Demetris Nichols

Often playing centre at Wisconsin, Marcus [Landry] is reinventing himself as a three point shooting small forward at the NBA level, decently athletic and with adequate defense. He played for both the Knicks and the Celtics last season in this role, surviving most of the season on an NBA roster. However, the prognosis for such players is about a one or two year career. Bill Walker's been lucky to have signed a four year contract; however, other players of a similar ilk (Demetris Nichols, Rob Kurz, Kaniel Dickens, Marcus Vinicius) have never gotten beyond the two year mark. This of course does not dictate that it is over for Landry, or even that it will be soon; it does, however, suggest that he needs a new string to his bow.

Nichols is a former draftee of the Blazers and/or Knicks, who has also spent time with the Cavaliers, Bulls and Pacers. He too went to summer league with the Jazz, scoring 20 points on 18 shots in 46 minutes. He also played with Portland's summer league team, scoring 15 points on 13 shots in 47 minutes. Nichols is coming off the worst season in his career, averaging only 7/2 in France last year, and his stock is not where it was a couple of years ago. Nevertheless, as a big wing player with a jumpshot and decent defense, he continues to still get looks.

Demetris Nichols

Speaking of Portland's desire for small forwards, here's one they drafted once. Nichols was traded to New York as a part of the Zach Randolph deal, and later spent time with the Cavaliers and Bulls. Nichols was previously covered in the Jazz summer league roster round-up from last week; playing for them in the Orlando Summer Pro League, Nichols averaged 5 points, 3 rebounds and a steal per game.

Demetris Nichols

The Jazz's roster is filled with shooters, and this probably isn't a coincidence. Nichols is just as good of a shooter as Gardner before him, and is also bigger and a better defender. He has a similar resumé, too; drafted by Portland (on behalf of the Knicks), sending a year and a bit with the Bulls, and also featuring briefly with the Cavaliers, Raptors and Pacers. Unfortunately, Nichols is coming off a bad year in France, where he averaged only 6.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in 27 French league games. Now nearer to 30 than 20, it's time to get his career going.

- Demetris Nichols

After an awkward first couple of years in the NBA, which featured stints with 4 teams and only 58 total minutes, Nichols tried two more teams this summer. He went to summer league with the Raptors and to training camp with the Pacers, but stuck with neither team. Nichols then went to Azovmash for a tryout, but lost out on a roster spot to Erik Daniels, and then went to France to play for Gravelines. In 18 French league games Nichols is averaging nearly 6.6 points per game, shooting 32% from three point range.