Featuring Colin Hecht, Derek Bisbano, & Trevor Utley
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By Trevor Utley When I was writing my Draft Rights Retained series with some semblance of regularity, I would have players that inevitably would "fall through the cracks" in between profiles and force me to jam a bunch of brief synopses together to catch up. Well, it's been over four years since Shan Foster took home Profile #28 and understandably A LOT of players either had their rights renounced or actually signed for an NBA team. This is no longer a cracks situation. This cavalcade of hoopsters fell into a goddamn chasm. I will try to navigate this lengthy list as succinctly as possible and hopefully tell you at least one thing you didn't know about at least one of these upstanding gentlemen. DAVIS BERTANS, SAN ANTONIO SPURS (Signed July 14, 2016) The Latvian big man was originally drafted by the Pacers in the second round of the 2011 Draft. He didn't get to spend much time as a member of the Pacer organization as he was traded that evening as a package with some guy named Kawhi Leonard for George Hill. After being a starter on three Serbian League title teams with Adriatic giants Partizan, Bertans came to America in 2016 and very quickly took the role that Matt Bonner would leave behind with the Spurs. He's been a launch pad from three since for both San Antonio and now with the Wizards. Bertans did not take his talents to the bubble during the NBA's restart, but as an impending free agent with a history of knee injuries I don't blame the Latvian Launcher (nickname patent pending) for biding his time. His patience was rewarded with a 5 year, $80 million pact with the Wiz. DEJAN BODIROGA, SACRAMENTO KINGS (Rights Renounced July 20, 2017) Bodiroga was easily one of the oldest folks left on the DRR list when the Kings finally realized they probably should renounce the rights of a player they drafted in 1995 in the summer of 2017. Yes, it took 22 years, and 10 after he retired from professional basketball, for the Kings to finally make the decorated Euroleague legend an unrestricted free agent. The two-time FIBA World Cup winner with Yugoslavia made no friends in Spain playing for both Real Madrid and Barcelona but also starred in Italy and Greece when both leagues were arguably at their competitive apex. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Most Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, a list also featuring Manu Ginobili, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, Bob McAdoo, and Arvydas Sabonis. And while Bertans above was drafted by Indiana, never bring up the the Hoosier State to Dejan. ALEC BROWN, PHOENIX SUNS (Signed September 14, 2016) His career may still be ongoing, but so far Alec Brown's "tenure" in the NBA was very short-lived. Injuries derailed the Green Bay defensive standout's chance to be Channing Frye's potential successor in Phoenix upon his drafting. It seemed him shooting 18 from 25 from three-point range in a pre-draft workout was enough to wow every draft evaluator in the organization. It took three years of basketball backpacking and summer league frustration for Brown to finally get his name on the dotted line of a contract. It took three days for that contract to be placed on waivers. Brown is still just 28 and playing for Estudiantes in Spain, yet that wasn't going very well. His club was dead set on relegation before the COVID-19 Pandemic paused the Spanish League season. VLATKO CANCAR, DENVER NUGGETS (Signed August 1, 2019) Take a look at Vlatko Cancar's game log and as an American sports fan you'd be flabbergasted that he's only 23. The Slovenian began his professional career in 2012 in his native land with Koš Koper, a team that no longer exists (they merged with KK Lastovka in 2016). He quickly moved on to Slovenian juggernauts Union Olimpija and eventually to Serbian side KK Mega Leks where he replaced current Nuggets teammate Nikola Jokic. He spent two years in Spain before joining the Nuggets ultimately before this cursed season. Cancar has been on the bench during the entirety of the Nuggets' magical playoff run thus far injured with a broken foot but should be in their plans going forward with a plethora of Denver forwards entering free agency. TONY CARR, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (Signed December 1, 2020) The first of a few in the “If I finished this when I originally intended he wouldn’t be in this post” is former Penn State Nittany Lion Tony Carr. After winning the NIT with Penn State his sophomore season, Carr was selected 51st overall by the Pelicans in 2018. He spent two seasons with three teams in Italy and Russia before returning to the US in January 2020 with New Orleans’ G-League side Erie. He averaged nearly 9.5 points per game primarily off of the bench before the season was called to halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing of Carr finally escaping the DRR ranks on December 1st is unfortunate with the acquisition of Eric Bledsoe and drafting of Kira Lewis, but here’s hoping he doesn’t end up like so many of these profiles and find himself released by 2021. SEMAJ CHRISTON, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (Signed August 20, 2016) Coming out of Xavier, I was plenty familiar with Semaj Christon. He terrorized both of the major collegiate basketball teams in Rhode Island as Xavier jumped from the Atlantic 10 (w/ URI) to the Big East (w/ PC) between his freshman and sophomore seasons. I thought received some bad advice in being told he was going to be a first round pick after his much improved second season with the Musketeers and felt vindicated when he lasted until Pick 55 in the 2014 NBA Draft. He would be traded twice on that night from the Heat to the Hornets to eventually the Thunder. In the aftermath of the Series That Won't Be Named in the 2016 Playoffs, OKC would give him his first shot as Russell Westbrook's backup in 2016 and actually got into 64 games. Alas, that is his entire NBA career to date as he's been well traveled (five countries in four years) since. DEANDRE DANIELS, TORONTO RAPTORS (Rights Renounced June 9, 2017) The UCONN product struck while the iron was hot after making the All-Tournament Team in the Huskies' 2014 NCAA Championship victory. Here decided to forego his final season in Storrs with the hope that he would join his teammate Shabazz Napier in the first round of the NBA Draft. As is the case with many of the players that find their way to Draft Rights Retained, Daniels ended up in the second round but seemingly lucked out with being drafted by the emerging Toronto Raptors. However, that emergence came from an overabundance on the perimeter and Daniels couldn't usurp anybody with his Summer League play. Daniels never found consistent minutes or production in the G-League and eventually had his rights renounced in the summer of 2017. He made his first sojourn out of the USA this past year playing for KTP Basket in Finland, a team that once employed former URI Ram LaMonte Ulmer. DEVON HALL, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (Rights Renounced September 4, 2019 via 2-Way Contract) It stinks for Devon Hall that his senior year at Virginia ended in ignominy (first 1-seed to lose in NCAA Tourney) rather than the glory (NCAA Title) of a year later. He was never THE guy in Charlottesville yet did enough to be selected as the 53rd overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. After a quick stint in the Oceanic NBL, Hall began his seesaw apprenticeship in Oklahoma shooting up and down between the Thunder and their G-League affiliate before finally getting his first minutes in 2019-20 with the Thunder proper. He was signed to a substitute contract for OKC's bubble run and subsequent playoff tenure but didn't see a single minute of playing time. It will be fascinating to see if the Thunder's trade of Chris Paul inadvertently clears a path for a roster spot for Hall in 2020-21. OLIVIER HANLAN, SAN ANTONIO SPURS (Signed September 20, 2018) The Quebec native was a force at Boston College during his three years. While his statistical output increased through his junior season, Hanlan's impact was most felt during his freshman season in Chestnut Hill. The Eagles never had a winning record during his tenure but his ACC Rookie of the Year campaign saw him set scoring records as well as taking the league's best teams to the limit. I am harping on his collegiate accolades because Hanlan's NBA career lasted just as long as poor Alec Brown's. He was dealt to the former NBA Champions from Utah for Boris Diaw, but was allocated to the Austin Spurs in the G-League. He finally signed with the big club in September 2018, but was waived three days later. He's played in Germany, Greece, and his native Canada since his release. He's still just 27 so if he circles back to the NBA I may actually remember the second "I" in his first name. ANDREW HARRISON, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (Signed July 10, 2016) Andrew and his twin brother Aaron were high school basketball phenoms and McDonald's All-Americans. That hype train didn't end when they both chose to attend the University of Kentucky. They made the NCAA Title game their freshman year and the Final Four in their sophomore year. Seeing the writing on the wall with over half of the Wildcats declaring for the NBA Draft, Harrison did the same. While his brother was the only early entrant to go undrafted, the Suns took Andrew with the 44th overall pick. He would be traded to Memphis for Jon Leuer and that is where he'd get his NBA start. He'd get decent run with the Grizzlies and even got playoff playing time. But I would like more than anything to talk about Harrison's short stint in Russia. At Khimki, he played with former DRR Profile Recipient Janis Timma. Upon his departure, he was replaced by Davis Bertans' older brother Dairis. Full circle shit, folks. WILLY HERNANGOMEZ, NEW YORK KNICKS (Signed July 7, 2016) When the 2015 NBA Draft concluded, I wasn't a happy camper. The Knicks had not one, but two pieces of what I so eloquently referred to as "Eurotrash" to cement the fears set forth by The Human Hurdle Frederic Weis. But Kristaps Porzingis won me over with his debut campaign and his Sevilla teammate, Willy Hernangomez, would do the same the next year. The two European big men brought a sense of optimism to Madison Square Garden so of course we couldn't have that. After making the All-Rookie First Team, Hernangomez was traded to Charlotte in his second season after having his minutes cut in half. The player New York traded for, Johnny O'Bryant III, was waived the next day. Hernangomez has been with the Hornets ever since and has yet to recreate his rookie season production to date. Hopefully he can find a fresh start this winter when he goes into free agency at age 25. KEVIN HERVEY, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (Rights Renounced December 12, 2019 via 2-Way Contract) Like fellow 2018 Thunder second-rounder Devon Hall, the first UT-Arlington player drafted into the NBA in over 25 years had a topsy-turvy tenure in the Oklahoma capital. Hervey began his professional hoops career with the Oklahoma City Blue in the G-League and played activation/deactivation tennis with the team before getting the call to play for the parent club on a two-way contract in December 2019. OKC formally renounced his rights with the pact. This "stability" lasted just a paltry ten games in which Hervey scored 17 total points. He has recently signed in Russia where he will play alongside longtime NBA guard Jordan Crawford and one-time Knick Mindaugas Kuzminskas who infamously was released to make way for the returning Joakim Noah fresh off suspension and possessing one of the worst contracts in NBA history. (I apologize to Kevin Hervey for that hard left at the end there. However, some wounds are still too fresh.) COLTON IVERSON, BOSTON CELTICS (Rights Renounced August 25, 2016) There are three people in the Basketball Reference database with the surname Iverson. Willie played in the ABA in 1969 for the Miami Floridians. The second is some guy named Allen who I guess was kinda good. The third, and the only one not to play professionally in the United States, is Colton. The seven footer transferred to Colorado State from Minnesota for his senior year and was subsequently drafted 53rd overall by the Pacers in 2013. He was traded to the Celtics on draft night for cash. He played two years in the Summer League for the Celtics but was never tendered a full contract for the club. His rights were renounced after his second spell in the Orlando Summer League as he fought a legal battle following a combative transfer from Spain to Turkey. He racked up an Israeli Cup victory with Maccabi Tel-Aviv in 2017 and made the All-Champions League second team with runners-up Iberostar Tenerife in 2019. He currently plays ball in New Zealand. LIVIO JEAN-CHARLES, SAN ANTONIO SPURS (Signed July 22, 2016) The Spurs looked like they were ahead of the game again in 2013 when they used the 28th pick of the NBA Draft on French forward Livio-Jean Charles. The reigning French League Young Player of the Year, an award also won by the likes of Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, and more recently Frank Ntilikina and Theo Maledon, was seemingly another draft and stash that the reigning Western Conference winners were going to use to keep themselves at the forefront. Instead, Jean-Charles spent the majority of his time in the States playing in Austin rather than San Antonio. Three months to the day after signing for the Spurs proper, he was waived with only five preseason games to show for it. I guess he wasn't the next diamond in the rough after all and became just the fifth first round pick to be renounced or waived before playing an NBA game. DAKARI JOHNSON, OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (Signed July 22, 2017) It was inevitable that there was going to be some crossover throughout this massive list. Dakari Johnson is the second member of the 2015 Kentucky Wildcats to find his way to this chasm and the fourth Thunder player from the 2016-2019 period to be on the OKC seesaw. He was part of the mass exodus in Lexington after losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four and like Andrew Harrison was selected in the second round of the Draft. While the other Thunder players profiled thus far couldn't truly handle the constant up and down, Johnson thrived in the NBA's minor league. He was an All-Star and a First Team All-D League in 2017. He's been just as good in his tenure in China winning a title and an MVP between the country's two leagues. Despite being just 25, unless he develops a shot there probably won't be a place for the 7-footer in today's spread and shoot NBA. CHUMA OKEKE, ORLANDO MAGIC (Signed November 16, 2020) Teams have shown in today’s climate that they can be incredibly resourceful and creative with how they can circumvent the NBA’s financial restrictions. Take the case of Chuma Okeke, now a member of the Orlando Magic as of November 16th. The former Auburn standout slid to the middle of the first round in the 2019 Draft leaving some thinking the absolute worst when it came to the defensive dynamo’s torn ACL in the NCAA Tournament. Knowing that they couldn’t do the normal shenanigans available to teams with foreign players and second rounders, Orlando stunted his service clock one extra year by assigning him to their G-League affiliate with no intentions of him ever suiting up. So now Orlando gets to start from scratch this season instead of having a dead year like Philly did with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and the Clippers did with Blake Griffin. GM John Hammond's job probably depends on Okeke being more like those three than any of his other picks during his tenure. CEDI OSMAN, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (Signed July 18, 2017) Cedi Osman is a true rarity on Draft Rights Retained. The Turkish international was drafted in the second round of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Timberwolves. He was sent to the Cavaliers as part of a package to bring Duke guard Tyus Jones to the City of Lakes on draft night. Two years later, Osman made his debut after finishing his contract with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes. He was a serviceable understudy to LeBron James during the King’s final season with the Cavs, scoring 18 points (against the Knicks, who else) in the season finale. Upon James’ second departure from the club, Osman has started all but one game on the wing for Cleveland. While he isn’t the second coming, he has been a valuable enough asset for the club to receive a four-year contract extension in the fall of 2019, keeping him until at least the end of the 2023-2024 season. ANZEJS PASECNIKS, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (Rights Renounced July 1, 2019) It almost feels like it was yesterday that the 76ers were just stockpiling big men with first round picks as they continued their “Process.” Latvian big man Anzejs Pasecniks wasn’t drafted by the Sixers originally, but was acquired by the club on Draft Night 2017 from Orlando for two future picks. Philadelphia tried to keep the 7-footer in play as long as possible, even going to the league to have the first round cap hold removed in 2018 to help attempt to balance their increasingly spiraling books. Sadly for Pasecniks, that one year grace period from the league office only meant that his rights would be renounced on that same day in 2019. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending to date. The Wizards snapped him up and after an early release and the uncertainty of a two-way contract, he signed a multi-year deal with the club in January. SIR'DOMINIC POINTER, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (SIgned March 4, 2020) The second Cavalier on this list but the first in terms of names most likely to be used during Key & Peele’s East/West Bowl skit, Sir’Dominic Pointer is the next man up. He was the co-winner of the 2015 Big East Defensive Player of the Year award with PC’s Kris Dunn yet could only muster second-team All-Big East honors. After graduation, he was selected 53rd overall by Cleveland. Pointer spent his first professional season with Cleveland’s G-League affiliate, Canton, before three years in Israel, Lebanon, and Hungary. He returned to the US for Cleveland’s Summer League session in 2018 and played for the Charge up until he was given a ten-day contract with the parent club on March 4th. Sadly, y’all know how this chapter ends as Rudy Gobert’s positive test put the NBA season on the shelf and Pointer’s 10-day expired. With Cleveland not in playoff contention, Pointer’s season ended before he could even make his debut. Let’s hope his inclusion on Team USA’s FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying roster keeps him in the mind of front offices for the 2020-21 campaign. RYAN RICHARDS, SAN ANTONIO SPURS (Signed September 9, 2016) If the one person that used to read these with regularity asked me which player I would be most disappointed about being in one of these recap pieces, it would be Ryan Richards. He has the mustache of an early 1900’s silent movie villain, hails from “basketball hotbed” England, and has plied his trade in the national leagues of SIXTEEN countries. Richards has been a part of ESPN’s The Basketball Tournament twice, winning in 2016 with the dominant tourney outfit Overseas Elite just one month before his NBA dream would come and go with San Antonio in the span of twenty training camp days. That call came six years and two summer leagues after the five-time champions drafted him 49th overall during his lone season in Spain. The Chatham native is still just 29 but it looks as if a return to the League is on a tremendously craggy path and that’s being incredibly generous. But given his globetrotting exploits through the first decade of his basketball journey, Richards isn’t going to have to worry about working, even in the current professional pandemic climate. DARIO SARIC, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS (Signed July 15, 2016) I have a checkered past with European lottery picks but for the most part if they aren’t getting drafted to the Knicks I can generate an unbiased opinion as to whether a guy will pan out or not. Then there’s Dario Saric. He had all the accolades you could ask for and I’m fairly certain his teasing of general managers in 2013 followed by a contentious transfer ahead of the 2014 Draft led him to slip to 12th overall to Orlando. The Sixers traded for him on that evening and I thought he, Joel Embiid, and the freshly drafted Ben Simmons were going to make Philadelphia a force for the next decade. Now while Philly has been formidable and Saric is still an NBA starter, neither made that leap I foresaw. At 26, Saric could find that next gear potentially with a Suns team that just got one of the greatest point guards of all-time. But unless he shoots up from a 12.2 career PPG scorer to double that overnight, with Devin Booker still being on the team, this is another international scouting L for yours truly. TOMAS SATORANSKY, WASHINGTON WIZARDS (Signed July 21, 2016) Czech international Tomas Satoransky is one of those players that consistently will win your team’s version of Boston’s “Tommy Points”. He was drafted as the second pick of the second round in 2012 from Sevilla, the pre-draft team of Kristaps Porzingis and above profile Willy Hernangomez. After a Spanish Supercup victory in 2015 and the Most Spectacular Player Award in 2016 with Barcelona, Satoransky came to the US for Washington and played 57 games during his rookie season. After three increasingly productive years in the nation’s capital, Tomas was traded to Chicago in a sign-and-trade for a duo of second-round pick swaps. On the surface that sounds like an insult but have you’ve seen what GMs give away these days for any draft picks? The 5x Czech Player of the Year started all but one game in the shortened season for Chicago and figures to be in the new Baby Bulls’ plans in an even bigger role for at least the new two seasons. JOSIP SESAR, BOSTON CELTICS (Rights Renounced October 1, 2010) Chalk this one up, as well as DRR profile #5 Ben Pepper, as a clerical error by me when originally compiling the Draft Rights Retained Database. Taken by the Sonics and traded shortly thereafter to Boston, Croatian guard Josip Sesar never even made an overture about playing outside of the Balkans. While it is nobody’s fault but my own that I missed the fact that both Pepper and Sesar had their rights renounced by the Celtics on October 1, 2010, the fact that it took over a decade for each player to have said rights renounced is also a problem unto itself. Kudos to him for winning the Croatian League five straight times, but no kudos to me missing a column in a document and now making you aware of that accomplishment. DEIVIDAS SIRVYDIS, DETROIT PISTONS (Signed December 1, 2020) By a margin of hours, Deividas Sirvydis is the most recently signed DRR player to make it to this piece. The Lithuanian second-generation lefty was drafted 37th overall in 2019, nine spots in front of the “new greatest player ever” Talen Horton-Tucker. The Mavericks selected him that evening but traded him immediately to the Pistons for the player drafted directly before THT, Isaiah Roby. Similar to the Kevin Hervey profile, I’m going off on a tangent due to something peripherally dumb that has nothing to do with the player at hand and I apologize for that. However, I will try to make up for it by bringing everything together with a binding accomplishment for Sirvydis. That achievement of course is the fact that he is a former winner of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament MVP. Other former winners include two players from earlier, Livio-Jean Charles and Dario Saric (as well as Luka Doncic to nobody’s surprise). MARCUS THORNTON, BOSTON CELTICS (Rights Renounced June 24, 2017) Trying to do research on “Marcus Thornton, basketball player” is a giant pain in the ass. There are three of them all spelled the same all born within five years of each other and are in no way related. The one here is the former William & Mary standout drafted by the Celtics 45th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. After a decorated career for the Tribe, the middle Thornton became the first W&M player to be drafted since Brant Weidner was taken in the fourth round of the 1983 Draft. Marcus never made it past the G-League within Boston’s basketball tree and saw his rights eventually renounced at the end of his season in Italy in 2017. He was signed by the Canton Charge in November 2017 and was signed to a 10-day contract with Cleveland on February 21, 2018. Like Sir’Dominic Pointer above, Thornton never saw action during his short spell with the Cavs and has been out of the NBA since. MARKO TODOROVIC, HOUSTON ROCKETS (Rights Renounced July 31, 2019) The 2013 NBA Draft has been ample feeding grounds for Draft Rights Retained. 25% of the profiles (7 of 28) created as of now have been from that class, three more were in the first Slipped Through the Cracks in 2015, and three more will be on this one including Marko Todorovic. The Montenegro big man had just turned 21 when the Blazers selected him 45th overall in the aforementioned draft. The club had an overabundance of centers at the time though and he was sent packing to Houston less than a month later with another man who was on the 2015 edition of Slipped Through The Cracks, Kostas Papanikolaou. Marko never even played Summer League for Houston before the club renounced his rights before the 2019-20 season. It may have taken more time than NBA GM’s were willing to give, but Todorovic crushed it his final year in Spain and is now averaging nearly 30 PPG in China after finishing last year at 22.7 points per contest. NIGEL WILLIAMS-GOSS, UTAH JAZZ (Signed July 19, 2019) The final player profiled on this all-too-lengthy blog of catch-up is Nigel Williams-Goss. The guard was a standout at both Washington and Gonzaga, winning WCC Player of the Year his lone season with the Zags. Despite his impressive resume, NWG lasted until Pick 55 in the 2017 Draft when Utah snared him keeping him in a fairly familiar part of the country. That familiarity quickly went away as he signed a deal with Serbian side Partizan. The club was in dire straits upon his arrival but he was able to help them lift their first trophy in over four years, the Serbian Cup, and was the MVP of the competition. After an All-Star campaign in Greece with Olympiacos, Williams-Goss signed a deal with the Jazz. He only played 10 games in 2019-20 but scored a career-high 10 points in his lone regular-season game in the bubble. Nigel currently has a non-guaranteed contract that runs until the end of the end 2022-23 season. So that concludes this edition of Slipped Through The Cracks of Draft Rights Retained. Oh, wait. Okay, do I really make them sit through---1,2,...6 more of these to recap the profiles that have also been updated? That just seems mean if you made it all the way to this point. Let’s get a lightning round going! Twenty words or less on each of the six...and go!
DRR #4 Alex Abrines (Drafted 2013, Signed July 2016) Played with Oklahoma City for three seasons, now back at Barcelona. DRR #5 Ben Pepper (Drafted 1997, Rights Renounced October 2010) See Sesar, Josip for my fuck up on this one. DRR #9 Marcus Denmon (Drafted 2012, Signed September 2016) Was signed by San Antonio and waived on the same day. Currently with the Shanghai Sharks. DRR #19 Arsalan Kazemi (Drafted 2013, Rights Renounced September 2015) Appeared in two different preseason games with two different teams neither which drafted him. DRR #24 Ater Majok (Drafted 2011, Rights Renounced September 2017) His Wikipedia Tour is phenomenal. Was traded for both Jose Calderon and Quincy Pondexter. DRR #27 Tomislav Zubcic (Drafted 2012, Signed September 2016) Played one season with OKC Blue in the G-League. Currently a free agent. And there you have it! If you’ve reached this point please do me the oh so tiny favor of following me on Twitter @TREVORutley and the site @BEWHYCE. Thank you and look out on those very Twitter handles for polls on who I should profile next before the 2020-2021 NBA season begins! Photo Credits: Basketball Reference- Davis Bertans, Vlatko Cancar, Tony Carr, Semaj Christon, Devon Hall, Andrew Harrison, Willy Hernangomez, Kevin Hervey, Dakari Johnson, Chuma Okeke, Cedi Osman, Anzejs Pasecniks, Dario Saric, Tomas Satoransky, Deividas Sirvydis, Nigel Williams-Goss RealGM- Alec Brown, DeAndre Daniels, Olivier Hanlan, Colton Iverson, Livio Jean-Charles, Ryan Richards, Josip Sesar, Marcus Thornton, Marko Todorovic Wikpiedia- Dejan Bodiroga By Trevor Utley Congratulations to the Toronto Raptors for burdening the rest of the free world with a happy Drake. I hope you know what you did. But personally, I've been done with the Finals long before Game 6. Bring on the NBA mothafuckin' Draft. Now if you are one of the four Albanians who have kept up with this sporadic dumpster fire of a blog for its six years, you've read my senseless love for the Draft poured out on numerous occasions. Favorite day of the year. Better than Christmas. Yada yada yada. But if you are one of the four people that have spent more than two drafts in my presence in the same period of time, you know that the day I supposedly love the most makes me the most fucking miserable. From telephone pole superkicks to hat spikes to Goldberg-esque headbutts of architecture, I'm quite the shitty person after Adam Silver reads the Knicks pick. And to be frank, most of the picks made during my lifetime have been better than the ones I craved. You can comb through old tweets, blogs, and podcasts of mine and find some pre-draft takes that should for all intents and purposes make me a perfect candidate for ESPN First Take. So why do I love the Draft so much? Because I'm a fucking moron. There is no other logical explanation. I was originally going to say masochist, but I am not a fan of getting beat up. Getting latched on to a certain player at a certain spot and get irrationally upset at any deviations is my version of Groundhog Day. Year after year of following college basketball as closely has only produced the conclusion of me being a fairly miserable judge of NBA fit. But hell, it is mock draft season so what's another on the pile for shits and giggles. So without further ado, here is a moron's mock draft with some trade crack sprinkled in because if I'm going to do this wrong, I'm going to do it REALLY WRONG. If you've made it through these two paragraphs of self-deprecation without closing out your browser window, enjoy. EDIT: Of course the Lakers had to fucking go trade for Anthony Davis and muck my shit up. This will probably come out five minutes before the fucking draft at this rate. Check out the Davis related changes in RED. EDIT EDIT: My selection of Carsen Edwards for Utah at 23 took a kick in the dick with Mike Conley's trade to the Jazz. Conley related changes are in GREEN. I really hope I get this up before another trade happens, but I doubt it.
If you've gotten all the way to the bottom of this mock draft, I want to thank you. It has been a while since I've done any writing and it felt nice to get back in the swing of things, even if this took a week and a half and two late edits. I hope to see at least some of you tonight throughout Westerly, more than likely Cleats or Danny's. I'll probably be tweeting throughout, but more than likely only when bad things happen (AKA the Knicks pick anybody but RJ Barrett). Thank you for your patience, readership, and time. Man this got really sappy. Sorry about that. All player photos except for Matisse Thybulle taken from NBADraft.net. Thybulle from ESPN.com. By Trevor Utley Other than the Draft, the start of the NBA season is the one time in the basketball calendar I get excited for. The Knicks are 0-0 and there hasn't been a cataclysmic injury (barring previous season's maladies) or front office blunder yet. But it is more than my temporary optimism that has gives me happiness heading into an 82 game minefield of a season. Who will be a rookie sensation? Can truly anybody win the East? Are the Warriors still infallible? How does the Jimmy Butler saga end? Will I restart Draft Rights Retained? (Well, at least I was thinking about that last one.) Here are some of the bullet points I hope shape the upcoming NBA campaign into its best possible form: THE WILD WILD EAST With LeBron James leaving Cleveland (again), many believe the Eastern Conference is mostly cannon fodder. While the Celtics, Raptors, and Sixers are clearly the class of the NBA's little brother conference, any sort of hiccup could allow that second tier to close the gap quickly. Let me start in the crappiest way possible by giving you the team with no chance of contention, even if half the league contracts a flesh eating disease: the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have taken blowing it up to another level. The 60 win team of 2014-15 has been completely dismantled and then some. Atlanta's draft strategy has left people much smarter than I scratching their heads. I have no qualms with saying that the 2018-19 Atlanta Hawks could be one of the five worst teams in NBA history. Too bad the Falcons ripped all remnants of Hotlanta fan empathy from my brain, because you guys are going to need plenty of hugs and hard liquor this year when Trae Young finishes his fourth consecutive 4-for-22 shooting night causing Vince Carter to pull a Vontae Davis and retire at halftime of a game. Other than the Hawks, I wouldn't be surprised to see any team occupy the 4-8 spots in the Eastern Conference's playoff bracket. There are teams on the cusp of being taken seriously (Wizards, Pacers, Bucks) and the fading old guard (Heat, Cavaliers). If my bachelor's degree is worth anything, my math says that those five teams fill out the final spots. But as we've learned with the East, volatility is king in the middle. Youth may not get you all the way to the title in the NBA, but if a team like the Bulls grows up faster than expected or the Magic finally figure out what the fuck to do with all their athletes, there are upsets to the balance of power to be had. Hell, even the Knicks could sneak in. (Hey, that's something positive you said!) ANY USURPERS TO GOLDEN STATE'S THRONE? No matter how much ESPN wants you to believe that the Lakers are going to be instant contenders with just LeBron James, the only answer to this section's question is Houston. The Rockets are a club that knows they aren't as good as Golden State, but think they can beat them with their particular brand of basketball. It looks as if they plan to outgun the champs rather than try to contain them. Letting two of the team's best perimeter defenders (Luc Richard Mbah a Moute & Trevor Ariza) go and bringing in Carmelo Anthony and Michael Carter-Williams illustrates that point. These new additions won't change how the Rockets attack offensively though. No team scored more points off threes last year than the Rockets. Even with all that launching (no pun intended), the Rockets were the most efficient offense in the NBA, just edging out Golden State and Toronto. Mike D'Antoni prides his teams on being able to maximize possessions. Consistency and continuity are two things that make that possible. That is why re-signing Chris Paul and Clint Capela, even though it cost them $230 million, were two moves that needed to be completed if Houston were serious about not wasting James Harden's prime. Paul may not be the same player by the end of his deal, but if they can win a title in the interim his $40 million yearly price tag won't be a completely sunk cost. The same can be said for Capela who is already an upper crust NBA defender, but will be a steep purchase if his work on the offensive end of the floor doesn't continue to trend upward. In the end, I don't think Houston has enough to best the Dubs, but they are the only team I believe has a puncher's chance. LOCO FOR LUKA Normally, I am quite trepidatious about European prospects. Ask my friends how I reacted when the Knicks drafted everyone from Frederic Weis (justified anger) to Kristaps Porzingis (immediate eating of crow). But Luka Doncic is a player I've been wanting to see in the NBA since I first saw him in the Euroleague a couple years ago. At just 16 he didn't look out of place as one of the first men off the bench for Real Madrid, one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It has always been hard to tell with many a European prospect what they can do because the stat sheets can sometimes lie to you. 3.5 points and 2 assists per game elicit many a "Yeah, he's REAL good" sarcastic responses from fans who only see basketball in that light. Anybody with a basketball brain could see that the Slovenian wonderkid was wise beyond his years. He never got ahead of himself. Never saw him not get back on defense after a bad miss. Can you remember playing basketball at 16? Now put that in an arena with hostile fans waiting for you to fail. Doncic has grown immensely since that introduction (obviously) and was my #1 pick all along, no offense to DeAndre Ayton. Seeing the Suns and Kings pass on him didn't surprise me, because those organizations have proven under current ownership to be two of the most incompetent franchises in all of professional sports. But oh the Hawks, you had him. You had him! And now you wonder why I say you have the chance to be one of the worst teams that professional basketball has ever produced? My tears at watching Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr. develop will be half of joy, because I enjoy great basketball, and half of sadness. The Knicks could have Smith in 2017 and...who am I kidding the Knicks would have probably traded them both by now. (Be positive...woo sa...woo sa) THE JIMMY BUTLER SOAP OPERA This has been beaten to death by all corners of the sports mediasphere, so I'll keep my comments to a minimum. The Timberwolves were a flawed team without this distraction, but this may take them out of the playoff picture unless Butler is shipped out of town sooner rather than later. Giving into a player's ransom demands isn't always the best way to do business, but when you are a team as young as Minnesota, sometimes you need to rid yourselves a cancer before it spreads. As for Butler, while I admire his tenacity on the court, his motives off seem to not fit his narrative. He craves a winning environment yet cites New York (a shitshow), Brooklyn (a recovering shitshow), and the Clippers (perennial choke artists) as his preferred destinations. I know a team in the NBA's upper echelon would have to move mountains to take on his salary. But fuck Jimmy, at the absolute least aim for the middle. THE 2019 NBA DRAFT I know I am getting way ahead of myself with this last one, but I just love the Draft. I love that I flip out at every Knicks pick, even if I end up getting behind it down the road. I love following the college (and now European more and more) game all season and trying to figure out which of those players would fit best where. Folks in the know are calling the class of 2019 weak, but compared to what? Looking at this class with what limited knowledge base I possess, the first ten picks could all be solid NBA players for quite some time. Looking forward to whoever is running the Knicks front office by then missing out on any of the Duke trio of R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Cameron Reddish. I might as well start scouting Eurotrash now. What are you looking forward to this year? Is your favorite team going to challenge for the crown? Who is going to be the next player to break out? Leave a comment below or yell at me with great prejudice @TREVORutley on Twitter. Happy Basketball Everybody! By Trevor Utley NAME: Tomislav Zubcic PRO TEAM: Cibona Zagreb VITALS: 6'10", 210 lbs. YEAR DRAFTED: 2012 by Toronto (Round 2, Pick 56) RIGHTS HELD BY: Oklahoma City Thunder Yesterday I told you the tale of Janis Timma, the Latvian who was the first man traded for Luke Ridnour last week. Now after trades for Matt Barnes and Jeremy Lamb in the interim, we get to Toronto's Tomislav Zubcic. The Croatian big man became the latest (I don't want to say last as Luke could move yet again) person traded for Ridnour as his rights now belong to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now why trade for a guy who will probably never come over to the NBA? Because trading for Luke Ridnour is fun! He may never be Russell Westbrook's teammate in OKC, but let's look at the career of Tomislav Zubcic anyway. Zubcic began his basketball career much like Timma with a stint on the Croatian U-16 National Team. Croatia placed fourth in the 2006 U-16 European Championships A-Bracket and Zubcic averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds a game. He fouled out however in Croatia's semi-final loss to eventual champion Spain. Now-Timberwolves' guard Ricky Rubio put up a quadruple double in that contest. Tomislav returned to Croatia with cups of coffee on the cadet team of hometown KK Zadar and the junior squad of his eventual full time employers Cibona Zagreb. He played his first full professional season on loan in the Croatian second division for KK Rudes Zagreb. He was immediately inserted into the team's starting five. He had some growing pains at first in the hectic Croatian atmosphere but showed enough poise for a recall to the Cibona junior team in line with his call-up to the senior squad for the 2008-09 season. In the meantime, Zubcic continued to be selected for National Team duty. This time it was the U-18 European Championships. The Croatians would take the bronze medal this go around, again losing to the eventual champions (Greece) in the process. Zubcic at least put up a double-double (13 pts/11 reb) in the elimination game before again fouling out. His 11.8 points per and 8.8 rebounds per were third and second on the team respectively for the tournament. 2009 saw Zubcic's introduction into major European competition with Euroleague and Adriatic League appearances as part of Cibona Zagreb's senior squad. He was a bit player on those larger stages averaging just about 2 points and 2 rebounds per over both competitions. However, he did make a larger impact in the domestic league in his seven game stint. He shot 71% from the floor en route to 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Cibona would win their first of four Croatian League titles in five seasons. They would also win their first Croatian Cup in seven years. They almost had a treble was but lost in the finals of the ABA NLB competition featuring top clubs from Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Croatia. 2009 was a big year for Zubcic internationally as well. He made quite the showing at the Nike Hoops Summit, wowing scouts with his offensive repertoire. He also represented Croatia again, this time at the U-19 World Championships. Zubcic was the leading rebounder in the tournament even though, you guessed it, they lost to the eventual champions- the United States in the semifinals. Zubcic held his own against a team featuring future NBA stars Klay Thompson and Gordon Hayward. He posted 15 points and 8 rebounds and didn't foul out this time! He put up 16 and 6 (with 3 steals) against Matthew Dellavedova and Australia to win the bronze medal. From there Zubcic began to regress. As his minutes increased at Cibona, his production started to dwindle. Cibona's success overshadowed his lack of development, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He would still get regular playing time for club and country, but the first real flaws in Zubcic's games were shining through. That did not stop the Croatian National Team from selecting him or the NBA scouts from flying halfway across the world to see him on the Euroleague stage. Croatia would place fourth in the 2010 U-20 European Championships, but like with his club his production, and eventually his role, diminished significantly. His points and rebounds per game were cut in half from his last international appearance and barely saw the floor during the knockout stages of the competition. Even as his stock overseas continued to fall, his raw ability caught the eyes of scouts heading into the 2011 NBA Draft. Tomislav originally entered his name as an early entry candidate, but would withdraw before the mandatory deadline. That would not be the case as he re-entered the 2012 Draft pool. He would be rewarded by being selected by the Raptors with the 56th overall selection, three spots ahead of DRR profile #9 Marcus Denmon. Some scouts saw Zubcic as a potential point forward in the mold of the recently retired Andrei Kirilenko. Sadly though, Toronto (and now Oklahoma City) haven't given the American fan a chance to see him in the States even in a Summer League. Nevertheless, Zubcic continues to ply his trade in Croatia and continues to pile up the championships. After winning four with Cibona Zagreb, he's added two more to the trophy case with crosstown rivals Cedevita Zagreb. He played with current Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic during the team's first title run. Now you may never see Zubcic's face on ESPN or TNT. Just know that this face will haunt your nightmares for the foreseeable future. Thanks for reading the twenty-sixth installment of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter @TREVORutley and the official Bleeding Your Colors Twitter @B3WHYC3. For less of me, give your computer to the Stewmaker from the Blacklist. Image Credits: Zubcic profile (espn.com), Zubcic Lecter (reddit.com) Featuring Trevor Utley & Al deCiutiis By Trevor Utley NAME: Janis Timma PRO TEAM: BK Ventspils VITALS: 6'7", 226 lbs. YEAR DRAFTED: 2013 by Memphis (Round 2, Pick 60) RIGHTS HELD BY: Orlando Magic Does the name Janis Timma sound familiar to you? It probably shouldn't, but the name that appeared at the very bottom of the 2013 NBA Draft board reared its head this past week. It popped up because Timma was the first man to be traded for Luke Ridnour during Ridnour's tumultuous four trade draft week. (I'll get to the last man to be traded for Ridnour tomorrow). So now as the property of the Orlando Magic, Timma has a new team to impress if he is to come to the NBA. Let's see how his career has gone thus far. Timma's basketball odyssey began with a bang at the U-16 European Championships in 2008. Latvia didn't last very long, and Janis only averaged a point a game. The tournament featured future NBA starters Jonas Valanciunas and Enes Kanter, so even in a bit role Timma got scout's eyes on him at an early age. Janis began his professional basketball career at the age of 17. He moved from his hometown of Krāslava to Rīga, to play for ASK Rīga. He would get good run in a twelve game stint with the reserve squad, but would only have one three pointer on his scoring ledger in nine games for the senior club. The army based organization would dissolve at the end of the 2008-09. The more talented members of the squad, including Timma, would go on to play for the newly formed DSN Rīga in the Latvian second division. Timma would help DSN Rīga gain promotion to the first division. He also would get his second crack at playing internationally with Latvia's U-18 squad at the 2010 U-18 European Championships. The U-18 division is split into three categories based on the level of competitiveness a team is able to put forth. Latvia is in the highest bracket and during 2010 finished third behind perennial European powers Lithuania and Russia. Timma averaged 11.2 points and 4.0 rebounds a game for the Latvian national team. Timma's best game came in the quarterfinals against Croatia when he put up 16 and 6 against the two-time champions. Following his time at Rīga, Timma secured a transfer to Latvian side BK Liepājas Lauvas for the 2011-12 season. He came into his own as a player in his first full-fledged season in the first division, improving his scoring average by two full points. That was mostly a product of improving his averages from two, three, and the free throw line markedly. He once again saw international duty in 2011 for Latvia at the U-19 World Championships. He remained a starter even with the bump up in age bracketing but Latvia weren't nearly as successful as they were in the European Championships a year prior. They were eliminated from the championship rounds on point differential despite going 2-1. They would lose in the ninth place game to a Brazil team featuring future Raptor Lucas Nogueira. Timma really started showing up on the draft radar the next season when he moved to Latvian powerhouse BK Ventspils. Ventspils had won a record-tying eight Latvian championships before his arrival. Timma's first season wouldn't produce a league title, they finished second, but it would produce the club's first Baltic League championship. The Baltic League is a tiny secondary competition featuring nations surrounding the Baltic Sea. Timma was named the MVP of the Finals after scoring 25 points over the two legs. He would follow that up by declaring for the NBA Draft. 2013-14 was a banner year for both Ventspils and Timma. Timma was the final selection by Memphis in the 2013 NBA Draft. After a cameo for the Grizzlies in the Vegas Summer League, Timma would return to Latvia and continue to raise his stock as a player. He got called up to the Latvian senior national team. He guided Ventspils to the playoffs averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. He would be named Playoffs MVP after Ventspils won their record breaking ninth LBL title. This success allowed Timma the chance to return to Rīga for VEF Rīga for the 2014-15 season. Janis couldn't have been happy that his time in the '14-'15 Summer League for Memphis was cut short before he ever got on the scoresheet. His season in Latvia would surely cheer him up though. He would win a second consecutive LBL title and got to showcase his talents for the first time in the Eurocup and Russian-based VBL United League secondary competitions. Though his production dipped, he was still named to the 2015 LBL All-Star Game where he would win MVP after a record 41 point outburst. He also added VTB Young Player of the Year to his expanding trophy case. His showing in that competition was viewed by some as the impetus for his most this past season to BC Zenit St. Petersburg. After that, the aforementioned trade for Ridnour would get NBA executives bantering about him again. He is on a two year deal with Zenit, so it will be at least that long before his new team, Orlando, can think of bringing the 23 year old over. The way his career is arcing though, Timma can only have one gesture to display his thoughts of his future in the NBA. Thanks for reading the twenty-sixth installment of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter @TREVORutley and the official Bleeding Your Colors Twitter @B3WHYC3. For less of me, try to turn your computer into a Ninja Turtle by covering it in toxic ooze. Image Credits: Timma on Latvia (3sob.com), Timma Thumbs Up (twitter.com) By Trevor Utley NAME: Chinemelu Elonu COLLEGE: Texas A&M VITALS: 6'10", 235 lbs. YEAR DRAFTED: 2009 by LA Lakers (Round 2, Pick 59) RIGHTS HELD BY: Los Angeles Lakers Draft Rights Retained #24 had the first stashed player of the team picking second on June 25th: the Los Angeles Lakers. Today's has the other in former Texas A&M Aggie Chinemelu Elonu. A big man from Africa who came to the United States for college and has played in many a country since his drafting? Sound familiar? I guess the Lakers had their type back in the day. Chinemelu Elonu was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos was the birth home as well to one great number one overall pick (Hakeem Olajuwon) and one not so great (Michael Olowokandi). Elonu would have to scratch and claw to even draw comparisons to the latter. Coming from a big basketball family though (all his siblings play collegiately or professionally), he wouldn't be making a name for himself any other way. He made waves on the Houston AAU scene after his family emigrated to Texas. He would eventually make an even bigger name for himself at Alief Elsik High School, the same high school that produced Rashard Lewis. I assure you this entire profile won't be listing people that are from the same places as Chinemelu Elonu. He would draw scholarship offers from big programs nationwide such as UCONN, Texas, and Georgia Tech. He would eventually give his commitment to darkhorse candidate New Mexico State, although he'd transfer to Texas A&M rather quickly. There he would develop his talents as a basketball player. Elonu redshirted his first year at College Station. In his freshman and sophomore years, he'd struggle to find consistency as his playing time was extremely limited made worst by a coaching change between the two years. He averaged only two points and two rebounds a game as a freshman and only bumped up each statistic by one the following season. He would finally come into his own as a junior as he broke through into Mark Turgeon's starting lineup for the first time. He started 31 of 34 games for the Aggies and set personal bests across the board in field goal percentage (.665), points per game (9.8), rebounds per game (7.3), and blocks per game (1.6). The Aggies would get a nine seed in the NCAA Tournament and draw BYU in the opening round. Foul trouble plagued Elonu but he was still able to snare 10 boards as A&M advanced. Him and his fellow Aggies were not as lucky in round two as eventual Final Four participants UCONN laid the wood to them 92-66. Elonu would sit most of the second half with four fouls and score just two points. Though his college basketball career ended on a sour note, Elonu graduated with a degree in agricultural leadership and development. Farming would have to wait though as the NBA beckoned. The Lakers used the second to last pick in the 2009 NBA Draft on Elonu. They were coming off their 15th World Championship, so it was a long shot that Elonu was going to break through and make a stacked Lakers' roster. His chances were further dampened by a lackluster showing in the summer league. That made his choice to take his talents overseas that much easier. His first stop would be Spain. Chinemelu signed his first professional contract with CAI Zaragoza. It was a two-year deal with a standard opt-out clause that would allow him to return to the US if at any time during his tenure the Lakers were willing to sign him. Elonu was a super sub for Zaragoza averaging six points and rebounds per game as they were promoted back to the Spanish top tier. They had been relegated the previous season. Elonu exercised his opt-out of the Zaragoza deal but it was not to come back to the Lakers. Instead, he joined Panionios in Greece. It was supposed to be a great opportunity for Elonu to play in one of Europe's most heralded leagues. Instead, he barely got the chance to experience the finer things about the Greek game. He was released from his contract less than halfway into the season. He could have hung his head facing rejection this early on in his career but Elonu instead moved on to greener pastures. He would get that chance in France (remind unintended) with top club Pau-Orthez. The power forward proved he could do just as well from the starting lineup than as an energy guy off the bench. He started in 22 of his 30 LNB Pro A appearances for Pau-Orthez. He averaged 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds in those contests. He also made his international competition debut for the club as they participated in the Eurochallenge, European basketball's third tier competition behind the EuroCup and EuroLeague. They were ousted early from the tournament, but not due to a lack of effort from the Nigerian. 12.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, and a professional-best 1.6 blocks per game weren't enough though to keep Elonu's team in the show for more than five matches. His showing both domestically and in Europe drew the eye of Tofaş in Turkey as well as the Lakers. Sadly, his second stint with Los Angeles in the summer league once left him sans an NBA contract. However, he did have a three-year deal waiting for him this time. Elonu shuffled between starter and sixth man in Turkey as well as between teams as the terms of his contract allowed him to fill in his offseasons with the club playing in other leagues. The first year saw Chinemelu take his sojourn to the Far East with China's Jiangsu Dragons. The second offseason marked his return to his first professional club, CAI Zaragoza. All the while, he put up solid numbers for his home club Tofaş. In three seasons, he averaged nearly 11 points and 8 rebounds per game across all competitions. He brought a sense of stability to a club that had anything but that in recent years. A back-to-back champion in the TBL at the end of the 90's, Tofaş had fought through financial difficulty as well as several relegation spells. Back now in the top flight, Elonu was a good soldier for the team. They made the EuroChallenge in every year he was at the club. However, he moved on from the club earlier this month. Chinemelu took his talents back to the States (or at least a US territory) in the Baloncestro Superior Nacional (BSN) with Capitanes de Arecibo. Paired up with a fellow Nigerian and former first round pick Ike Diogu, Elonu is part of a killer backup team for Capitanes mainstays (and former NBAers as well) Peter John Ramos and Daniel Santiago. His debut didn't go so hot though. He had as many fouls as rebounds (4) and went 0-2 from both the field and the line in 10 otherwise forgettable minutes. There is nowhere to go but up for Elonu even more so being so close to his rights holders in the US. Instead of losing a day in transit, Elonu could easily join the Lakers on a East Coast trip on a moment's notice. We'll see if that day comes. I just hope if it does the Lakers don't make him take his physical in public like they did in Turkey. Thanks for reading the twenty-fifth installment of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter @TREVORutley and the official Bleeding Your Colors Twitter @B3WHYC3. For less of me, "accidentally" drop your computer on the ground during the Running of the Bulls. Image Credits: Elonu Dunk (court-side.com), Elonu Physical (ahaber.com) By Trevor Utley NAME: Ater Majok PRO TEAM: Gold Coast Blaze VITALS: 6'11", 233 lbs. YEAR DRAFTED: 2011 by LA Lakers (Round 2, Pick 58) RIGHTS HELD BY: Los Angeles Lakers Now that I am done picking on the team at number one in the 2015, Minnesota, it is time to move on to number two. And as Kobe Bryant so eloquently put it, the Lakers deserve to be picking two because they played like crap this past season. The Lakers are in territory they haven't been in for decades. Showtime is used to picking at the bottom of the first round, picking up that role player to push them over the top in the cutthroat Western Conference. Now they are deciding whether or not they can get one final surge out of the twilight of Kobe's career with either Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor. One thing is for certain, they aren't going to pass on either of those fine prospects for the man being profiled today: Ater Majok. Is has been quite the magical mystery tour of a career for Ater Majok. Born in what is now known as South Sudan, Majok was in a hostile environment from the get go. The second Sudanese Civil War raged on around him forcing many families, including Majok's and that of the Deng brothers, to flee to refugee camps in Egypt. Majok would eventually make his way all the way down under to Sydney, Australia. That is where Ater became enamored with the game of basketball as he became a part of the South Stars basketball club. The South Stars, like Majok, had all fled the horrors going on in their homeland and eventually emigrated to Sydney. After finishing high school and prep school in Sydney, Ater decided to take his game to the USA by committing to then two-time NCAA Champions UCONN. It didn't start off well as eligibility issues forced Majok to sit out his entire freshman year on campus. He was able to practice with the team following partial reinstatement halfway through the season, but had to watch from Storrs as the Huskies made it all the way to the Final Four where they would lose to eventual runners-up Michigan State. After this disappointing experience, Majok declared for the NBA Draft. He did the smart thing though in not hiring an agent. As projections and advice from scouts made it clear he was more than likely to go undrafted, Majok withdrew a week before the 2009 Draft and returned to UCONN. He played his first, and only, season at UCONN during the 2009-10 campaign. It was a team in transition following the departures of Hasheem Thabeet, AJ Price, and Jeff Adrien. Majok got lost in the shuffle and posted final averages of only 2.3 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. The Huskies missed the NCAA Tournament for the third time in ten years and were unceremoniously ousted in the second round of the NIT. That fall Majok made the decision to leave UCONN, and the American collegiate game, behind for still murky reasons. Was the recruitment of the lanky Sudanese Australian on the level? Did Majok say the wrong things to Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun? It didn't seem as if Majok wanted to leave Storrs, but his hand was forced and professional ball overseas was his only play. He began his professional career with a short stint in the Turkish second division with FMV Isikspor Istanbul. He put up fairly decent numbers (13.9 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 3.1 BPG) against much lower competition than he was facing in the Big East. Upon expiration of the short team deal, he finally returned home to Australia to regroup. On Christmas Eve 2010, Majok signed on as an injury replacement for the Perth Wildcats. Perth were the defending NBL champions, but had been absolutely ravaged by injuries on their front line. Majok did his best to be a force in the interim and quickly became a fan favorite with his flair for the emphatic swat. He pushed his games played total for the season to 15 (7 in Turkey, 8 in Australia) while averaging 7.5 points and 2 blocks a game for the Wildcats. When the Perth bigs started to return from the injured list, Majok's six week deal was allowed to expire. He was able to latch on with another NBL team, again as an injury replacement, for the remainder of the 2010-11 season. He was used sparingly in six games for the fledgling club as they fell just out of the playoff picture. The team was kind enough though to grant Majok an early release so that he could participate in pre-draft workouts as he stated his intention to declare for the 2011 NBA Draft. Majok wasn't entirely impressive in the lead up to the NBA Draft. Many scouts believed he was too skinny to be a legitimate rim protector while also not possessing enough of an offensive repertoire to use his speed against heftier bigs. That didn't stop the Lakers from using the 58th overall pick in the draft on Majok. Hindsight is 20/20 but it is probably safe to assume the majority of the teams picking at the end of that draft wish they went with Isaiah Thomas (the final pick in the 2011 Draft) instead of their guy. Of the four guys who went directly before Thomas, three (including Majok today) will get profiles right here on DRR. The fourth, Qatari international Tanguy Ngombo, had his rights renounced two years after an age dispute on draft night. Majok rejected the Lakers initial qualifying offer and continued his nomadic basketball adventure in Slovakia for BK SPU Nitra. He played in 41 games for Nitra in the Slovakian top tier, averaging 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per. The experience was an eye opener for Majok as he dealt with the hostility that comes with eastern European sports on a nightly basis. The call from America asking him to play for the Lakers in the summer league must've been one of pure relief. As I've said in previous profiles, an invitation to play in the Summer League doesn't always translate to an NBA contract. Most times it gives the coach and assistants a chance to see if a guy they've stashed overseas is keeping himself in shape, has any trade value, or has to have his rights renounced. Sometimes he is just roster filler. Majok fell more into the latter category as he averaged just under two points in three mid-summer games before being allowed to return to Europe. The next two seasons for Majok were an absolute whirlwind throughout eastern Europe and Asia. The first year he strung together short term deals in Israel for Maccabi Electra Tel-Aviv, where he didn't appear once, and in Belarus for BC Tsmoki-Minsk where he would win a Belarusian title as a bench contributor. The second season saw him take the Majok Express to Asia where he started off in South Korea with perennial contender KCC Egis. Again, his time there was short getting his pink slip after just 12 games. The ink barely even dried on his next contract with the Taiwan Beer (sweet team name eh?) before they released him sans a single played game. After finishing up his 2013-14 in Germany where he won his second title in four months, Majok looked finally ready to return to the United States. Though his play didn't exactly fill up the stat sheet, the Lakers were in desperation mode and saw that their investment made the roster of the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the NBDL. They looked to have chose wisely as Majok became a starter and led the team in blocks, even with veteran swatters Jarvis Varnado and Jamario Moon in tow. We may have to wait just a bit longer to see him get called up though as an MCL sprain in February led to his release, a common occurrence in the NBA's minor league. He may be off to another hole in the wall type of league this summer, but even if Towns or Okafor are wearing purple and gold, the Lakers may still have a place for Ater Majok. Thanks for reading the twenty-fourth installment of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter @TREVORutley and the official Bleeding Your Colors Twitter @B3WHYC3. For less of me, stuff your computer into a dead body and head to Brick Top's pig farm. Image Credits: Majok at UCONN (zimbio.com), Majok Lakers (dailytelegraph.com.au) NAME: Paulão Prestes PRO TEAM: CB Murcia VITALS: 6'11", 260 lbs. YEAR DRAFTED: 2010 by Minnesota (Round 2, Pick 45) RIGHTS HELD BY: Minnesota Timberwolves By Trevor Utley Yesterday I talked about the dilemma that the Minnesota Timberwolves currently face holding the number one overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Will it be Karl Towns or Jahlil Okafor? I also made reference to two goliaths already under Minnesota's control. Yesterday saw Henk Norel get his day in the sun. Today it is Brazilian Paulão Prestes' turn. From the looks of him, you'd think this profile would be fat jokes and comparisons to $5 Wrestling icon Freight Train. It is quite the contrary though as Prestes has had a fairly productive career before and after having his name read at the NBA Draft. Prestes began his professional career at just 17 in his native Brazil during the 2004-05 season with COC Ribeirao Preto. He was a sparsely used substitute early on, making only 11 appearances, and averaging just 3.5 points and rebounds per game in the lower Brazilian league. His stature though was enough to garner him a place on Brazil's U-18 National Team. That is where he would make his initial impression on talent evaluators both domestically and abroad. He nearly doubled his averages his second season at Ribeirao Preto (7.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG) but was still a fringe player on the squad. However, it wasn't his league play (or lack thereof) that got people talking. It was his performance at the U-18 FIBA Americas Championships in 2006, where Brazil would place third. There he would take on the best of what North and South America had to offer including Argentina, Canada, and of course the United States. Throughout the tournament, he outdueled players that would eventually become stars in both the collegiate ranks and the NBA. In pool play, he held his own against a slew of All-Americans such as Kyle Singler, Spencer Hawes, and Michael Beasley en route to a 21 point, 10 rebound showing versus the USA. Silver medalist Argentina could only "contain" Paulão to 25 points and 16 rebounds. The real show came against Canada in the third place game. Prestes absolutely abused future Laker Robert Sacre to the tune of 27 points and 26 rebounds (17 offensive) whilst blocking five shots in a Brazil victory. This display, along with a cameo on the Brazilian senior squad, allowed him to peddle his wares in Spain the next year with Unicaja. He started making more noise in league play as Unicaja sent him out on loan in the lower tiers of Spanish basketball. He was a fixture over the next three years for Clinicas Rincon Axarquia. He ranked near the top of the league leaders in rebounding each year. He was fourth in the league in scoring in 2007-08 (17.1 PPG) and helped his team gain promotion to the second tier, their highest standing ever. With all that being said, Prestes still did his best work in an international setting. Paulão made the 2007 U-19 World Championships his personal Carnival. In a tournament that featured Patty Mills (Australia), Nicolas Batum (France), DeAndre Jordan, and 2014-15 NBA MVP Stephen Curry, Prestes was the star. He put up monster doubles in every game against a world basketball power.
He kept moving up the ranks for both Brazil and in Spanish league basketball. He secured his first taste of first team, first division Liga ACB ball in 2009-10 with CB Murcia. It was not the best of experiences of Prestes. He experienced extended losing for the first time as a professional, and Murcia were relegated after finishing a rock bottom 5-29. His career low was followed by a career high as following that season, he entered the NBA Draft. Although the 2010 Draft wasn't the richest in talent, especially for big men, Prestes slid into the middle of the second round where the Minnesota Timberwolves were all to happy to take him. They also traded for Nemanja Bjelica, who was featured all the way back on DRR #17. Minnesota management had shown the year before with Norel that they were fine with stashing a guy overseas. Prestes returned to Spain with a new team, CB Granada. Sadly for the big man, the story remained the same for him. He played well but ultimately his team was relegated. Twice. Granada went from the first division to the third in just two seasons. Well, they didn't even make it to the third division. The team dissolved following the second relegation leaving players like Prestes free agents with not much time to find competitive basketball. He spent the remainder of 2012 with a Lithuanian outfit before returning to Gran Canaria in Spain. Paulão has spent his most recent times back in his native Brazil with both Brasilia and now Mogi das Cruzes. Like many Brazilian soccer players have experienced before him, the return home has done wonders for his wallet...and damage to his waistline. He's also starting to develop a bit of a Sloth from the Goonies vibe about him. I think it is safe to say even if Minnesota shocks the basketball world by straying away from Towns or Okafor on the 25th, they won't be supplementing their roster height with Paulão any time soon. Thanks for reading the twenty-third installment of Draft Rights Retained right here on Bleeding Your Colors! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to bringing you more wacky stories of players who the NBA has long since forgotten, but not their draft rights. Stay locked for a new profile until the list is exhausted. For more of me, check out my Twitter @TREVORutley and the official Bleeding Your Colors Twitter @B3WHYC3. For less of me, hop in to the DeLorean, crank that bitch up to 88 MPH and go try to stop the inception of the internet. Image Credits: Prestes Profile (solobasket.com), Prestes Sloth (lnb.com.br) |
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