– Bobby Jones Former University of Washington forward Bobby Jones was a second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2006, who was traded immediately to the Sixers. He signed a two-year deal with the team and played spot minutes of 44 games in his rookie year, before being traded again in the offseason to the Denver Nuggets as a part of the Steven Hunter/Reggie Evans swap. Denver played him in 25 more games but waived him before the contract guarantee date, at which point Jones signed two ten-day contracts with the Grizzlies. After the expiration of the second one came a fresh one with the Houston Rockets, quickly followed by two more with the Miami Heat, and one with the San Antonio Spurs, before Denver picked him back up for the last week of the season. Denver signed him to a contract that ran through the 2008-09 season with various guarantee dates along the way, and precisely because of that, Jones’s unguaranteed deal became a trade chip, one capitalised upon when he was traded along with Taurean Green to New York in exchange for Renaldo Balkman. The Knicks waived him a day later, which prompted the Heat to claim him off of waivers, yet he lasted only about a week there before Miami waived him prior to his contract guarantee date kicking in. A month later, Jones joined the Sacramento Kings for training camp, but did not make the team. And that was Bobby Jones’s NBA career. Jones has not signed an NBA contract since. However, given that he played for six teams in two years, and was a member of 11 franchises in that time (including two of them twice), the NBA had probably gotten him pegged by then. Jones currently plies his trade in Italy for Bancas […]
If you’re hardcore, you’ll probably remember the name of that random second-round draft pick your team made back in 1999. And if you’re really hardcore, you might even care about him enough to spend 30 seconds reading up on where he is and what he does now. Well, I’m here to oblige you with that. Starting as of, like, now, we will trace back drafts and draftees, from as far back as I can be bothered to go (which early estimates predict will be about 1994), to the most recent 2008 draft. Potentially, we might stumble across something interesting. —– – 1st pick: Glenn Robinson (Milwaukee) – Robinson signed two contracts in his life; the 10-year, $80 million one he signed after being drafted (one that catalysed the inception of the rookie scale the following season), and a prorated minimum salary contract with the Spurs the season after the first contract ended. With the Spurs, he coat-tailed his way to a championship ring. And then he disappeared. Last month, Mike Hutton of the Post-Tribune (a newspaper that apparently couldn’t decide what to call itself) wrote a piece that tried to track down the absent Robinson and find out what he does now. The answer appears to be…..not a lot. The comments on this follow-up post seem to confirm that. – 2nd pick: Jason Kidd (Dallas) – Still going, and now back with the team that drafted him. Kidd is going to be a free agent this summer, and even though he’s declined a lot in the last two years, he’s still got something to give to a competitor. – 3rd pick: Grant Hill (Detroit) – Also still going, and also a free agent this summer. Hill has said in the past that, if he was traded away from Phoenix, he’d […]
– You did it! You did it! You waited for your Alexander Johnson news! Be proud of yourself, and then proceed to hate me, as I tell you that there isn’t any. Johnson started the year in Germany with Brose Baskets Bonn, averaged 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.4 fouls in 11 German league games, before leaving last month and being replaced (sort of) by Dan Dickau. Johnson is now unsigned, but, in better news, Dickau has scored 37 points combined in the two games that he’s been there. – Jumaine Jones was reportedly suspended from European basketball for a year in September by FIBA, for the weird yet wonderful crime of signing contracts with two different teams at the same time; one with Alyssa Milano, and one with Ural Great Perm in Russia. However, he’s been playing for the greatly-named Great Perm anyway, averaging 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in Russian league play. How that is possible, I don’t know – Russia is in kind of both Europe and Asia, depending on which you want to count it as at any given moment. However, Great Perm have played in both the EuroCup and EuroChallenge this season, and, as the names would suggest, those are European competitions. Yet Jumaine has been playing in them, averaging 9.1 points and 5.8 rebounds in the EuroChallenge. Presumably some sort of settlement was worked out; any answers as to how specifically this is possible? – Eddie Jones was bought out by the Pacers in preseason after being traded from the Mavericks, and hasn’t been heard from since. – Dwayne Jones went to training camp with the Magic, didn’t make it, went to Turkey with Efes, played two games, scored one point, grabbed one rebound, came back to America, signed with the […]
Players acquired via free agency or trade: Brandon Bass (two year minimum) Trenton Hassell (acquired from Minnesota) Eddie Jones (two year, full BAE) Players acquired via draft: First round: None Second round: Nick Fazekas (34th overall), Reyshawn Terry (44th overall, unsigned), Reinaldas Seibutis (50th overall, unsigned) Players retained: Jerry Stackhouse (re-signed, three years, $22,376,250, I think) Devean George (opted out, re-signed, one year, $2,369,111) Devin Harris (signed a five year extension) DeSagana Diop (exercised team option) Players departed: Greg Buckner (traded to Minnesota) Austin Croshere (signed with Golden State) Kevin Willis (unsigned) Pops Mensah-Bonsu (waived, signed in Italy) Bobbins: The Mavericks have one of the worst young cores in the NBA. With only Devin Harris, Juan Jose Barea and Maurice Ager as the only returning players under the age of 26, and with only one of those players able to crack any NBA team’s rotation, Dallas enjoys (if that’s the word) almost nothing in the way of prospects. There’s Josh Howard of course, but he’s 27 now, and while DeSagana Diop is still only 25, you’re an optimist if you think there’s some skills in there that he’s merely kept hidden for six years. (Incidentally, did you know that Mavericks training camp signee Jamal Sampson is only 24 years old, despite being around for what feels like a million years, and that commonly-accepted youngster Diduer Ilunga Mbenga is about to turn 27? Me neither. These things are worth noting. That is, they are worth nothing if you’re pathetic like me. If you are, hooray! We should hang out.) Dallas tried to add to this somewhat this summer. Without a first-round draft pick, they picked Nick Fazekas high in the second, thus once again ensuring that they have a tall forward who takes 85% outside jump shots […]
