Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 37

February 24th, 2009

– Juan Carlos Navarro is back with Barcelona, and he’ll probably never leave again. He is technically still a restricted NBA free agent of the Memphis Grizzlies, but that’s kind of meaningless, because he has no rhyme, reason, or (I assume) desire to leave Spain again. Navarro averages 15.4 points and 2.8 assists in the Spanish league, alongside 14.0 points and 3.6 assists in the EuroLeague.

– Boniface N’Dong still boasts one of the greatest names in human history. In his second season for Unicaja Malaga, as a starlet on the ultimate “oh yeah, I remember them, whatever happened to them” team (also featuring Omar Cook, Jiri Welsch, Robert Archibald, Marcus Haislip and, until recently, Paul Shirley), Ndong is averaging 11.3 points in less than 20 mpg in the EuroLeague. That’s pretty damn good for anyone, but especially a centre. He also has 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game to go along with that, and his Spanish league numbers (18.5 mpg, 9 ppg, 4.5 rg, 1.0 bpg) aren’t bad either.

– Drew Neitzel is with the Artland Dragons of Quackenbrueck in Germany. Somebody had told me that he was going to leave the team, but apparently that somebody was wrong. Neitzel (whose name sounds like a cough syrup that you take before going to bed) averages 6.4 points and 3.2 assists in the German league, alongside 9.6 points and 4.0 assists in the EuroCup.

– Matt Nelson is unsigned after playing in France last season.

– Spencer Nelson is playing for Aris in Greece, a team whose recent additions included Bengal cats owner and former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Bracey Wright, as well as seminal British star Andy Betts. Spiceworld. Nelson averages 8.2 points and 7.1 rebounds in the Greek league, alongside 10.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the EuroCup.

– When it came to waiving someone to accommodate the return of Monta Ellis, the Warriors kept undrafted rookie DeMarcus Nelson and his unguaranteed contract over the guaranteed salary of their second-round draft pick, Richard Hendrix. They then waived Nelson as well before the league-wide contract guarantee date came into effect. Not sure that I understand this, particularly since Hendrix has since become one of the best rebounders in D-League, and since the Warriors are the league’s worst rebounding team. Oh well. Nelson signed later that month with KK Zagreb and scored 2 points in his debut, but was then waived a mere few days later, totalling roughly a four-day total stay in Croatia. Tough break. Maybe they thought they were getting a scorer.

– Ira Newble is unsigned, and I have no idea what (if any) desire he has to change that at any point.

– Brad Newley is in Greece, averaging 10.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in the Greek league for Panellinios, alongside 9.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in the EuroCup.

– Jared Newson is playing for Brose Baskets Bamberg in Germany, averaging 8.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. The Mavericks need a shooting guard, and have done for a while, but I don’t think they’ll be looking at Jared Newson again.

– Demetris Nichols spent a good chunk of the year on the Bulls inactive list, getting $350,000 for his trouble (lucky git), before being waived and going to the D-League. Now with the Iowa Energy (via Idaho, strangely), Nichols is averaging 20.0 points and 4.7 rebounds a game.

– David Noel is also in the D-League, averaging 17.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the Albuqerque Thunderbirds. Note: David Noel is not to be confused with Dave Noel, another player also in the D-League averaging 10.2 points for the Reno Bighorns. The David Noel referred to in the opening line of this paragraph (and on this website in general) is the former North Carolina Tar Heel, David Noel. The one who used to be a Milwaukee Buck. The one that you might have heard of. Also, for anyone out there who is a fan of basketball players called David Noel, there are two other ways you can go – one David Noel is a Canadian guard formerly from Northern Michigan last spotted in the ABA with the Montreal Royals, and the fourth one (Dave Noel) is a guard formerly of Wheaton College in NCAA Division III. Gotta catch ’em all.

– Finally, I think Moochie Norris has finally quit. He hadn’t last year, when he was in the CBA and averaged 11.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg and a league-leading 8.9 apg, but that was last year, and this year he’s unsigned. Given that the CBA is about to fold, and that Moochie is about to turn 36…..I’d reckon that that was all she wrote.