Mustafa Shakur

Mustafa Shakur - Shakur returned to the D-League this year, but his averages of 15.8 points, 4.6 points and 4.9 assists are down on last year's. They also seem unbefitting of a man of such strong talent, talent which saw him briefly appear in the NBA last year with Oklahoma City (although he did not play any minutes). Shakur is big, quick, athletic, a scorer, a slasher, a full court player and an occasional defensive pest. He's prone to silly mistakes, not a great half-court point guard and a mediocre jumpshooter, but there's a lot of talent, and it makes very little sense that someone like Smush Parker has played 7,069 NBA minutes while Mustafa Shakur has played 0.

Shakur has yet to play in the NBA, but is technically a two year veteran after brief stints with the Kings and Thunder. Watkins can do slightly better than that, boasting a total of 71 minutes played with the Kings back in the 2007/08 season. New Orleans needs some backup size and some interior defense, which Watkins provides. He is not much of an offensive player, but rebounds and blocks shots in the way you want your centre to do. Unfortunately for Darryl, he missed all of last season through injury, which has killed his stock somewhat. Meanwhile, Shakur has great athleticism, speed and ball handling skills, and compliments a good driving game with good enough jumpshooting, half court point guard play and defense. He's someone who has just needed a chance, and this time, he might just have found one.

Mustafa Shakur - Shakur has been in and around the NBA for the three years since he went undrafted out of Arizona in 2007. He spent a couple of days on the Kings roster at the very start of the 2007/08 season (getting $20,000 for his troubles), and spent three weeks on the Thunder's regular season last year (however, he did not play in any games). Shakur has improved since being undrafted; he's still prone to wildly flailing towards the basket out of control, but he's more controlled now while just as athletic as before, and has improved his jumpshot slightly. He's a 15th to 16th man in the NBA, one of several who just need a stroke of luck to get a chance. The kind of chance that Will Conroy hasn't had yet, and that Pooh Jeter just got. Unfortunately, by signing Royal Ivey, it looks like the Thunder won't be giving Shakur another chance.