DeVon Hardin

DeVon Hardin - 50th pick, 2008
May be retired. Even if he isn’t, he has not been on the NBA level since being drafted.

DeVon Hardin (50th pick, 2008)

- Hardin is the unwanted Sonic. A late pick out of Cal, chosen on the basis of his size and athleticism, Hardin has not really developed and the Thunder are not waiting for him. They let him play on the Sixers' summer league team, rather than their own, and that was after spending a full season at the Thunder's self-owned D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers. Hardin averaged only roughly 5/4 before being passed over on the summer league roster for fellow 66er Marcus Lewis. Hardin has continued to battle foot injuries that affected him at Cal, and little development has been forthcoming; the Thunder seem to have cut ties at all but this technical level.

However, Hardin hasn't needed to develop to earn money. This season, he has played in Israel and Turkey. But he's played in their second divisions. He started in Israel with Elitzur Yavne, averaging 26 minutes, 14.8, 8.9 rebounds, 3.1 fouls and 1.4 blocks per game, before moving to Turkey at the start of last month and joining Gazientepspor as a replacement for fellow Cal big man Jamal Boykin, whereupon he has been averaging 25 minutes, 13.2 points, 13.8 rebounds, 3.0 fouls and 0.8 blocks per game. Good stats, no matter the league. Yet your best (if not only) way into the league is always via the team that drafted you. And when the team that drafts you lets you go, that's a problem.

Chances of making the NBA expressed as an arbitrary percentage: 0%

Devon Hardin

Hardin is an athletic 6'11 ex-Cal centre, whose athleticism and size are the majority of his game. He blocks some shots, but is a pretty mediocre rebounder, and he has no post offense. He can stick the occasional mid range jumpshot and runs the floor better than almost everyone else of that size; however, his two year professional career so far has been highly disappointing, as Hardin has not developed or refined his game any from its athletic base coat.

Bizarrely, DeVon Hardin is a former draft pick of the Sonics/Thunder, who is appearing on the Sixers roster. Even more bizarrely, he isn't on the Thunder's one. And even more bizarrely still, as we'll see later, Hardin is not the only person in this to be cheating on their team in that way. Philadelphia, you home wrecking slut.

- DeVon Hardin

Thunder draft pick Hardin played in Greece last year, but now he's back where they can keep an eye on him. Hardin is with the Thunder's D-League affiliate, the Tulsa 66ers, but he's not doing very well there. In 27 games with 20 starts and 20.5 minutes per game, Hardin is averaging only 5.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, with 155 points on 122 shots and a foul every 8 minutes. It should be somewhat simple for an NBA calibre big man to put up near-double double stats in the D-League; even Chris Richard managed to do it, when his 9/8 for the 66ers was deemed sufficient to be signed three times by the Chicago Bulls. But Hardin hasn't done it, nor has he come close to it. His minutes have affected somewhat by the Thunder's assortment of assigned players, including big men D.J. White and B.J. Mullens at various times. Yet it's not really an excuse.