SB Nation - Troy Hudson

Knicks Summon Troy Hudson, World Keeps Turning

Seth — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:03:41 -0000

I'm getting close, guys. I'm just one Bobby Jackson away from getting five in a row in Aged Free Agent Guard Bingo! In their least surprising move since, well, that time they worked out Jerry Stackhouse, the Knicks have invited Troy Hudson to visit their Westchester training facility this coming Thursday. I'm not seeing this reported anywhere else, so you'll have to take Real GM at their word:

On Thursday morning, point guard Troy Hudson will work out for the New York Knicks.

Last week, Hudson held a work out in Las Vegas for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Philadelphia 76ers, and Detroit Pistons.

New York was pursuing free-agent Ramon Sessions, but sources tell RealGM's Alex Kennedy that talks have stalled because New York is reluctant to add salary to their payroll in 2010.

Welcoming the old and low-balling the young. Just another day in the summer of '09.

(Tip of the hat to TKB's Myles A. Mills, who reminds us of T-Hud's illustrious rap career.)

Why I won't be surprised if Dominic McGuire gets a spot in Flip Saunders' top eight

Mike Prada — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:44:00 -0000

More photos » by Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images

Will we see a lot of this from Dominic?

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Guessing Flip Saunders' player rotation in August isn't going to be easy when there are so many players who have started games for their respective teams in the last two years. Hell, it's already en vogue for us to throw out names of Wizards that we "shouldn't forget about," as some of us already have.

So take this declaration as an educated guess of sorts, since it's the best we can do at this point.

Okay. There's one guy who has started to become an afterthought that has a much better chance of cracking Flip's top eight than most believe. Yes, it's true that the Wizards just traded for two guys that can play his primary positions. It's also true that he plays the same position as DeShawn Stevenson, a returning starter from two years ago provided he remains healthy. But judging from Flip's past history, I'd say this guy's got a great chance to vault into the top eight.

That guy is Dominic McGuire.

A case for Dominic McGuire to crack the rotation has to begin with what he's done as a Wizard. In a season where pretty much nothing went right, McGuire was the only guy who displayed some growth. He was provided an opportunity when Ed Tapscott took over and did enough to earn over 26 minutes a game. We can argue forever over whether McGuire deserved his opportunity, whether he played as well as the coaching staff thought or whether he was given a longer leash compared to the team's other young players, but the bottom line is that he stayed consistent enough to play very important minutes.

The case for McGuire also has to include the argument that he provides a unique skill set. We've fallen a bit too much in love with McGuire's defense -- it's got potential, but he still loses his man too easily off the ball -- but the very fact that he emphasizes defense over offense makes him a unique player on this roster. McGuire's also one of the best rebounding wings in the league (his rebound percentage of 12.1% would have put him fifth among small forwards if John Hollinger actually listed him there) and he won't use up too many possessions and steal shots from the offensive-minded guys on the team. Plus, in a rotation that gives eight guys most of the minutes, you need players who can swing between positions like McGuire.

However, the best case for Dominic McGuire would be to simply look back at Flip Saunders-coached teams. Every single successful Flip Saunders team has given major minutes to a defensive-oriented, long wing player who can stand at the point of Flip's zone (or guard the other team's top wing) and quarterback the defense. In Detroit, of course, that guy was Tayshaun Prince, who obviously has much more of a polished offensive game than McGuire, but is a very similar type of player. As the point man in Saunders' zoneish schemes, Prince's length and quickness helped keep Detroit near the top of the defensive rankings. McGuire possesses the same type of length and quickness even if he doesn't have the polish or the offensive game.

But the best case study for McGuire involves considering Saunders' tenure in Minnesota. During the 2003/04 season, when the Timberwolves won 58 games and would have made the Finals if Sam Cassell didn't get hurt in the playoffs, Trenton Hassell of all people averaged 28 minutes a game despite scoring just 6.5 points/36 minutes and posting a pathetic 8.2 PER. Like Washington, the 03/04 Timberwolves had a lot of offensive names. Cassell and Latrell Sprewell were just acquired, and despite being vets, they still were very good offensive players. Flip also had Wally Szczerbiak, formerly the second option behind Kevin Garnett, and Troy Hudson, an offensive-minded combo guard who had a great playoff series against the Lakers in 2002/03. And yet, among that mix, Trenton Hassell of all people ended up playing the fourth-most minutes per game on the team.

Why? He played defense and didn't use any possessions offensively to hurt his team. That earned him significantly more playing time than offensive guys like Szczerbiak and Hudson.

There are a lot of statistical similarities between Hassell's 2003/04 season and McGuire's campaign last year. The teams are also set up in a similar way -- Washington, like Minnesota then, has a lot of offensive-first name guys. Other than Kevin Garnett and possibly veteran center Ervin Johnson, nobody on the Wolves leaned defense-first ... except for Hassell. That alone got Hassell a ton of minutes despite his major limitations.

Hassell's case is a good precedent for Dominic McGuire. Don't be surprised if we see history repeat itself.

The Mullin Myths: Chris Mullin made the Warriors a franchise players wanted to join

Atma Brother ONE — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:32:17 -0000

The big word around The Town yesterday was that the Golden State Warriors elected to not renew one of their most popular players of all time Chris Mullin as a front office executive and decided to promote Don Nelson's right hand man Larry Riley to the GM spot [Warriors.com]. GSoMers have had a lot to say about the official transition.

For various possible reasons there seems to be a ton of myths about the Mullin front office era, perpetuated by the media at large (most of whom probably didn't know the first thing about the Warriors pre- 2007 NBA Playoffs) and some mostly bandwagon fan analysis plagued by a case of selective memory. Some of it romanticizes the 5 years of Mullin reign and some of it is simply unfair criticism.

Today's topic is the unfounded notion that Chris Mullin made the Warriors a franchise players wanted to join. Jump like you're dunking for some d-bunking.

One of the main contentions of the fans of Mullin's up and mostly down front office tenure is that he made the Warriors a desirable destination for players across the league.

If that were true, you'd expect to see some tangible benefits in terms of free agency and the trade market. A quick look back will show you that wasn't the case.

1) Al Harrington (summer of 2006)

For whatever reason Chris Mullin was in hot, hot, hot pursuit of Al Harrington in the summer of 2006. Harrington, a below average starting PF in the league at best, was the prize in Mullin's eyes. So what happened? Mullin's supposed magic didn't work and Al headed to Indiana, despite countless (and head scratching) attention and devotion. The rest is all history.

2) Allen Iverson

When the 76ers were ready to part ways with The Answer at the beginning of the 2006-2007 NBA season many teams and fans were going nuts trying to get him. Shoot I went absolutely nuts covering it. Sadly at one point AI straight up said he wasn't having any of the Dubs or Kings. Do you really think Iverson cared the least bit that Mullin was in the charge of the Warriors back then?

3) Kevin Garnett

KG to the Bay! (Sorry I just felt obligated to yell that for the one millionth time.)

Unfortunately we all know the sad ending to this tale after the Warriors struck out. Kevin Garnett's camp had a big chip in their hands with a looming extension coming up and the right to opt out. If Mullin really had that star power that made the Warriors a destination, don't you think KG would've used that chip and lobbied hard for a trade here? I have never heard anyone argue that Celtics front office man and former Celt Danny Ainge made Boston attractive for Garnett. To be honest I think the only thing that mattered here was Kevin McHale's never ending love for his NBA alma mattar and the respect Paul Pierce and Ray Allen carried around the league.

4) Gilbert Arenas

The funny thing about this one is that the Warriors actually offered Agent Zero more money than he actually signed for with the Wizards. In spite of the extra dead presidents, Mullin's supposed charm did absolutely nothing here.

5) Elton Brand

After Boom's departure to Warriors South, Brand could've came to Clippers North to a ton of money- more than the Clip show could've offered. Instead he bolted to the Leastern Conference and red-shirted his first season. It would surprise me if Brand and his agent even spent more than a second caring that Mullin was the VP of the Warriors. It was about the money.

On the trade market the biggest fish Mullin netted were Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, and Al Harrington. For BD and Jack I don't think you can say either of those guys specifically wanted to play on the Warriors for Chris Mullin- both of them just wanted to catch the first train out of NOLA and Indy respectively. I'm sure both of the Hornets and Pacers wanted to send them packing ASAP as well. Remember this is just after a few short months when Harrington spurred Mullin and the Dubs in free agency, so it would be somewhat shocking if he was jumping out of seat to play for Mullie and the Dubs then.

The "big name" free agents that Mullin and his "big name" signed include Derek Fisher, Austin Croshere, Troy Hudson, Ronny Turiaf, and Corey Maggette. That's not exactly a "big deal." If that's what Mullin nets as an executive because of his famed playing career- who honestly cares? At the end of the day the Warriors paid for more for those guys than any other team in the entire association saw fit (and for good reason).

The supposed star power Mullin had during his 5 year tenure in the Warriors' front office and its translation into his ability to make the team a place impact players wanted to play is grossly exaggerated. Players don't care who is signing the checks or who is in charge of the front office. There's exceptions where some vets will come back from retirement or play for a slightly cheaper deal to play alongside superstars and chase a ring, but that's about it. The playing career of the members of the front office means next to nothing in making a team a more desirable place to play.

It's all about the dolla bills and w's ya'll.

This isn't to say that solely Mullin's impact as a former hoops star in the front office is overrated. The greatest basketball player to ever play the game Michael Jordan hasn't had much success either in his two stints with the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Bobcats in making them destinations for today's players. You didn't for the Wizards and don't for the Bobcats see any big names clamoring to play for MJ- and he's got that iconic hoops logo too.

Great for kicks and threads, but meaningless in the front office.

Give me a competent and talented basketball mind minus the "star power" a la Greg Poppovich when he first started in San Antonio or Donnie Nelson in Dallas than a big name ex-player who got a job he was never qualified for any day. Is new Warriors GM Larry Riley that guy? We'll find out soon enough.

(Two Dubs connections there in case you missed it- Pop moved from an assistant coach on the Warriors to the GM spot on the Spurs and Donnie is Nellie's son who oddly enough "doesn't smoke Cuban".)

Poll

How would you describe Chris Mullin's supposed ability to make the Warriors a franchise players wanted to join?

ACCURATE: Mullie made the Warriors a place free agents and other team's players wanted to be

413 votes

OVERRATED: No one wanted to play on the Warriors if they had other good options

456 votes

869 votes | Poll has closed