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BasslineSpin.com July 5, 2007 ...Am
I the only one who is anticipating the beginning of NBA sanctioned Summer
League? If we know anything about players - we should actually be able to
look at summer rosters and come close to predicting which teams will flourish
in Las Vegas. I will try to achieve this by listing the players I like on
each team. The team with the most players listed should be pretty good. How’s
that for science? I see the best teams as... L.A. Clippers: (7) Will Conroy, Paul Davis, Mike Gansey, Jared Jordan, Chris Kamen, Yaroslav Korolov, Al Thornton. Minnesota: (6) Corey Brewer, Greg Brunner, Randy Foye, Mateen Cleaves, Rashad McCants, Craig Smith.
Houston: (6) Mike Harris!, Lior Eliyahu, Carl Landry, John Lucas, Ivan McFarlin, Ron Lewis. Portland: (5) Greg Oden, Petteri Koponen, Sergio Rodriguez, Zenden Hamilton, LeMarcus Aldridge.
Boston: (5) Eric Hicks, Gerald Green, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Rajon Rondo.
Warriors (5): Kelenna Azubuike, Patrick O’Bryant, Nate Funk, Mindaugas Katelynas, and Stephan Lasme. Memphis (5): Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, Alexander Johnson, Roger Powell, Kyle Lowry. Detroit: (5) Eddy Fobbs, Amir Johnson, Sammy Meija, Rodney Stuckey, and Ali Traore.
Seattle (4): Julius Hodge, Saer Sene, Johan Petro, Kevin Durant.
New Orleans: (4) Hilton Armstrong, Yemi Nicholson, Anthony Roberson, and Julian Wright.
New York: (4) Renaldo Balkman, Randolph Morris, Tre Simmons, Nate Robinson.
Philly (4): Herbert Hill, Thaddeus Young, Jason Smith, Bobby Jones. Denver: (4) Alex Hervelle, Curtis Sumpter, Jelani McCoy, Lamond Murray.
Cleveland: (4) Boniface NDong, Darius Rice, P.J. Tucker, Romeo Travis.
China: (3), Yi JianLian, Wang Zhi Zhi, and Sun Yue. Washington: (3) Oleksiy Pecherov, J.R. Pinnock, Dominic McGuire.
Lakers: (3) Javaris Crittenton, Brandon Gay, Rodney White.
...Spurs (2): Jackie Butler, Donnell Harvey. Sacramento: (2) Justin Williams, and Francisco Garcia.
Dallas (2) Nick Fazekas, and Reyshawn Terry. Milwaukee: (1) James Thomas. Phoenix: (1) Alando Tucker. ...Two favorites of mine—Josh Davis (Wyoming), and
Curtis Stinson (Iowa
St.) are on the summer roster for New
Jersey. ...Kasib Powell—who
I’ve long thought has NBA talent will ball for Indiana’s summer team. ...Taj Gray who we lauded last year spent the season in France
leading his Cholet team in scoring and rebounding. He too should be in the
NBA. ...The
Denver
Post says Brevin Knight is
interested in the Nuggs.
Denver did well to land Mario Boggan on
their summer roster. July 4, 2007 ...The
Orlando Magic have landed the biggest prize in NBA free agency (short of Vince Carter) with their agreement to sign Rashard Lewis. Lewis is a top-ten small forward in
the NBA. I love the signing. Now the
Magic have to get stronger in the front court. Dwight Howard’s great potential will flourish when
Orlando gets a big man that can pass and shoot. Tony Battie is a guy that should barely play—yet
he logs huge minutes in Orlando. The Magic have pulled back their qualifying
offer to Darko Milicic, and
the other BIGs on the roster are Bo Outlaw and
second year man James Augustine. Bo
is well past his prime. Their draft pick was Milovan Rakovic—a guy I didn’t think should be
picked among the elite 60. July 3, 2007 ...Undrafted
players are signing with teams for Summer Leagues. The Hawks (
new
uniforms!) have a deal with Michigan freak athlete Brent Petway. ...Mustafa Shakur and Darryl Watkins will run with the Kings. Caleb Green—who I like a bit has signed on with
Dallas’ summer squad. The Mavs also traded for Reyshawn Terry - who we said was the most underrated
player in the draft this year. I think he is better than Devean George right now. ...Trey Johnson will play with Miami’s summer
leaguers. ...The 12 players I had ranked highest that went undrafted were: Ali Traore - France, Aleksandr Rindin - Azerbaijan, Mario Boggan - Oklahoma State, Zoran Erceg - Serbia, Curtis Sumpter - Villanova, Ikene Ebekwe - Maryland, Green - Oral Roberts,
Watkins - Syracuse, Petway - Michigan, Mirza Begic -
Slovenia, Keena Young—BYU,
and Ron Lewis - Ohio
St. ...For the record I am also a fan of Grant Stout -
Northern Iowa, Arnaud Dahi - Old
Dominion, Nate Funk -
Creighton, Nate Carter—Oklahoma,
and Kyle Wilson -
Georgia Tech.
2007 NBA Free Agents July 2, 2007 ...Two
players I think could immediately improve the Sacramento Kings were released
by their respective teams this week. Brevin Knight was
waived in Charlotte. James Singleton is no
longer a Clippers team member. Knight is among the best floor-seeing point
guards in the league. He is smart, and unselfish. His injury prone body is
the downside—but as a backup or third point guard you cannot find value like
Brevin Knight. Singleton would become the best athlete on Sac’s roster. He is
an energy guy that can guard small forwards but offensively is more of a four
man. His shot blocking and rebounding ability would bolster the Kings roster.
Singleton can also finish with the best of them when it comes to the running
game. ...If you saw my final draft rankings you know I didn’t like the Kings
selection of Spencer Hawes. I
will have an open mind but for the record I would have taken Julian Wright. The
mainstream media makes me laugh. Hawes is said by almost everyone to be a
great passing big man. Really? Maybe he has the potential to be but since I
actually watched him in college and studied his numbers I know that he had
more turnovers (78) than assists (61) as a Huskies freshman. ...Local reports
say Hawes is a strong republican. How strong can you be one year removed from
high school? Please. ...For the record - I would take Ray Allen all day everyday over Jeff Green but I wish the Celtics hadn’t given
up on Delonte West. |