training camp battle for you there. As for the guards, JaJuan Smith's sweet jumpshot stands him in good stead for a spot on the guard roster as a shooter off of the bench, as does the inherent uselessness of Keith McLeod. (Gadson is irrelevant.) Reyshawn Terry may play in the NBA one day, but he chose the wrong year to come over, because Devean George just took his spot for no real reason. Sham's prediction: Singleton beats out Rhodes due to him having guaranteed money, and Smith makes it as the 15th man. But this won't be the last time we see Charles Rhodes in the NBA.

- The Denver Nuggets often make signings that fill one of two criteria - veterans for the veteran's minimum, and players that are widely disliked. They achieved both this summer, as they signed Ruben Patterson, Smush Parker, Mateen Cleaves, Juwan Howard, Nick Fazekas and James Mays for training camp. Given Denver's tendency to go with only 13 players due to their self-inflicted payroll concerns, it seems tough for anyone of the above to get in, given that the Nuggets had 13 players under contract already, but the proposed Jamaal Tinsley trade may open up one spot, and Sonny Weems is not certain to make it, albeit probable. The Tinsley trade, should it go down, will spell doom for Parker and Cleaves, whose chances of making the team are miniscule anyway. Fazekas has NBA talent, but doesn't seem to have made the best choice of training camp to join. Howard is D-U-N done, and hopefully Denver aren't too attatched to the sentimentality that accompanies his return to the team. Patterson is also returning to one of his former teams, and he's got to be somewhat fresh, after his career best 2006/07 season with Milwaukee went largely by the wayside. (He has only played in 20 games since then, while on an unguaranteed minimum salary contract with the Clippers last season. This is the sort of thing that will happen when you're on the sex offenders register - you need to be more than marginal to get into the NBA.) And Mays always has Top Gear to fall back on. Sham's prediction: Ask me after the Tinsley deal. If there isn't one made, expect nothing, because there just isn't the money for it.

- Detroit brought back their former draft pick Alex Acker for training camp, and that's it. Boo them. Boo them loudly. Boo them now. Sham's prediction: who cares. Detroit highly rated Acker a few years ago after picking him with the last pick in 2005, but he did nothing for Barcelona last year with plenty of opportunities. At least he's not Lindsey Hunter, though.

- Golden State's training camp signings were made well in advance of this great day, with Rob Kurz, DeMarcus Nelson, Dion Dowell and Anthony Morrow all signing nice and early. But, ever eager, they added two more to that list, bringing journeyman point guard Dan Dickau and love machine Justin Williams in as well. Sham's prediction: The Warriors need a point guard in the worst way, but Dickau is the only one of the bunch. He's had a modicum of success in the NBA before, but only on a bad Hornets team, and he also apparently has a bad back right now. Nelson might make the team as a point guard defender, but he has no offense for the position. Dowell and Kurz add little, but Morrow may be a useful shooter off the bench, even if the depth chart is against him. Williams has a shot at making it, if only for his genuine size on a team bereft of much of that. But he hasn't developed much. I'm going to call it as being Dickau and Williams that make it, with Morrow not far behind, and I fully expect to be wrong on this.

- Houston has very little money to spend, and few spots to spend it on, but they've played the training camp game anyway, and God bless them for that. Along with bringing in their draft pick, Joey Dorsey, to a first round sized-contract, their camp signings are off-guard Von Wafer and late blooming big man Marcus Campbell. The Dorsey signing gives them 13 guaranteed contracts, with Mike Harris and D.J. Strawberry also on the team with unguaranteed deals, and there may also be Dikembe Mutombo to add to that. The Rockets are also tiptoeing around the tax, so it looks bleak for those on the cusp. Sham's prediction: Doesn't look good for Wafer or Campbell. Strawberry was acquired specifically for his unguaranteed salary, which has bad news written all over it. And despite the Rockets' like of Harris, his unguaranteed deal may be more useful to them than whatever few minutes he gets. But he might make it if Dikembe doesn't return. A dump-type trade of Steve Francis, Luther Head or Chuck Hayes (less likely) might open things up for somebody, but such a trade would be sought out only to save money.

- Indiana's lone camp signing was their former figure of hate and love, Justin Frazier. We can make a teeny weeny allowance for their almost total ignorance of the training camp phenomena, because a summer of decent trading has left them with already 16 guaranteed contracts for only 15 spots, and probably regretting their decision to take out Stephen Graham's team option. Sham's prediction: Croshere didn't look like he had much left last season anyway, and while a redux of his would be nice, there isn't the room for him here. It also doesn't look good for Graham, who just isn't required on the Pacers right now. Also note - if the Jamaal Tinsley for Chucky Atkins and Steven Hunter trade goes down as reported, as expected, then the Pacers again have to cut or move someone with guaranteed money. If they can't get Denver to take back Graham or Josh McRoberts in the deal, then they'll have 17 contracts for 15 spots. That would pretty much be it for Graham, and it doesn't look great for McRoberts either, purely because of the numbers involved. This is unless a side move sees Shawne Williams moved on to somewhere where he hasn't worn out his welcome. (Also note: if they see enough in McRoberts to keep him, contracts be damned - and they might - then Macy O'Baston is an easy cut, in spite of his $2.2 million deal.)

- The Clippers have spent their whole season reworking their entire roster, but after Jason Williams's unexpected retirement, they suddenly have a spot to fill all over again. Always willing to play the training camp game (God bless you, Elgin Baylor), the Clippers brought in four players, ranging from underwhelming point guard Dontell Jefferson, through to journeyman centre Jelani McCoy, via forwards Curtis Sumpter and David Noel. Paul Davis also has only a $200,000 guarantee, so his spot is still available on a team with no luxury tax concerns. That said, he's probably safe - the Clippers don't really have a third point guard, but Mike Taylor can handle the role better than Jefferson could, and McCoy doesn't outclass him by enough to merit the spot over the far younger Davis, if at all. Sumpter and Noel have only each other for competition, but neither is needed. Sham's prediction: fuck it, pick one out of a hat. Jelani McCoy. There you go. (And Davis, obviously.)

- The Lakers did most of their training camp business early, signing Brandon Heath, Dwayne Mitchell and C.J. Giles long before September ended. They also brought in their second rounder of this year - Joe Crawford - and re-signed Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, the most famous jug eared half-Belgian half-Congoish 7 footer in the game today. (Note: former Clipper Josh Powell only has $200,000 guaranteed this season, and therefore is not a guarantee to make the team, but for the purposes of this paragraph, I'm treating him as though he is. He should be - he's better than the others.) You will notice that those five players are all either shooting guards or centres, which gives you a clue what the two upcoming camp battles might be. Sham's prediction: Mbenga makes the team as the unnecessary fourth string centre (for those questioning my counting ability - Bynum, Gasol, Mihm, in that order), and all of the shooting guards lose out to the incumbent Coby Karl. The only way for one of the others to make it is for Powell to duly unimpress, ro for Sun Yue to be imprisoned for heroin smuggling.

- Memphis signed Quinton Ross, which comes as a great relief to those of us out there to have posed the question, "Won't somebody PLEASE think of Quinton Ross?". Unfortuantely for us Ross fans, Quinton seems to have chosen the one team that really doesn't need a guard. (Memphis's backcourt is small, something which Ross can help with, but it's also deep, and in need of an extra shooter, which Ross doesn't bring.) The Grizzlies' other camp signings include former Blazer (for about a week) and summer league bench player, Brent Petway, and former Rockets draft pick Malick Badiane. Sham's prediction: Memphis needs a power forward, but Petway isn't it. Ross has the most talent of the three, but the numbers are against him. Badiane therefore has a chance, but the Grizzlies threw several million at Hamed Haddadi earlier this summer, thereby filling up their "project centre" quota, and doing so without Badiane, a soon to be 25 old year old man still suffering from inherent rawness, and who runs like a pre-teen girl. (Hint: it's in the wrists.)

- The finest quality that the Miami Heat possess is their ability and desire to sign everybody in the world of professional basketball, which leaves those of us obsessed with transactions nursing semi's. Having already waived Stephane Lasme and Bobby Jones earlier this summer, and signing Jason Richards and David Padgett straight after summer league, the Heat kept on playing the signing game, bringing in Eddie Basden, Matt Walsh, Omar Barlett and Tre Kelley for camp. Since then, the Heat have brought in Shaun Livingston, waiving Kelley to open up the spot. (Kelley must have been real bad, because Richards - the other excess point guard on the roster - has suffered a knee injury and won't play this year. Yet somehow the Heat would still rather have him than Kelley.) Sham's prediction: Walsh, Richards, Padgett, Barlett and Basden are all doomed since the Livingston signing, which gives the Heat 14 guaranteed contracts. The 15th man - Jamaal Magloire - has a 50% guarantee on his contract, and despite me often harping on about how poor Magloire is, he's still better than David Padgett. Any role Basden may have filled has already been filled has already been taken by Yakhouba Diawara, any role Walsh may have had has already been filled by James Jones, the Heat have four point guards already that are better than Richards (who can't take the court anyway), and Barlett.......well, he's not got guaranteed money, or NBA talent. So I don't think he's making it.