SB Nation - Jared Reiner

Last Night In The D-League - Where A Marriage Proposal Happened

Scott Schroeder — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:00:20 -0000

by HO - AP

The guy that proposed didn't look like Tony Gonzalez. And his future wife didn't look like Tony's wife, who is apparently named October. Probably because it happened in North Dakota.

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The one thing I don't like about the D-League is the fact that the majority of their games are on the weekends in the evening. It's not like I have a bustling social life, but still. Anyway, I feel we kind of cheated you by not recapping last Friday nights action, so I didn't want to be a complete failure today.

It's still the weekend, however, so in lieu of my usual great notes, I'm giving you tweets from yours truly, Matt Moore at Hardwood Paroxysm, Steve Weinman at D-League Digest, Mookie at A Stern Warning and Jim Fossel from CelticsTown. Yes, there were multiple people semi-regularly tweeting about the D-League last night. Ain't it great?!

First, some general D-League analysis:

Can we get a petition letter to get plus/minus added to the D-League boxscore? (Matt Moore)

Seriously, why not? It couldn't be that hard to include, am I right? Or, is Moore right? If it takes Jon L writing a post about this and "Blocks Against," we'll do it. Don't test us.

This stuff kills me. RT @HPbasketball RT @RUBasketball: Nothing classier than proposing at the first timeout of a D-League game. Seriously. (Slam's Holly Mackenzie)

This happened at the first quarter of the Wizards-Skyforce game. Added romanticism came with the sponsored Wizards-logo'd t-shirts the couple wore.

Futurecast drivers REALLY need to quit using the baseline cam. You are one dude with a button, not a TNT production crew. Keep it wide. (MM)

Two palming calls in Maine tonight. Will that top the NBA's season total? (Steve Weinman)

Do the D-League players have their names at the bottom of the jerseys because they're names that are on the rise? (Mookie)

Tulsa 66ers 94, Rio Grande Valley Vipers 89 (OT) (Box Score)

RGV has to be the best team in the league, right? I mean, I get Maine. But Harris, Anderson, Dorsey? With Garrett Temple? (MM)

Antonio Anderson may need to be on the call-up list this week. block on a three, a reverse, then a 10 foot baseline. I'm digging this. (MM)

Man, Harris with a catch and face-up, 20 foot jumper's good. that's 22 for Harris. CALL HIM UP (MM)

Liking Latavious Williams' aggressiveness. Needs to do that in the A. In college, they'd be teaching him to brick seven foot js on the break. God, Latavious Williams' is a physical freak. Two years and he's going to be beasting. (MM)

Overtime in Tulsa. Crank up your Futurecast! (SW)

Fort Wayne Mad Ants 113, Maine Red Claws 105 (Box Score)

Ron Howard was amazing. 9-for-13 FG, 11-for-13 FT, 30 points total + 5 steals. Who knew? (Me)

Looks like Sean Sonderleiter will lose starting role to Jared Reiner. Makes sense, makes me sad. (Me)

No Kyle McAlarney. Ow. Fort Wayne needs a backup PG. Lucky Rob Kurz dished 8 assists. Pt forward? (Me)

Bill Walker flings a cross-court pass away and then forgets his man can shoot on consecutive plays. Not ideal. (SW)

Bill Walker just posterized Rob Kurz. (SW)

Walker was frikkin brilliant. 32ish points. Kicking ass & taking names. (Jim Fossel)

Alexis Ajinca is actually getting those points inside! He looks as good as I've seen him. Very impressive night.(SW)

What's your feeling as to how long it'll be before Ajinca can be a rotation player in the NBA? Playing minutes is often all it's about. Have switched over to watch the final 2:15. (Mookie, making the D-League transition)

"We'd be amiss if we didn't mention the rubbah chicken shootin at that last timeout." #NortheasternersTalkFunny (Me)

Dakota Wizards 103, Sioux Falls 96 (Box Score)

Who's excited for pajama day tomorrow at the Dakota Wizards game!?!? That may top the mid-20-second-timeout wedding proposal, honestly. (Me)

Romel "George The Iceman Gervin" Beck. Seriously. (Me)

Has there ever been an explanation for Beck's occasional offensive disappearances? It's not that he goes cold, just invisible. AND Yup, it's really weird. Every time I watch him, he scores efficiently, just seems like he goes quarters without even a touch. (SW)

David Bailey still as quick as ever. He had some drug "issues" in Australia -- no probs lately? (Mookie)

Scoring balance: No one has 20, but 11 players are in double-figures in tonight's Skyforce-Wizards game. Cool. (SW)

Iowa Energy 95, Erie Bayhawks 88 (Box Score)

Nobody tweeted about this game, so I bring you tweets by Iowa's Cartier Martin.

Bout to play Assasins Creed 2...then it's nap time. Got a big game tonight.
Game went well...we got the dub. I'm slowly but surely gettin my groove back.
what's good bro? Man that Europe shit got a #@$%# game all f'ed up.
Me chillin at the table wit my goons! You better be careful how you run up on me..they something vicious! http://yfrog.com/4gvydj

Bakersfield Jam 107, Idaho Stampede 80 (Box Score)

Ouch (The World upon finding out Bakersfield won a game)

Waive Goodbye, Part 2

Jon L — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:42 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Go ahead and smile, Derrick Byars. You made the team. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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Today we continue our look at the players waived or, occasionally, kept by NBA teams as the regular season begins. Next up we move into the middle of the country, or as I like to call it, "America's already-bloated snackhole." (I can say that because I live there.) That's right, it's the Central and Southwest Divisions. (Except that I was looking at the wrong division list when I wrote this and it's actually the Northwest Division. Deal with it, America.) And if you're just tuning in, don't forget to check out part 1.

Chicago Bulls

Who got cut: Curtis Stinson, Chris Richard, Steven Hill

Who got kept: Derrick Byars

Forget Stinson and Hill, this really came down to Byars vs. Richard for the last roster spot. And with all due respect to Richard, they made the right call. Richard played okay, although he averaged less than seven points per 36 minutes, and given that the team that already sports Joakim Noah in the frontcourt they really probably can't handle yet another guy who can't produce on offense. Not that Richard unequivocally can't, he just didn't demonstrate that sort of ability in the preseason, which is when he needed to demonstrate it. Byars helps the team in case Deng gets hurt again, or if John Salmons starts creaking (he turns 30 later this year). I won't discuss Byars in great detail here, because you can read this. It probably makes up for the Bulls cutting DeMarcus Nelson, maybe. Stinson and Hill are both probably headed to Europe, though I could see Stinson sticking around the D-League.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Who got cut: Luke Nevill, Andre Barrett, Russell Robinson, Rob Kurz, Darryl Watkins

Who got kept: Coby Karl

See Marge? These guys get it. Karl actually didn't play particularly well in the preseason, but he had a pretty good Summer League with Denver, and he's definitely talented. He's a nice multi-faceted player who can shoot (and make) threes, help distribute the ball, pick up some steals and rebound a little bit. So in other words he's exactly the right kind of guard for Cleveland. He's also worked damn hard, and he deserves another shot at the NBA. It never feels good to get cut (I'm assuming), but it's probably especially hard for Rob Kurz, who was starting for the Warriors just last season. He'd definitely be a prime call-up candidate should he go to the D-League, as he's a 6'9" guy who can make threes, although he could stand to pick up his rebounding and defense. He also profiles well as a Euroleague guy, so he could end up there. Russell Robinson also could pick either option. He played pretty poorly both in Summer League and the preseason, with turnovers being the major problem. Another stint in the D-League could help that, as he averaged just two and a half per 36 minutes for Reno last season. I'll mention again that I haven't been including Jawad Williams in this discussion because he was signed at the end of last season and has a partially-guaranteed deal, so while he theoretically could be waived later on, the team has been somewhat more committed to him than these other guys. I'm somewhat optimistic about Williams's playing time, since at this point he's more capable than J.J. Hickson or Darnell Jackson, but Leon Powe and maybe Jamario Moon are around to take most of the backup forward minutes.

Denver Nuggets

Who got cut: James White, Kurt Looby, Keith Brumbaugh, Dontaye Draper

Who got kept: Joey Graham

Massive disappointment here, although there's nothing personal against Graham. There was just so much hope that this would be White's year in Houston, then the team decided it wouldn't be, then Denver decided it wouldn't be his year for them, either. Looby getting cut isn't a huge surprise, as he's still carpaccio-raw. But, White getting the boot on top of Sonny Weems being sent away is enough to make one question Denver's commitment to ~~Sparkle Motion~~ the D-League. That would be rash, of course, and unfair to Denver who is clearly trying to win soon. Graham's per-36 numbers are almost identical to White's NBA figures, but I guess there's still too much uncertainty over what White can do when there really shouldn't be. He's headed over to Europe now, I assume, since he's said he's done with the D-League, and who can blame him. If an NBA team says they're committed to your development, then semi-promptly gets rid of you, that would be disheartening for anyone.

Detroit Pistons

Who got cut: Maceo Baston

Who got kept: No one.

Sorry, Maceo. Have fun at your House Party. (Admit it, that's not the clip you were expecting.) (Also, note to self: when you get older, shave your head but leave the sideburns and add a mustache.) But hey, here's a crazy idea; the Pistons also waived their second round pick Deron Washington, who's a 6'7" small forward. James White is a 6'7" small forward. WHAT IF THEY'RE ABOUT TO SIGN JAMES WHITE? They're probably not, but they should be. While Austin Daye looked really, really good in Summer League, and Jonas Jerebko could be pretty good, it seems a bit crazy to rely on three rookies (remember DaJuan Summers) as key bench contributors, rebuilding or no rebuilding. And while James White doesn't have that much more NBA experience, he's been around for a few years and he can contribute. Come on, Joe Dumars. LET'S DO THIS.

Indiana Pacers

Who got cut: Rod Benson, Demetris Nichols, Lawrence Roberts

Who got kept: No one.

Rod Benson is probably going back to Europe this year, even though he didn't have the best experience there last season (although being injured didn't help). I'd guess Nichols goes the same route, and both of them are good enough to play in the NBA right now. (Roberts is already over there.) As for the biggest question, whether we'll seee a return of Boom Tho-ness, I have no idea. Personally I wouldn't expect too much except maybe a continuation of his posts over at Ball Don't Lie. If this website were FreeDarko I'd probably launch into a discussion about whether this year's return to (or first crack at) seriousness for Benson and Gilbert Arenas reflects some kind of "down to business" vibe given off by the Obama Administration, but I have neither the time nor the ability to get into that right now. Or who knows, maybe Benson could write a book that would probably be better than Paul Shirley's (which I haven't read, but Benson's a better writer than Shirley so it's pretty much a lock.)

Milwaukee Bucks

Who got cut: Marcus Hubbard, Mark Tyndale, Charles Gaines, Dominic James

Who got kept: No one.

This was bound to happen eventually, but I don't really have much to say about these guys. Hubbard could do with another season or two in the D-League and work on either a.) becoming a proper interior player, or b.) shooting better than .256 on his three-pointers. Because this in-between thing isn't working. Gaines played well for Austin last season, averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minutes, and shot a good percentage with Maccabi Tel Aviv. I'd like to see him in the D-League again this season, but I'm not sure he's close enough to a call-up to make it worth his time. Let's see, what else can I talk about with these guys...uh hey, I think Ersan Ilyasova can be pretty good, but that's not really under the purview of this series. Three or four players likely going over to Europe. Whee.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Who got cut: Jack McClinton, Alonzo Gee, Jared Reiner, Devin Green, Mustafa Shakur

Who got kept: Jason Hart

I don't have much to say about Jason Hart since he's 31 years old now and last played in the D-League eight years ago. This is probably a stale comment by now, and the team waived Antonio Daniels so they haven't gone completely crazy, but what's the deal with Minnesota and point guards? Who are these people? Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one? I've already written about this, but whatever NBA team ends up with McClinton (and there will be one, eventually) is going to love having him, and kick themselves for not having him earlier. Reiner got a raw deal by getting cut right before the game in his hometown, sure. But Nate Jawai is in Minnesota now, and that's something, right? It's at least as much a something as Oleksiy Pecherov being there, certainly.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Who got cut: Michael Ruffin, Tre Kelley, Mike Harris

Who got kept: Ryan Bowen

I saw Kelley play a little bit, and he looked pretty good. He's very quick, and he can get to the basket. Of course, he was being guarded by Curtis Jerrells at that point so take it with a grain of bacon salt. He's almost certainly headed to Europe. Michael Ruffin, eh. I have a sort of personal animus against him through no fault of his, since Eddie Jordan overused him when they were both with the Washington Wizards, but he's already landed on his feet overseas. The question of what Bowen can give the team at this point in his career is a good one, as he's 34 years old and has been pretty inconsistent the last few seasons. I just have to keep telling myself that the Thunder still have D.J. White and Serge Ibaka, and be content with that.

Portland Trail Blazers

Who got cut: Ime Udoka, Jarron Collins, Donell Taylor, Quinton Hosley

Who got kept: No one.

I wonder what will happen to Udoka, as he's probably still good enough to contribute at the back of someone's rotation, but he's also 32 years old and most of the teams that would be interested in him are already full up. He's a solid candidate for a mid-season replacement in case some small forward somewhere gets hurt. He can shoot the three a bit, his rebounding has improved the past few years and he doesn't turn the ball over much.

What, you want me to talk about Jarron Collins?

Utah Jazz

Who got cut: Ronald Dupree, Alexander Johnson, Paul Harris, Spencer Nelson

Who got kept: No one.

Wes Matthews and draft pick Goran Suton aren't really included in this, but in the interest of full disclosure Matthews is in and Suton is out. Suton would be a solid big man in the D-League should he decide to go that route. You're probably expecting me to express disappointment at Dupree being waived, but the fact is that he didn't play well in the preseason. At all. Well, I suppose that's not completely true as he averaged about ten points per 36 minutes, but he's capable of much more than that, and he didn't really contribute much in the way of rebounds, assists or steals. He's really only had one good game, though, against the Clippers when he shot 4-7 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line, and in the rest he shot 5-13 overall. I'd like to see him in the D-League again this year, and maybe if he plays his normal solid, slashing game he'll restore some of his call-up-ability.

Dear Minnesota Timberwolves - Plz be kewler. Thx.

James Dalton Swayze — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:32 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

Patrick O'Bryant, much like the Minnesota Timberwolves, is a bully.

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Last year, right around this time, the Minnesota Timberwolves opted for Kevin Ollie over Blake Ahearn. I think we all know how that worked out (it didn't).

Well, thanks to the wonderful people over at Black Heart, Gold Pants, there's reason to hate the Wolves again/still. And I quote:

The particularly prickish aspect of this all is that Reiner was just two days away from playing an exhibition with the T-Wolves in Sioux Falls, home of his successful [D-League] career and a hour's drive away from his hometown of Mitchell. Really, Minnesota? You couldn't work in a couple more days for the Bighorn Chief? You're all bastard people, Timberwolves! That's what you are! You're just bastard people! And I'm going home and I'm gonna... I'm gonna bite my pillow, is what I'm gonna do! Wait, I am home. Whoops.

Yes, Jared Reiner was cut so they could continue to let the rottong corpse/contract of Brian Cardinal chill on the bench/do whatever he does.

Damn You All To Hell, Minnesota Timberwolves

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:21:20 -0000

Brace yourselves, readers; we have horrible news from the world of professional bas-ket-ball:

YOU. BASTARDS. We'd be mad if we weren't so... sad. Click here for appropriate music in a new window, then keep reading.

Okay, real talk: Jared Reiner was probably the first athlete we ever met on the Iowa campus, and definitely the nicest athlete we ever met on the Iowa campus. It sucks that A: he got screwed out of a McDonald's All-American roster spot in high school so they could make room for some 7'6" kid who fucking sucked at basketball (just looked it up--Neil Fingleton, who now goes as "the world's tallest actor." Whatever, fuckface.). Then it sucks that his coach was Steve Alford, who rode Reiner's ass for no good reason and left him under the tutelage of Brian Jones, a purely awful position coach.

He was still a cool guy all the same, and one night an old, dear, drunk friend of mine approached Reiner and told him that his new nickname was "The Bighorn Chief," which still wouldn't make sense if we told the three-paragraph backstory. Then, said friend told every other basketball player nearby that Reiner's new name was "Bighorn Chief," and that was all they could call him. I don't know if it stuck--probably not, and that's probably for the best--but... well, that's not a gesture that old friend would have made for Glen Worley or Luke Recker, you know. Reiner's a good dude.

The particularly prickish aspect of this all is that Reiner was just two days away from playing an exhibition with the T-Wolves in Sioux Falls, home of his successful NBDL career and a hour's drive away from his hometown of Mitchell. Really, Minnesota? You couldn't work in a couple more days for the Bighorn Chief? You're all bastard people, Timberwolves! That's what you are! You're just bastard people! And I'm going home and I'm gonna... I'm gonna bite my pillow, is what I'm gonna do! Wait, I am home. Whoops.

Last Night in the Preseason

Jon L — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:47:49 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

2 months ago: Los Angeles Clippers forward Craig Smith, center, goes after a loose ball ball as Utah Jazz center Kyrylo Fesenko, left, and center Kosta Koufos look on during the first half of their preseason NBA basketball game, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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Sorry this is late getting up, folks. My computer started making a loud noise as I was writing it last night, which I took to mean "turn off the computer now." But anyway, I also attended last night's Spurs vs. Thunder game, which was played in Austin but which was considered a Thunder home game. It was very odd, and I can only guess that they did it because Kevin Durant went to UT, and they thought people would root for Oklahoma City just because of that. I saw maybe one OKC jersey, the rest were all silver and black. Or maybe they just didn't care and wanted the gate money, which is fine. Whatever the case, it got me ready for the season to start so that I can write about games after watching them, and not just write "so-and-so grabbed three rebounds in three minutes." Not that you shouldn't read that if I write it.

San Antonio Spurs 119, Oklahoma City Thunder 102

So let's talk about this one first. Most of what I saw has to do with players this website doesn't really care about, so I won't bore you with them here, but Shaun Livingston, Curtis Jerrells, Tre Kelley and Malik Hairston all got some playing time, and they looked okay to varying degrees. Livingston had a hard time keeping up with George Hill, but he was decent on the offensive end (he finished with four points on 2-4 shooting). Jerrells played pretty good defense when matched up against Livingston, but his biggest issue was fighting through and/or getting around screens. The Thunder ran him threw several of them and he got lost on all of them. Tre Kelley also was able to take him off the dribble several times, and Kelley made both of his field goals, which came getting to the basket for layups or dunks. Hairston probably played the best of the group, though he took a few minutes to settle down. He made two of his three shots, picked up an assist and generally looked good within the flow of the Spurs offense.

Utah Jazz 108, Portland Trailblazers 97

Kyrylo Fesenko had a solid game, with eight points (though it came on eight shots), six rebounds and three blocks...except he also fouled out in 13 minutes and turned the ball over four times. Oh Kyrylo. Kosta Koufos gave the Jazz the solid rebounding and no turnovers but also no offense. Five boards in a little over 14 minutes and zero points. Oh Kouf. Ime Udoka was okay, 11 points on 3-7 shooting in 16 and a half minutes, although he didn't have any of the rebounding or assists/steals that he'll probably need to regularly produce in order to make the team.

Charlotte Bobcats 94, Milwaukee Bucks 87

Dontell Jefferson didn't have a great night last night, 0-2 shooting with two turnovers in six minutes, but the big story was Raja Bell spraining his wrist. Now, I never root for guys to get hurt, because I'm not a monster. But certainly the opportunity is now there for Jefferson to get more playing time as a lockdown backcourt defender, particularly on a Larry Brown-coached team, and I hope he's able to take advantage of it.

New York Knicks 108, Boston Celtics 103

All J.R. Giddens does is rebound. 0-3 shooting in a little over eight minutes, but he also grabbed five rebounds, including four on the offensive end (who knows how many of those were off his own misses). I have no idea what it's going to take to get him to find a passable offensive game on the NBA level, but if he's given a shot in the NBA I think he could be the greatest rebounding guard ever.

Denver Nuggets 129, Minnesota Timberwolves 100

Jared Reiner finally got some playing time, and while the offense wasn't good (two points on three shots), the rest of it was decent, as he grabbed three rebounds and picked up an assist in eight minutes. No fouls, either.

2009 Season Preview

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:00:25 -0000

Team Name: Minnesota Timberwolves

Last Year's Record: 24-58

Key ~~Losses~~ Additions By Subtraction: Calvin Booth, Bobby Brown, Rodney Carney, Jason Collins, Randy Foye, Mark Madsen, Rashad McCants, Mike Miller, Kevin Ollie, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Shelden Williams, Kevin McHale.

Honorary Member of the Addition By Subtraction club: Mark Blount.

Key Additions: Wayne Ellington, Jonny Flynn, Ryan Hollins, Sasha Pavlovic, Oleksiy Pecherov, Jared Reiner, Ramon Sessions, Damien Wilkins, Kurt Rambis, Bill Laimbeer, Reggie Theus, Dave Wohl.

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?

Grab a chair folks, this could take a while.

I think the best way to illustrate just how much has happened here in Wolves Land is to take a look at last year's opening day starting line up:

Randy Foye
Mike Miller
Corey Brewer
Ryan Gomes
Al Jefferson

...add in the key reserves:

Kevin Ollie
Rashad McCants
Rodney Carney
Craig Smith
Kevin Love

...compare them to the line up and reserves from the last game of the 08/09 season (and yes, Kevin McHale thought it would be a good idea to give the paying customers at the Target Center their own special version of a Seniors Night):

Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
Mike Miller/Rodney Carney
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
Mark Madsen/Kevin Love/Craig Smith
Jason Collins/Shelden Williams

...before finally taking a peak at the rotation in the team's first 2009/10 preseason game against Milwaukee:

Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions/Mustafa Shakur
Corey Brewer/Sasha Pavlovic/Wayne Ellington
Ryan Gomes/Damien Wilkins
Kevin Love/Brian Cardinal
Al Jefferson/Ryan Hollins/Jared Reiner

Let's take a quick peak at those starting/closing day lineups with the dearly departed x'd out of existence:

~~Randy Foye/Kevin Ollie~~
~~Mike Miller/Rashad McCants~~
Corey Brewer/~~Rodney Carney~~
Ryan Gomes/~~Craig Smith~~
Al Jefferson/Kevin Love

~~Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown~~
~~Mike Miller/Rodney Carney~~
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
~~Mark Madsen~~/Kevin Love/~~Craig Smith~~
~~Jason Collins/Shelden Williams~~

And no, I do not believe there is another team in the league with only three remaining players from the rotation of their final 08/09 game. Only the Raptors come close.

What did the Wolves lose?

Net Production by Position

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG	-0.5	-.061	-1.5	0%	-1.9	-0.7	-0.2	-0.0	-1.1	-3.8	-7.0
SG	0.1	-.034	-0.1	4%	0.1	-0.3	-0.2	-0.0	-0.3	-1.1	-2.4
SF	-3.5	+.001	-2.5	-1%	0.9	0.5	-0.5	0.1	-0.8	-5.5	-4.2
PF	0.3	-.016	-0.3	8%	-0.2	0.3	-0.6	-0.9	-0.3	-0.5	-2.3
C	6.1	-.057	2.1	4%	1.8	-0.9	0.2	-1.1	0.8	6.0	+2.4

They gave up a whole lot of nothing at the point, a Randy-Foye-January-fueled-it-was-really-worse-than-the-final-numbers-suggest basket of crap at the off-guard, a bowl of ineptitude at the 3, some holy-crap-there-is-nobody-behind-Love at the 4, and Al Jefferson and Kevin Love at the 5.

Enter David Kahn.

While I think it is safe to say that most Wolves fans who were paying attention at the time of his hiring (all 1,700 of us) were upset that the team seemed to have bumbled its way through its most important new addition in years (Kahn seemed to be a secondary choice and candidates from the Blazers and Spurs appear to have walked away from the position), The Demolition Man quickly and confidently made a series of moves that have placed the Wolves in a position to win.

He turned Kevin McHale, Jerry Sichting, and Dean Cooper into Kurt Rambis, Reggie Theus, Bill Laimbeer, and Dave Wohl.
He turned two moderate-sized expiring contracts into Ricky Rubio.
He turned a Sebastian Telfair/Kevin Ollie point guard rotation into a Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions one.
He picked up an athletic big who can play the reserve 4/5.
He drafted the 2nd best shooter in the draft late in the 1st round.
He cleared (probably) between $13-15 milion in 2010 cap space.
He picked up another 2010 first round pick.

Best of all, Kahn has made the Wolves interesting again. The process has been full of goofy quotes, funny interviews, nearly weekly roster moves, and the entire Ricky Rubio saga, but the bottom line for Kahn and the Wolves is the results:

Their core is good and tremendously young.
They have drafted the 2 best Euros in the past 2 drafts and stashed them overseas.
They have 3 likely 1st round picks in the 2010 draft.
They will have in the neighborhood of $15 million below the cap in 2010 free agency.
Chances are, they now have a functional point guard on their roster.

This thing is clearly still a work in progress (the team needs help on the wing and the Rubio situation still needs to be resolved one way or another) but it is also clearly pointed in the right direction.

2. What are the team's biggest strengths?

Rebounding. Rebounding. Rebounding, and more rebounding. Kevin Love is one of the league's top 3 rebounders, Al Jefferson's game is built to be close to the bucket and he collects a net positive on the offensive boards, and Corey Brewer can hold his own at either the 2 or 3. If there is a player from last year's squad to get a little chippy about his departure, it is Mike Miller. Despite not shooting the damn ball, Miller was a very solid defensive rebounder and it will take a well above average effort from Pavlovic, Brewer, and Gomes to match Miller's efforts on the glass at the 2/3. Miller was the team's 3rd best rebounder and he did so from the wing. That's going to be harder to make up than what I think most people first realize, especially with the crew of Pavlovic, Brewer, Gomes, and Ellington trying to make up the difference. Ramon Sessions should make up for some of the lost rebounding production vis-a-vis Sebastian Telfair, but Miller's loss probably will have some effect on the glass. How much is something that remains to be seen.

In theory, the Wolves should also be a very good free throw shooting team this season. Last year Ramon Sessions had the 25th best FT/FG rate in the league at 36. Kevin Love was 18th at 39. Big Al was all the way down at 154 with 19. By all accounts in college, summer league, and his small sample of preseason games, Jonny Flynn has all the makings of a high-contact guard who will draw a lot of fouls in an up-tempo system. Last year the Wolves had one fairly legit threat of getting to the line at a high rate: Kevin Love. This year they have 3 players who should draw a ton of contact with one guy (Jefferson) who will have a modest rate but a high volume due to his number of touches.

It's pretty hard for me to overstate just how big of a deal improved free throw shooting will be for the Wolves. Last year the Wolves averaged 2.3 fewer FTAs than their opponents. The year before that they were a league-worst -6.9 in that category (which should give you an idea of the relative merits between Kevin Love and Craig Smith). For a team with a -4.9 point differential these are points that simply cannot be left on the board. With the addition of Sessions and Flynn, and with the continued development of Love, the Wolves appear to have addressed one of their biggest weaknesses of the past 2-3 years and turned it, hopefully, into a positive. For those readers who are just casual fans of the game, I cannot stress enough how important the free throw differential is to the bottom line. I also cannot stress enough just how bad the Wolves have been on this front over the past several years.

The final thing the Wolves are going to be good at is physicality. This is something that will be pretty hard to define over the course of the year but I have a pretty good feeling that they are going to be scrappy. One of the most striking things about their play in camp was they way in which guys like Love, Brewer, Sessions, and Ryan Hollins were getting after it. This has a chance of positively impacting the play on the end of the court they need help with the most. I'm not saying that they are going to be a defensive dynamo, but this year's squad has the opportunity to run out a rotation of Sessions, Brewer, Pavlovic, Jefferson/Love, and Ryan Hollins, which is a fairly significant defensive upgrade over anything they were able to offer up in the 08/09 campaign. This especially becomes the case if Brewer develops into the plus-defender we all hope he can morph in to. Sessions/Brewer/Pavlovic has the potential to turn the epic defensive weakness of Telfair/Foye/Miller into a positive for this club. It's probably not a lineup you'd run out there for long stretches of time, but it is something that this club did not have at its disposal under McHale. All three of those players held their 08/09 opponents to below their average production. The same could not be said for Telfair (-0.009% of opponents' average), Foye (whose opponents went 10.8% over their average production against the former Villanova star), and Miller (a mere 5.6% over average production). If you throw Ryan Hollins into the mix, the Wolves may have something approaching an effective defensive unit that they could trot out on the floor for 4-8 minutes per night.

3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Defense, wing play, turnovers, and outside shooting. I don't really know if there is a good way to break this down in much greater detail but the Wolves are still going to have problems on defense; their 2 and 3 will be manned by a rotation of Corey Brewer, Wayne Ellington, Sasha Pavlovic, and Ryan Gomes, and their backcourt will be led by 2 point guards who will be in their first year with the team. David Kahn has been pretty frontal in his assessment that Gomes and Brewer are both in put up or shut up years. Pavlovic is on a 1-year contract. Nothing is promised or owed to any of these players and if they can't figure it out this year, I think it is becoming more and more obvious that when the Wolves do cash in their draft/free agency chips, it will be for a wing player. At media day and during camp both Gomes and Brewer said enough to make everyone well aware of the fact that they too know the score. As you can see from the positional chart listed above, the score on the wing isn't exactly in the Wolves' favor to begin with.

While I mentioned the possibility of a fairly solid perimeter defensive rotation with Sessions, Brewer, and Pavlovic, the fact remains that there is nothing on this team to suggest a significant overall improvement in defensive efficiency. Until we see some improvement in action, it's hard to believe it in theory. Ryan Hollins gives them a lengthy shot blocker but he fouls a ton. Corey Brewer has the potential to be an A+ defender but he is coming back from injury and is close to completely ineffective on the offensive end of the court. Ramon Sessions is a slightly above average defender at the point but he could end up with a lot of minutes at the 2. The point here is that even with the defensive positives the Wolves have some issues when it comes to weighing their best overall lineups against their best defensive ones. I'd be peachy keen with anything close to a neutral OE/DE ratio.

It can also not be overstated just how bad of an outside shooting club the Wolves are going to be this year. Wayne Ellington is probably their best shooter, their likely starting two guard (Brewer) has a career .250 three point average, their best point guard has 41 career three point attempts (with a .220 average), and Sasha Pavlovic's numbers from beyond the arc have seen a four-year fluctuation of .365, .405, .298, and .410. Could Ryan Gomes be the team's best outside shooter? If that's the case, then the Wolves are in for a long, long year from a perimeter shooting perspective. It's already proving to be a big problem in their limited preseason action.

4. What are the goals for this team?

a- At least a neutral OE/DE rating. Last year the Wolves had a -5.3 point gap per 100 possessions. While this was an improvement over the -7.4 point gap per 100 possessions from the year before, it still is a giant pile of suck. With the addition of a real starting point guard, and the maturation of Kevin Love, here's hoping the Wolves can pick up 2-3 pp/100 poss on the offensive side of the ball and that the return of Brewer and the addition of Sessions and Pavlovic can gain a point or two on the defensive side of things.

b- An increase in pace and shots within the first 10-15 seconds of the shot clock. If the Wolves' new offensive is going to pay dividends we should see an increased pace with more shots taken in transition. 36% of the Wolves' shots in 2008/09 were in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock and 26% came in the next 5. If those numbers go up, it means the Wolves are running and getting opportunistic buckets. Last year the Wolves finished 15th in the league with 91.6 possessions/game. That number needs to go up.

c- Free throw neutrality (or more). As mentioned above, the Wolves should have an increase in free throw attempts this season. I have been harping on this point for two years now: You can't win games while losing by a mile at the free throw line. It can't be done. Between Kevin Love, Ramon Sessions, and Jonny Flynn, the Wolves have three guys who can really draw contact and get to the charity stripe.

d- Injury free.Will Kevin Love break the Wolves' 2nd year injury curse? From Shaddy to Foye to Brewer, 2nd year draft Wovles draft picks have all suffered season-ending injuries in their 2nd campaign. This is one curse that needs to be broken this year. (UPDATE: Of course, as this goes to post, Kevin Love breaks a bone in his left hand and will likely be out 6-8 weeks.)

5. Did David Kahn screw the pooch on draft night?

Let me begin by giving a simple yes or no: No. However, the (excellent) addition of Ramon Sessions begs the question of whether or not the Wolves could have walked away from the Draft with Rubio and, say, Demar DeRozan instead of Jonny Flynn. Sure, it would have been a big bet to wait out for Sessions, and who knows what would have happened with Sessions' negotiations if Rubio stayed in Europe and Flynn wasn't sitting there as a sure replacement, but..well, it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that the Wolves had two big first rounders and a free agent signing over the summer and they were all at the same position. Yes, it's at a position that has killed the Wolves since the days of Sam Cassell but isn't there a nagging little thought in the back of your head that is whispering "it could have been done better?" I think Kahn has done a terrific job but it will ultimately depend on which point guard(s) stick around in 2-3 years and how much he can get with the one (or two) that gets sent away. Will that equation end up being more valuable than the previously mentioned Rubio/DeRozan/Sessions combo? Who knows?

Projected Finish: 31-51

Poll

How many games will the Wolves win this year?

Less than 15

28 votes

16-20

83 votes

21-25

147 votes

26-30

183 votes

31-35

83 votes

More than 35

30 votes

554 votes | Poll has closed

Campy

Stop-n-Pop — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:49:08 -0000

I had the good fortune of attending the last part of the Wolves' Wednesday night practice session at Bresnan Arena in the Taylor Center at Minnesota State University. I got to catch about an hours worth of action where the team scrimmaged for 2 curtailed quarters. It wasn't the cleanest of practices and you could definitely tell that these were a bunch of guys just learning to play with one another under a new coach but there were a few notable things that I would like to pass on to all y'all:

The scrimmage started out with a white team of Corey Brewer, Jared Reiner, Kevin Love, Ramon Sessions, and Wayne Ellington going up against a black squad of Al Jefferson, Jonny Flynn, Damien Wilkins, Sasha Pavlovic, and Ryan Hollins. For those of you keeping track at home, the white team took home braging rights for the night.
Ryan Hollins has a ridiculous combination of length and athleticism. On the down side, it is pretty obvious that he lacks advanced ball skills and is probably not someone you want on the ball for a great deal of time. That being said, the guy is a bundle of energy and even in a scrimmage it was apparent that he is the most athletic big man the Wolves have had in a long, long time. Long time readers of this site know that we have long called for the Wolves to round out their Jefferson/Love frontcourt with a Joakim Noah/Jason Thompson type player and while we'll need to see him in game action, Hollins fits the physical bill and he will be one of the most interesting story lines heading into the season. Oh, I also caught a peak of Tuesday night's scrimmage during which Hollins put down a slam on...well, the entire opposing squad. BTW: Over at the Strib Jerry Zgoda just put up a good article on Hollins and his potential in the front court.
David Kahn likes shorts

One of the most interesting things about watching training camp ball is seeing how hard the free agent invites work to make the team. The most vocal hard worker of the night was former Syracuse guard Jason Hart, who really got after it on defense while being the only guy on the court without a number. The guy wants a roster spot and he's working like hell to get it. Hopefully he can get a number before it's all said and done with.
In a full arena filled with piped-in music, cheerleaders, screaming fans, and a whole host of other noises, it's pretty remarkable to watch an NBA squad from a few rows up in an empty arena. Watching on TV or from the upper level of the Target Center makes it easy to forget just how vocal and physical of a game professional basketball is. It was especially interesting to hear the interaction between the coaching staff and the players. It was also kind of cool to see a coaching staff that includes Hang Time's Coach Fuller, a Detroit Bad Boy, and the guy who wore the best basketball glasses of the 80s. Note to the Wolves' PR staff: every night at the Target Center needs to be 80s night. If Hungry Like the Wolf isn't played at tip off in about a month I'm going to be pissed.
Oleisky Pecherov spent the practice jogging up and down the sidelines and talking to the training staff. He also gave out a big cheer to Sasha Pavlovic when he made a three. Perhaps it is a Eastern European thing.
Jonny Flynn is going to be a very good player but I think he's going to be in for a long rookie season. On several possessions he looked like a seasoned pro; getting to whereever he wanted to go with the ball, making shots, and expertly facilitating action. On others, not so much...to the point where I'm not sure how he could start over Sessions. Assistant coach Dave Wohl spent a lot of time talking to Flynn about his game inbetween plays. Wohl is the 70s bookend to the 80s Rambis/Theus/Laimbeer sandwich (JB Bickerstaff represents the 90s).
A lot has been made of Al Jefferson's lost weight. I'll just say this: it's pretty striking.

Kevin Love also looks like a new man. He hit a few mid-range jumpers as well as a nice corner three. As always, he controled the boards and he appears to have focused on defense over the summer. As many of you already know, I'm pretty high on Love and I think he has the potential to be something of an evolutionary player at the 4/5. With his combination of ball skills, shooting touch, and rebounding, I think he has the rare opportunity to be something we don't often see in the NBA: an upper level role player who is effectively unguardable while operating in the gaps of the offense. I honestly think he sees an All Star game before Al Jefferson. Scrapping, getting opponents out of position, crashing the boards, keeping possessions alive; Love is going to dominate these aspects of the game and the better the Wolves get, the more these things are going to be apparent and matter.
With the new up-tempo offense in place, Corey Brewer is going to have all the chances in the world to prove that he does or does not belong in the NBA. As the weakest offensive link, he will have no shortage of transition opportunities, 3 point shots, and 15-18 foot jump shots in the 1/2 court. The big question for Corey will be this: Does he have a good enough handle to thrive in transition and can he make as close to 40% of his jump shots as possible? He could be the best defender in the Western Conference but if he can't catch a hot pass from Flynn in traffic, dribble effectively in transition, or be a modestly effective jump shooter, he won't be able to balance his net +/- and be of great use to the club. In this context, Brewer was a mixed bag during the scrimmage. His shot looks dramatically better and he has a much more fluid release than last season. When he hit a 15 foot jumper from the corner, he got a big rise out of his teammates. You can really tell guys are pulling for him. He was also very active in transition, using his length and speed to get out well ahead of the defense. On the down side of things, you never know if he's going to cleanly catch a pass in transition and even when he was able to put together a solid drive into the lane he was unable to get to the rim to finish in what you could call a coordinated fashion. I'll say it again: Brewer is going to get a big chance to shine this year. It could work in his favor or it could be quite awkward. Here's hoping for the former.
Ryan Gomes, Ryan Hollins, and Brewer will get all of the open mid-range jump shots they can ask for this year.
Get used to seeing a lot more cuts in the new offense.
I'm pretty sure I heard Jared Reiner tell Al Jefferson to warm up the bus about 20 seconds before the scrimmage ended in Reiner's team's favor. I'm not sure Big Al took too kindly to that.
Papa Glen was in attendance and he looked pretty good for a guy who, according to the newest Forbes list, lost $1.1 billion dollars last year.

Well, that about does it. If my schedule permits it, I'll be back at the Taylor Center for Thursday and Friday night's practices. If there are any questions you want me to ask to the folks on the team, please leave a message in the comments section.

Until later.

Give Me Your Hungry, Your Eager, Your In-Search-Of-A-Roster-Spot

wyn — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:21:48 -0000

In case you missed it the other day, the Wolves invited six non-roster players to training camp. These are the guys hoping to make enough of an impression on some team (Wolves, NBA or otherwise) to get paid to play basketball this year.

The Wolves have 14 guaranteed contracts, two of which aren't even at training camp and are most likely to be bought out (to other teams, few scenarios beat waiting until the Wolves buy out Blount and Daniels). That mean's there's a good chance one or two camp invitees to catch on with the team, whether it's a veteran or prospect. With most teams looking to carry only 13 or 14 players this season, expect training camp invitees to push those guys with guaranteed money.

Jason Hart has by far the most NBA experience among all the invitees, having played 8 seasons for 7 teams. The career backup, journeyman point guard averaged 9.5 points on 45% shooting, 5 assists and 1.4 turnovers in his busiest season, but that was five years ago with the Bobcats. There would absolutely be some value in having a steady veteran hand behind Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions at the point, but just how much is debatable since the Wolves will want Flynn and Sessions to get as much learning time as possible. Although it will likely end up being insignificant, Hart has the same alma mater as Flynn (Syracuse, but you should've known that).

Jared Reiner has played spot minutes in 2 NBA regular seasons (even some playoff minutes with Chicago a few years back), but is a fixture in summer camps and training camps. The South Dakota native and Iowa product will give contracted front court players a big body to bang against for camp, but given the number of guards invited the team appears more interested in contracts 13 and/or 14 going to guards and swingmen. That said, Reiner's got lots of NBA practice experience and may be able to help Al Jefferson, Kevin Love and Ryan Hollins get their reps in between games this season.

Devin Green is the last invitee with NBA regular season experience, playing for the Lakers in 05/06. No doubt the 6'7" swingman made a good impression on Kurt Rambis, and at the very least has some idea of how Rambis's schemes are taught. After yesterday's scrimmage, Green's experience may prove valuable to the coaches. If he sticks, it won't because of any flashiness as Green is know more for solid fundamentals and defense. He Tweets.

Jack McClinton appears the most likely invitee to make the roster, despite his mediocre Summer League performance. The 6-1 guard is more scorer than distributor, but as an efficient jump-shooter (1.08 PPP) he brings something the Wolves aren't likely to have many of. Even if he ends up spending a bunch of time in the D-League the Spurs draft pick may be worth keeping to see if he can develop into an offensive spark for the Wolves' bench. He also Tweets with a fury and once punched a Buckeye.

Mustafa Shakur was signed by Sacramento in 2007 as an undrafted free agent out of Arizona. After spending a few seasons in Europe, the 6'3" scoring guard was invited to Summer League with the Lakers. He didn't show much in Vegas, despite starting 4 games and averaging 18 minutes. Unless you consider 5.6 points on 39% shooting, 1.6 assists, and 1.8 turnovers as 'much,' which we don't. It's true that success at Summer League doesn't mean anything, but failure there does mean something.

Alonzo Gee rounds out the camp invites and, like McClinton, spent his first Summer League with San Antonio but played only 35 minutes in 5 games. The 6'6" swingman spent four years at Alabama but wasn't drafted this summer. The scouting report from DraftExpress makes it sound like Gee has the body and tools to be a good role player eventually, but time in the D-League might do him some good:

Gee did a good job showing off his strengths here at Portsmouth, playing unselfishly with a high motor and really making good use of his physical tools (measured in at 6‘6.5 in shoes with a 6‘10 wingspan).

Offensively, Gee has shown flashes of skills in all areas for awhile, but he’s yet to put it all together to create a complete package

An Open Letter to Ed Stefanski

Jon L — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:01:02 -0000

An Open Letter to Ed Stefanski, GM of the Philadelphia 76ers

By Jon L, Sole Proprietor (Apparently) of Ridiculous Upside

Dear Ed -

May I call you Ed? No? Great. Look, Ed, I read the answer you gave to Liberty Ballers (and occasional RU commenter TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsMichaelBourn) regarding your attitude towards the D-League, and if you don't mind my saying so, there were so many things egregiously wrong with it that I felt the need to write write this blog post and pretend it was a letter to you.

You see Ed, you're a lazy man. I get that. You hired Eddie Jordan because you already know him and so you could hire a decent coach without doing any real work. You're bringing Dionte Christmas and Jared Reiner into training camp because they're familiar, not because they've done anything to inspire confidence. Like I said, I get it. I'm a lazy man myself, in fact. But I'm not in charge of running an NBA team.

You see, the thing about being involved with the D-League is that it requires you to pay attention to more than just "when will Elton Brand finally not be injured." And if you don't want any part of that, just come right out and say it. Don't blame it on the D-League, and paint the situation as something that's not worthwhile. Let's go through your answer point by point.

We have had the opportunity to go into a couple places, I don't see personally the advantage of owning your own team right now since you can always send down players you have on your roster for two years of service.

Here's the number of players the Philadelphia 76ers have sent down to the D-League since 2005: two. Bobby Jones and Louis Williams. Jones, who isn't with the team anymore, and Williams, who still has a ways to go to become a competant point guard. So when you say that "you can always send down players you have on your roster," let's not pretend that that's what's actually been happening. If you were operating more like the Utah Jazz, who sent three different players down to the D-League multiple times last year alone, then I'd have no quarrel with this. It's also not the case that Utah has had more assignment-eligible players. By my count, since 2005 you've had 11 players who could've been sent down, and that's not even including guys like Deng Gai who was waived after a handful of games. And sure, Kyle Korver or Andre Iguodala might not have needed to play in the D-League, but there are several players on that list who could've benefited. Guys like Rodney Carney and Shavlik Randolph and Willie Green. But Ed, you're not sending anyone down. So please don't pretend that you don't want to own a team because you're already assigning players as it is. Let's move on.

Until they change the rules where you can have some sort of farm system like baseball then I would maybe say that it makes more sense, but where it is right now I don't see the expense of having your own management team, your own trainers, your own coaches, and everything for one guy.

We've moved beyond lazy. This is just dumb, Ed. Really, really dumb. So as I understand it, you don't want to have your own D-League affiliate until there's a system in place by which NBA teams have their own D-League affiliates? How does that work? We all want the D-League to become "some sort of farm system like baseball," but that's probably not going to happen until enough NBA teams have their own affiliates. Which you don't want to do because not enough other teams have their own affiliates.

There's also the matter of your statement about "one guy." First, if you were sending down "one guy" per year we might not have a problem, but for that see above. The thing about owning or even just running your own D-League affiliate is that it's not just about "one guy," Ed. There's not just "one guy" on a team. Let's look at some examples of other teams that do own their own affiliates.

I've used this example several times around RU, Ed, but I'm going to assume you're not a regular reader. Consider the San Antonio Spurs. This year they're bringing three players to their training camp who played for the Austin Toros last season, two of whom weren't even under contract for the Spurs. But, they played well enough to warrant a call-up in the case of Marcus Williams, and the waiver of another player in the case of Dwayne Jones. Plus they have Ian Mahinmi, who played in the D-League the year before that, and likely would've played more than a game there last season if he hadn't gotten injured. So that's four players right there, or about a quarter of the players coming to training camp. Now let's look at the Thunder. They signed Shaun Livingston after the good work he put in with a few different D-League teams. They have several players who spent time in Tulsa last year, including D.J. White and Kyle Weaver. Even if a few of these players don't make the NBA roster this season, the team will have had a chance to evaluate them in actual game settings, away from the pressure of making sure that, say, Russell Westbrook gets his minutes. The point is that the D-League isn't just about making sure that "one guy" per team improves its game. It's about helping NBA teams manage their rosters more effectively and make the best use of the talent they have. Alright, final quote.

In essence, last year, Mo Speights would've been the only guy we would've sent down because we weren't going to send Thaddeus down.

Sigh. So you didn't send Marreese Speight down because you didn't want to send Thaddeus Young down? How does that work, exactly? I get that you used that example to justify your "one guy" statement, but it's only "one guy" because of choices you yourself made, Ed, not because of the system in place or any rules that were forced on you. Instead of having a solid backup center now, you have a guy who had one monster game in Summer League then was terrible the rest of the way. Terrible in Summer League.

Like I said up top, it's fine to be lazy. I'm lazy. But at least I own up to it, and when I don't get something done, I usually allow that my laziness was the reason. I don't try to blame "rules" and "systems" that don't exist, or cite misleading facts. Don't blame this on the D-League, Ed. It only wants to help you.

Training Camp Invite Round-Em-Up

Jon L — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:00:18 -0000

John Lucas will be attending the Miami Heat's upcoming training camp.

View full size photo »

This is something that qualifies as a transactions post as well, but a lot of NBA teams are finalizing their training camp rosters, so I thought it would be worth compiling the news into semi-regular (or maybe it'll just be this one, who knows) posts rather than fanshotting every single story. (And also because I'm trying my best to ignore Brandt Anderon's latest harebrained scheme.) Because this is RU I'm just covering those players who are at the end of the roster, invited on non-guaranteed deals basically as either longshots or "why not" guys. As always, some teams seem to know what they're doing, and some...well...

Phoenix Suns: Dan Dickau

Really, Phoenix? Dan Dickau? Look, I get that you need a third point guard, at least for training camp, and I get that Zabian Dowdell's rehabbing an injury. But there's really no other way to describe Dickau at this point other than "terrible." Several of the better options aren't available either, having signed with other teams or gone off to Europe, but off the top of my head Eddie Gill, Walker russell and Cliff Clinkscales are all still around and would be better options. You say that Goran Dragic and Dan Dickau are currently your backup point guards? And that your starter is 35 years old with semi-serious back problems? Yeah, good luck with that.

Oklahoma City: Michael Ruffin, Ryan Bowen, Tre Kelley, Michael Harris

As much as the Thunder have used their D-League affiliate in Tulsa, I get the sneaking suspicion that they've recently started to lean towards "crusty veterans." Kevin Ollie being exhibit A, Ruffin here being exhibit B. Ruffin never had an offensive game, and in his heyday (if you can call it that) with the Wizards he didn't do much other than rebound. He was decent at it for a few years, and while the per-minute numbers are still there he hasn't been able to stay on the court long enough over the past three seasons or so for it to really matter. He's mostly here, much like Etan Thomas, because he played college ball in the state. How's that working out for the Bobcats? Bowen is known as a "hustle guy," which teams always like to have. I do wonder, though, what these two signings might reveal about Oklahoma City's thoughts about D.J. White and Serge Ibaka. White had some injury trouble last year but looked pretty good in the D-League when he was able to play, while if there's one center in the league who can keep up with Russell Westbrook, it's probably Ibaka. Oddly enough, Kelley was dropped from the Miami Heat's roster last year when they signed Shaun Livingston, who's now with the Thunder. Harris spent 17 games with the Houston Rockets a few years ago and put up some pretty good per-minute rebounding numbers. The season before that he played for Colorado in the D-League, where he made almost 62 percent of his field goals. Kelley and Harris are both unlikely to make the team, I think, since the Thunder have so many players on their roster already.

Cleveland: Rob Kurz

I like this move for Cleveland, as Kurz is a three-point shooting power forward which means that a.) he won't be trying to share space with Shaquille O'Neal or a driving LeBron James, and b.) he's another person for James or whomever to kick out to. It makes even more sense in the wake of Delonte West's recent...thing, and all the uncertainty around his status now. West is a guard, true, but Kurz might help the team replace some of his offense. Kurz not going to Denver (as he had been considering) also means that James White now has a better chance to take Linas Kleiza's old rotation spot.

Philadelphia: Dionte Christmas, Sean Singletary, Brandon Bowman, Jared Reiner (possible)

Christmas isn't a surprise, as he's a local "make-good" story, and he played for that 76ers/Nets combined Summer League team. He had one pretty good game a in Orlando, though from what I remember he struggled in the rest of them. Singletary has been traded a lot, though he's managed to play in 30-some odd NBA games and a few D-League games, but he's probably best served going to play in Europe. He's a point guard who averaged 3.4 assists per 36 minutes in those NBA games, which isn't what you'd call "good." He was more of a scorer in college, anyway, and he remains an alright three-point shooter. Bowman played for Bakersfield for two seasons before spending last year in Germany, but he didn't score very efficiently in the D-League. Reiner played for Philadelphia in last year's pre-season as well, but was cut before the actual season started. He was a second team All D-League player a few seasons ago with Sioux Falls, and he's a decent rebounder. What we have here is a collection of players with notable college careers, but who all have reasons they haven't stuck in the NBA (prove me wrong, Dionte!)

Sacramento: Lanny Smith

This is a good move for the Kings, as Smith is a solid point guard who most recently played on the "NBA Generations" team. If there's one thing Kings fans aren't satisfied with (one thing?) it's the point guard spot, as Beno Udrih had a pretty miserable season last year. The team then drafted Tyreke Evans and traded for Sergio Rodriguez, though, so it'll be tough for Smith to crack that rotation, but he played for new Kings assistant Bryan Gates in Idaho, so maybe that will give him an advantage on Udrih, who doesn't have the best recent history, or Rodriguez, who's still mostly an unknown.

Miami: John Lucas, Andre Brown

I really, really hope that Lucas makes the team, not just because it's nice to see D-League players succeed, and not just because he's a talented player, but because Miami's backup was and is Chris Quinn. Miami has a history of rotating D-League players in and out without really committing to the idea (and also they haven't exactly signed the cream of the D-League crop anyway), but I would certainly hope they give Lucas every chance to beat out Quinn, because he can. Lucas played a fair amount of shooting guard alongside Eddie Gill last season, but he's a point guard who ran the offense well, and while he's not the biggest guy around, he's found a way to fight through screens pretty effectively. Brown has bounced around a few training camps the last few years after playing in the D-League in 2006. He also spent about two dozen games with the Toros last year. His rebounding has held but his shooting percentage, free throw shooting and overall scoring have gone down the last few years.

San Antonio: Curtis Jerrells, Dwayne Jones

I'm assuming Jerrells was signed to push Marcus Williams for the third point guard spot (and also because he both went to Baylor and is from Austin), which is fine and probably good for Williams, but I don't see Jerrells making the roster. He may, as 48 Minutes predicts, end up with the Toros, who will need another point guard with Williams going to the Spurs and Stanley Burrell headed to Europe. I was not optimistic about Jones making the roster until I saw that the team waived Jack McClinton in order to sign him. My overall thoughts on Jones can be found here (short version: I like him a lot). I'm still not sure he'll be with the Spurs coming out of the preseason, but Theo Ratliff's 70-year-old body could break down any day now, and I expect several of their players to see some time in Austin (such as James Gist). It's also about that time for Ian Mahinmi to show the team that he can play, and after recovering from an injury this offseason, he still might be behind development-wise.