First off, the Boys in Blue have inked a multiyear deal with Will Blaylock, the last player selected in this year’s draft. Joe Dumars had this to say
“We are pleased,” said Joe Dumars, the Pistons’ president of basketball operations. “Will had a good showing at the Vegas summer league and we are excited about his potential and ability to give us depth at the point guard position.”
Still no word as to how this affects the prospects of Alex Acker, last year’s last player chosen.
- Conspiracy theorists, rejoice! Chris McCoskey of the Detroit News comes out swinging against David Stern’s NBA. 106 free throw attempts in a summer league game that didn’t even feature Dwyane Wade? Jeebus…
- Get ready for the return of those fairweather Pacers fans. ESPN reports that our (at one time) hated rival to the south is close to reobtaining Al Harrington from the Hawks in a sign and trade. No word yet on what the Pacers would give up in the deal. Let’s see how Harrington fits in with Rick Carlisle’s swimming upstream offense this time around.
- The Raptors, currently being rebuilt in the image of the Phoenix Suns, signed 28-year-old Jorge Garbajosa, the MVP of the last two Spanish Club Finals. Despite the curious trade for T.J. Ford earlier this offseason, I would not discount the efforts of new team president Brian Colangelo. It looks like the Raps could be in the mix for the final playoff spot in the East.
- Henry from True Hoop takes issue with Deadspin’s treatment of his beloved Portland Trailblazers. Granted, the “Jail-blazers” nickname is as trite as referring to the Artest brawl at the Palace, but until Zach Randolph is traded to the Knicks, the nickname will always be somewhat appropriate, won’t it?
- Carnival of the NBA, treinta y tres is up over at Celtics Blog, and were it anything other than a Larry Bird theme, I might be able to muster up a more enthusiastic intro. Nonetheless, they did a nice job on the presentation, so it’s worth a look.
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Will Blaylock or Alex Acker? I don’t care who they play, as long as somebody finds the bench some minutes. Home court advantage is definitely a great thing, but if you’re too tired to win, it doesn’t matter what city you’re in.
why did we sign him?
Watching the NBAtv reruns of the VSL games, I thought Blalock outplayed his box scores. He set up the O very calmly, put solid D on the opposing 1s, made the right decision with the ball. In the C’s game, he had an unbelievable pass on the break to Amir for a 3-point play. He only had 7 TOs in 5 games. That’s good PG play. However, his jumper/range is very, very suspect, so I don’t see him cracking any rotation anytime soon. I instead envision a trip to Sioux Falls in his future.
The only guy who seems ready to contribute is Maxiell. Amir would go from spectacular to lost in subsequent possessions. Acker can get the shots he wants, he just can’t stick him regularly. And, despite the cheerleading of NBAtv commentators, Cheick isn’t quite ready to bang in the paint yet. At all. (Though the consistency of his outside jumper was mind-boggling. Manute Bol-esque.) But Maxiell is the friggin’ second coming of Big Nasty. You give him the ball in the post and he either scores or gets fouled. He went to the line 10 times a game in Vegas. Unfortunately, that’s where the Ben comparison’s come in. 44% from the line ain’t gonna get it done.
I’m excited about Samb. I know hes not going to play this year, but his potential is great. I cant believe this guy was a second round pick. I guess the other teams need better european scouts. Now if Maxiell can start making free throws I would love to see him get time next year. Amir needs to be more focused and Acker needs another year I think in the D-league. Blalock I want to watch, I didnt really pay attention to him much in the games.
I was surprised by Samb too. Especially since I was very critical of the trade. But he’s an intriguing prospect. Tony Ronzone definitely earned his paycheck. Again.
Hopefully Ronzone is right when he said that Samb would bulk up like Dasagana Diop once he starts eating American food (well, hopefully not exactly like Diop).
Hopefully the American food he takes a cotton to won’t include Philly cheese-steak sandwiches….
Samb is raw, but I’m excited at his future prospects.
I was at nba.com and apparently Bonzi Wells won’t be returning to the Kings. Interesting.
Yeah….nothing like starting a bidding war against your own club; dropping it & signing a player that’s half as good(john Salmons)….I’m hoping Geoff petrie has something else up his sleeve; the local editor thinks he’s going off the deep end(Petrie, that is):
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/SPORTS/607260310/1004/SPORTS
Obviously, the view at the Stockton Record doesn’t agree with what you hear from the Sacramento Bee (or even over at Sactown Royalty….Thought you all might find it interesting).