Spurs Brazil
11-29-2008, 08:37 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-081129-30
Quickie D-League Guide
A slew of factoids to get you ready for the eighth season of the NBA Development League, which already has placed 60 alumni on NBA opening-day rosters. The 16 teams tipped off their 50-game schedules Friday.
The three teams owned and operated by NBA franchises: Austin Toros (Spurs), Los Angeles D-Fenders (Lakers), Tulsa 66ers (Thunder).
The three most intriguing individual stories: 1. Coby Karl (above, right) going back to his Boise State roots with the Idaho Stampede after being released by the Lakers in October; 2. How another Lakers castoff, Smush Parker, adjusts to life in Hidalgo, Texas, with the Rio Grande Vipers after lasting until the 12th pick of a 16-pick first round in the D-League draft; 3. Hamed Haddadi's journey from the Middle East to Bismarck, N.D., after the Grizzlies assigned their 7-foot-2 Iranian history-maker to the Dakota Wizards.
The other history-maker: It's believed that DeMarcus Nelson became the first player to start at point guard on opening night in the NBA and opening night in the D-League when the Golden State rookie -- who began the season in Don Nelson's first five with the Warriors -- joined Mateen Cleaves in the Bakersfield backcourt for the Jam's Friday opener against the D-Fenders.
The player on a baseball-style rehab assignment: After he averaged 17.1 points and 8.2 rebounds last season while leading Austin to the championship series as the D-League's best big man, Ian Mahinmi wasn't expected to be back in the minors. But a stubborn ankle injury that has plagued the Frenchman since Tim Grgurich's annual skills camp in Las Vegas in August prompted the Spurs to start Mahinmi with the Toros to get him ready for minutes with the big club.
The complete list of NBA players currently on D-League assignment: Boston's J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker (Utah Flash), Golden State's Richard Hendrix and Nelson (Bakersfield), Memphis' Haddadi (Dakota), Oklahoma City's Steven Hill (Tulsa) and San Antonio's Mahinmi (Austin).
The first call-up: It's already happened. Dakota guard Blake Ahearn, who played in 12 games for Miami last season after being named D-League rookie of the year, got a summons from San Antonio last week almost immediately after landing in Bismarck for training camp. Eighteen players accounted for a combined 29 call-ups to the NBA last season.
The player who has our strongest rooting interest here at Stein Line HQ: D-Fenders forward Jamaal Brown … also known as the only Cal State Fullerton alumnus presently on a D-League roster.
The marquee coach: Austin's Quin Snyder remains a highly recognizable name after his college coaching days at Missouri, but Snyder has to share the marquee this season with Sam Vincent. Hired and fired by Michael Jordan as Charlotte's coach, all in the span of 11 months, Vincent now has the same job with the Anaheim Arsenal.
The compensation: D-League players are placed in one of three classifications (A, B or C) based on experience and earn salaries of $25,500, $19,000 or $13,000, respectively. (Karl, for example, is at the $25,500 mark after making $427,163 as a Lakers rookie last season.) Daily per diem on road trips is $30.
The buyout rules: Foreign teams that wish to extricate D-League players from their current contracts must pay between $15,000 and $45,000, depending on the player's salary.
The All-Star Game: It again will be staged during the NBA's All-Star Weekend … with some interesting concepts to spice things up in circulation. One idea the NBA is expected to resist is a game featuring D-League All-Stars against NBA rookies, as an alternative to the current NBA rookies-versus-sophomores game we get every February. Another idea that apparently still has some life calls for an All-Star game pitting the best players assigned to the D-League by NBA teams against non-assigned players.
The NBA D-League Showcase: All 16 teams will convene in Orem, Utah, from Jan. 5 through 8 to play 16 games in four days, all of which will be televised on NBA TV. Each team plays two games at the showcase in addition to its 24 home games and 24 road games.
The favorite to win it all: There isn't one. Conventional D-League wisdom holds that every team will spend some time during the season in the top five and the bottom five of the mythical D-League power rankings because rosters are always changing.
Quickie D-League Guide
A slew of factoids to get you ready for the eighth season of the NBA Development League, which already has placed 60 alumni on NBA opening-day rosters. The 16 teams tipped off their 50-game schedules Friday.
The three teams owned and operated by NBA franchises: Austin Toros (Spurs), Los Angeles D-Fenders (Lakers), Tulsa 66ers (Thunder).
The three most intriguing individual stories: 1. Coby Karl (above, right) going back to his Boise State roots with the Idaho Stampede after being released by the Lakers in October; 2. How another Lakers castoff, Smush Parker, adjusts to life in Hidalgo, Texas, with the Rio Grande Vipers after lasting until the 12th pick of a 16-pick first round in the D-League draft; 3. Hamed Haddadi's journey from the Middle East to Bismarck, N.D., after the Grizzlies assigned their 7-foot-2 Iranian history-maker to the Dakota Wizards.
The other history-maker: It's believed that DeMarcus Nelson became the first player to start at point guard on opening night in the NBA and opening night in the D-League when the Golden State rookie -- who began the season in Don Nelson's first five with the Warriors -- joined Mateen Cleaves in the Bakersfield backcourt for the Jam's Friday opener against the D-Fenders.
The player on a baseball-style rehab assignment: After he averaged 17.1 points and 8.2 rebounds last season while leading Austin to the championship series as the D-League's best big man, Ian Mahinmi wasn't expected to be back in the minors. But a stubborn ankle injury that has plagued the Frenchman since Tim Grgurich's annual skills camp in Las Vegas in August prompted the Spurs to start Mahinmi with the Toros to get him ready for minutes with the big club.
The complete list of NBA players currently on D-League assignment: Boston's J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker (Utah Flash), Golden State's Richard Hendrix and Nelson (Bakersfield), Memphis' Haddadi (Dakota), Oklahoma City's Steven Hill (Tulsa) and San Antonio's Mahinmi (Austin).
The first call-up: It's already happened. Dakota guard Blake Ahearn, who played in 12 games for Miami last season after being named D-League rookie of the year, got a summons from San Antonio last week almost immediately after landing in Bismarck for training camp. Eighteen players accounted for a combined 29 call-ups to the NBA last season.
The player who has our strongest rooting interest here at Stein Line HQ: D-Fenders forward Jamaal Brown … also known as the only Cal State Fullerton alumnus presently on a D-League roster.
The marquee coach: Austin's Quin Snyder remains a highly recognizable name after his college coaching days at Missouri, but Snyder has to share the marquee this season with Sam Vincent. Hired and fired by Michael Jordan as Charlotte's coach, all in the span of 11 months, Vincent now has the same job with the Anaheim Arsenal.
The compensation: D-League players are placed in one of three classifications (A, B or C) based on experience and earn salaries of $25,500, $19,000 or $13,000, respectively. (Karl, for example, is at the $25,500 mark after making $427,163 as a Lakers rookie last season.) Daily per diem on road trips is $30.
The buyout rules: Foreign teams that wish to extricate D-League players from their current contracts must pay between $15,000 and $45,000, depending on the player's salary.
The All-Star Game: It again will be staged during the NBA's All-Star Weekend … with some interesting concepts to spice things up in circulation. One idea the NBA is expected to resist is a game featuring D-League All-Stars against NBA rookies, as an alternative to the current NBA rookies-versus-sophomores game we get every February. Another idea that apparently still has some life calls for an All-Star game pitting the best players assigned to the D-League by NBA teams against non-assigned players.
The NBA D-League Showcase: All 16 teams will convene in Orem, Utah, from Jan. 5 through 8 to play 16 games in four days, all of which will be televised on NBA TV. Each team plays two games at the showcase in addition to its 24 home games and 24 road games.
The favorite to win it all: There isn't one. Conventional D-League wisdom holds that every team will spend some time during the season in the top five and the bottom five of the mythical D-League power rankings because rosters are always changing.