Tag Archives: Kwame Brown

by | March 14, 2012 · 11:55 AM

Warriors trade Ellis to Bucks for Bogut

Trading places

With the NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching, teams are weighing their options as rumors, per usual, swirl endlessly. Almost every rumor out there is centered on whether Dwight Howard will remain in Orlando beyond the deadline, which he has stated is his wish, or if he will be traded now so that the Magic can get something in return for their franchise player before he bolts in free agency this summer. Of course, Howard is not the only player that is on the trade block, Atlanta’s Josh Smith has requested to be traded, Carmelo Anthony‘s future in New York is blurred since his return to health and the recent skid the Knicks have been on. The likelihood of the Knicks moving Anthony is highly unlikely after what they gave up to acquire him, though. Paul Gasol is also a name that is currently in everyone’s mouth. Those are just some of the more well known players that have rampant speculation surrounding their every move. At this point, the only official trade that has occurred is between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors.

Golden State has been looking to make a trade since last summer when Joe Lacob and his associates took over and had been in the thick of the speculation surrounding Howard. Now, however, they have traded Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh, and Kwame Brown to the Bucks in exchange for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson. This move effectively removes Golden State from the race for Howard while also giving the team the a quality player in a position it has coveted.

Bogut, though, has been out for much of the season with a fractured left ankle and could potentially miss the remainder of the season as the initial timetable for his return was eight to ten weeks. He sustained the injury on January 25.

His career has been marred with injuries so his acquisition is therefore a risky one. However, Bogut’s presence in the middle, even if it is limited should be a great help to a team that has lacked interior scoring and defense for quite some time.

Any deal that Milwaukee was involved in was going to include Jackson. He fell out of favor with head coach Scott Skiles and was relegated to a bench role which the team reported was to let him recover from a hamstring injury. Statistically, this has been Jackson’s worst season since his sophomore effort. Combine that with his temperament and it is easy to understand why the Bucks were adamant about moving him.

Ellis playing in Milwaukee presents an interesting, if not all too unfamiliar, situation to the one in which played in with the Warriors. With Golden State, Ellis was paired in the backcourt with Stephen Curry. In Milwaukee he will be paired with Brandon Jennings. Ellis and Jennings are actually very similar players. Both have good ball handling skills which allows them to break down defenses but are more prone to take low percentage shots and shoot the ball inefficiently. At present, it is uncertain how they with mesh together on the floor. Ellis is the better pure scorer of the two and should help the sometimes anemic offense that befalls the Bucks but his average could dip.

Acquiring Ellis also begets the question: Are the Bucks planning to trade Jennings? What is the point of starting two similar players in the backcourt? There have been no rumors as yet to Jennings’ future with the team but a trade has to be an option that is now on the table.

As for the other two pieces, Udoh and Brown, it is Udoh with the most upside, and conversely, the most room to fail. Where Udoh fits into Milwaukee’s system will be important to his development. He will likely alternate between the center and power forward slots (those terms seem dated at this point) spelling Drew Gooden, Ersan Ilyasova, and sitting just above Jon Leuer in the rotation. This should effectively give him the minutes he needs but be most be productive. In his six starts with Golden State this season, Udoh has been just that averaging 12 points, 5.5 rebounds, and two blocks. He will not be getting starting minutes in Milwaukee but the sings of promise are there.

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by | December 27, 2011 · 4:03 PM

6 NBA Rookies to Watch in 2011-12

Leonard is one of a few promising rookies this year

Usually, this list consists of ten rookies to keep an eye on during the season. With the shortened season, however, this list is also smaller. Call it laziness on my part, call it whatever you want. It is what it is. Last year’s draft was something out of the Bizzaro universe. It was more notable for the peculiar name pronunciations than anything else. The popular rookies will get press elsewhere so there is no need to cover them in depth on this little blog. Plus, do you really need to read another article about the parallels between Jimmer Fredette and Tim Tebow? No, I didn’t think so.

The way in which the rookies were chosen to appear on this list is completely arbitrary and is a result of hope, sometimes terribly misguided, that these players will transform into household names in the future. Certainly, though, at least one is on here because of the sheer absurdity surrounding his journey to the NBA. (Can you guess which one?)

Norris Cole – PG, Miami Heat

Upon being drafted, Cole quickly discovered how he, as a player, is merely a commodity to teams. He was a member of three different teams on draft night, eventually landing with the Miami Heat. In college, Cole was the focal point of his team’s offense as he took 28.9 percent of his team’s field goal attempts. In Miami that will not be the case (understatement of the year, perhaps). What will set Cole apart will he his ability to pass the ball to the prominent scorers on the Heat as well as conform to the defensive system that Erik Spoelstra employs. His passing is already above average; however, he does have trouble passing out of a double team. Again, though, it will be unlikely that he sees many doubles while on the floor. It would not be surprising if Cole was inserted into the starting lineup at some point during the season so that Spoelstra can bring Mario Chalmers off the bench as an offensive kick for his second unit. Cole must continue to learn and play at a high level for that to happen.

Kawhi Leonard – SF, San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are a damned crafty bunch when it comes to drafting players. For them to have traded a promising young talent in George Hill to the Indiana Pacers for the draft rights to Leonard caused heads to turn. He would have been a great addition to an already scrappy Pacers squad, but they were overloaded at his position. Leonard made his mark in college as a premier (or monster) wing defender, forcing a turnover on 23.8 percent of the possessions in which he was the isolated defender as well as holding opponents to 37.5 percent shooting when he was defending them. His seven feet two inch arm span certainly helped him in these respects. Not only is he a stout defender but he is also a good defensive rebounder. Essentially, Leonard is the ideal Spurs player. Where he needs improvement, which Greg Popovich will administer in his own special way, is with his offense, both his shot and offensive sets. The Spurs are notorious for successfully developing players, much to the ire of rival fans, so Leonard should be in good hands. Also, with San Antonio shopping Richard Jefferson over the summer it looks as though Leonard could quickly move up the depth chart.

Ricky Rubio – PG, Minnesota Timberwolves

Oh, Ricky, Ricky, Ricky. What a zany (channeling Mitt Romney for that one) path Rubio has taken to the NBA. He was drafted what seems like a decade ago only to hold out until the final year of his rookie contract before agreeing to leave his beloved Spain to play in the cold wintery confines of Minnesota. This was either incredibly shrewd or insanely selfish. Rubio is not a typical rookie. He has played at a high level in Spain and internationally with the Spanish national team which is made up of mostly NBA players. One of the major criticisms of Rubio has been his scoring ability, however, he, like other Spanish point guards (read: Jose Calderon) is a pass first, offense facilitator. In Rick Adelman’s up-tempo style of play, especially with a team full of mediocre talent, Kevin Love aside, but that is incredibly athletic, Rubio should learn to thrive in the open court. He must first distinguish himself as deserving the playing time over the 1,000 other point guards that David Kahn has signed, though. That task should not prove to be a problem.

Iman Shumpert – PG/SG, New York Knicks

Shumpert was the buzz of New York after two preseason games. The hype was palpable. Shumpert was drafted for his defensive prowess but his offensive skills soon were apparent once the preseason began. Due to the Knicks’ lack of backcourt depth, he was slated to be a staple in the rotation. However, he suffered an injury in the first game of the season and will be out for several weeks. When he returns to the lineup, Shumpert needs to improve his shot selection, like most rookies, and his ability to finish at the rim. Against the Celtics he only made one of six shots at the rim. Boston maintains a physical defense, especially around the paint, but no NBA team is going to give up easy points around the rim if they can help it. With his usage percentage projected to remain high upon his return, Shumpert must finish the opportunities he is given.

Tristan Thompson – PF, Cleveland Cavaliers

Thompson was drafted pretty high, fourth overall, for a player that possesses little ability to operate away from the rim. He does, however, possess the ability to work off the ball offensively away from the rim in space but this is to free him up on a dive or cut to the basket. He will need to improve his ball-in-hand offense, specifically in the post, in order to adapt his game to the NBA level. Another area of concern for Thompson is his poor defensive rebounding ability. This, for one, is striking due to Thompson’s size, even as a young man, and good post defense. Yet, he cleans the offensive glass rather well which should benefit a team destined to miss a lot of shots. Despite his immediate drawbacks, Thompson has plenty of raw potential and other than Kyrie Irving, represents the only potential the Cavaliers have.

Kemba Walker – PG, Charlotte Bobcats

Michael Jordan has a special place in history when it comes to the draft lottery. That place is specifically referred to as Kwame Brown. MJ, let us hope you done right this time. Walker comes into the league with a solid NCAA pedigree. He was a member, and respective leader, of the national champion UConn Huskies. Not too shabby, right? Walker works well as a primary scoring threat for a team in pick-and-roll and off the ball screens. What will be interesting to watch for this season is if his ball hogging tendencies, he shot the ball 63.8 percent of the time coming off of a ball screen while at UConn, will carry over to the NBA. It is apparent that Walker will split and share time with D.J. Augustin in Charlotte, where is off the ball offensive movement will be on display. However with the ball in his hand, how will he react? One game is not a benchmark for anything, but Walker totaled just three assists, each leading to a shot from 16-23 feet, in 21 minutes in his first NBA game. He is a score first point guard.

Tip of the hat to NBA Playbook for many of the statistics used above.

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by | June 28, 2011 · 3:17 PM

Bismack Biyombo’s Contract Woes

Seemingly held back.

Seems as though the mysterious forward from the Congo might have a hard time lacing up in the US.

Bismack Biyombo didn’t seem at all worried about his contract in Europe when the Charlotte Bobcats introduced him to the media earlier this week.  The 18-year-old was drafter seventh overall by Charlotte in last week’s draft but his contract may be a bigger concern than even he realizes.

According to NBA.com, the two sides are supposed to have talks this Friday, July 1 concerning his contract overseas; however, the impeding lockout begins that day as well which may throw another hurdle at negotiations.

Jorge Sanz, a spokesman for the Madrid-based Fuenlabrada, said that Biyombo still has two seasons left on his contract with the team.  His buyout could cost the bobcats $1.4 million but NBA rules state that Charlotte can’t spend more than $500,000 towards a buyout.

Sanz has stated that the team respects Biyombo’s dream to play in America but fully expects to receive payment for his buyout.  If the mediation on Friday does not lead to Charlotte paying the million Euros, the dispute will go to court for a judge to decide on.

While the rule states that the team may not spend over half a million dollars toward a buyout, the Bobcats have several players set for free agency, four of which are frontcourt players.  Kwame Brown, Joel Przybilla and Dominic McGuire are all unrestricted free agents this year while Dante Cunningham’s contract is restricted.  Additionally, these are all players that any team should be willing to dump for necessary money.

Scout’s say that Biyombo is one of the most athletic players picked in this year’s draft but was mainly unnoticed until he recorded a triple double at the 2011 Nike Hoops Summit with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks.  His defense is unquestionably good since he has a natural tendency to position himself appropriately under the basket for rebounds and blocks but his offense is another story.  He’s very raw on the other end of the court and scoring doesn’t come easy for the young forward that still has a lot to work on.

The Bobcats made the playoffs during the 2009-10 season by playing hard defense under Larry Brown.  Last season, they missed the playoffs mainly due to their lack of scoring with only 93 points a game, second to last in the league.  They were also ranked 24th in the league in rebounding with only 40 a game.  Biyombo has the potential to give that frontcourt a little more bite that they have missed since the departures of Gerald Wallace, Tyson Chandler and even Emeka Okafor.

Bismack Biyombo’s performance at the 2011 Nike Hoops Summit in Portland.

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by | December 23, 2010 · 8:48 PM

Brown’s out but the problems are staying

It isn't you, it's me.

Larry Brown is known for his ability to turn teams around.  Though criticized for not staying in the same place for long, the well-traveled coach can turn losers into winners.

Before Jason Kidd went to New Jersey, the Nets had only made the playoffs in ten of their 25 seasons in the NBA.  They made it in 1982 and 83 under Brown.  The same happened with the Clippers when he coached them to their first two trips to the playoffs in 1992 and 93.  In his first season in San Antonio, the Spurs were the worst team in the league.  He took them to the playoffs the next season in what would become one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history.

And now, he is moving again in the midst of changing teams due to his inability to shut his mouth.  He targeted Stephen Jackson publicly after he was ejected 4 ½ minutes into a loss in Milwaukee.  The Boston Celtics held them to 62 points in Charlotte.  It has been a messy season with no scoring and no impressive wins.

Michael Jordan was dealing with a coach that was unable to hold a team together and saw a crossroads when they hit 9-19 on the season.   Regardless of the situation, the Bobcats are turning into a complete and utter failure.  Jackson isn’t the force that he used to be and his scoring is down.  Gerald Wallace has already experienced ankle problems this season.

Brown turned them into a playoff team last season and now it looks like they are falling apart just as quickly as he put them together.  The loss of Raymond Felton is really leaving a mark in Charlotte.  D.J. Augustin did what any smart player that wanted run point should do and declared that he was ready for the position.  He isn’t.  He hasn’t shown up against the big teams and was even held to 0-8 from the field against Boston.

Meanwhile, Felton is in the middle of some wild times at Madison Square Garden as Spike Lee is getting to see a little more notches in the win column than he’s used to.  However, it’s the sheer depth in Charlotte that is so bad.

Tyson Chandler was traded for Eduardo Najera, Matt Carroll and Erick Dampier who was nearing the end of an expensive contract.  They saw the opportunity in Damp for trade bait but they ended up just waiving him at the end of the summer.

Instead of doing something smart, they signed Kwame Brown…

Tyrus Thomas shows promise but is only getting 20 minutes a night and averaging just above 10 points a game.  He has only started once this season.  He’s averaging well over 20 in games where he sees 30 minutes or more.  He simply isn’t getting the time he needs to grow.  This in turn reflects poorly on Brown as well.

When we look to the bench for any promising young guys, it’s pretty bleak.  In the 2010 Draft, Charlotte would have had the 18th pick in the draft.  They traded it away to get the 20th pick in the 2008 draft.  They drafted Alexis Ajinça who plays in Dallas now.  There is nothing on the horizon but an overconfident point guard and a young forward that isn’t getting enough minutes.

By the way here are some players drafted after Ajinça in the 2008 draft:

26. George Hill

34. Mario Chalmers

45. Goran Dragić

It’s simple: it was time for change but coaching shouldn’t be the only shakeup.

General manager and former Bull, Rod Higgins, has not been making the best decisions for this franchise.  However, it really comes down to Michael Jordan’s inability to run a team.

He’s been with the franchise since 2006 and was a part of bringing Brown to Charlotte in 2008.  Jordan oversees all basketball operations there.  It’s his mess.

Paul Silas is coaching and don’t expect much.  They do have a chunk of guys entering free agency and they will save a lot of money if Boris Diaw leaves (paying him $9,000 this season.  He hasn’t scored 20 points on back-to-back nights all year).

It’s time to rethink the guard position and look to bring in a veteran that knows how to run the court (hint: Mo Williams has an early termination option on his contract that ends at the end of this season).

Same goes for the center position and if you look at most of the contenders this season, they are stacked with at least four players they can move in and out of the four and five positions (just look at the rotations they are able to run in Dallas, LA and Boston).  Kwame is not going to cut it and Nazr Mohammed isn’t having a consistent season.

Luckily, they will have the opportunity to free up money in free agency but we have already seen that they have no idea to spend it.  They haven’t traded away their first-round pick for this season… yet and we have yet to see what a potential lockout’s affect could be on college players seeking big money (It has been speculated that 2012 is where it’s at).

Yes, it does seem as though it was time for Larry to go and the way things are shaping out, Charlotte will remain bad.  Trades are always a possibility but I can’t imagine many teams looking to Charlotte for anything other than a place to dump old talent that they no longer want to pay.  They have a chance to start over but knowing how things are run in Charlotte, they wont realize it until it’s too late.

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by | November 17, 2010 · 11:33 PM

Greg Oden: Bust-ed

Street clothes have become Oden's uniform

ESPN is reporting that Greg Oden is done for the season…again. He will have microfracture surgery on his left knee and will miss the rest of the 2010-11 season.

Oden has not played in a game since last December because of surgery to his knee cap. He was selected first overall in the 2007 draft by the Portland Trail Blazers, one pick ahead of Kevin Durant. Let the Sam Bowie references continue to rain down on Oden and the Blazers.

Losing Oden yet again for an entire season spells doom for the former standout from Ohio State. He can now consider himself lumped into a category featuring the likes of Kwame Brown.

At least the Blazers’ big man curse seems to have no effect on Marcus Camby.

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by | October 18, 2010 · 1:50 PM

Rookie Watch

Boom or bust, here is a list of rookies that could potentially make names for themselves in the coming season. Not all of them will be in the running for Rookie of the Year but they all have something to prove to their respective teams and to the fans alike. A few of these players are already predetermined starters on their squads. Unfortunately, some on this list will find themselves deep on their team’s bench despite their talent but that should not lessen the interest in them. For others, it is simply a matter of gaining the trust of the coaching staff and teammates so that they see an increase in the number of minutes that they play. It would also not be surprising to see some on this list fail to live up to the expectations surrounding them. Nonetheless, these are the rookies to watch.

DeMarcus Cousins – Sacramento Kings

So far this summer DeMarcus Cousins has been talking the talk. He has loudly professed that he feels that he should have been drafted higher than fifth and has taken shots at Derrick Favors. Lucky for him, though, that he fell to the Kings. In Sacramento he is teamed up with last year’s Rookie of the Year in Tyreke Evans. Together the two form one of the best young duo combinations in the league. Cousins will be the starting center in Sactown with the injury plagued Samuel Dalembert sidelined for the first couple of weeks of the season. With the numbers he is putting up in preseason, 16.4 points and 9.6 rebounds, Cousins looks primed to be a double-double threat every night. However, he needs to limit the fouls he commits to be even more effective while on the court. Cousins wants to be Rookie of the Year and once the season begins we shall see if he can walk the walk.

Derrick Favors – New Jersey Nets

Favors was drafted third overall by the New Jersey Nets. Teams expect a lot from a top three draft pick but are the Nets really in a position to expect anything? They were a terrible team last year and have not made any significant moves to improve. They tried to trade for Carmelo Anthony but that deal fell apart. They brought in Troy Murphy but he has been battling a back injury so it looked as if the starting job was Favors’. Avery Johnson, the Nets’ head coach, had some early glowing praise for Favors saying he is as coachable as Tim Duncan. That, however, is where all similarities between Favors and Tim Duncan end. In six games this preseason, Favors has averaged five points (he did not score at all in his last two games) and five rebounds while shooting a dreadful 33.3 percent from the floor. He has only played two games in which his numbers were even note worthy. Due to his inconsistency, Johnson made the move to replace him in the starting lineup with Joe Smith. If Favors cannot find a way to improve he will find that his name will be synonymous with those of Kwame Brown, Darko Milicic, Greg Oden, and Hasheem Thabeet.

Blake Griffin – Los Angeles Clippers

It will be Griffin’s second year with an NBA but his first in which he takes part in a regular season game; that is unless some kind of unthinkable mishap befalls him again. Griffin is a rebounding machine and will likely lead all rookies in rebounding this season. His numbers in preseason are already eye-popping. He is averaging 17.4 points and 12 rebounds per game to go along with 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks. Can I get a “daayum!”? I did not care for Griffin much in college but now that he has left Norman I can take my blinders off. This kid is going to be good. In fact he will be one of the best. If DeMarcus Cousins wants to be the ROY then he needs to outperform Griffin. As of right now, there is a short list for rookie of the year and Griffin, it can be argued, deserves to be atop of it. What has yet to be seen, however, is how he will match up with some of the more punishing frontcourts in the West.

Timofey Mozgov – New York Knicks

Mozgov is the second most talked about Russian in the NBA this season. The first, of course, is the New Jersey Net’s new owner, Mikhail Prokhorov. Before Mozgov signed with the New York Knicks, few if anybody had any idea who he was. He is still a seven foot one inch tall curiosity to fans and opposing teams alike. He played his entire professional career, up until this summer, in Russia with LenVo St. Petersburg, CSK VVS-2 Samara, and Khimki Moscow Region. This summer he played on the Russian national team in the FIBA World Championships which is where most people were introduced to the latest Knickerbocker. In FIBA play, Mozgov played a bench roll with his national team averaging 13 points and 4.4 rebounds. In the preseason, with the Knicks, he is averaging 7.5 points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal, and two blocks per game. His play thus far has caused the Knicks’ coaching staff to consider him for the role of the team’s starting center when the season starts despite his foul trouble. With hamburger enthusiast Eddy Curry as the only other true center on the roster, expect Mozgov to be named the starting center.

Jeremy Lin – Golden State Warriors

Lin was the breakout sensation of the NBA Summer League this year. Undrafted out of Harvard University, Lin, the first Asian-American to play in the NBA, was invited to play for the Dallas Mavericks’ Summer League team. The Mavericks were the only team to offer Lin an invite to Summer League. Once there, he quickly impressed all who saw him play. In five games, Lin averaged 9.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals while leading the team in field goal percentage with a mark of 54.5. The highlight performance of his Summer League experience was going head to head with John Wall and out playing him at every level, Wall scored more points but only connected on four of 19 shots while Lin was six of 12 from the floor. After he impressed in Summer League, Lin chose to sign a two year contract with his childhood favorite team, the Golden State Warriors. His numbers in the preseason are not as impressive as those he logged in Summer League play because his minutes have been extremely limited as he plays behind Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Aaron Miles, and Charlie Bell at either guard position. It would behoove new head coach Keith Smart to find some more minutes for Lin. He has the potential to be a break out player.

Larry Sanders – Milwaukee Bucks

For a time, Larry Sanders closely resembled Garry Shandling and hosted his own talk show. After massive reconstruction surgery and space-age age defying treatments, Larry Sanders is now an athletic forward for the Milwaukee Bucks. Sanders played second fiddle to Eric Maynor at Virginia Commonwealth for his first two years at the school and seemed very suited for that role. He became the standout player on the team during his junior season. He won back to back CAA Defensive Player of the Year awards his sophomore and junior seasons. Sanders is getting opportunities this season as he is averaging 17.2 minutes per game but his returns are not all bright. He was drafted by the Bucks for his defense and that is what he has provided for them thus far. He is averaging three defensive rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. His best game in the preseason came against the Detroit Pistons where he totaled 12 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks. Sanders’ ability to alter shots will be the reason that Scott Skiles will bring him in off the bench once the season begins but he needs to improve his scoring and rebounding if he is to become a legitimate role player on a deep Bucks team.

Tiago Splitter – San Antonio Spurs

Another foreign player making the jump to the NBA this season is Tiago Splitter. Much like Mozgov, not much was initially known about the Brazilian big man (he is listed at 6’11”) when the Spurs finally were able to sign him this summer. San Antonio drafted Splitter 28th overall in 2007. Since he was drafted by the Spurs, Splitter has chosen to play professionally in the Euroleague, where he could make more money, with Saski Baskonia. He was named the Spanish League MVP in 2010. Where many people were first able to see Splitter in action for the first time was during the FIBA World Championships in Turkey this summer when he represented his birth nation of Brazil (he has Spanish citizenship). During the tournament he averaged 12.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Most notably, however, is that he played for the team that gave the United States the most difficulty during the U.S.’s gold medal run. The Spurs have held Splitter out of any preseason action thus far. Splitter has a reputation of being a smart and aware player on both ends of the court which should serve him well under the guidance of head coach Greg Popovich.

Evan Turner – Philadelphia 76ers

Only one player was drafted higher than Turner was this summer. Add to that the fact that he was drafted by a team that has been inconsistent in recent years and now has a new head coach. Now, combine that with him being yet another wing player on the roster. Talk about pressure. Good thing for Philadelphia that the returns so far look to be every promising and fitting of a number two draft pick. Turner has averaged ten points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in the preseason. He was able to record a double-double against the Toronto Raptors on October 13 with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The area in which Turner must improve is his shooting percentage which stands at 30.8 percent during the preseason. If he can do that, Philadelphia may have found a player who can take the scoring burden off of Andre Iguodala allowing him to focus on defense and off the ball movement, which is where he excels. Turner may also want to add few more pounds if he continues to alternate between the shooting guard and small forward positions.

Ekpe Udoh – Golden State Warriors

Udoh has a reputation of being a one man block party. This will be beneficial for the Warriors since David Lee and Andris Biedrins are not known for their shot blocking prowess. He won Defensive Player of the Year honors in both the Big 10 and Big 12 in college with Michigan and Baylor, respectively. Unfortunately for the Warriors, he will be sidelined for much of the season with an injury. (I still like his abilities and will wait patiently for his return and that is why he makes this list.) However, it is not known exactly where Udoh will fit into the Warriors rotation when he does return to the team. Golden State is loaded at power forward with players such as David Lee, Vladimir Radmanovic, Louis Amundson, and Brandon Wright. It may simply be the case that the Warriors are too stocked at power forward for Udoh, who was taken sixth in the draft, to see some, if any, minutes upon his return.

Greivis Vasquez – Memphis Grizzlies

Vasquez was a standout at Maryland where he scored the second most points in school history and was named the ACC Player of the Year during his senior year and was awarded the Bob Cousy Award which is given to the nation’s top collegiate point guard. Despite such accolades, Vasquez fell deep in the draft before he was selected 28th overall. During Summer League play, Vasquez injured his right ankle and had surgery on it in July to remove a bone spur. Because of this, he has yet to play in the preseason but should return in time for the start of the regular season. It is conceivable that if Vasquez plays with the tenacity he did in college at the NBA level he could challenge A.C. Law and Tony Allen for backup guard minutes behind O.J. Mayo and Mike Conley. It would also not be surprising if Vasquez out performed Memphis’ other first round draft pick, Xavier Henry. Before he can do all that, though, he must get healthy and establish himself in the Grizzlies solid young rotation.

John Wall – Washington Wizards

He was the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft; if he did not make this list then you would have permission to punch us in the gut repeatedly. Wall looks like a player selected number one with his performances in preseason. He opened up the preseason against Dallas and at halftime had recorded only one assists. However that would quickly change in the second half as he distributed the ball nicely on route to nine assists for the game to go along with 21 points and four steals. Wall is averaging 16.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, eight assists, and 2.2 steals thus far in the preseason. He is also shooting 42.7 percent from the field. Where Wall must improve is his three-point shooting. He does not have the range in his jump shot to hit from deep with any consistency. He also needs to increase his muscle mass as Jason Kidd easily forced Wall into the block and backed him down while posting up. Other big guards will likely do the same. Wall should find himself in the conversation for Rookie of the Year throughout the season as Wall looks every bit like a number one draft pick should, but must keep his focus on the task at hand. Hopefully, Gilbert Arenas’ odd behavior will not become a distraction him.

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by | May 21, 2010 · 11:19 AM

Hitting the Jackpot

Grand Prize: John Wall

Change had come to Washington D.C. in 2009. Barack Obama was sworn into office as the 44th president of the United States of America. The country’s spirits were up for the first time since 2000 (unless you are one of the many ill-informed who feel that the current president is an avid reader of Engels and sings the Internationale before going to bed each evening…but I digress). Spirits were even high for the Washington’s sole professional basketball team as they looked to improve on their dismal 19-63 record from the previous season.

New head coach, Flip Saunders, was brought in to hopefully breathe some offensive life into the team once more. Saunders is widely known throughout the league for his offensive schemes and rotations. However, off the court issues would steal the headlines. It would prove to be a season marred with player ineptitude and unintelligence. This is, of course, referring to the incident where Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton decided that personal gambling debts needed to be remedied and the only way to do that, logically, was to brandish firearms in the Wizards locker room at the Verizon Center. At the start of the season the Wizards were projected to be in the middle of the pack in terms of playoff teams in the East. This was not to be the case early on and the season quickly spiraled out of control. With Arenas suspended indefinitely by David Stern the Wizards’ season collapsed in on itself and the management quickly went into restructuring and cost cutting mode. Basically, they panicked. In financially motivated and blockbusters trades at the trade deadline they let former All Stars Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler go as well as Brendan Haywood and defensive specialist/Abraham Lincoln enthusiast DeShawn Stevenson. They had gutted their roster leaving JaVale McGee to be a break out but almost universally unknown leader on the Wizards. At season’s end their record stood at 26-56 and they were the only team in their division not to make the playoffs.

Hope, however, was on the horizon. For the Washington Wizards there was finally some light at the end of the very dark tunnel that was the 2009-2010 NBA season. This hope came in the form of the NBA Draft Lottery. With the New Jersey Nets having had the worst record set by any team in the NBA this season they were the heavy favorites to get the number one overall pick and they had a 25 percent chance of doing so. But as a capper to the Nets’ futile season, they essentially lost the draft lottery. There was only a 10.3 chance for the Wizards to move from their fifth place ranking in the draft to number one. That was all they needed though. Analysts should have guessed that the Nets would lose yet again as they fell to the third pick.

John Wall, the standout freshman point guard from Kentucky, is widely acknowledged as the best prospect in the draft and therefore is to be taken with the first pick. A close second to Wall is Ohio State’s Evan Turner who was the national player of the year. Outside of these two players there is quite a bit of promising talent but these are the two that the Wizards will be concerned with. In fact it would be foolish to even look at other options. (This author like the game of DeMarcus Cousins a whole lot but even I do not think that he is a first or second pick.) The Wizards must now ask themselves what is best for their franchise as they hope to rebuild and make it back to the post season.

Obviously, there is an elephant in the room for the Wizards and that is the $111 million contract that they inked with Gilbert Arenas two seasons ago. Arenas is still on the books for $80.2 million coming into next season. Ernie Grunfeld, team president of the Wizards, has continually reaffirmed that Arenas will be a Wizard going forward and getting the number one pick in the draft will not change that. Of course it won’t. No team in their right mind is going to pick up Arena’s remaining contract especially when it is that of a perennially injured player. Arenas and the Wizards are joined at the hip until further notice no matter how disappointed or disenfranchised one might be with the behavior of the other.

Wall seemed generally enthused that the Wizards got the first overall pick in the draft, but honestly what 19 year old kid would not be? He gets to play in the NBA and has been projected to be the number one pick in the 2010 draft since he was a freshman in high school. Endorsements alone will have him set for life (that is unless he has some MC Hammer-esque tendencies). Any team would have been a good fit for Wall. So what will happen if he is taken by the Wizards?

Here comes the elephant again, though this time it is not in the form of money. How will Arenas and Wall play together? They are both point guards so who starts? It would be unwise for a number one overall pick to sit on the bench and for that matter most of the lottery picks to ride pine their rookie seasons. (Look at Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings.) Therefore they must start side by side to give the Wizards the best chance of winning. Putting Wall at one and Arenas at two would seem to be the likely solution. It has been said numerous times that Arenas is not a true point guard as his tendency is to score and therefore he is a smaller shooting guard or off guard. In reality it is a very rare thing to find what purists consider a true point guard in the league anymore. It would force them to play small but this would hopefully not mean that they play in the same fashion of Don Nelson’s Warriors.  With Wall at the point this could be a very potent and quick offense.

Everything, however, is mere speculation for now. All we know is that the Wizards have the first pick in the NBA Draft. What they do with it has yet to be seen. The team is at a crossroads as if they continue to put together losing records and hemorrhage money they will no longer be a viable asset in David Stern’s shopping mall structured and revenue first NBA. The last time that the Wizards had the first overall pick they wasted it on Kwame Brown. This year’s crop of top prospects appears to be much more bust-proof. For the Wizards this will be their second, and unquestionably, most important step in the rebuilding processes. Whether they chose Wall or not it is up to them to make the right choice for the franchise. Hopefully for the sake of their franchise and their loyal fans they choose wisely on June 24th.

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