Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 44
April 9th, 2010
– Aaron McKie Since his surprising and ultimately irrelevant “comeback” with the Grizzlies in 2007, McKie went back to where he already was; on the Philadelphia 76ers bench as an assistant coach. He did not play for the Grizzlies at any point. Probably best. – Keith McLeod Looking to get back into the NBA, Keith McLeod has spent a second season with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the D-League. His numbers this year were up across the board from last year; McLeod averaged 21.8 points, 5.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, and even shot 39% from three-point range. However, McLeod shot only 40.0% from the field overall, which suggests he hasn’t mended his lay-ups problem, and also turned it over three times a game. The points per game were nice, but I don’t think 30-year-old 6’2 jump shooters are getting it done. – Gerry McNamara Despite being on the Utah Jazz roster as recently as 18 months ago, Gerry McNamara has retired from basketball. He did so about a year ago, actually. After leaving the Jazz, McNamara went to the D-League for a bit with the Reno Bighorns, but professional basketball in front of sparse crowds didn’t hold the same lustre that his Syracuse days did. So he retired last April to return to Syracuse as an graduate assistant coach, where he remains today. And that’s fair enough. If he doesn’t want to do it, then why should he? – Jerel McNeal Marquette star McNeal joined the Kings for summer league after going undrafted, joining up with his former team mate Wesley Matthews. He got to play quite a few minutes with the team, but they were mostly at point guard, and McNeal still isn’t one. He didn’t get a contract offer from the Kings, […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 34
February 18th, 2009
– Chris McCray is playing in Italy for a second-tier team called Rimini Crabs, which sounds like the most painful affliction that a man can have. McCray averages 13.8 points and 4.1 rebounds for them. – Taj McCullough is in the D-League, and started the year with the Erie BayHawks. He barely played there, averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in eight games before being waived in late December, T-Mac was later picked up by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, for whom he averages a far better 15.6 points and 4.6 rebounds, while hacking up five and a half three-pointers per game. That’s a new idea. – Cornelius “Scooter” McFadgon recently left his team in Chile to sign with Barako Bull (they’re missing a real trick if they don’t start marketing thundersticks as “Barmers”) in the Philippines. – Ivan McFarlin is exactly where you’d expect him to be; Switzerland. Playing for whoever BBC Nyon are, McFarlin averages 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds alongside such luminaries as Baptiste Cransac and Stephen Sir. Remember those names. – It is hard to find Jeff McInnis news, considering that there is a reality TV chef of the same name who seems to be far more newsworthy. (I’ve never heard of him, but you can understand why headlines like this one get my attention.) I can assure you, though, that Jeff McInnis is not signed anywhere. And he may never be again. – Nor will Aaron McKie, whose retirement seems for certain this time, as no one can randomly sign and trade him any more. McKie was inevitably waived by the Grizzlies, and later reprised the role as an informal Sixers assistant coach that he was stolen away from at about this time last year. – Keith McLeod is with the Albuquerque Thunders in the […]
Third Prize Is You’re Fired (2008 NBA Training Camp)
October 6th, 2008
“Anybody wanna see second prize?” “Second prize is a set of steak knives.” – Milwaukee signed Ron Howard, T.J. Cummings, Matt Freije and Kevin Kruger for camp. If you’re wondering who Ron Howard and T.J. Cummings are…well, you have yourself a valid question, but both are represented by Elfus-Siegel Management, an agency quite adept at landing their players places on training camp rosters. (If you were wondering, this is how Garth Joseph rolled up on the Bulls training camp back in 2003, for one beautiful week.) Be very careful when you Google-search T.J. Cummings’s name. Freije gives the Bucks a weak-defending jump-shooting power forward, as they only have two right now, which just isn’t enough. And Kruger gets to spend a couple of weeks in the NBA, even though he has little chance of making a roster that sees Luke Ridnour, Ramon Sessions and Tyronn Lue ahead of him, whether he likes it or not. Sham’s prediction: The Bucks told Damon Jones not to report, and they’ll try to trade him, but he will probably be waived if that can’t be done. That would open up a roster spot for someone, but what would be the value of any of those four filling it? – Minnesota made me a happy man this summer. Their camp signings were Kevin Ollie, Blake Ahearn and Rafael Araujo, while Chris Richard accepted his qualifying offer. Blake Ahearn is a nice player. Kevin Ollie is a moustachioed legend with something of a Brunson complex. But….Araujo? There’s so much right about that move. Part of it is the way that Rob Babcock won’t let go, part of it is the fact that it’s Rafael Araujo, but also because his signing allows for the existence of this picture. Only Rafael Araujo could use training camp media day […]
