SB Nation - Hassan Adams

RaptorsHQ Media Day Quick Hits

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:59:54 -0000

There was no shortage of folks looking to talk to Bosh this afternoon.

As I blogged about earlier today, Media Day always signals the start of a new season for us here at the HQ.

It announces the kick-off of training camp, gives players, coaches, writers and all sorts of staff a chance to greet each other before another season begins, and most importantly, gives the media a chance to get to know many of a basketball team's new faces.

As fans know, there are no shortage of new faces on this year's club.

With only Andrea Bargnani, Chris Bosh and Jose Calderon back from last year's training camp, media was out in full force this afternoon trying to ascertain exactly who many of these new faces were and what made them tick.

For us at the HQ, we focussed on many of these new faces in our media work and over the next few days we'll be presenting individual chats with the likes of DeMar DeRozan, Jarrett Jack, Sonny Weems, Antoine Wright, Amir Johnson, Maurizio Gherardini, and gasp...even Marcus Banks! With the local media swarming Bosh, Calderon and the usual suspects, we decided to take the opportunity to talk to some of the lessor-known folks a bit more and bring you their thoughts on the upcoming season, something you likely won't get to hear from the Star's and Sun's of the world.

However before we get into that in the morning, I thought I'd fire out a few quick evening thoughts from today's media sessions.

-The quote I'm sure that will be on the lips of most of the media tomorrow morning courtesy of Bryan Colangelo:

"I feel better about this training camp and the start and the prepartion that's gone on then I have in a long time, and I've been doing this for 14 previous seasons."

-Even though there was a lot of talk about "getting tougher" at the end of last season, the Raptors ensured that the new players that were brought in to help fill this void are still great guys off the court. This was immediately evident when I walked past Amir Johnson and he asked if he could help me with anything! Even Reggie Evans, who will surely be counted on to knock some heads in the paint, hardly looked like the tyrant he's at time been made out to be. In fact, he reminded me of ex Jays' and A's pitcher Dave Stewart. He's got that menacing lion scowl but as soon as he starts talking, it's pure kitten.

-BC thinks that this team should be shooting for 50 wins this year. That's not to say that that's the magic number he's set for wins, but that he thinks for this team to advance to the second round, it probably means a fourth or fifth seed, and to do that, it probably means winning that many games.

-Several players look like they've bulked up from last season. Bosh of course, but also Amir Johnson, Antoine Wright and even Patrick O'Bryant. Even DeMar looks bigger then the last time I chatted with him in Vegas. All good signs.

-It's going to be very interesting to see how this whole Bosh situation plays out this year, especially now that the agents of Bosh, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade may all be under the same roof. BC sounds confident that Bosh will make the right choice and stay in Toronto, but the idea that two or more of these 2003 draft alumnists will be playing together in 2010 seems more and more possible.

-I'm expecting some spirited practices this season, much moreso than last. Doug Smith this morning mentioned Reggie Evans' work on Andrea Bargnani, something that BC reiterated today, and Colangelo also mentioned a few other pleasant nuances; repeated aerial assaults on the basket in runs last week and attempts to reject said assaults.

-Finally, no Hassan Adams issues this year. It sounds like everyone reported to camp in great shape (aside from the Bosh and Hedo tweaks) and the early returns (the shoot-arounds and scrimmages this past week) have bore this out.

More to come tomorrow.

FRANCHISE

NBA Summer League Rosters Taking Shape

Scott Schroeder — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:00:21 -0000

UPDATED - check after the jump for everything updated in the past three days.

Alright, we got all of the personal mumbo-jumbo out of the way - let's begin with the Summer League coverage!

The Orlando of the NBA Summer League schedule (July 6-10) is here, the Vegas portion of the NBA Summer League schedule (July 10-19) is here and the NBA Summer League roster of your favorite team (so far) is... After the jump!

I was all drafted out, so sorry for the lack of posting going on this weekend - I sincerely apologize to all thirteen of you that were disappointed. As a show of goodwill, I worked feverishly throughout the weekend to scour my sources, google the news, and do anything and everything I could to start piecing together an accurate view of what your team will look like this Summer.

Granted, it's probably not likely to expect much out of some of these players, but each year there are players that pop up from nowhere in Summer League and impress enough to earn a spot on an NBA roster. The most recent example would be Bobby Brown from last season, though there are plenty more (and we'll look at them throughout the next week heading into the Orlando portion of NBA Summer League's).

After the jump, I've put together a list of which players I've (all but) confirmed. If you're aware of anymore, let me know in the comments! If you're unsure of one of the players, click on the link - it'll either take you to their SBNation page or, if they're a bit more obscure, whichever source linked them to said Summer League team.

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 9:21 AM CDT ] Added Wink Adams to New York

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 11:15 AM CDT ] Added Daniel Artest to Houston

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/29/09 9:34 PM CDT ] Added Paul Harris to Minnesota, from Cleveland

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:02 AM CDT ] Added Kevin Kruger to Utah

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:48 AM CDT ] Added Acie Law to Golden State

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 8:58 AM CDT ] Added Lee Cummard to Phoenix, Luke Nevill to New Orleans

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 10:27 AM CDT ] Added Alex Ruoff to Washington

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 12:59 PM CDT ] Added Trent Plaisted, Deron Washington, Will Bynum, Dwayne Jones, Clay Tucker, Ibrahim Jaaber and Matt Freije to Detroit

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 1:42 PM CDT ] Added Mohamed Tangara to Milwaukee

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 06/30/09 8:50 PM CDT ] Added Rod Benson to Houston, Demetris Nichols to Toronto

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 12:19 AM CDT ] Added Dar Tucker and Kevin Rogers to Dallas; Jaycee Carroll to New Orleans; completed Minnesota, Golden State and Utah

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 11:54 AM CDT ] Completed San Antonio, Orlando and Boston roster

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 2:08 PM CDT ] Added Phoenix roster, Robert Swift to Boston

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/01/09 2:50 PM CDT] Added Jim Baron to Washington

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/01/09 5:00 PM CDT] Completed Chicago, Sacramento and New Orleans rosters

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 6:40 PM CDT ] Completed Indiana, Milwaukee, New York, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/01/09 8:02 PM CDT ] Completed Washington

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/02/09 4:05 PM CDT ] Completed Houston

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/02/09 5:31 PM CDT ] Completed Portland, Memphis

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/02/09 8:10 CDT ] Completed Philadelphia/N.J. roster

[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/03/09 11:12 AM CDT ] Completed (?) Denver roster

[Note by Jon Lewallen, 07/07/09 7:45 PM CDT ] Completed Dallas, Detroit and D-League Select rosters

2009 ORLANDO SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTERS

Boston Celtics

Bryan Mullins, Lester Hudson, Chris Lofton, Gabe Pruitt, Bill Walker, J.R. Giddens, Michael Sweetney, Coby Karl, Darius Washington, Bryce Taylor, Kevin Rogers, Robert Swift,

Indiana Pacers

Aaron Jackson, Leo Lyons, Tyler Hansbrough, Brandon Rush, Josh McRoberts, A.J. Price, Roy Hibbert, Will Blalock, Trey Johnson, Anthony Smith, Derrick Byars, Courtney Sims, Scott Vander Meer,

Philadelphia 76ers/ New Jersey Nets

Blake Ahearn, Jrue Holiday, Marreese Speights, Dionte Christmas, Chris Johnson, Rob Kurz, Gary Forbes, Marcus Slaughter, Terrence Williams, Chris Douglas-Roberts, AJ Abrams, Jeff Adrien, Jason Ellis,

Oklahoma City Thunder

Serge Ibaka, Shaun Livingston, BJ Mullens, James Harden, Robert Vaden, DeVon Hardin, Russell Westbrook, Kyle Weaver, D.J. White, Marcus Dove, Moses Ehambe, DeAngelo Alexander, Richard Roby, Kyle Hines, Doug Thomas, Keith McLeod,

Orlando Magic

Ryan Anderson, Levance Fields, Richard Hendrix, Russell Robinson, Darian Townes, Maurice Ager, Lance Allred, Brian Chase, Ronald Dupree, Courtney Fells, C.J. Giles, Steven Milosevic, Jeremy Pargo, Milovan Rakovic, Jeremy Richardson

Utah Jazz

Eric Maynor, Gary Wilkinson, Goran Suton, Kosta Koufos, Kyrylo Fesenko, Wesley Matthews, Kevin Kruger, Kevin Lyde, Andre Ingram, James Augustine, Cedric Bozeman, Justin Reed, Josh Duncan, Jim Baron, Reyshawn Terry and Larry Turner

2009 VEGAS SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTERS

Chicago Bulls

Luke Zeller, James Johnson, Taj Gibson, Bryan Mullins, Tyrell Biggs, Mario Austin, AD Vasallo, Anthony Roberson, Linton Johnson, Chris Davis, Taurean Green, Lorenzo Mata-Real, DeMarcus Nelson, Julius Hodge, Brandon Costner, James Augustine, Nick Lewis

Cleveland Cavaliers

Maureece Rice, Christian Eyenga, Danny Green, Jawad Williams, Darnell Jackson, Tarence Kinsey,

Dallas Mavericks

Aaron Miles, Rodrigue Beaubois, Ahmad Nivins, Curtis Jerrells, Dar Tucker, Kevin Rogers, Quinton Hosley, Damjan Rudez, Luke Jackson, Henry Dugat, Nick Calathes, Mickael Gelabale, Herbert Hill, Shan Foster, Trent Strickland, Andre Owens, Alfred Aboya, Moussa Seck, Bryson McKenzie

Detroit Pistons

Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, Jonas Jerebko, Walter Sharpe, Trent Plaisted, Deron Washington, Will Bynum, Dwayne Jones, Clay Tucker, Ibrahim Jaaber, Michael Bramos, Andre Owens

Denver Nuggets

Richard Hendrix, Ty Lawson, Derrick Byars, Ronald Dupree, CJ Giles, Coby Karl, Kareem Rush, Cedric Simmons, Sonny Weems

Golden State Warriors

Stephen Curry, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph, Jermareo Davidson, Acie Law, Connor Atchley, Lawrence Hill, Joe Ingles, Jared Jordan, Cartier Martin, Quan Prowell, Lawrence Roberts, Jamal Sampson

Houston Rockets

Garrett Temple, Will Conroy, Jermaine Taylor, Chase Budinger, Rod Benson, Hassan Adams, Marcus Cousin, Joey Dorsey, Charles Gaines, Mike Green, Brad Newley, Maarty Leunen, Darryl Watkins, James White

Los Angeles Clippers

Kyle McAlarney, Kevinn Pinkney, Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Mike Taylor, Sean Banks, Dionte Christmas, Marcellus Kemp, Nik Caner-Medley,

Los Angeles Lakers

Tony Gaffney, Chinemelu Elonu, Alan Anderson, Aron Bynes, Dominique Coleman, Terrel Harris, Justin Hawkins, Ben McCauley, David Monds, Adam Morrison, Taylor Rochestie, Luke Schenscher, Mustafa Shakur,

Milwaukee Bucks

Brandon Jennings, Salim Stoudamire, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Joe Alexander, Jodie Meeks, Dominic James,Mohamed Tangara, Will McDonald, Juan Palacios, Chris Richard, Szymon Szewczyk, Lorrenzo Wade

Minnesota Timberwolves

Ben Woodside, Corey Brewer, Jonny Flynn, Wayne Ellington, Paul Harris, Oleksiy Pecherov, Bobby Brown, Pat Carroll, Devin Green, Gerald Henderson, Steven Hill, Rob Kurz, Garrett Siler,

Memphis Grizzlies

Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carroll, Sam Young, Darrell Arthur, Hamed Haddadi, Daniel Ewing, Greg Stiemsma, Erik Daniels, Trey Gilder, Longar Longar, Brion Rush, Donta Smith, Marcus Williams

New Orleans Hornets

Marcus Thornton, Terry Martin, Darren Collison, Julian Wright, Luke Nevill, Jaycee Carroll, Earl Barron, Earl Calloway, Bryan Cusworth, Larry Owens, Marc Salyers, Courtney Sims, Anthony Tolliver, Quinton Watkins

New York Knicks

Jordan Hill, Blake Ahearn, Toney Douglas, Alex Acker, Wink Adams, Morris Almond, Warren Carter, Joe Crawford, Patrick Ewing Jr., Ron Howard, Yaroslav Korolev, David Noel, Mouhamed Sene, Rashaad Singleton, Nikoloz Tskitishvili,

Oklahoma City Thunder

Phoenix Suns

Earl Clark, Taylor Griffin, Goran Dragic, Robin Lopez, Lee Cummard, Alando Tucker, Micah Downs, Zabian Dowdell, Josh Carter, Kaspars Berzins, Jiri Hubalek, Geary Claxton, Chris Rodgers, Carlos Powell

Portland Trail Blazers

Jeff Pendergraph, Dante Cunningham, Jerryd Bayless, Patrick Mills, Thomas Gardner, Pooh Jeter, Bobby Jones, David Padgett, Deji Akindele, Matt Freije, Dwayne Mitchell, David Moss

Sacramento Kings

Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi, Jon Brockman, Donté Greene, Jason Thompson, Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal, Spencer Hawes, Robert Battle, John Bryant, Pat Calathes, Marcus Landry, Brian Roberts, Victor Stowes, Ryan Toolson

San Antonio Spurs

James Gist, Jack McClinton, DeJuan Blair, Eric Dawson, Malik Hairston, George Hill, Romel Beck, Nando de Colo, Carldell "Squeaky" Johnson, Antonio Anderson, Marcus Vinicius, Ian Mahinmi, Alonzo Gee,

Toronto Raptors

Brent Petway, DeMar DeRozan, Nathan Jawai, Demetris Nichols, Quincy Douby, Roko Ukic, Patrick O'Bryant, Carl English, Ekene Ibekwe, David Doublas, Paul Davis, Smush Parker

Washington Wizards

Tyrese Rice, Nick Young, Javaris Crittenton, JaVale McGee, Alex Ruoff, Jim(my) Baron, Alade Aminu, Ryan Ayers, Jon Edwards, Josh Heytvelt, James Lang, Dominic McGuire, Tywain McKie, Jason Rich, Diamon Simpson, Kyle Spain, Brandon Wallace

NBA D-League Select

Coleman Collins, Walker Russell, Will Frisby, Gary Forbes, Marcus Hubbard, Othyus Jeffers, Jasper Johnson, Trey Johnson, Kurt Looby, Curtis Stinson

D-League Dudes Aplenty in Big D (and I do mean Dallas)

Scott Schroeder — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:53:07 -0000

Sorry to interrupt this weeks regular scheduled programming... regular scheduled programming.

Mr. Matthew Brennan has done the gentlemanly thing and started blogging about the D-League again now that I've quit blogging exclusively about the D-League (though I've heard via the e-mails that many people, inside and outside the D-League want me to continue, so I can't give it up quite yet - I give my peeps what they want).

Today he tipped the world off to something I alluded it to a couple of weeks ago, before I had all of the details - the Dallas Mavericks are holding a big ol' audition for the D-Leaguer's (and random other players that played in the league you've most likely forgotten by now).

Last seasons D-Leaguer's in Dallas are as follows: Blake Ahearn, Andre Brown, Mickael Gelabale, Brandon Heath, Herbert Hill, Trey Johnson, Trent Strickland and Anthony Tolliver. Not a bad group, not an outstanding group.

Here's the rest of the players at the tryout: Hassan Adams, Shan Foster, Sundiate Gaine, Mike Green, Quinton Hosley (is this really a basketball player?), Mike Jones (who?), Jeff McInnis, Austin Nichols, Richard Roby (Iike him), JaJuan Smith, Chris Taft and Yuta Tabuse.

My question: Which teams wins?

D-League vs. non-NBA

G: Brandon Heath vs. Jeff McInnis

G: Blake Ahearn vs. Hassan Adams

Wing: Trey Johnson vs. Shan Foster

Post: Anthony Tolliver vs. Richard Roby

Post: Andre Brown vs. Chris Taft

6th man: Herbert Hill vs. Yuta Tabuse

Poll

Which team wins?

D-League - Hooah!

37 votes

Not D-League - Boo-Yah!

45 votes

82 votes | Poll has closed

Keystone Clippers

Steve Perrin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:44:18 -0000

Maybe we'll know more at some point, but as of right now there's no logical explanation for the Clippers actions today.

At 1:02 PM, the Clippers Communications department sent out a release saying that the team had acquired Hassan Adams from the Raptors in a trade.

At 3:06 PM, they sent one out saying that Adams had been waived.

What the deuce?

One possibility is that this was strictly a money making deal. We went through the Nuggets math on Monday, showing how much they stood to save by getting rid of Cheikh Samb, especially if it got them under the luxury tax threshold. Now, Toronto appears to be further away from the magic number, but assuming this deal is part of getting them there, then Adams $700K salary could be worth over $6M to them. Given that, it's easy to imagine a deal conceived from the outset that would pay the Clippers more in 'cash considerations' than they would owe to Adams, he would be immediately waived, and everyone would walk away happy - with the possible exception of Adams, who would be out of the league again.

But if this was a strictly financial transaction from the outset, why put out two separate press releases? After all, the goal of the communications department is to, well, commnicate. And a press release about a trade is commmunicating, however implausibly, "Hey, we got a new player today, and we're hoping that he can be a big help to our wildly shorthanded team." Releasing said player two hours later is a big Rosanne Rosannadanna "Never mind." Either the basketball people failed to explain to the communications people what was really going on (not good), or the communications people weren't clever enough to realize that they really should do one release on this deal (also not good). But the net effect is that the Clippers announced a trade for a guy who was released 2 hours later without so much as working out for the team - which looks dysfunctional on a lot of different levels.

It's also possible that the Clippers signed on for a risk-free trial of Adams just like they did with Samb - and then something changed in the afternoon, and they exercised their risk-free option of waiving the guy. Maybe they have their eye on someone else (in which case we should expect another announcement soon). Maybe they found out something else about Adams, and just cut him loose since it isn't costing them anything. I mentioned in my first post that they wouldn't hesitate to cut the guy - but I thought they'd hesitate more than this.

Ramona Shelburne posted about the trade - with a time stamp of 5:50 PM, 16 minutes before the press release announcing the waiver - and said that it was basically the same terms as the Samb trade. The conditions of the future pick are such that it is unlikely to ever happen, and the cash is enough to cover his remaining salary obligation. No fuss, no muss. But if that's the case - if there's no additional profit for the Clippers in the deal - then why release him immediately? The net effect is that the Clippers are doing a favor for the Raptors, giving themselves some extra paper work to do, and jerking around a home town kid, all for no benefit to the team. That's not a good policy. It makes me think that they have already agreed to terms with someone else for that roster spot and that an announcement is forthcoming.

If we don't hear something soon, then put it alongside the Vinny Del Negro trade as another example of the Clippers being the smallest, most petty organization in the entire NBA. But at least they waited a day to release Vinny.

UPDATE: Both Ramona Shelburne and Lisa Dillman have some clarifications on the daily roster churn. The short story is that they were ready to give Adams a free look and intended to have him in uniform against the Spurs tomorrow, and then they found out that Fred Jones' foot injury was less serious than originally thought, and that he would be available to play. Since backcourt relief was the immediate concern, it was important that whoever they signed would be available ASAP - they liked Jones all along, liked what he was bringing when he was with the team, and when they found out he was good to go, they waived Adams to make room. Unfortunately, they found out just after the Adams trade was being finalized. Bottom line - Fred will be back in uniform tomorrow in the Alamo city.

So it's not a case of front office incompetence nor even miscommunication. Just bad timing.

Previewing the Atlantic Division: Toronto Raptors Edition

Jim Weeks — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:00:07 -0000

I started this series last week with the 76ers and Knicks. The Nets are on deck. And my Celtics preview will run October 1st as part of a comprehensive blogger preview initiative. Things are starting to get interesting again...

2008 Record: 41-41

Playoffs?: Eliminated in 5 games by Orlando Detroit in the First Round.

2008 Record Vs. the Celtics: 1-3 - Two of those games stand out:

1. After the C's rolled out to a 3-0 lead in the season series the Raptors got white hot in the final match up of the season. They shot 58% (40-69) from the field, 71.4% (15-21) from beyond the arc, and 100% (19-19) from the line. Keep in mind the Celtics played phenomenal defense. And the game was in Boston no less.

2. On the flip side their initial match up went Boston's way. It was not a particularly well played game and Comcast's coverage cut out during overtime. Still Ray Allen's game winning shot (see below - "KNOCKS IT DOWN!) was one of those early moments that made me think, "Maybe this year will be different."

Ray Allen hits the game winner! (via NBA)

Departures: Maceo Baston, Primoz Brezec, Carlos Delfino, Juan Dixon, T.J. Ford, Jorge Garbajosa, Kris Humphries [Green Bandwagon Note - Humphries is still with the Raptors. My mistake. Thanks for the e-mail.], Linton Johnson, Darrick Martin, Rasho Nesterovic

Additions: Hassan Adams, Nathan Jawai, Willie Solomon, Roko Ukic

Key Story Heading into Camp: The collective health of the Toronto Raptors. Though not exactly the Washington Wizards when it comes to health, or lack thereof, the Raptors missed their fair share of games last season. Jorge Garbajosa only managed to play in 7, Chris Bosh sat out 15, and T.J. Ford missed 31. Of course the fact that Jose Calderon took his rightful place atop the point guard depth chart and Ford departed, along with the injury cloud that hung over him, has to help Toronto. Finally, much like the Celtics in 2008, the Raptors could have some roster flexibility during the season. As far as I can tell they've only inked 13 players to contracts.

X-Factor: 44, 51, 69, 42. Those numbers represent how many games Jermaine O'Neal played in during his last 4 seasons in Indiana. I wouldn't expect him to play 82 games, mainly because in 12 seasons he never has. And maybe that's the key. The Raptors organization and its fan base should go into the 2009 season with realistic expectations. At the same time popular opinion seems to have written him off so much that he's probably capable of more than a lot of people realize. And it was not that long ago (2007) that O'Neal was a candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year Award.

View From the The Other Side: I caught up with Scott from Raptor Blog and asked what fans around the NBA had to know about Toronto. His response:

"When it comes to the Raptors, most NBA fans are focusing on whether or not Jermaine O'Neal can stay healthy and give Chris Bosh some help on post defense. But don't sleep on Jose Calderon's new, well-earned, full-time starting PG role. He's developed into one of the most dangerous point guards in the East." - Scott from Raptor Blog

Random Points of Information: Regular readers of Green Bandwagon know that I'm a Jorge Garbajosa fan. Unfortunately Garbajosa has not looked right since breaking his leg against the Celtics back in the spring of '07. He was a shadow of his former self during the recent Olympics. Of course in order to play in said Olympics Garbajosa had to end his Raptors career. At this point (he turns 31 in December) you have to wonder if he'll ever be full strength again.

In other news, my old nemesis (long story), Chuck Swirsky, is no longer with Toronto. In hindsight the story really isn't that long. But I don't feel like linking to an old post where I praise Gerald Green's future. I've been open about how wrong I was about Green. We don't need to keep reliving it.