Tom Moore reported the other day the Sixers are planning to hold
a try out, of sorts, for the final roster spot (or maybe two) during training camp. After the jump we'll take a look at the guys who may be in the running and talk about who we'd like to see take Kareem Rush's minutes in 2009-2010.
Let's run with the list Tom provided in his post: Rodney Carney, Stephen Graham, Joey Graham and Linton Johnson. Here's a quick glimpse at some relevant stats:
Of the group, only Joey Graham has ever logged more than 1,500 minutes in a season. Basically, they've all been buried on the bench for most of their careers, Linton Johnson more than the others. Rodney Carney is looking for more than the minimum, and while I'm sure all of these players would like more than a minimum deal, they may not have the option.
Personally, I'll go with the guy I know. Carney is the best three-point shooter of the bunch, the best athlete of the bunch and he's also the youngest. He can fill in at the two and the three, if need be.
So, of the four, who do you guys like?
Carney no doubt. We already know him and he can cover 2 spots. Joey Graham is a 3.
Yeah, gotta go with Carney as well... mainly because our area of strongest need is in the SG department. Graham doesn't look bad at all and he's listed as a Guard-Forward on his NBA information page, but his strong rebounding numbers and abysmal three-point shooting suggest he's more the latter. If Carney can get in a groove this season, it's not unreasonable to think he might be able to grab some of Willie's minutes and not just be a Kareem Rush waste of space.
We never gave Carney a fair shot while he was here. And I was annoyed when we paid someone with a first round draft pick just to take Carney off of our hands. I like the player a lot and would welcome him back with open arms. Give him 2 years, von wafer signed with my greek team today for 2 years and 10 million. At least one of my 2 teams is a first class organization that has a hunger for winning.
Good for Wafer. There's no way any NBA team was going to match that kind of contract for him.
Getting rid of Carney was an unfortunate byproduct of signing Brand. They needed to clear cap space, Minny actually had us over a barrel (believe it or not). In his last season here, I thought Carney really bought into his role at the end of the season and he was knocking down threes with great regularity. When he was traded last summer I was a bit disappointed, but I understood why it happened, and there's no way losing a guy like Carney should ever stop you from making a big move. It may work out anyway, the Sixers probably would've given him a qualifying offer if he wasn't traded, now they may get him cheaper.
I never got the ' they over paid for a mediocre player, they want to win' rationalization.
The names on the list are interchangable and unimportant...they won't be major factors unless they somehow steal all of willie greens minutes. Who they are doesn't matter to me so much as they are '10th guy' - the rodney carney love is an excellent grass is always greeener thing as he's no better now than he was when he left - a very athletic kid but not a very good basketball player.
Wafer could be more than mediocre over there. Depends.
As for Carney, he was hitting spot-up jumpers before he left, he's athletic, and he was supposed to be able to defend. I think you'll get more out of him in the limited minutes available than you would out of the other guys, but it isn't really that big of a deal unless, as you said, he takes minutes away from Willie.
I wondered how someone will not be able to take minutes from Willie Green now that we have an unbias coach. Hopefully I am wrong about Willie.
Willie Brings energy off the bench he can fill up the basket and spark a run
or some nonsense like that :)
Obviously IF Willie scores and helps, I have no problem with him playing. My problem with him is that he shoots whether he is on or not. And very poor choice of shots. He caused several runs to end w/ a dumb 3 pt attempt and no one to get a rebound, other team got an easy bucket the other way. Numerous times and run was over.
We should have kept Thabo Sefolosha instead. Anyway I was hoping the sixers would sign a veteran that could contribute to this team with that roster spot. i. e (jaison williams, ronald murray, fred jones, luther head, chris mihm )
Of that group, maybe Flip Murray and Luther Head could offer more than any of these four guys. Williams, Fred Jones and Mihm are pretty much on par with Carney et al.
Thabo wouldn't be on the roster right now either cause the money was needed to sign Brand.
But that's neither her nor there - Thabo hasn't done much in the league of note anyway has he?
I'd like a specialist who can bring something unique to the table in their limited minutes. Sort of like what Donyell brought last year.
I'd say Carney fits the bill in that you can insert him if you are way behind and want to go with an athletic, trapping unit and need 3's. I'd also re-sign Donyell.
Yeah, I'd re-sign Donyell as well, but I think they're going into the season w/ 13, unfortunately.
Don't know the other players. I really liked what Carney was doing at the end here in Philly two seasons ago. However it looks like he didn't do much last year. Was he in a situation where he didn't get any quality minutes or did he regress? Based on what he was doing two years ago, I'd sign him for more than the minimum and give 2 years if necessary to get him. Maybe $1.5M and $2M team option for second year if that is permitted.
I wonder if Carney would be willing to accept a one-year non-guaranteed contract -- maybe one year, but not without a guarantee. If they would guarantee Carney, can't imagine there would be a competition. Don't know how much the 13th guy is going to play, but you never know with injuries and disappointments (see Rush, Kareem).
I've seen Linton Johnson play a few times. I liked him.
On a semi-related note, LT is a guy who could really fill up a fantasy stat sheet if given 30+ minutes a game. Blocks, steals, low TOs, occasional 3s, above average rebounder.