Sherron Collins

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.

About Collins in summer league, I wrote this:

As an undrafted pickup, I commend the move. Player's abilities are all relative to expectations, and by going undrafted, Collins's expectations crashed. Now that nothing is expected of him by any NBA team, I am more confident in his abilities to play in it.

This is still true, and Collins has had the good fortune/judgement to wind up on a team that needs a point guard. The only current options at the position are D.J. Augustin and Shaun Livingston, and neither is a sure thing. Augustin is not a natural at the position (although it will help to have a ball dominant playmaker in Stephen Jackson alongside him), and Shaun Livingston is yet to play more than 61 games in any season, despite his many attempts.

Sherron Collins - I was fully prepared to besmirch whoever drafted Sherron Collins early in the late first or early second round of last month's draft. Fully prepared. In a post that never got published, I had written the following rallying cry against Sherron Collins;

Is Sherron Collins really as strong as they say he is, or does he just have a ridiculously wide neck? And if he IS really strong, what good is that if he doesn't do anything with it? Collins is a good shooter and a fine ball handler, but he tends to use that ball handling ability just to get jumpshots off, often counter-productively. He is not a floor leader or a half court point guard, not a great pick-and-roll or penetrate-and-kick player; instead, he's an undersized scorer prone to occasional streetball moments and weight problems. He has the weight of a 4 year career at a big program behind him, and all the journalistic love that comes with it. But unless he improves throughout the duration of his rookie contract, I don't think he'll get another one.

As you can probably tell, I'm not convinced by Sherron Collins.

However, taking me completely by surprise (and presumably him as well), Collins went undrafted. Now, it's a different story. As an undrafted pickup, I commend the move. Player's abilities are all relative to expectations, and by going undrafted, Collins's expectations crashed. Now that nothing is expected of him by any NBA team, I am more confident in his abilities to play in it. If that makes sense.