Finances of the Terrence Williams/Sergei Lishouk trade
December 16th, 2010

The only picture of Joe Smith ever taken in which he is not smiling broadly.

Yesterday, a three way trade went down between the L.A. Lakers, Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets that saw four picks, three players and one set of redundant draft rights get rehomed just in time for Christmas.

Houston dealt: Lottery protected first-round draft pick to New Jersey; draft rights to Sergei Lishouk to L.A.
Houston received: Terrence Williams from New Jersey.

– …

Posted by at 5:41 AM

Chinese Basketball Association Imports, 2010/11
December 15th, 2010

The first two rounds of games in the 2010/11 Chinese Basketball Association were played this week, giving us an opportunity to confirm once and for all who is actually playing there. With no major English language version of a Chinese Basketball Association website available – other than perhaps here – accurate information as to signings is hard to find. We are reliant upon snippets, leaks, the occasional accurate translation, and often the players themselves.

This is a pity because of …

Posted by at 9:17 PM

Really Overdue 2010 D-League Draft Review
November 15th, 2010

Unequivocally, the NBA Draft is my favourite night of the year. In a few short hours, the entire landscape of the best league of the world’s best sport can be changed beyond all recognition. Infusions of talent, mind-boggling trades, wonderful quotables and brave shirt-and-tie combinations are guaranteed; one short evening of drama gives us repercussions and discussion points that can last for years. Whereas sport must always ultimately be able the guys in the uniforms, the men in the jackets …

Posted by at 12:15 AM

…..Third Prize Is You're Fired
October 6th, 2010

Continuing the lengthy look at training camp invitees league wide, here’s part three. Part one can be found here, and part two is here.


Oklahoma City

View Thunder roster
View Thunder salary information

With a full roster, Oklahoma City saw fit to bring in four more. They signed undrafted point/combo guards Jerome Dyson of UConn and Tweety (Demond) Carter of Baylor, as well as fellow undrafted swingman Elijah Millsap of UAB. They later brought in former …

Posted by at 10:46 AM

How much centres get paid
October 4th, 2010

Apropos of nothing, here are the total contract values of all centres in the NBA, not including those on minimum salaries (or with really close to minimum salaries, such as Samardo Samuels). In cases where a player’s position is debatable or flexible, discretion is used, and the player’s primary position is used (i.e. Pau Gasol wouldn’t be listed at centre, even though he essentially backs up there, because he starts at power forward). In the case of someone like Al …

Posted by at 6:10 PM

Anybody Wanna See Second Prize? Second Prize Is A Set Of Steak Knives…..
September 30th, 2010

Continuing the lengthy look at training camp invitees league wide, here’s part two. Part one can be found here.


Indiana

View Pacers roster
View Pacers salary information

Indiana already has 15 guaranteed contracts, so they didn’t bring in many for camp. The only two players they signed were D-League veteran centre Lance Allred, and their second second-round draft pick from this summer, Magnum Rolle. Additionally, the contracts of both A.J. Price ($175,000 of $762,195 guaranteed) …

Posted by at 11:44 PM

We're Adding A Little Something To This Month's Sales Contest. As You All Know, First Prize Is A Cadillac El Dorado.
September 28th, 2010

No matter how much you may think you know, NBA training camp always offers an opportunity to learn more.

In that respect, it rivals summer league and draft night; all three present chances to learn more about players about whom you previously did not know about, and you get to try to understand what the NBA sees in them. If a player makes it as far as training camp, after all, then they must be doing something right, because all …

Posted by at 2:33 PM

Training camp signings thus far
September 23rd, 2010

There follows a compendium of all players who have signed, or agreed to sign, for 2010 training camp. I could not find such a compendium elsewhere and thus decided to make one. This list also includes earlier signings of players with unguaranteed or partially guaranteed deals. In some cases, such as with Cucumber, certain players will obviously make it, yet they are included for the sake of uniformity. There exists the possibility that any of these signings could yet change …

Posted by at 1:24 PM

Addendum to the Xavier Henry thing
September 18th, 2010

In the recent Creative Financing In The NBA post, I wrote at great length about the Xavier Henry situation. In the span of about 27,000 words, I tried to explain all the nuances of this largely unprecedented and highly unattractive situation, using as many real-life examples and corollaries as I could find.

After that time, far more significant media personalities ran with the story. Starting with NBA.com’s David Aldridge – who ran a very similar piece that even used the …

Posted by at 7:31 AM

Where Are They Now, 2010 Summer League
September 17th, 2010

The transfer markets are pretty much closed. In many places, pre-season has already begun. EuroLeague qualifiers begin next week, as does the mighty British Basketball League regular season, and while signings continue to go down, most are done by now. By this time, if you’re still a free agent without a training camp invite, you’re struggling. Unless you’re going to the D-League, of course.

There follows a list of the whereabouts of all the players featured on NBA summer league …

Posted by at 1:10 PM

The best of what's left after what was the best of what's left has gone and is no longer left
August 21st, 2010

It’s weird that Ben Wallace is the only one of these four with a contract.

This snappily titled post is, in essence, an update to the earlier similarly titled one that detailed the best remaining free agents in the world of basketball. The list was designed to be comprehensive – which is why Greg Buckner was in it – yet it wasn’t perfect.

Some players should have been listed on it before, and are listed now. Some others who should …

Posted by at 11:27 AM

Creative Financing in the NBA, 2010
August 12th, 2010

Last year, I wrote a couple of posts under the heading of “Creative Financing in the NBA.” Inspired by seeing a series of quirky salary techniques that I had not previously seen in my three long and sexless years of compiling NBA salary information, I was inspired to steal Magic GM Otis Smith’s favoured phrase without permission, and use it to describe some of the financial anomalies that the offseason transactions had puked over our spreadsheets. The posts were reasonably …

Posted by at 7:28 PM

The best of what’s left
July 30th, 2010

Shaq and LeBron in a twat-off

The international basketball market is incredibly dry right now, and there’s a lot more produce than buyers. The whole nation of Greece is broke, and Spanish clubs are running into financial barriers they’re not normally known for. Even Italian teams, including four time defending champion Montepaschi Siena, are facing budget cuts.

In the NBA, most of the big stuff has been done. Of the 280 or so rotation spots in the league, most have …

Posted by at 10:15 PM

A History Of Failed Physicals
July 26th, 2010

The following post will features as many Head puns as I can think of, with varying degrees of subtlety.

Earlier this month, free agent Indiana Pacers guard Luther Head came to terms with the New Orleans Hornets on a two year contract. A mere couple of days after this news was reported came the news that Head’s job offer was gone; he had failed his physical examination with the team, and that the signing had been called off. Head is …

Posted by at 2:48 AM

2010 KBL Draft Results
July 24th, 2010


The South Korean basketball league (KBL) is an interesting one. Much like the Chinese Basketball Association, it is interesting for three main reasons;

1) It’s full of import players that you’ve heard of,

2) The domestic players’ talent level is pretty bad,

3) The import players’ talent level is pretty good.

This leads to huge statistics from players that you’ve heard of. And that can never be bad.

The KBL employs a draft process for its import players that …

Posted by at 3:36 PM

Ex-NBA player Charles Shackleford arrested for selling prescription medication
July 23rd, 2010

Per a million places, but arbitrarily taken from ENCToday.com, former NBA big man Charles Shackleford has been arrested in an undercover drug operation that saw him trying to sell 150 pills to the rozzers.

Charles Shackleford is in trouble with the law for the second time in six months.

Shackleford, a former Kinston High School, NCSU and NBA basketball player, was arrested by the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday after he allegedly sold 150 prescription pills to an

Posted by at 11:37 PM

Lorenzen Wright has gone missing
July 23rd, 2010

Per this story from George Brown of WREG.com, former NBA big man Lorenzen Wright has gone missing.

The family of Lorenzen Wright says he’s been missing since Sunday.

Wright’s sister, Savia Archie, says her family is very concerned.

Archie said, Wright was last seen on sunday when he was expected to fly out of Memphis, but no one has heard from him since.

The family has filed a missing persons with the Collierville police department.

Posted by at 11:14 PM

2010 Summer League Rosters: Detroit Pistons
July 18th, 2010

Patrick Christopher

Christopher is a streak shooter out of Cal who doesn’t do a whole lot else. If he’s hot, he can score 30; if he’s not, he can go 3-15. Regardless of whether he’s making them, he takes them, which could be interpreted as a good or a bad thing. He’s athletic and strong, but he doesn’t do much with them other than take jump shots. Had he done so, he might have gotten drafted.

Austin Daye

In spite …

Posted by at 12:15 PM

2010 Summer League Rosters: Cleveland Cavaliers
July 17th, 2010

Jerome Dyson

There was a time when averaging 20/5/5 at UConn meant a guarantee to be drafted. Not so for Dyson. For all the scoring numbers, Dyson is far from a complete scorer; for all the assist numbers, Dyson is far from a point guard. And at 6’3, he’ll struggle to be a shooting guard as well.

Much of his production comes from the fast break, where he is unbelievably good. He can snake his way to the basket with …

Posted by at 3:12 PM

2010 Summer League Rosters: New York Knicks
July 15th, 2010

Eric Boateng

Boateng is an English centre who played one year at Duke, before transferring to Arizona State, where he just completed his senior season. He barely played at all in his first four seasons, but finally got a chance to play last year, and responded with averages of 8.8ppg and 7.2rpg on 66% shooting. However, even though he turns 25 in November, Boateng is still an incredibly raw player. He turned it over 2.1 times per game in only …

Posted by at 10:12 AM

2010 Summer League Rosters: Washington Wizards
July 14th, 2010

Trevor Booker

My early proclamations that Booker might be the next Paul Millsap were a bit premature, and overlooked the fact that Booker is about half the rebounder that Millsap is. Jumped the gun a bit there, I did. However, I remain confident in Booker’s abilities to contribute at the NBA level, despite his lack of size for the position. Boozer is athletic enough and has improved his face-up game, both the drive and the shot. He’ll have to be …

Posted by at 6:48 PM

2010 Summer League Rosters: Houston Rockets
July 14th, 2010

Blake Ahearn

Ahearn is the shooter from Missouri State who has played a few games for the Miami Heat. He’s a rather unique little sausage; an extremely brilliant shooter from the foul line and from three point range, and who can masquerade as a point guard reasonably well, but who is unathletic and doesn’t contribute much elsewhere. The most notable part of all that is the efficiency; Ahearn always shoots over 40% from three and over 90% from the line, …

Posted by at 12:23 PM

2010 Summer League Rosters: Minnesota Timberwolves
July 14th, 2010

Mo Charlo

Charlo is a small forward formerly from Nevada who turns 27 next week. He is an athlete and defensive specialist, who has spent much of his professional career in the D-League. Last year, playing for the Reno Bighorns on account of his local ties, Charlo averaged 9.7ppg, 5.2rpg and 2.7apg. There were also a couple of near triple doubles in there, with statlines of 12/15/9 and 19/12/8, before a slow finish to the season dragged down his numbers. …

Posted by at 8:41 AM

2010 Summer League Rosters: Atlanta Hawks
July 13th, 2010

Alade Aminu

Aminu was covered in the Bobcats summer league round-up thing of last week. In 4 games for Charlotte, Aminu averaged 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds. Additionally, Aminu has signed a contract to play for Chalon in France next season. So whatever chances he had of making the Hawks roster now look shot.

James Augustine

Augustine was previously covered on the Jazz summer league roster recap. Playing for Utah in the Orlando summer pro league, Augustine averaged 6.2 …

Posted by at 3:06 PM

2010 Summer League Rosters: Milwaukee Bucks
July 13th, 2010

Antoine Agudio

Of all the undersized jump shooters in the D-League, Agudio might be the best. The cheerful looking one is the all-time scoring leader in the history of Hofstra, beating out former Bulls guard Norman Richardson when he averaged 22.7ppg in his senior season. Agudio is a 6’3 pure shooter, who last year for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds averaged 15.1ppg, 2.5rpg and 2.8apg with 44% three point shooting. He’s strong, able to also create off the dribble, and tries hard …

Posted by at 12:10 PM