Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 5
January 5th, 2010
I was going to write a separate post to describe ways that the Hornets can avoid the luxury tax without trading away David West or anyone important, but I’ve decided that I won’t. Here’s a shorthand version: 1) On trade deadline day, trade Hilton Armstrong and $1.1 million in cash ($922,748 to cover his remaining salary, the rest as an incentive) to the Clippers in exchange for changing the protection on their 2016 second-rounder – already owed to the Hornets from the Rasual Butler deal – from top 55 to top 50. The Clippers gain a free player who may or may not see the court, whilst more importantly earning some cash for their troubles and giving up quite literally the least significant thing imaginable. Meanwhile, the Hornets dump the $2.8 million salary of a player that managed to lose an unloseable backup centre spot to Darius Songaila. That can’t ever be a bad loss. 2) Also on trade deadline day, trade Ike Diogu and $400,000 to the Hawks for the rights to Alain Digbeu. $271,928 of that covers Diogu’s remaining salary; the rest is the Hawks incentive to use an inactive list spot on a player that’s out for the season. And all they lose is a 34-year-old Frenchman. If not the Hawks, Diogu could also be sent to the Grizzlies, Kings, Pistons or Sixers. Whichever. Trading two surplus players and $1.5 million will save them about $9 million, once tax payments are substituted and rebates added. And you can do so without moving one of your only good players or taking on future salary. If those two deals happen, or ones very similar to them, then expect misplaced bravado. Failing that, someone competitive will think too much of James Posey, just like the Hornets once did themselves. Ask […]
2009 NBA Summer League round-up: Los Angeles Clippers
July 10th, 2009
– Sean Banks: Sean Banks was in the NBA once, believe it or not. It’s a period of time easily forgotten, but it did happen – after declaring early and going undrafted in the 2005 Draft, the Hornets signed him as an undrafted free agent, and assigned him to the Tulsa 66ers. He was the sixth player ever to be assigned to the D-League, but he didn’t do much there, averaging roughly 12/3. The Hornets waived him before his contract became guaranteed, and he never appeared in an NBA game. He hasn’t made it back since. However, in the 2007/08 season, Banks averaged 21.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game for the L.A. D-Fenders, which got him back into NBA contention, and he signed with the Raptors summer league team last year as a result. After that, he went to Turkey and played for Darussafaka, averaging 13.1 points and 5.1 rebounds. Banks would do himself a big favour if he either improved his jump shot, or put it away; he shot 101 three-pointers in 30 games last season, accounting for one in every three of his shot attempts, yet he hit only 21 of them. More importantly, Banks is rumoured to be trying to become a British national. His father was born in England, and still lives here, which entitles Sean to a British passport. He may soon be one of us. If he is, expect me to get biased. – Nik Caner-Medley: Caner-Medley spent last year in Spain, playing for Cajasol Sevilla in the ACB. He averaged 10.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in 25 minutes a game during domestic competition, but he still hasn’t developed a great outside shot, shooting 23% from three-point range on the year. More notably, Caner-Medley was kicked off of the team […]
Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 4
January 4th, 2009
– Malick Badiane was an exciting thing for Houston Rockets fans for a few years. They could pretend that his underwhelming numbers in less-than-stellar European leagues were not as important as the idea of having a seven-foot young, athletic, defensive minded centre, who could grow into some weird yet perfect merger of Kevin Garnett and Dikembe Mutombo. But it slowly emerged that Badiane wasn’t getting anywhere fast, and was not getting to the top echelons of Europe, let alone the NBA. Badiane’s rights were then meekly thrown into the Mike James/Bobby Jackson swap of last season, and from then on it was Memphis fans who had someone to keep the loosest tabs on. Badiane then accepted Memphis’ tender offer to come to training camp this summer – whether they wanted this or not is another matter – but unsurprisingly, he didn’t make the team. He subsequently signed in China, but left before playing a game, and is now unemployed, probably living it up with Rafael Araujo or something. (I have this idea in my head that all currently unsigned basketball players constantly hang out together. It’s not true, but it’s a fun image anyway.) – Dalibor Bagaric had reportedly signed a guaranteed contract with the Atlanta Hawks this summer, as Hawks GM Rick Sund once again pursued a player he nearly signed when Sund was with Seattle. But this didn’t happen, as evidenced by the fact that it didn’t happen. Instead, Bagaric went back to Fortitudo Bologna, where he averaged 2 points and 2 rebounds in two games in October. Now, I can’t speak Italian or Spanish, so I can’t tell if he’s still there and/or injured/out of favour, or if he left ages ago, but at the very least I can tell you that he is being pursued […]
