SB Nation - James Augustine

Guest Post: ShamSports on Otis Smith, the Orlando Magic, and "Creative Financing"

Ben Q Rock — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:33 -0000

Editor's note: 3QC is honored to have Sham, of ShamSports, write the first Guest Post in site history. Sham runs England's finest basketball site, which includes the most authoritative NBA salary database available to the general public. In this guest post, he assesses Otis Smith's construction of the latest Magic team. With no further ado, here's Sham:

"Creative financing" has long been a favoured phrase for Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith, most famously in the run-up to the 2007 offseason. Smith used the term to describe how the Magic were going to handle having maximum cap room, juggling signing other team's free agents along with retaining Darko Milicic. It was a fairly generic term that said something without really saying anything. And it only gained its resonance after Smith used all his money to give Rashard Lewis the biggest six year contract in the sport's history. (It's definitely financing, but I'm not sure about its creativity.)

Smith's use of the term in conjunction with the Lewis deal made it something of a running joke in amongst the world's particularly nerdy NBA fans. (The kind of folk who make jokes about traded player exceptions. We're a fun bunch, we are. We throw the best parties.) "Creative" became synonymous with "terrible," and Smith didn't help himself by spending his way right up to the luxury tax barrier, on a team that refused to cross it. Paying James Augustine an unnecessary $243,145 to be under contract for two weeks in mid-July didn't help anybody, either. (Other than James Augustine.)

But just how creative is the Magic's financing?

Not including Morris Almond and Linton Johnson, the Magic have a 2009/10 payroll of $82,060,953, the sixth largest in the league. The only teams ahead of them are the Lakers, the Mavericks, the Jazz, the Celtics and the Cavaliers, most of whom are perennial big spenders. The Magic also have the most committed future salary of any franchise in the league, by miles, and it's not even close. Including this upcoming 2009/10 season (and assuming for consistency's sake that all option years and partial guarantees are invoked), the Magic have $316,442,872 committed in future salary, far in excess of the second place L.A. Lakers with $256,433,829. (For comparison's sake, in last place are the Oklahoma City Thunder with only $108.7 million. Never before has the phrase "$108.7 million" been prefixed with "only.")

The Magic are juggling three of the biggest contracts in the league in Dwight Howard, Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis. Those three alone combine for $203.46 million in committed salary, more than 19 NBA franchises have committed to their entire rosters. And even though all three have unguaranteed final seasons (Howard with an ETO, Lewis and Carter with partially guaranteed salaries), that doesn't mean a whole lot. Dwight is not likely to opt out of $19.54 million, and if he does he'll re-sign for something similar anyway. Lewis's astronomical $22.7 million salary is a minimum of $10 mil guaranteed (rising to as much as $17.25 mil guaranteed if he meets performance benchmarks); however, while that represents a huge saving should he be waived, it also means an 8 figure commitment to someone who wouldn't be on the roster, which is not comforting and definitely not creative. And while Carter's final season is only $4 million guaranteed, waiving him before that final season would mean paying him $37 million for two seasons of work, which is is equally uncomfortable. The Magic have taken on an absolutely massive burden, which will be doubly painful if it doesn't work out on the court.

Thankfully, the other players are more competitively priced. Smith hit a sweet one when he extended Jameer Nelson to an incentive-laden 5 year, $40.5 million contract that pays a flat $8.1 million per season. This is a market value contract to a key player, who figures to only get better throughout the life of the contract. Brandon Bass and Mickael Pietrus are on similar deals, both signing flat rate contracts (for $4 mil and $5.3 mil respectively) which have performance incentives that could increase their value. Marcin Gortat is entirely worth the full Mid Level Exception, if only as a future trade chip. And no other player on the roster has a sizeable salary, with the next highest being J.J. Redick's expiring $2.84 million. The bottom third of the roster is done at bargain price, with Jason Williams and Adonal Foyle earing the minimum (only two thirds of which is charged to the Magic's cap), Ryan Anderson on a rookie scale contract, and with Matt Barnes earning only slightly more than that ($1.6 million for two years). Giving Anthony Johnson two years was a mistake - giving Anthony Johnson one year was a mistake - but it hasn't cost Orlando anything significant.

Smith and the Magic front office have had a fine offseason, paying market value prices to acquire some good quality players. Even the little things, such as the inclusion of Ryan Anderson into the Carter deal, were handled well, and they've been able to assemble the deepest Magic team in the franchise's history. (Not the best, though; that title is forever bestowed upon the 1999/00 lineup that featured liberal dollops of Ron Mercer, John Amaechi and Chucky Atkins. Great fun.) But all of this offseason's succees is only possible because of ownership, and their new-found desire to spend.

Don't get me wrong; spending is good. Being able to spend means you're able to buy, to obtain players and assets that non-spending teams could not. And in this tough economic climate, where most teams are inclined to sell and borrow, it's an even bigger blessing. But what would have happened if the Magic had lost to the Celtics after all? What if there was no Finals berth? What would have happened to the spending? The always tax-shy ownership - who have never previously paid any luxury tax - might have been shy of doing so now. They're currently on tap for a payroll of roughly $100 million, once tax deductions are taken into account. Had last year's Magic team been less successful, that figure might have been $30 million less.

It's not, though. As we've seen, the Magic are willing to spend their way to success, moreso than ever before. Because of that, Otis Smith has been able to offset the loss of Hedo Turkoglu and build the deepest Magic team of all time. And he's done it well.

As a Bulls fan, I'm jealous of this. Our ownership have always said that they'll pay for a 'winner,' but they've never done so, in spite of having profits bigger than Kirk Hinrich's Adam's Apple. Perpetually needing to make a big time deal for a front court star, the Bulls haven't been as gun shy about it as the press would have you believe, but the one time they were able to find the right deal (Pau Gasol), ownership vetoed it, not believing that Pau Gasol was worth paying the luxury tax for. As a result, we had to see out the 2006/07 season with P.J. Brown at power forward, and slumped back into the lottery the following season. Not cool.

We look up to you, therefore, as an example of how an NBA team's ownership really will step up and pay for a winner. The Magic did not pay for a winner when they weren't one, but now that they are, they are. (If that makes sense.) In contrast, Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf occasionally speaks of the Bulls' willingness to pay tax for a Finals team, but because we've never had one, it's never happened. We have to strive to avoid it, in fact, and this meant a dump of Thabo Sefolosha for Taj Gibson at the deadline just to be under the tax threshold this season. With profits like ours, it need not have happened....but it did. Bad times.

Yet as flattering as our envy may be, this does not matter to Magic fans. All that matters to you is the fortunes of your own team. And those fortunes are born directly out of the renewed commitment to the team by ownership. If Rich DeVos had forgotten that he was his own first name and pansied out of the luxury tax this year, your future would look a lot different. There may not have been no Vince Carter deal, for example, and no retaining Gortat. There might not have been a Bass signing, either, and the luxury of having Matt Barnes as a fifth forward option just wouldn't have been possible. With the luxury tax set at $69.72 million this upcoming season, the Carter trade left the Magic with $68.96 million in committed 2009/10 salary with only 8 players under contract. Without the Carter deal, there wouldn't have been a whole lot more money to spend, with $64.32 million committed to only 9 players (three of which would be point guards, one of which would be Tony Battie).

Had it not been for this new-found willingness to pay the tax, you would probably have entered this season with a worse team than last year's. The money just would not have been there to keep together the previous team, let alone to build upon it. To improve upon the former team would have involved finding some real bargains, cutting salary in a market where most teams are trying to do the same, and reducing the Magic's short term financial commitments without affecting the on-court product too much. To get all of that done, it would taken some truly creative financing.

And as much as he likes to talk about it, Otis Smith isn't very good at that.

So buy a cap, place it on your head, and then doff it towards the Orlando Magic's ownership. When called upon, DeVos coughed up cheese that he didn't need to cough up, all for the good of the franchise. The Magic just enjoyed arguably their best season ever, and if they do it again - or go one better - then it's directly because they took the shackles off the payroll, and financed the fine personel moves.

Otis, you buy a cap too.

Ridiculous Transactions: 7/25-7/31

Jon L — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:00:10 -0000

Every week (starting about a week ago), we here at RU will take a look at some relevant player transactions from the past week. Players signing with the D-League, D-League players going to Europe, transactions involving the odd Summer League player (odd meaning we're not going to cover all of them, not meaning, like, Robert Swift), trades of a similar ilk, etc. This one should be interesting because I just finished writing that Jam coach post and I'm still in a state of annoyance.

July 26: Richie Frahm - signed with Mersin Buyuksahir Belediyesi (Turkey); Stephane Lasme - signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)

This is the same team that Jimmy Baron signed with last week, and given Frahm's signing Baron has now a mentor and a guy who's going to take all of his minutes. Frahm's a very good three-point shooter, though he doesn't contribute much else. Then again, he likely won't have to. Lasme was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2007, didn't play much there and went to the D-League for awhile and then getting a 10-day contract with the Heat before playing in Europe last season. He was a solid shot-blocker and rebounder in Serbia last year, though he didn't produce all that consistently in Summer League a few weeks ago. He played for the Spurs team, though, and I'd bet they're keeping an eye on him.

July 27: Trent Plaisted - signed with Reggio Emilia (Italy); James Augustine - signed with Gran Canaria (Spain)

Plaisted was drafted in 2008 by Seattle then went to Detroit as part of the DJ White deal. He played for the Pistons' Summer League team, though that team was focused on more recent draft picks and he didn't get a ton of playing time. He finished with pretty good per-minute rebounding numbers, though. Augustine's has bounced between the D-League and the NBA, and he's the University of Illinois' all-time leading rebounder. His offense went steadily downhill at Summer League this year (scoring 21 points in the first game and zero in the last), but he can definitely rebound.

July 28: Othyus Jeffers - signed with NGC Cantu' (Italy); Richard Hendrix - signed with Granada (Spain)

Sigh. Look, I may not always seem like it on this site, but I'm a fairly realistic person. Some (many) people would
(did) say "cynical." So when I talk about Summer League rosters and how, say, a D-League did well or how his
skills might fit in with a specific NBA roster, I'm doing it because it's something to talk about. I know that for a lot of guys it's still a longshot, and that there just aren't enough NBA teams who pay attention to the D-League for these guys to get enough looks, and that teams are still apparently willing to explore signing a retired-and-not-all-that-good-anyway Jason Williams instead of a solid D-League player.
I know all that. I get it. But it's still disappointing to see guys like Hendrix and Jeffers go overseas. And not because Italy and Spain are bad places to play - they're not, in fact. But Hendrix had a great Summer League (both in Orlando and in Vegas) and was a top rebounder in the D-League last season, and Othyus Jeffers is a solid all-around offensive player in addition to being a lockdown defender. Both of those guys can play in the NBA right now. I don't know whether it's a function of the shrinking salary cap or that teams are still stuck on "names,"* but it seems like this offseason more and more of last year's D-League stars are headed to Europe. The league's going to look a lot different come the fall.

*And yes, I'm away of the contradiction of going after the Jam for hiring a "no-name" coach while going after NBA teams for not signing "no-name" players. But that's because...you see...it's different in that...shut up.

July 30: Nick Fazekas - signed with JDA Dijon (France)

Fazekas played well for the Celtics at Orlando Summer League, but they have a lot of forwards so that wasn't ever really a realistic option (see? I'm realistic). Still, despite not having the strongest upper body, Fazekas produces pretty well on the court. For some reason in my head I could've seen him fitting in with Oklahoma City while they give DJ White and Serge Ibaka a little more development time, but that's just me.

July 31: Kevin Rogers - signed with Panionios (Greece); Chicago Bulls - waived DeMarcus Nelson and Linton Johnson; Bakersfield Jam - hired Will Voigt as head coach

Seeing both Nelson and Johnson cut is a little tough, though Johnson's being released isn't a total shock. He was trying to make the roster this time around as a defensive stopper at power forward, and while I didn't see the results, remaking your body that way (he would've had to bulk up to succeed in that role) in a short period of time can be tough. It would've been nice to see Nelson step into a reserve shooting guard role after Ben Gordon left for Milwaukee, but the Bulls apparently thought a Pargo brother would be better for that. Kevin Rogers is a little raw for the NBA, but with a season or two in the D-League he could've become a solid player. He was decently efficient in Orlando Summer League this year, and he had solid shot-blocking and rebounding numbers.

Most of my thoughts on Voigt's hiring can be found in the post announcing the hire, but since that dealt mostly with how he was hired I'll just add that he did win a few ABA championships, which I don't know what kind of talent level he had but at the very least shows he didn't screw up a good thing (if he had one), and while there are other former head coaches and promising assistants out there who deserve a shot, and while I personally would've tried to snag a talented or at least well-known coach this year to a.) bring in fans and b.) justify their ticket prices, the Bakersfield ownership may not have wanted to go that route given the uncertainty over whether their plan will work or not.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 10

Jon L — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:00:42 -0000

Gary Forbes. Coby Karl. The D-League was running things in Vegas.

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Well this is it: the final day of the 2009 Summer League season. All the players, coaches and journalists have left Vegas by now, and all of them have some evaluating to do. RU is no different, and we'll have some analysis in the coming days, but there's one more full slate of games to go over first, so let's get to it.

D-League Select 74, Portland Trail Blazers 73

Portland Trail Blazers, you just made a fool of yourself in front of T-Bone. On a day when no one on the D-League team played particularly well, the game was won on a Marcus Hubbard buzzer-beating three. Othyus Jeffers and Trey Johnson missed their third straight game and were joined by Walker Russell, meaning the Selects had just seven guys available to play.As I've said before, these guys are working harder than everyone else, fighting to show what they can do until the clock hits zero. Kurt Looby was decent off the bench with five rebounds and two blocks in a little under 18 minutes and seven points on 3-5 shooting, though he also had five fouls in that brief period. Jasper Johnson hit all three of his shots from behind the arc and shot 6-11 overall for 16 points. Will Frisby had some nice moves down low and finished with six rebounds, though he also needed 13 shots to score 16 points.

Jerryd Bayless also sat out this game meaning Pooh Jeter got the main point guard responsibilities, and while he finished with seven assists he also shot the ball pretty terribly. Dante Cunningham shot 7-14, though he didn't get to the free throw line much and shot just 40 percent when he did, though he also grabbed seven rebounds. There's not much else to say about the Blazers because did I mention that they lost to the D-League team that was without three of its best players?

The rest of final day's action after the jump.

Denver Nuggets 107, New Orleans Hornets 105

This one went to three overtimes, which I can't imagine anyone wanted. Not too many players shot the ball efficiently overall, but a lot of the misses game as the game dragged on and on, so I'm willing to cut some slack here. Ty Lawson started out Summer League with some poor performances but he picked it up towards the end, and yesterday he had 24 points on 17 shots, six rebounds and four assists. CJ Giles played fairly well, with 13 points on nine shots, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Julian Wright missed all five of his three-pointers but was otherwise solid, with 24 points on 21 shots, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block and only two fouls and one turnover. Sonny Weems had a nice game, with 28 points on 23 shots and nine rebounds. Same goes for Coby Karl, with 19 points on 13 shots and five boards. Earl Calloway has had some nice moments in Vegas, and yesterday he had 13 points on 10 shots and six rebounds. Brian Cusworth hasn't played a whole lot, but yesterday he had 11 points on 5-8 shooting and five rebounds in less than 17 minutes.

Phoenix Suns 87, Los Angeles Clippers 70

Nik Caner-Medley has had some really solid Summer League performances, and yesterday was no exception with 13 points on nine shots, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Goran Dragic may be sensing that his roster spot is on the line (or at least his spot in the rotation), and he stepped up with 21 points on nine shots, seven assists and five rebounds, though he also picked up six assists so perhaps he was trying a little too hard. Jiri Hubalek had another good-rebounding, mediocre-shooting day with seven points on seven shots, but also six rebounds in 15 minutes. The box score says that Hyland Jordan picked up two techs, but there's no Hyland Jordan on either roster. Do they mean DeAndre Jordan? Jordan shot the ball okay, nine points on 4-6 shooting, but he was better in other areas with eight rebounds and two blocks in a little under 23 minutes.

Washington Wizards 89, New York Knicks 84

JaVale McGee had another very solid game, with 31 points on 16 shots (he shot 9-10 from the free-throw line), eight rebounds and four blocks. Jordan Hill had a fairly good game as well, particularly compared to some others he had in Vegas, with 21 points on 9-17 shooting and seven rebounds, though he also picked up six fouls. Nikoloz Tskitishvili did almost all of his shooting from behind the arc (six of his seven field goals were from three), but his aim was pretty true and he finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. I've been fairly impressed with Warren Carter's rebounding ability, and he had five in a little over 15 minutes yesterday. Tyrese Rice had his best game of Summer League, with 17 points on 7-10 shooting, though he still doesn't pick up a ton of assists and he still dribbles the ball way too much

Chicago Bulls 93, Minnesota Timberwolves 85

Kevin Martin or no Kevin Martin, Garrett Siler had another efficient game with 12 points on five shots along with five rebounds and two blocks, though he also had six fouls. James Johnson had a nice game for Chicago with 18 points on 12 shots, seven rebounds and four assists with only two turnovers. DeMarcus Nelson had a really nice game with 18 points on 10 shots, though the rebounding wasn't there the way it has been in the past. Oleksiy Pecherov had an off shooting night, but he still managed to corral eight rebounds in 17 minutes. The same goes for James Augustine, who was held scoreless while grabbing nine rebounds in 21 and a half minutes. Jonny Flynn also had a poor shooting day after a fairly impressive Summer League, though he also picked up seven assists in 23 minutes.

Memphis Grizzlies 76, San Antonio Spurs 75

DeMarre Carroll's performance hasn't impressed me much (though perhaps he's looked better in person), but he was able to capitalize on his versatility yesterday, as he had 16 points on nine shots, five rebounds and three steals. Ian Mahinmi's been inconsistent in Vegas, but yesterday he finished with 15 points on nine shots, nine rebounds and four blocks, though he also had six fouls. Romel Beck had nine points on six shots, which is nice, but he also grabbed five rebounds, which he hasn't really done much of during Summer League.

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 8

Jon L — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:00:15 -0000

Gary Forbes has played well for the D-League Select team at Vegas Summer League.

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Phoenix Suns 95, D-League Select 89

So, it finally happened. The D-League team lost, and to a team featuring Robin Lopez and Taylor Griffin. The Select squad was actually ahead for most of the game, but were outscored by 11 in the final quarter. The D-Leaguers were missing Othyus Jeffers and Trey Johnson due to some minor injuries, though, so I'm confident that a full squad would've won last night. Coleman Collins and Gary Forbes held things down in their absence. Forbes finished with 26 points on 18 shots, five rebounds and a pair of assists. Collins had 19 points on 11 shots, six rebounds, zero fouls and only one turnover. Jasper Johnson's final line isn't great (11 points from 12 shots), but he was pretty solid in the first half. Kurt Looby had five rebounds in nine minutes. He's close to being in the NBA, people. Walker Russell and Curtis Stinson both struggled with turnovers, picking up seven apiece, though Stinson also had ten rebounds and Russell's passing was otherwise on point, and he shot 10-11 from the free-throw line.

For Phoenix, Micah Downs saw his first extended action and made it count, scoring 19 points on 8-11 shooting and picking up five rebounds, five steals and three assists. I had never heard of Jiri Hubalek before yesterday, but he had 20 points on 11 shots, four rebounds and four blocks. Reading about Hubalek, his game sounds a little similar to Oleksiy Pecherov, in that he's a 7'0"(-ish) guy who shoots and rebounds, and that's about it. Former Dakota Wizard Carlos Powell played well for the Suns as well, with 10 points on five shots.

The rest of the games are after the jump, as usual.

Sacramento Kings 84, New York Knicks 71

If nothing else, Jon Brockman is a rebounding monster. He had 15 in just under 33 minutes yesterday, which makes up for his 1-5 shooting a bit. Nikoloz Tskitishvili has actually been really consistent in Summer League. Three games with 12 points, and each time it came on either eight or nine shots. The only real difference is how many threes he takes (anywhere from five to eight), and whether he blocks any shots (he had two yesterday). The numbers are all right in line through three games, which is sort of interesting (sort of) considering how flaky he was in Denver. Warren Carter's rebounding has been pretty good in Vegas, and he had six yesterday in under 14 minutes along with seven points on 3-5 shooting and a pair of blocks. If he doesn't get a preseason contract out of this, he might want to spend the season in the D-League, because I think he'd do well there and get some more NBA notice. Blake Ahearn finally had a decent shooting game, with nine points on five shots, though he also had five turnovers in 10 and a half minutes. Sigh.

Denver Nuggets 111, Portland Trail Blazers 93

Ty Lawson played well and has generally impressed people watching these games, and he had 26 points on 16 shots, five assists and five rebounds. Jeff Pendergraph also has gotten people talking, and while he didn't shoot the ball particularly well, nine rebounds in 23 and a half minutes is pretty solid. Denver has a fair amount of D-Leaguers on their squad, and they all played fairly well yesterday (to varying degrees). Sonny Weems did his thing to the tune of 24 points on 17 shots, four rebounds and two steals, and while he made only one of his five three-pointers, he was a perfect 9-9 from the free-throw line. Coby Karl was solid, shooting 5-6 and picking up four rebounds and three assists. Richard Hendrix shot 3-3 and grabbed three rebounds in 11 minutes. Ronald Dupree had 16 points on 10 shots and six rebounds, though he also picked up eight fouls. I don't care what people say, I still like the way Pooh Jeter's been playing in Vegas, and he had 15 points on 10 shots and five assists with only two turnovers in 30 and a half minutes.

Minnesota Timberwolves 89, Washington Wizards 82

TrueHoop's David Thorpe commented on Twitter that Nick Young is "too good" for Summer League, and while that may be true talent-wise, he's learning a new offense this year and will have to come off of screens a lot probably for the first time in his career. He's looked pretty good doing it, and yesterday he had 23 points on 17 shots, and he finally picked up some assists (which was worrying the Wizards fanbase) with three. Jonny Flynn has been playing well overall here, showing some nice speed and generally good decision-making. His shot hasn't always fallen but it did yesterday, as he had 21 points on 11 shots along with five assists and five rebounds. Wayne Ellington also has played well. John Edwards started off well before starting to foul a lot, and he finished with 11 points on 5-7 shooting, six rebounds and seven fouls. Garrett Siler had what some people refer to as a "Kevin Martin game," wherein he scored 11 points on two shots by going 8-9 from the free-throw line. Adam Parada's been rebounding really well, and he had seven in a little over 16 minutes, though he's not doing much else

Detroit Pistons 92, Cleveland Cavaliers 86

Austin Daye had another game in the point-rebound department, with 20 points on 14 shots and 10 rebounds. He had seven fouls and four turnovers, though, so there are still things to work on. Darnell Jackson has been pretty inconsistent this last week or so, but yesterday scored 13 points on seven shots and grabbed 11 rebounds. Jonas Jerebko was solid as well, with 19 points on eight shots and five rebounds. The Pistons had two players play 10 minutes each and combine for zero points and four rebounds. I reallllly hope Dwayne Jones isn't playing because he's injured (I don't want him to be injured, but you know what I mean). Jawad Williams has been playing fairly well, and he had 13 points on 11 shots yesterday (and made two of his three shots from behind the arc) and grabbed five rebounds, though he also had four turnovers. I haven't mentioned David Harrison much, because he hasn't done a whole lot (though he played okay the day before last), but he got two technical fouls yesterday. I don't know if that's an ejection, since you can't foul out of Summer League games, but he got two technicals. In a Summer League game. Think about that.

Chicago Bulls 80, Oklahoma City Thunder 74

James Harden has looked like a really solid pick for the Thunder, scoring efficiently along and picking up assists, rebounds and steals at a decent rate. He shot 7-15 yesterday, including 49 on threes, and had five assists. DJ White has had a solid Summer League of his own, and against Chicago he had 15 points on 11 shots, eight rebounds and two blocks. James Augustine was a perfect 4-4 from the field and 1-1 from the line, and he added 10 rebounds and two steals. Linton Johnson has apparently bulked up a bit in order to play some power forward this season, and he doesn't seem to have been too negatively affected by it. He shot 5-8 yesterday with five rebounds. DeVon Hardin had a "Kevin Martin game" of his own, with nine points on two shots along with four rebounds.

2009 NBA Summer League: OKC Thunder vs Chicago Bulls

Mr Pappagiorgio — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:30:09 -0000

2009 Oklahoma City Thunder Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
34	Tony Durant	F	6-7	245	Towson University
11	Richard Roby	G	6-6	205	Colorado
15	Marcus Dove	F	6-9	212	Unknown
17	Moses Ehambe	F	6-6	200	Oral Roberts
13	James Harden	G	6-5	220	Arizona State
50	DeVon Hardin	C	6-11	235	California
9	Serge Ibaka	F	6-10	220	Congo (Zaire)
14	Shaun Livingston	G	6-7	185	No College
2	Keith McLeod	G	6-2	190	Bowling Green
23	Byron Mullens	C	7-0	275	Ohio State
45	Doug Thomas	F	6-8	245	Iowa
30	Robert Vaden	G	6-5	205	Alabama-Birmingham
5	Kyle Weaver	G	6-6	201	Washington State
3	D.J. White	F	6-9	251	Indiana

2009 bulls Summer League Roster
Num	Player	Position	Height	Weight	From
35	Tyrell Biggs	F	6-8	235	Pittsburgh
32	Brandon Costner	F	6-9	230	North Carolina State
2	Bryan Mullins	G	6-2	190	Southern Illinois
3	Josh Shipp	G	6-5	215	UCLA
50	Luke Zeller	C	6-11	240	Notre Dame
40	James Augustine	F-C	6-10	240	Illinois
22	Taj Gibson	F	6-9	225	Southern California
11	Taurean Green	G	6-0	185	Florida
54	Linton Johnson	F	6-8	205	Tulane
16	James Johnson	F	6-8	245	Wake Forest
42	Nick Lewis	F-C	6-11	240	San Diego
14	Lorenzo Mata-Real	C-F	6-8	230	UCLA
21	DeMarcus Nelson	G	6-4	200	Duke
5	Anthony Roberson	G	6-2	180	Florida

Game Thread: Bucks/Bulls

Frank Madden — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:01:52 -0000

0-1		2-0
	vs.
July 15, 2009 - 5:00 PM CT
Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas
TV: NBA.com Stream
Probable starters:
DeMarcus Nelson	PG	Brandon Jennings
Anthony Roberson	SG	Jodie Meeks
James Johnson	SF	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Taj Gibson	PF	Joe Alexander
James Augustine	C	Amir Johnson

Vegas Summer League Recap: Day 5

Jon L — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:00:22 -0000

There's apparently no evidence of Collins dunking on Japan yesterday, so here he is against Minnesota.

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Okay, what gives? I know it's just the Japanese national team, and that it's just a "scrimmage," but no box score? Again? Was this some deal worked out with the good people of Japan to prevent being housed by the D-Leaguers? Anyway, the D-League Select team played the Japanese national team again, and won big again, 92-64. Here's the D-League's game write-up. Coleman Collins was getting some mentions on Twitter, and he finished the game with...well who knows. All we know about this game is that Jasper Johnson scored 15 points and Othyus Jeffers had 14. The only play that's described is a Collins dunk. Whee. I also read that Kurt Looby was playing well, but all evidence of that seems to have been erased. This is really annoying. Hey D-League, if you're going to bother writing a game summary, just go ahead and post the box score as well. The D-League is playing Sacramento tonight, so there will be some stats from that, but is it too much to ask to find out how well people are playing, you know, every night?

Games that were deemed worthy of paying attention to after the jump.

Washington Wizards 96, Cleveland Cavaliers 93

Yes, these two teams continued their simmering rivalry as LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas went at it...oh right, it's just Summer League. Washington actually has a fair amount of its regular roster here, including new Vegas addition Andray Blatche. This is Blatche's fourth season in the league, but he's still just 23 and still a bit erratic, so another round of Summer League couldn't hurt. He admitted to being nervous in the beginning, and he finished with seven turnovers, but he also had 21 points on 13 shots, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Nick Young started his transition to a new offense which requires him to come off of more screens, and he had a decent day (though he took about 30 percent of his team's shots) with 36 points on 19 shots, and he made five of his eight three-pointers. Christian Eyenga has had an up-and-down start to Summer League, but he was solid yesterday with 17 points on 13 shots in almost 23 minutes.

Jawad Williams has been relatively quiet so far, but he had a nice game off the bench for Cleveland with 14 points on eight shots, including making two of his three shots from behind the arc, and he contributed a pair of rebounds and a steal. Tyrese Rice had a decent shooting night for Washington, going 4-9, though he dribbles the ball too much. Maureece Rice didn't get much playing time, just under four and a half minutes, but he made both of his field goals and added a rebound

San Antonio Spurs 78, Denver Nuggets 76

Ian Mahinmi is still a work in progress (due partially to development time lost to injury), and while he had ten fouls yesterday he also had 12 points on nine shots and 16 rebounds along with two blocks. Jack McClinton finished with a game-high four assists in 11 minutes, though he also missed both of his shots.

Coby Karl had a nice all-around game, shooting 6-7 (including 3-4 on threes), three rebounds and a steal, and he also had three turnovers, he generally looked pretty good. We knew Romel Beck can score, and he's been pretty efficient for San Antonio so far. He had 14 points on 11 shots yesterday, though he hasn't been doing much else. Malik Hairston has been about the same, with nice, efficient scoring (7-11 yesterday) but contributing less in other areas than he's capable of. CJ Giles had a nice six rebounds in 13 minutes, though he missed both of his free throws. Squeaky Johnson finally got on the court but not for very long, less than four minutes, but he had two turnovers in that time which is completely uncharacteristic for him

Memphis Grizzlies 90, New York Knicks 86

I can spend a lot of time focusing on the non-NBA guys with this game, so I think I will (unless you want to hear about Sam Young's 3-10 shooting or Toney Douglas going 2-13). Nikolosz Tskitishvili had a good game. Yeah, it's Summer League, but it's still nice to be able to say it. 12 points on 4-8 shooting, four rebounds and three blocks. It's the blocked shots that jump out at me, because I don't remember that being part of his game before. Then again, because these boxscores don't keep track of blocks against, I don't know who Skita blocked. For all I know it could be Daniel Ewing. Ron Howard also played well, with 11 points on nine shots, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Hamed Haddadi had a decent game off the bench, with six rebounds and two blocks in less than 12 minutes, though he also needed six shots to get four points. Trey Gilder became an RU favorite over the course of last season (as did about half of Colorado's roster, come to think of it), and he had a nice all-around game yesterday with nine points on 4-5 shooting, five rebounds, a steal and a block. I know I keep saying I don't want to do this (and I know I keep saying that I know I keep saying that I don't want to do this), but Blake Ahearn has had a really rough few weeks. He was inconsistent in Orlando (to put it charitably), and yesterday he shot 1-8, though he also made all six of his free throws and had three assists. Ahearn's a much better shooter than he's been demonstrating, but he needs to start showing it.

Los Angeles Clippers 88, New Orleans Hornets 86

DeAndre Jordan continued his solid play in Vegas with 21 points on 10 shots, 12 rebounds and three blocks. TrueHoop's David Thorpe said on Twitter that out of all of the players here, Jordan may have improved the most in the last year. Eric Gordon's also been playing solidly, and he had 22 points on 14 shots, helped along by going 10-10 from the free-throw line. Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton had played well together, and they combined for 42 points on 31 shots, while Thornton shot 3-6 on three-pointers and Collison had four assists.

Kevinn Pinkney (who preceded/played with Nick Fazekas at Nevada-Reno and spent some time with the Bakersfield Jam) didn't have a great shooting night, though five rebounds in less than 13 minutes is solid. Earl Barron had six points and five rebounds in 15 and a half minutes, which is decent enough.

Los Angeles Lakers 74, Oklahoma City Thunder 68

James Harden's been really solid all-around, both here and in Orlando. He's been shooting the ball efficiently and picking up a fair number of rebounds, assists and steals. Case in point: he had 23 points on 14 shots yesterday, five assists, five rebounds and two steals. Kyle Weaver had eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals to go with his ten points. DJ White had a nice shooting day, going 4-5, though he didn't rebound as well as he has/can.

David Monds had another decent game with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals. Dominique Coleman only played four minutes (he's on the Lakers squad), but he had a pair of assists in that time. Forget Adam Morrison, play Dominique Coleman!

Golden State Warriors 95, Chicago Bulls 83

Congratulations to Anthony Randolph on matching the Summer League single-game scoring record with 42 points (and he also had four steals and three blocks). A lot of people are (maybe) going to talk about how remarkable it is (so go read Golden State of Mind or FreeDarko for that), but I'm a pretty cynical guy, so I'll just temper everyone else's enthusiasm with the fact that he managed only three rebounds in over 34 minutes. You're the next generation or power forward and Stephen Curry can out-rebound you? Speaking of whom, remember when everyone said that Curry would have a smooth transition to the pros because he was such a good shooter (did they say that)? Well he probably should start making those shots. He went 3-15 yesterday, and has shot the ball pretty terribly in every game. He's doing all the other things well, though, with eight assists, five rebounds and a block. James Johnson played well with 21 points on 13 shots, eight rebounds, three assists and a block. Taj Gibson had a decent performance with 5-11 shooting and 12 rebounds, though he also had nine fouls. James Augustine mostly played well, going 10-11 with seven rebounds and three blocks, though he also had seven fouls. TorosGirl would probably hurt me if I didn't mention DeMarcus Nelson. He played okay, shooting 4-12 with five turnovers but sinking all five of his free throws, grabbing five rebounds and picking up six assists (you thought I was going to say five again, didn't you?)

NBA Summer League Day Five Recap - Spurs Win

Wayne Vore (ATS) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:23:37 -0000

Because of the way the schedule was set up today, I only watched three games. Yes, I know, it is very disappointing that I didn't catch a fourth, which I am sure you have grown accustomed to.

Our beloved Spurs played the night cap and eeked out a 78-76 victory.

Yours truly got a big laugh out of Ian Mahinmi after the game. Ian Interview Game Two

[Update]: A very nice recap of the game and evaluation of Ian by Timothy Varner at 48MoH.

Game One - Knicks vs Grizzlies

The Grizz whipped up on the Knicks in the fourth quarter to take this one 90-86.

Memphis Grizzlies

DeMarre Carroll - I love me some DeMarre Carroll. 9 points and 4 rebounds will get you a yawn from most people. I like everything he does on the court. He hustles. He rebounds. He handles the ball intelligently. Give him a couple years to work on his shot and he will be a top-tier role player on a team.
Hamed Haddadi - The big Iranian is only 24 and he is WAY better than Thabeet right now. He's got really nice, and VERY large hands. Good court vision. He had a very slick pass to Darrell Arthur that spoke volumes for his coordination. He caught a pass in the paint while cutting across the lane and executed a nice little scoop pass just as he caught the ball to Arthur who was cutting in from the wing. It was gorgeous. He also had 2 blocks and 5 boards in 12 minutes.
Darrell Arthur - He's got a really nice jumper and excellent moves within in 15 feet. He was impossible for them to stop.
Hasheem Thabeet - I still don't like what I see from him. His defensive game is decent, but his hands are terrible. Kwame Brown terrible. Enough said.

New York Knicks

Morris Almond - Great shooter. End of story.
Jordan Hill - I wasn't really paying attention to him. He didn't stand out to me, but his numbers where decent. 13 points and 8 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Joe Crawford - He wowed us with a couple plays.
Nikoloz Tskitishvili - The big man can shoot. 3 of 5 from downtown. 12 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes.

Game Two - Bulls vs Warriors

This was my fourth look at the Warriors. More of the same.

Golden State Warriors

Anthony Randolph - This was his show. He put up 42. Yes, 42. He was 13-22 from the field and 16-21 from the line. This was his first game in which he didn't have a double-double as he only came up with 3 rebounds. The funny part is that me and another guy were joking about what kinds of questions we could ask him. Like, "Anthony, you only had 3 rebounds. Do you think that kind of performance is going to help you get playing time?" Hahahaha. Anyway, we are coming up with all kinds of asinine questions we could ask him, and you know what, in his post game interview he brings up his 3 rebounds as something to work on. I can't believe he's only played one year. His offensive game is ridiculous. He's still fairly poor on the defensive end, but crikey the man can score.
Stephen Curry - He's shooting 31% in four games. On 70 shots. Yes, 70 shots. He's got a better handle than I thought he would but I think he's going to have a hard time when the games aren't called so tightly.

Chicago Bulls

James Augustine - I fairly certain he played in the Spanish ACB League with Unicaja last year. He has a complete game. He showed great body control and ball skills. He went 10-11 from the field and pulled down 7 rebounds in 34 minutes.
James Johnson - The rookie from Wake Forest has some potential. He went for 21 and 8. I want to watch him a little more closely.
Taj Gibson - The rookie from USC was very active. He ended with 14 points and 12 rebounds in just under 30 minutes.
DeMarcus Nelson - 4-12 from the field.
Anthony Roberson - 3-13 from the field.
Bench - The Bulls bench went 0-11 from the field.

Game Three - Spurs vs Nuggets

The Spurs turnovers and fouls kept the Nuggets in this game. We held them to 34% shooting and out rebounded them by 10.

Denver Nuggets

Coby Karl - He made a LOT of shots. He missed one. He had 19 points and, in general, was very good.
Ronald Dupree - 13 points.

San Antonio Spurs

Ian Mahinmi - The inauspicious triple double. Or is it triple bumble? He did look good for long stretches. All in all, I'm very pleased with this performance after Sunday's. Plus, I made him GOL. Or was that LOL?
James Gist - I'm not sure if he played poorly or played well and just didn't have stats.
Malik Hairston - I am really starting to like his composure and presence. He had 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Only 2 rebounds in 31 minutes though. I would like to see other contributions in the stat sheet. I do think, however, that he played good defense.
Jack McClinton - Another 0-2 in only 11 minutes. He did have the Spurs only 4 assists in the first quarter. I'm not sure what is going on with him, but he still has 6 more missed to go to get into George Hill Land.
George Hill - The Spurs were terrible again with him not on the floor. He did miss a free throw. 16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers.
Stephane Lasme - He was very active around the basket. While I don't think he has a shot to make the Spurs, I think he is doing a good job of getting himself a contract overseas.
Romel Beck - The guy can shoot. He doesn't make good decisions with the ball though. He'll probably be overseas as well.
Donnell Taylor - He was my favorite bench player tonight. He had 6 points and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes. He is still struggling at the point, but he's getting better.
Squeaky - His only dent in the stat sheet was 2 turnovers.

Day Five is in the books. Tomorrow, we get back to the full 4 game schedule for ATS. I enjoyed my short day, now back to the grind.

2009 Orlando Pro Summer League: Thunder vs Jazz OPEN THREAD

Mr Pappagiorgio — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:00:28 -0000

Watch the Game Live at 10am Central Time (Click This Link)

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

No.	Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Birthdate	College
15	DeAngelo Alexander	G	6'5	215	1/21/84	Charlotte
17	Moses Ehambe	F	6'6	200	05/22/86	Oral Roberts
13	James Harden	G	6'5	220	8/26/89	Arizona State
50	Devon Hardin	C	6'11	220	6/03/86	California
42	Kyle Hines	F/C	6'6	230	9/02/86	UNC Greensboro
9	Serge Ibaka	F	6'10	220	9/18/89	Congo
14	Shaun Livingston	G	6'7	185	9/11/85	Peoria Central HS (IL)
23	B.J. Mullens	C	7'0	275	2/14/89	Ohio State
5	Kyle Weaver	G	6'6	201	2/18/86	Washington State
0	Russell Westbrook	G	6'3	187	11/12/88	UCLA
3	D.J. White	F	6'9	251	8/31/86	Indiana
30	Robert Vaden	G	6'5	205	3/03/85	Alabama-Birmingham

Head Coach: Scott Brooks
Assistant Coaches: Brian Keefe, Ron Adams, Mark Bryant, Nate Tibbetts and Vin Bhavnani
Head Athletic Trainer: Joe Sharpe

UTAH JAZZ

No.	Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Birthdate	College
52	James Augustine	C	6'10	235	2/27/84	Illinois
25	Jimmy Baron	G	6'3	195	5/23/86	Rhode Island
21	Cedric Bozeman	G	6'6	207	3/7/83	UCLA
16	Derrick Brown	F	6'8	227	9/8/87	Xavier
10	Josh Duncan	F	6'9	238	5/12/86	Xavier
6	Andre Ingram	G	6'3	191	11/19/85	American
41	Kosta Koufos	C	7'0	265	2/24/89	Ohio State
18	Kevin Kruger	G	6'2	185	5/1/83	UNLV
40	Kevin Lyde	F/C	6'9	294	3/12/80	Temple
20	Wes Matthews	G	6'5	220	10/14/86	Marquette
3	Eric Maynor	G	6'3	175	6/11/87	Virginia Commonwealth
11	Goran Suton	C	6'10	245	8/11/85	Michigan State
30	Dar Tucker	F	6'5	215	4/11/88	DePaul
43	Larry Turner	C	6'11	240	12/29/82	Tennessee State
55	Larry Wilkinson	C	6'9	240	10/2/82	Utah State

Head Coach: Jerry Sloan
Assistant Coaches: Phil Johnson, Tyrone Corbin, Scott Layden and Mark McKown
Head Athletic Trainer: Gary Briggs

Orlando Summer League Recap: Day 3

Jon L — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:00:17 -0000

Not that this sort of thing matters, but by Day 3 of Summer League I think it's pretty clear who the top teams are - Orlando, Indiana and Oklahoma City. They're getting it done in different ways, with Oklahoma City relying on its bevy of NBA-ready (and NBA-experienced) guards, Indiana getting most of its contributions from big men Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough, and Orlando also using its frontcourt effectively, but doing bit both inside and outside with Ryan Anderson and RU contributor Kasib Powell, among others. As I said, though, and as you all well know, Summer League W-L records mean nothing. What's important is who's making a case that they can help their team - or any team, in the case of undrafted players and D-League guys - when the regular season starts. And to see who's did that yesterday, let's turn to the games themselves.

Oklahoma City Thunder 94, Boston Celtics 82

This whole week, Russell Westbrook has looked a cut above pretty much everyone else who's been in the court with him, and that's not really a surprise. As much immediate success as he had in the NBA last year, playing against someone like Jimmy Baron isn't much of a challenge. Still, despite his overall impressive numbers yesterday (22 points on 16 shots, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 5 steals), he's still turning the ball over more than I'm sure the Thunder would like. Kyle Weaver had a better game, shooting 4-5 with two blocks, though he had five fouls in a little over 20 minutes. Gabe Pruitt had a rough game, shooting 3-11 with some foul trouble besides. JR Giddens had a better shooting day than he's had so far, going 7-13 and picking up 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals, but he also turned the ball over 6 times.

As for the guys just trying to make a roster, I'm not sure whether DJ White is assured of an NBA spot or whether he'll be in Tulsa again, but he turned it around from the day before, shooting 7-10 and pulling in five rebounds. DeVon Hardin also played well for the Thunder, finishing with 7 rebounds and 4 blocks to go with his efficient 4-5 shooting. Coby Karl had another game where he didn't really put it all together, as he shot 2-6 and only had one rebound, but three assists.

The other two games after the jump.

Orlando Magic 108, Philadelphia/New Jersey Frankensteins 86

I know that I said wins and losses don't matter, but the combined team has looked pretty terrible in all three games, and it's hard to tell whether it's because the coaching staff has to try and evaluate two different rosters at the same time, or because the players themselves are just rougher than those on he other teams. At any rate, Chris Douglas-Roberts is apparently dealing criticism of his "shoot first, second and third" mentality by only attempting one field goal in 28 minutes, and while he had two blocks he also had only two assists and no rebounds, so I'm not really sure what he was doing. Terrence Williams found some semblance of an offensive game, scoring 16 points on 13 shots and making a couple of threes, but his main strengths at this point lie elsewhere, and he had 5 turnovers but also 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Ryan Anderson was again efficient and impressive, with 21 points on 15 shots, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Dionte Christmas had his best game so far, with 18 points on 9 shots, including making 4 of 6 three-pointers, though he didn't do much else in just under 16 minutes.

Kasib Powell continued his good play, and he had a better shooting day than game 2, making 4 of his 5 three-pointers and 7 of his 10 shots overall. Richard Hendrix also played very well, with 17 points on 9 shots ans 12 rebounds in about 23 and a half minutes. Lance Allred finally played double-digit minutes, though he didn't play particularly werll apart from his three assists. Blake Ahearn finally got his shot going, 2-5 on threes and making his other field goal attempt to go with four assists, though he also had three turnovers.

Indiana Pacers 95, Utah Jazz 79

Hibbert and Hansbrough were again the focal points for Indiana. Hansbrough did most of his damage at the free throw line with 14 attempts (all of which he made), and he also had 5 rebounds and a block. Hibbert mainly stayed anchored to the paint, and he finished with 8 rebounds and two blocks to go with 8-13 shooting. Eric Maynor hasn't shot the ball all that well but usually makes up for it with some combinations of assists, rebounds and steals, but those were absent yesterday. Also, I know I said I wasn't going to call out poor performances too often, I remain somewhat unimpressed with Goran Suton, who shot 2-8 with just one rebound to go with five fouls and three turnovers in 17 minutes.

Trey Johnson got a lot of playing time, 31 minutes, and he did okay, I suppose. 3-8 shooting, three rebounds, two assists, four turnovers. James Augustine played very well, making six of his seven shots and collecting five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 18 and a half minutes. Kevin Lyde also played well in limited minutes, shooting 2-5 with six rebounds in just over 7 minutes. AJ Price had a good game scoring-wise, shooting 6-9 overall and 2-3 on three-pointers, and he had four rebounds, which is pretty good for a guy his size. Kevin Kruger didn't have a great shooting day, but he finished with a game-high five assists in a little under 15 minutes.