FanHouse Ime Udoka

What a night for Kevin Martin. The dynamic guard for the Kings -- and currently the league's No. 3 scorer -- learned Thursday morning his sore wrist was actually a fractured navicular bone, a pretty brutal injury in terms of risk and recovery. Sources tell FanHouse Martin was strongly recommended by at least two doctors (including Sacramento's team doctor and a separate hand specialist) to undergo reparative surgery or to put the in a cast for 6-8 weeks. The franchise, however, left the decision to Martin, who kept a third option -- play through it wearing a soft cast -- open temporarily.

Martin told reporters he'd sleep on it and make a decision Friday. Sanity has prevailed over machismo, and Martin told the Sacramento Bee's Sam Amick today that playing with a soft cast has been ruled out. Martin will either put a hard cast on the arm, or undergo surgery.

What a night for Kevin Martin. The dynamic guard for the Kings -- and currently the league's No. 3 scorer -- learned Thursday morning his sore wrist was actually a fractured navicular bone, a pretty brutal injury in terms of risk and recovery. Sources tell FanHouse Martin was strongly recommended by at least two doctors (including Sacramento's team doctor and a separate hand specialist) to undergo reparative surgery or to put the in a cast for 6-8 weeks. The franchise, however, left the decision to Martin, who kept a third option -- play through it wearing a soft cast -- open temporarily.

Martin told reporters he'd sleep on it and make a decision Friday. Sanity has prevailed over machismo, and Martin told the Sacramento Bee's Sam Amick today that playing with a soft cast has been ruled out. Martin will either put a hard cast on the arm, or undergo surgery.

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The Kings, seeking a defensive veteran for the small forward position, took on Desmond Mason in advance of training camp. That didn't turn out so well: Mason has been beyond awful on offense (surprising no one who has watched Mason play at any point over the past four years) and didn't make much of a difference for the league's 29th ranked defense.

Five games was enough for the Sacramento front office, as the team waived Mason a day after signing former Blazer and Spur Ime Udoka to a non-guaranteed minimum salary contract. Like Mason, Udoka is known for his defensive skill, having been signed as a sort of Bruce Bowen replacement two summers ago. That didn't really work out, and Udoka was left teamless for opening day after Portland waived the swingman at the end of the preseason.

Free-agent swingmen Ime Udoka and Joey Graham have chosen teams. Udoka will sign with Portland and Graham with Denver.

Udoka's agent, Mark Bartelstein, confirmed Friday his client will sign with the Trail Blazers. It will be a one-year minimum contract worth $959,111 and likely partially guaranteed.

"We talked a lot with Denver,'' Bartelstein said about Udoka, who played last season with San Antonio. "But it's a good fit (for Udoka). They really let us know they wanted him.'' Udoka, who previously played for the Trail Blazers in 2006-07, was born and raised in Portland, and played collegiately at Portland State.

Wally Szczerbiak would appear to be the top NBA free agent left standing. Then again, maybe not.

With the Denver Nuggets having lost out on free-agent shooting guard Flip Murray to the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday, sources told FanHouse the Nuggets are now looking strongly at small forward Ime Udoka.

Meanwhile, Szczerbiak, who had been linked earlier in the summer to Denver, is still looking for a job.

"Yes, the economy has affected the market, there's no question about it,'' Szczerbiak said in an interview Thursday with FanHouse. "I just have to take my time.''

If you recall, heading into the draft some experts were hung up on Portland's lack of a SF and glut of big-ish men. For this reason alone, they advocated taking Kevin Durant to fill the void. That didn't happen, but the Blazers are still perilously thin at that position.

Now, The Oregonian reports that NBDL success story (and last year's starter) Ime Udoka is headed to the Spurs. I'd forgotten, but the Blazers acquired the streaky James Jones on draft night--a move that may or may not be an improvement over car-toting Darius Miles and young buck Travis Outlaw. While Outlaw has promise, in many ways Udoka is the most solid option of the bunch. Jones failed to light it up in Phoenix; chances are, he's not going to suddenly step up without a Nash-caliber point to set him up.

Meanwhile, the Blazers' fours and fives continue to blossom. In the same paper, John Canzano reveals that Channing Frye could beat out LaMarcus Aldridge for the starting PF position. We know that both were named to that USA Basketball Select Scrimmage Team, but who had any idea that they were neck-in-neck? Luckily, that kind of player is far harder to find than a passable SF, so Portland shouldn't worry too much.