Ike Diogu

Guangdong went 10-3 in those 13 games before bringing in ex-NBA and Euroleague forward Haislip, who has starred offensively both inside and outside with his James Singleton-like efficiency. They were initially going to sign Ike Diogu, but the L.A. Clippers beat them to it. Haislip and Jones played only game together before Jones was replaced by Hudson, from whom the Washington Wizards had finally moved on. [Jones has not signed elsewhere since, and, by all accounts, has lost his athleticism.]

In some additional related bookkeeping, the reason for many of the players listed in the previous list was due to the NBA's contract guarantee date. All players on NBA rosters on or after January 10th have their contracts guaranteed for the remainder of the season (future seasons are unaffected); this also includes waivers. In-season waivers are 48 hours long and do not include weekends; therefore, with the 10th of January being a Monday, players had to be waived by close of business on Wednesday 5th in order to have cleared waivers before the deadline date.

Eleven players with not fully guaranteed contracts were waived in the hours before that deadline: Steve Novak, Damien Wilkins, Jarron Collins, John Lucas III, Ime Udoka, Lester Hudson, Ronald Dupree, Brian Skinner, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Sundiata Gaines and Rodney Carney. Twenty seven unguaranteed players survived; Delonte West, Von Wafer, Brian Scalabrine, Samardo Samuels, Manny Harris, Alonzo Gee, Brian Cardinal, Melvin Ely, Gary Forbes, Jeremy Lin, Ish Smith, A.J. Price, Ike Diogu, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Ben Uzoh, Didier Ilunga-Mbenga, Shawne Williams, Malik Allen, Garret Siler, Patty Mills, Sean Marks, Darnell Jackson, Chris Quinn, Sonny Weems, Jeremy Evans, Cartier Martin and Hamady Ndiaye. Players with contracts who had already become guaranteed due to specific guarantee stipulations in their contracts were Sherron Collins, Derrick Brown, Josh McRoberts, Willie Warren, Derrick Caracter, Luther Head and Joey Dorsey.

As stated here, Ike Diogu is a much maligned player:

- Diogu missed last season after microfracture surgery on his knee. Because of that, and because of his limited minutes on his rookie contract, Diogu has become overlooked by media and executives alike. But even if he's not the smartest sausage in the world, Diogu can play. His career PER is 16.1; his career TS% is .577%. Injuries and lack of opportunity have defined his career, yet Diogu is a good and efficient interior scorer (17.7pp36m career) who has become much overlooked. Unless it's due to the knee injury, there's no reason why Ike Diogu should not be in the NBA next season.

He's running the risk of not making it, because Detroit aren't a team with much "roster flexibility" (the thing cited by GM's whenever they waiving players with unguaranteed contracts). But Ike's level of offensive production cannot be questioned. It's the 2,311 total minutes in 5 seasons that's the problem.

[...]Health permitting, Diogu has the talent to make this team. He has the talent to make any team. But what he's done is join a team with 15 guaranteed contracts. As much as Chris Wilcox has disappointed in Detroit, he's being paid $3 million next year. Is Diogu so valuable that it's worth eating than $3 million and using the roster spot on Diogu instead? No.

- Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu * - As always, Diogu is going overlooked. Forget what you've heard. Look up the numbers. They're good numbers. The only one to worry about is the games played number. He does get injured a lot. But that's why you'd pay him the minimum.

Ike Diogu - Diogu missed last season after microfracture surgery on his knee. Because of that, and because of his limited minutes on his rookie contract, Diogu has become overlooked by media and executives alike. But even if he's not the smartest sausage in the world, Diogu can play. His career PER is 16.1; his career TS% is .577%. Injuries and lack of opportunity have defined his career, yet Diogu is a good and efficient interior scorer (17.7pp36m career) who has become much overlooked. Unless it's due to the knee injury, there's no reason why Ike Diogu should not be in the NBA next season.