2010 Summer Signings, Part 1
June 10th, 2010
Summer is here, and players are a-moving. The NBA free agency period has not yet begun – and should be pretty epic once it does – but this hasn’t stopped players moving the world over. Here are some of the transactions that may interest you. – Teams in Australia’s NBL tend to sort out their rosters nice and early, and so even though we’re several months away from the 2010-11 season tipping off, many rosters are all but complete already. Despite him winning the NBL MVP trophy last season, the Townsville Crocodiles have released Corey “Homicide” Williams, and have not named a replacement import, although they have brought in former St. Mary’s big man Ben Allen (who is also currently trying out for the Australian national team.) The Melbourne Tigers have brought home from America another big Aussie centre (Luke Nevill), and have signed Eric Devendorf to score from them after his hugely successful offseason in New Zealand (at least, basketball-wise; Devendorf managed to get arrested for breach of the peace in there). And the Sydney Kings are returning to the NBL after a season out due to financial difficulties, bringing with them Taj McCullough, who had previously been in Latvia with VEF Riga. – Arvydas Macijauskas, the star Lithuania shooting guard whose NBA career was a short-lived failure, has retired aged only 30. Macijauskas was an All-EuroLeague first teamer in 2004-05 while playing for Tau Ceramica, which led to a big money three-year contract with the New Orleans Hornets; however, he was barely used, and when he was used, it was only as a third string point. Since that time, Macijauskas has spent the last two seasons on the shelf, rehabilitating an assortment of injuries including left Achilles and calf injuries, as well as a spinal hernia. Macijauskas has […]
Antoine Walker released by Puerto Rican team
April 1st, 2010
It’s been well-documented of late, but here it is again. Former NBA player Antoine Walker is broke. He earned (so to speak) $110 million over his career, and yet he spent it all. Now, only 15 months removed from his last stint on an NBA roster, Walker is in serious financial straits, facing legal troubles for both unpaid gambling debts and for failure to maintain properties that he owns in Chicago. His agent sued him for unpaid fees – and won – and the NBA pay checks stopped coming last year. Whatever Antoine had, he spent, and he spent it on things with no redeemable value. Clothes, cars, drink, food, blackjack hands and dishonest associates. None of that means anything to a creditor. It’s all gone. Antoine is broke. It’s also been well-documented of late that Walker had gone to Puerto Rico to start playing ball again. Playing in Puerto Rico is far from an abnormal thing for good basketball players to do; for many years now, fringe and former NBA talents have played there over the summer for some extra money. The Puerto Rican league takes place when most others don’t, and it’s in large part because of this that it holds the attraction for such talented players. It is a pretty high standard level of basketball, too; players to have there this year include former NBA talents Lee Nailon, DerMarr Johnson, Courtney Sims, Damon Jones, Robert Traylor, and all this lot. Puerto Rico is a regular stop for fringe NBA players grinding out their careers around the world, players who often play in the far East and central Americas in a rotation now known as the Dan Langhi Tour. It’s a common occurrence and, all told, a decent gig. But Antoine wasn’t a fringe NBA player. He was […]
Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 16
January 26th, 2010
When I came in from bowling last night, many messages awaited me asking me for my views on the news that Devin Brown had joined the Bulls. You know how sometimes you get an irrational like for a fringe NBA player, a staunch loyalty that reaches far in excess of that player’s talent level, and you yearn for them to join your team if only for them to play badly so that you can break that bond? That guy is Devin Brown for me, and such a kinship made my name synonymous with that of Devin Brown to at least one person. This can only end well. Or rather; well, this can only end. Good times. Of course, acquiring Brown means nothing more than acquiring a minimum-salary backup. I don’t think anyone is deluded into thinking otherwise, even those of us with inexplicable love for Downtown Devin Brown. His three-point shooting this season is an anomaly until further notice, and he’s still the same player he’s always been; a replacement-level one. But Brown doesn’t have to be a good shooter or a good player to be a worthwhile player for the Bulls. He just has to be competent. Competent will do. Competent is fine. Competent is better than what they had before. Also, Jerome James is about ready to make his return from injury and apathy, and trading away Aaron Gray now makes James the only garbage time centre option. Isn’t it better for the world that we let that happen? A great trade all around. Genuinely very happy about this. – Nando De Colo Spurs draft pick Nando De Colo left France in the summer and moved to Valencia in the ACB in order to play against better competition. In the ACB he is averaging 12.1 points, 3.2 […]
