Where Are They Now, 2010; Part 61
April 25th, 2010
– Marcus Slaughter Slaughter is in France, playing for Nancy. France is a good place to go if you’re an athletic 6’8 power forward, and Slaughter is producing, averaging 13.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals in only 23 minutes per game. He is shooting 64% from the field and 71% from the line, putting up a massive PER of 25.9. Nancy also have forward Louisville forward Ricardo Greer, who is one of the best players in the country. Greer is ninth in the league in points (15.9 ppg), fourth in rebounds (8.9 rpg), fourth in assists (6.1 apg) and fifth in steals (1.9 spg). Of all the people we’ve covered in this 61-instalment list – which is about 650 players in total so far – I can’t think of another that has ranked in any four of the big five categories. Ricardo’s brother Jeff also plays there, but he averages a comparatively paltry 12/4/2. – Tamar Slay Former NBA finalist Slay spent the two previous seasons in Italy, playing first for Pierrel Capo d’Orlando (who went bankrupt during Slay’s only season there) and then for Air Avellino. He got injured early last season and managed only a few games; to get new work in Italy this year, Slay had to drop down to Lega Due. But despite the lesser standard and the lesser money, it’s been a successful move. Slay has been healthy for most of the year and has averaged 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in 26 games for Carmatic Pistoia. He has shot 50% from the field, 38% from three and 80% from the line, doing whatever it takes to help his team win. Gamer. – Uros Slokar Slokar started the season with Union Olimpia Ljubljana, a […]
Where Are They Now, 2009: Part 48
March 6th, 2009
The following post will make you hate the word Smith. – Charles Smith is with everyone’s favourite delicatessen, Efes Pilsen, where he averages 14.7 points in the Turkish league and 12.0 points in the EuroLeague. – Donta Smith is in Australia, which sort of has a Chinese league thing going on with its American imports, albeit thankfully not as exaggerated. For comparison’s sake, Donta started the year in China, so I can give you his Chinese league numbers (22.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 4.7 apg, 2.8 spg) and you can compare them with his Australian league numbers (14.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.2 spg). Smith’s team, the Melbourne South Dragons, are currently playing in the NBL Grand Final Series Thing, and Smith led the team to a victory in Game One with a 19-point, 11-rebound, 5-assist performance. On this night, the team gave away 6,000 posters of Donta to the crowd. – For what seems like years now, I’ve been talking about how Jabari Smith became a nationalised citizen of Qatar. But actually, he didn’t; he applied for citizenship, but, for whatever reason, he didn’t get it. I’m not sure why he wanted or needed it, unless he was wanting to enhance his career in the Qatarian leagues, but still. Jabari isn’t signed at the moment, having last played in Iran. – JaJuan Smith played with the Mavericks in summer league, fired up jumpers mercilessly, hit a few, got a training camp invite, got cut, waited around, went to Slovenia, got cut within days of arriving, and is now in France. In five games for the struggling Pau Orthez, Smith averages 8.8 points and 2.8 rebounds, having shot 12 two-pointers, 4 free throws, and 31 three-pointers. – Jamar Smith (not the transferred Illinois one, but […]
30 teams in 36 or so days: Philadelphia 76ers
September 10th, 2007
Players acquired via free agency or trade: Jack diddly Players acquired via draft: First round: Thaddeus Young (12th overall), Jason Smith (20th overall, acquired in draft night trade) Second round: Derrick Byars (42nd overall, acquired in draft night trade, unsigned), Herbert Hill (55th overall, acquired in draft night trade, unsigned) Players retained: Louis Williams (exercised team option), Shavlik Randolph (exercised player option) Players departed: Joe Smith (signed with Chicago), Alan Henderson (unsigned, might yet return) Bobbins: Trivia question: Which player did Billy King either sign or re-sign this offseason for way too many guaranteed years and guaranteed money, as is his yearly custom to do at least once? Answer: No one. This is extremely unusual behaviour from the man who in recent years has given out or taken on the contracts of Aaron McKie, Allen Iverson, Chris Webber, Samuel Dalembert, Dikembe Mutombo, Todd MacCulloch, Greg Buckner, Kevin Ollie, Derrick Coleman, Marc Jackson, Keith Van Horn, Eric Snow, Steven Hunter, Jamal Mashburn, Glenn Robinson, Brian Skinner, Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson, George Lynch and Willie Green, amongst others. Years of piling on payroll and trying to manoeuvre his way out of previous personnel decisions have left his team with a big tab to pick up, and not much to show for it. This, it would appear, has stymied King’s spending habits, if only for a bit (next year, the Sixers’ payroll predicts to be about half of where it is now). The offshoot from this, though, is that King has not improved his team in any capacity via trades or free agency. And this leaves him with all his eggs in one basket, having to address his team needs via the draft. Historically, this is where King does his best work. Having not had much in the way […]
