2014 Summer League rosters: Philadelphia
July 5th, 2014

Nerlens Noel – Noel will be the best player from the 2013 draft, barring more significant injuries. There is no reason why this as-near-as-is 7 footer with wingspan, athleticism, instincts, anticipation, body control and hustle should not average 10 points and 3 blocks per game at his peak. The offensive end is less certain, as […]

Posted by at 4:32 AM

2014 Summer League Rosters – Orlando
July 4th, 2014

Kadeem Batts – Batts is somewhere in between Mike Davis and Mike Scott. He is a wiry strong finesse power forward whose game is based around the mid-range jumpshot and who rarely creates. Be it through the pick and pop, the pick and roll, cuts to the basket or through running the court in transition, […]

Posted by at 4:20 AM

2014 Summer League rosters – Houston
July 2nd, 2014

Miro Bilan – The 6’11 Bilan turns 25 later this month, yet this is his first foray into the NBA. He has long been on the radar of clubs around the world, appearing in European championships at various age levels, and finally cracking the Croatian national team this past season. Bilan has never really broken […]

Posted by at 6:51 PM

The Louis Williams/Lucas Nogueira Trade
June 28th, 2014

(originally published elsewhere) In a trade agreed to last night, and perhaps already to have been made official by the time this sentence is finished, the Toronto Raptors agreed to trade John Salmons and his partially guaranteed contract to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Louis Williams and the draft rights to Lucas Nogueira. Toronto […]

The fourth and probably final part of the Tim Duncan/Zach Randolph contract saga
June 24th, 2014

Further to this, this and most recently this. In the last update, I explained how Tim Duncan had had his contract modified, but Zach Randolph had not. And yet what I could not explain was why Tim Duncan had had his contract modified, but Zach Randolph had not. Was it because simply no one had […]

Posted by at 4:26 AM

Tampering, What It Is, And How Not To Not Quite Do It
June 22nd, 2014

(originally published elsewhere) A report from the Chicago Sun Times’s Joe Cowley is currently doing the rounds, providing as it does an intriguing look into the conduct of Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, and a fresh perspective on the comprehensively documented possibility of Carmelo Anthony joining the Chicago Bulls. The report focuses on Thibodeau, […]

Posted by at 1:32 AM

Wildly Unnecessarily Lengthy 2014 NBA Draft Board, Part 2: NCAA Shooting Guards
June 17th, 2014

There follows the second in a series of posts that breaks down the players eligible, either automatically or by early entry, for the 2014 NBA Draft. This list is for the shooting guards. As ever, the list is about 35 players longer than it needs to be, because one of these days, the NBA draft […]

Posted by at 10:39 AM

Wildly Unnecessarily Lengthy 2014 NBA Draft Board, Part 1: NCAA Centres
June 16th, 2014

There follows the first in a series of posts that breaks down the players eligible, either automatically or by early entry, for the 2014 NBA Draft. This list is for the NCAA centres, or centers if you’d prefer. As ever, the list is about 35 players longer than it needs to be, because one of […]

Tim Duncan did indeed get a pay rise
June 14th, 2014

This post is essentially the conclusion to a post from nearly two years ago, dated July 22nd 2012. That post was itself a follow-up to this post, published three days prior. The two posts combined to document an issue, or was at the time a potential issue, of a mistake in a contract. Sitting in […]

Posted by at 1:21 AM

Chandler Parsons And The Rare Instance Of The Deliberate Overpayment
June 5th, 2014

(originally published elsewhere) After they picked him 38th in the 2011 draft, the Houston Rockets signed second round pick Chandler Parsons to a four year contract, one that paid slightly but not significantly above the minimum salary. Giving three year contracts to early second round picks, or late second round picks that you really like, or undrafted […]