2010 Summer League Rosters: Charlotte Bobcats
July 8th, 2010
Alexis Ajinca After giving up a pick with very lax protection to get him – in the end, it became the one used on Luke Babbitt – Charlotte have spent two years not playing Ajinca. Jinx played 182 minutes only on his rookie season, and topped that in his sophomore season with only 30 minutes played all year. He spent a lot of the year on assignment in the D-League, averaging 14.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, 3.0 turnovers and 3.9 fouls in 26 minutes per game, showing some signs of scoring and shot-blocking ability while committing far too many mistakes and not defensive rebounding much. However, entering his third year, the D-League is now no longer an option. If Ajinca is going to do anything Theo Ratliff-ish, he’s going to have to do some of it in his third year. If he doesn’t, there might not be a fourth. Alade Aminu Despite doing little in four years at Georgia Tech, Aminu was drafted 10th overall in the D-League draft. And despite doing little in the D-League, Aminu managed to get a 10 day call-up from the Heat last year. The oft-banded about comparison for Aminu is Chris Andersen, and however raw he is right now, he’s got more offensive talent than Andersen had when his raw untattooed self stumbled into the Nuggets rotation once upon a time. But whatever Aminu is going to be, he’s a long way from it yet. He’s too inconsistent, and just not especially productive as a shot-blocker or rebounder right now. Antonio Anderson Anderson signed with the Bobcats in training camp last year, but did not make the team. At the time, with Ronald Murray and Raja Bell at shooting guard alongside D.J. Augustin and the recently drafted Gerald Henderson, and with Raymond Felton […]
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, […]
2009 NBA Summer League round-up: Sacramento Kings
July 24th, 2009
– Robert Battle: Battle’s great. Every time he takes contact, he yells. And considering that he nails himself to the basket at both ends and never leaves the paint, that happens quite a lot. Good times. Battle averaged 12.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the Spanish LEB Gold last season, good enough numbers to get his team (Valladolid) promoted. But he’s not ever going to have NBA size, no matter how much he shouts (which he does on every contested lay-up attempt). – Jon Brockman: All Brockman did in college was rebound, take charges and break his nose. He’s not a scorer, he can’t play away from the basket, and he doesn’t block any shots whatsoever. However, of all the abilities that translate from the college game to the NBA, rebounding, charge-taking and nose-breaking are arguably the three most transferrable, especially for the bad-rebounding Kings. So he should be OK, even if he was picked too high. – John Bryant: Bryant’s numbers in his senior season for Santa Clara were big: 18.1 points, 14.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in only 31 minutes per game. He also has the size for the job, being listed at 6’11 and 275. But he wasn’t drafted anyway, despite how little size there was in the last draft. Why is that? I’m not sure, having not seen him, but being stabbed in the back three times during an off-campus assault probably didn’t help. – Pat Calathes: Like his brother Nick, Calathes has a Greek passport, and like his brother Nick, Pat has already signed there for next year. He was there last year, too, where he averaged a sensational 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game for Marousi. – Omri Casspi: Nice beard. – Tyreke Evans: Please play […]