Posts tagged BrandanWright at FanHouse

One of beautiful oddities of summer league is the lack of a cap on personal fouls. Games seem to be called slightly less stringently than normal NBA games (and infinitely less stringent than games involving Dwyane Wade). These games are meant for teaching and evaluation, so there's no reason to saddle a 19-year-old with foul trouble and mess everything up.

Sometimes, this results in awesome. Like today, in the Las Vegas opener between Philadelphia and Golden State, in which sophomore Sixer forward Jason Smith tallied up 11 fouls in 29 minutes of play. If I'm Maurice Cheeks, I'm not even mad. That's just impressive.

Smith, unfortunately, might not get headlines outside of the blogdome. Anthony Randolph, however, will. The fella tossed in 30 points in his professional (sorta) debut, with 8 rebounds and efficient shooting. Lest we get too excited, forget not the Marco Belinelli Experience last summer, especially the part where the Italian's performance in Vegas caused Don Nelson to publicly name Belinelli as the frontrunner to what would become Monta Ellis' starting job.

Thaddeus Young and Marreese Speights also played well for Philadelphia, and Golden State's Brandan Wright wasn't bad.

With Tom Ziller's blessing, I bring you the story of a fan base that had its draft night hopes raised to the highest of heights, only to have them come crashing to the ground moments later. The Sacramento Kings had the 12th pick in the draft, and as things were shaking out, it appeared one of the best guards in the draft -- Jerryd Bayless -- might just fall into their laps at that spot. Through the first 10 picks, Bayless had been passed over. All that was left was for the Pacers to draft someone else at 11, which appeared likely considering they had just traded for T.J. Ford. But then ... well, Blazer's Edge (via TrueHoop) explains better than I ever could.

There's a show on National Geographic called "Seconds from Disaster" where they chronicle, minute by minute, the events that led up to a famous, tragic event like an airline crash or a gas pipe explosion. This feels like one of those shows ...

Obligatory warning: This thread is SOOOOO not safe for work because of the language. Well, maybe if you work in a porno shop with drunken sailors who have gone off of their Tourette's meds. No...even they would blush. But in this context all of that seems vaguely appropriate.

An absolutely hilarious account, and a pretty accurate one too. Now, Kings fans weren't lining up to jump off of the Tower Bridge because the team selected Jason Thompson. It was because of the cruel way in which the Draft Gods had toyed with them, and did so for the second straight year. Ziller mentioned that this year's Draft felt a little too much like last year's, when the Kings hoped to get Brandan Wright or Joakim Noah before they disappeared from the draft board in the two picks before it was Sacramento's turn.

Hopefully Thompson turns out to be more than a serviceable big man for the Kings. Because after the way the last two draft nights have gone down in Sacramento, the fans of the team seem to deserve it.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

If NBA greatness translated to the front office, ho-boy, would the Bobcats be unstoppable. Unfortunately, it doesn't. And as such, Michael Jordan's Tarheel-homerism-fueled draft rampage will only be stopped this year by everyone flocking back to Chapel Hill. Oh wait. Larry Brown's still coming.

Picks: #9, #38

Needs: A big man who can score and/or complement Emeka Okafor in the post (read: let him play power forward). Or perhaps an aggressive, defensive minded bigger guard-forward that can keep Adam Morrison off the floor when Gerald Wallace gets hurt.

Best Case Scenario: Brook Lopez drops to number nine, although considering how guard/non-big man heavy the top part of the draft is, this seems pretty unlikely. There's chatter that people aren't enamored with Brook's lack of upside though, and nothing scares an NBA front office away from someone like "lack of upside" (see: Battier, Shane). And speaking of homerism -- I'm going out on a limb and saying the Cats should trade down in the second round and pick up local UNCG product (respect the alma mater, please) and 3/4 tweener Kyle Hines, or just roll with a Joey Dorsey/D.J. White frontcourt addition.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are having quite the off-season. Sure, Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough is coming back ... but no one knows what he's coming back too. Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green have all declared for the NBA Draft (they all have the option of coming back to school by the June 16th deadline).

Now comes word that forward Alex Stepheson is leaving school and will transfer somewhere closer to home.

"My family is dealing with some health challenges at this time and as a result I have made the decision to transfer to be closer to home," Stepheson said in a statement released by the school.

"I am extremely, extremely disappointed but I feel so great about Alex that I understand his decision to transfer," UNC Roy Williams said in the release. "... He is a wonderful kid. I thoroughly enjoyed coaching him and know that he would have contributed so much more in the next two years. Nevertheless, I have tremendous respect for Alex and know that he will always be part of our Carolina Basketball family. I'll miss him, but he will always be important to me."

Home, for Stepheson, is the Los Angeles area. Stepheson was UNC's top reserve big man last season and brought much needed toughness on the floor. He turned into one of the team's premiere shotblockers and rebounders.

The fact that Stepheson is transferring is par for the course of UNC's elite 2006 recruiting class. Brandan Wright turned pro after his freshman season; Lawson and Ellington have declared for the draft; and now Stepheson is transferring. The only players left from that class are Deon Thompson and Will Graves.

There will be a press conference tomorrow which NCAA and NBA will announce a change to the NBA's draft eligibility policy. NBA commish David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand will conduct the news conference.

Brand hinted Thursday the NCAA and NBA had worked out a deal to create a 20-year-old age limit, which would keep the best players in college for a minimum of two years.

The NBA adopted a 19-year-old age limit in its collective bargaining agreement with the players' association in 2006, which prevented high school players from jumping directly to the NBA.

This would essentially eliminate those "one-and-done" guys like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and Brandan Wright from last year.

I love the rule because I think it is in the best interest of both the NBA and NCAA. The NBA will get a more experienced and skilled player (for every Kevin Durant, there are dozens of Brandan Wright's not playing) and the NCAA gets to keep its stars a bit longer. Imagine if Texas still had Durant or Ohio State had Oden? Would UNC been exposed by Kansas like that if Wright had still been around?

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
Stephen A. Smith rolled over in his vocal-chord enhancing cyborg chamber last night as Rasho Nesterovic posted a very nice line -- 16 points, five boards and three blocks -- with Chris Bosh beginning to sit out a week with a knee issue. Nesterovic isn't going to set the world on fire, but he can be a nice option in deeper leagues for boards and blocks over the next week, and as long as Bosh stays injured, he's a cheap filler. Plus, he kind of looks like Dwight Schrute, so that's a bonus.

Hot Cakes
It's safe to say Devin Harris is going to take that starter's job in New Jersey. He scored another 21 off the bench last night with five boards and two dimes in 35 minutes; Marcus Williams had eight points with three boards and two dimes, plus four turnovers in only 18 minutes. Get prepared to see Williams' minutes continue to dive.

Luis Scola went off for 18 points and 14 boards against the Nuggets. With Yao Ming done for the season, you could really see that Scola felt a need to carry the offensive load. Unlikely he's available in your league, but if he is, get ready for a boost in value for the remainder of the season.

Another reminder (as if you needed one) the trade deadline's down the hall and around the corner: Ron Artest's agent is talking to Denver TV stations about the possibility of a trade to the Nuggets.

I believe that Denver does want Ron. The desire to make a trade is there; my question is, what would make Sacramento do it? It's obvious that Denver needs a piece; the question is who is the piece and how are they are going to get it? They already got Melo, and they already got A.I. They are not giving up Melo. They are not giving up A.I. So who would you trade for to get Ron?

The rumor that had been circulating was Artest for Linas Kleiza, Eduardo Najera's expiring contract, and perhaps a draft pick. To we Kings fans, that sounded fine a week ago (when Ron seemed like he was on the verge of sticking his fist through Reggie Theus' dome).

But then ESPN's Ric Bucher decided to give a touch of credence to milling Golden State rumors. The name 'Brandan Wright' was bandied about. I love Linas, but... Ron's agent might be right. The offers aren't going to get worse over the next two weeks, not with the Western Conference arms race in full swing.

But damn, Artest between Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, with Marcus Camby in the middle? That's a ref's wet dream.

When a Sacramento columnist used an anonymous busboy who caught Don Nelson eating at Chris Webber's restaurant to infer Webber would soon be a Warrior, I thought it was a joke. But you know, Martin McNeal might have scooped the world, because the Contra Costa Times has a screaming story confirming talks between C-Webb and Golden State.

Two team officials confirmed that the Warriors are in discussions with Webber, who played his rookie season with the Warriors in 1993-94. There is some belief the two parties are close to an agreement.

A different source confirmed that Webber and Warriors coach Don Nelson, who separated on bad terms in 1994, have talked in an attempt to put the past behind them. Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin has said a big man is on his wish list.

As I said earlier this week, it's a nice story... but it's not likely to help in real terms on the court. Golden State needs to improve its defense; Detroit's defense last year was 2.6 points per 48 minutes worse when Webber was in. It's not a disastrous move -- Webber's probably the best veteran big available, and his passing would be an excellent fit in the grand scheme. But I don't understand why Nelson is unwilling to try solutions from within, especially with youngsters Patrick O'Bryant and Brandan Wright languished on the pine. They'd help the rebounding and defense loads more than Webber ever could.

The world shrieked a bit when word start flitting over from Hawaii that Warriors phenom Monta Ellis might have been paralyzed by Brandan Wright's jangly hip. (Sporting News even went with 'paralyzed' in the headline, which made me yelp this morning... and I'm not exactly a Warriors fan.)

Fear not, though: Wright's pelvic region is no highlight murderer. Ellis suffered a neck sprain and is out of the hospital, reports Janny Hu of the San Francisco Chronicle. He should be back in practice in a few days. He should be back to trying to split double teams in a few months. (Haven't you learned anything from Don Nelson, Monta? When you're doubled, you just jack it up! Damn, man.)

You know, the NFL preseason is filled with talk of how dangerous exhibition games are for little related benefit. The NBA's October is no different. Some guys are playing for their careers; others, like Monta, for a starting spot. No one's on the same page, especially clumsy giants like Wright. But next week, these guys will be real games together, in many cases before their bodies are really ready. Seems like some ACL gets torn every October... episodes like this highlight the fear every fan holds.

I'll admit it: When the Warriors traded Jason Richardson for (AOL Sports blogger) Brandan Wright, I was scared. Scare that, with two competent big men, that team might become something different. Andris Biedrins was effective in the paint, but swapping one of the team's key shooters for another tall dude? No wonder Don Nelson is getting restless.

Then I got a look at Tim Kawakami's latest column in The Mercury News:

The Warriors want him running and jumping, and Wright is assuredly capable of that.

"We haven't really seen him play, but as far as doing the drills up and down the floor, he's the fastest guy that we have, besides our guards," Silas said.

Wright is a few inches shorter with less of a proven offensive repertoire than Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh, but Wright (left-handed like Bosh) says he didn't shoot the mid-range jumper at Carolina because there were so many other offensive options.

"You'll definitely see me take that shot this year," Wright said.

It's still premature to compare Wright to any All-Stars. But if he can step into that line-up without slowing up the flow, this team might turn into something more than a cult favorite.