FanHouse Sean May

A to Z.

It sounds like the 1952 NBA All-Star Game, which featured Paul Arizin and Max Zaslofsky.

It sounds like the 1971 champion Milwaukee Bucks, who had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Zopf.

It sounds like the history of Lithuanian centers, from Arvydas Sabonis to Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

It also sounds like a good way to take a look at the 2009-10 NBA season:

A month ago, Charlotte declined to offer Sean May a scheduled $3.6 million contract for his fifth NBA season, a smart move given May's history of maladies and recent lack of fitness. Last preseason, Bobcats coach Larry Brown famously told reporters that while May tried hard to get in shape a year after devastating microfracture surgery, he just couldn't get there. May ended up playing only 300 minutes for a post-starved team last year.

But May has reportedly lost 20 pounds since season's end, and he spent last week working out for a few teams in Las Vegas. The Kings liked what they saw, and announced today they have signed the former Tar Heel to a contract. No word on length or largess, though the rumor has been one year at the league minimum salary of less than $900,000.

Free-agent time should be like Christmas for these under-30 former first-round picks. If they had played better, stayed healthy or fulfilled their potential, they would be cashing in on new contracts or contract extensions. Instead they are fighting for their NBA lives, afterthoughts in free-agent time, hoping to find one interested team for another opportunity to stay in the league.

The alternative might be Europe or perhaps even the NBDL. With each NBA team holding on tight to free-agent dollars because of the economy and the 2010 free-agent class, contracts -- especially lucrative ones -- will be difficult to procure. So while names such as Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Trevor Ariza and Hedo Turkoglu will fill the offseason newswires, these 10 players will be searching for work in virtual obscurity.

Here is the list and their stories:

The Bobcats announced Tuesday the team would not be offering forward Sean May a qualifying offer, which makes the former Tar Heel an unrestricted free agent. A one-year, $3.6 million offer would have meant that Charlotte could match any other offer sheet May signed this summer, but apparently the risk that May would sign the offer and soak up three feet of Larry Brown's bench set the franchise to freeing him outright.

May went No. 13 in 2005 after his North Carolina won the NCAA Championship. He was one of four Tar Heels -- with Marvin Williams (No. 2, Atlanta), Raymond Felton (No. 5, Charlotte) and Rashad McCants (No. 14, Twitteronia) -- to go in the lottery that year. And although McCants has been a disappointment and Felton was clearly a reach, May is certainly the worst of the bunch.

MEMPHIS – After Roy Williams answered his last question Sunday night at the press conference following his Tar Heels' easy 72-60 win over Oklahoma to advance to next weekend's Final Four, a North Carolina sports information official barked out some trivia for the departing media: the Tar Heels won for the first time all season with forward Tyler Hansbrough, the defending player of the year, and shooting guard Wayne Ellington failing to score in double figures.

Earlier in the week, I posted on Eddy Curry's weight issues. Because Curry can't figure out a way to get himself in shape, Knicks Coach Mike D'Antoni has threatened to keep Curry out of the rotation. Well, another former lottery pick is having the same struggles.

Just like Eddy Curry, former North Carolina stud Sean May is S.F.A.T. (Standing Fat and Talented). But unlike Curry, May actually has an excuse. May had microfracture surgery at the beginning of last season and was forced to stay off his feet for 14 weeks. During that time his weight ballooned, and he's been having trouble getting in game shape ever since. Here's Larry Brown with thoughts on May's struggles:

"Right now I don't think he's ready to play at all," Brown said Saturday. "I think he's trying, but I don't think he's in the kind of shape to be able to compete on this level and do all the things he's capable of doing."

Sounds really familiar to what Mike D'Antoni said about Eddy Curry. But unlike Curry, May seems to understand that he has to do better:

"I've got to get in better shape. I've got to get in better condition," May said. "I haven't played in so long that, boom, it's hit me smack dab in the face. I'm picking up some early fouls due to being out of position. My timing is a little off. Now, here in a week we're getting ready to play, so I've got to do a lot of work."

I enjoyed watching May in college, so I'm hoping that he can get his stuff together soon. The Bobcats are hoping for the same thing, as they don't really have anyone else capable of playing big minutes at the four.

With all these S.F.A.T. cats running around the NBA, VH-1 might need to create an NBA edition of Celebrity Fit Club (Hosted by Charles Barkley, of course).

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I like predictions vastly more than I do overviews. Why, you ask? Because no one cares about predictions later. That's because no one is ever right. Actually I take that back; people remember predictions if you say stupid things on national television and make it apparent that you suck at your job.

And people also remember them if you get bold and promise to remind them later. So, to make this somewhat memorable, let's get a little bold, shall we?

The Charlotte Bobcats will win the Atlantic. Okay, maybe not. But I can quasi-dream. In reality, I think the Orlando Magic will win the division. Also, reality: I lied about being "bold". Maybe. See, it turns out that even Magic bloggers agree that we could all question whether the Magic can repeat last year.

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.

While most teams are trying desperately to wedge themselves into the draft's top 10, those contrarian Bobcats really doesn't feel like picking at #8, according to ESPN's Andy Katz.

Phoenix trade bait Shawn Marion is not said to be a part of the deal. I can't imagine Charlotte wants to pick up Phoenix's two late firsts, as the idea behind trading #8 would be to pick up some veteran help for the legion of youth built for Sam Vincent... right?

And while we're talking continuously about Kevin Garnett's trapezoid of love, why can't the Bobcats be situated into this three-team mess? Could Minnesota be swayed by #8, Atlanta's 2008 first from Phoenix, one or both of Phoenix's 2007 firsts and Sean May? Would Marion be able to resist a personal invitation from Michael Jordan to be a struggling franchise's star? Can Phoenix possibly balk at giving up only Marion and three picks for Le Billet Grand?

If Charlotte doesn't sneak into these proceedings, they still shouldn't have trouble finding a buyer. No. 8 is someone like Julian Wright at worse, and possibly a cat like Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah or Yi Jianlian. Know anyone interested in those guys?

(By the way, the trade hypothesized above fleshed out to work under the cap: Marion to Charlotte; Garnett to Phoenix; May, Brevin Knight [expires next summer], James Jones [expires next summer] and picks galore to Minnesota.)