The onus here, though, is clearly on meddling Griz owner Michael Heisley. The basketball people definitely wanted to draft local Memphis standout Tyreke Evans, but were overruled by their boss. For some reason, Heisley bought into the old school theory about the need to draft centers – even longterm projects – even though far superior players were available.

If Evans had gone to the Grizzlies, and Oklahoma City had stuck with James Harden at No.3, I’m confident the Kings would have bypassed Thabeet (whew!) and selected a point guard – albeit, the wrong one. From all accounts, they would have drafted Jonny Flynn, leaving Stephen Curry for Golden State. As Doug Collins noted on TNT's telecast of the Nuggets-Warriors game earlier tonight, most NBA types failed pegged Curry as an undersized shooting guard and failed to appreciate his pure point guard skills.

via Kings Blog and Q&A: What if the Grizzlies hadn’t outsmarted themselves?.

Okay…

Wait, hold on a second.

There. I feel better now.

You may remember the reason I broke up with Memphis while we were still “dating” before I committed to them this season.

I’ve also made it a habit of whenever Tweeting Memphis Games to make sure after analyzing Mike Conley’s latest unforced turnover and Thabeet’s third foul in four minutes to follow it up with “In unrelated news, (insert Tyreke Evans stat).”

It’s not that it was an obvious choice. I mean, it was. You had an all-world point guard with killer size coming out of the college in the same city. This isn’t rocket science. No, no, what kills is that this rookie class has turned out so well that it was such a difficult thing to do to miss!

James Harden, Jonny Flynn, Stephen Curry, Jordan Hill (seriously, the guy gets almost no playing time and was traded for Tracy McGrady and was still a much better draft selection), DeMar DeRozan, Brandon Jennings, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Eric Maynor, Darren Collison, Omri Casspi, Rodrigue Beaubois, Taj Gibson, Wayne Ellington.

And those are just the guys we KNOW are better! I’d take Terrence Williams, Gerald Henderson, Tyler Hansbrough, Earl Clark, Austin Daye, James Johnson, Jrue Holiday or whatever pieces New York would have given up for Rubio!

The Grizzlies literally could NOT have picked a worse player with the #2 overall. Had the Clippers passed on Griffin, and he still have broken his kneecap, he still would have been a better pick! Two guys who haven’t even played were better selections! I’m reduced to ending paragraphs with exclamation marks!

It’s been that kind of season for the Grizzlies. Finally get a good lottery bounce, waste the draft pick completely. Find yourself in playoff position, don’t find a bench contributor or suitable point guard and watch the playoffs slip away. It’s not the worst that could happen; if the team outright sucked that would be way worse. But it’s just that they had such potential to set themselves up for long-term success, and instead they may hit August and wonder “what happened in the last eight months?”

…

Pogo-stick.

************

One more note. There’s some discussion out there about this being a good thing for the D-League. That’s a lie. He’s there for ten days. The Grizzlies don’t have much to any interaction with Dakota. They’re not devoting time and money into the hybrid system. They didn’t do this back in November when they should have.

If Thabeet dominates, it just makes the D-League look bad by comparison. If Thabeet struggles, it just makes Thabeet look worse (“He can’t even compete with D-Leaguers!”). There’s no long-term development plan. There’s no concentrated effort to develop him slowly on a timeline. They’re just getting rid of him for ten days. There’s no upside to this.

But while it never hurts players to be able to make more positive contributions in different ways on the court, it’s important not to fall into the trap of believing that players who are in the D-League need to completely remake themselves or add attributes that really aren’t within their means in order to be considered a viable option for the next level.

Dorsey’s case is perfect evidence of that. Rockets GM Daryl Morey made it quite clear just how concerned the big-league team was about Dorsey adding finesse elements to his game: not very.

“We want him to do the things that he’s going to have to do well at the NBA level,” More said. “We’re never looking for him to shoot a mid-range shot or have any post moves. That’s not something we see him doing at the NBA level. Obviously, we work on those things and want him to improve, but that’s not the focus. The focus is on doing the things he needs to do to get in the rotation in the NBA.”

via D-LeagueDigest.

It’s got to be frustrating being told to completely abandon concepts in your game that you’d worked so hard to build. You found that you had a shooter’s touch, so you endeavored to build range, only to find that every time you’re making an offensive move that doesn’t require your butt slamming into the other guy’s stomach, you’re not “getting it.”

But even the targeted things aren’t always enough. It’s easy to say rebounding is the secret to making it into the league, but then you look at some of the top rebounders for multiple years having never been touched. The lesson we’re learning is that development is a touchy subject and there really is no sure path. A team can put you on a long-term development plan and then stumble their way into a draft pick that ends up making more of an impact than expected. Small consolation for those anxiously awaiting the big payday, but at least such talk is within range; a few years ago, there was no point in getting your hopes up.

This week’s rankings are brought to you by Scott at RU. Enjoy.

1. Mike Harris, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (27.2 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 59% FG) – “Most Valuable in the D-League should be good enough for a bench gig, you’d think.” — Matt Moore

2. Carlos Powell, Albuquerque Thunderbirds (22.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.8 apg, 50% FG) – There really isn’t much more you could want out of a 6’7″ forward, actually.  I’ll let Jon L’s comments explain the rest: “Powell does many things very well: He’s top 10 in the league in scoring; is averaging just under six assists per game – as many or more as some starting point guards; Just under two steals per game, again in the company of point guards. Just five rebounds a game and not much of an outside shot, but now we’re just nitpicking.”  And if you’re looking for than five rebounds out of the small forward spot, you’re definitely nitpicking.

3. Reggie Williams, Sioux Falls Skyforce (26.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.1 apg, 58% FG, 38% 3pt) – From the always lovable Jon L: “Scott (here) and Steve (here) have both written about Williams recently, but in a nutshell he’s an extremely efficient scorer, he can rebound a bit, and he’s focused more on defense recently, probably for the first time in his career. He’s carrying the Skyforce and has been for weeks. Some NBA team needs to call Williams up before Tony Fritz runs him into the ground.”

4a. Morris Almond, Springfield Armor (28.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 52% FG) -Myself and Weinman Gchatted (Is that what it’s called?) about this one for a long time last night.  Almond is an amazing talent, but he really doesn’t have any upside.  Eventually, and I’d suggest sooner rather than later, he should go to Europe and make some money.  Still, as Weinman noted, He’s “in a tough spot because he won’t be a go-to guy at next level, but waaaay too talented not to get another shot.”

4b. Dwayne Jones, Austin Toros (17.7 ppg, 15.0 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 62% FG) – I’m just going to kindly point out that Jon didn’t rank him and he’s still this high on our list.  If you take the three of us that did rank him, he’d be top-3.  As per usual, I’m just going to point out the fact that he sleep walks and gets those numbers, so I kind of hate him, but ball don’t lie.  Weinman went pretty in-depth with him the other day.  Maybe I can convince Jon L to do the same by sending him to the Showdown at Cedar Park next week.

6a. Dontell Jefferson, Utah Flash (18.0 ppg, 5.6 apg, 3.6 rpg, 43% FG) – Succinctly, Weinman puts it best: ”He’s run into all kinds of scoring efficiency issues in January. Possibly related to rumored knee concerns that may have cost him call-up to Jazz earlier in the month?”  I’ll also add that he’s shot 6-for-29 from the field in his past three games to explain why I ranked him the lowest of the four.

6b. Rob Kurz, Fort Wayne Mad Ants (18.2 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 54% FG, 46% 3pt, 80% FT) – Kurz gets my mid-season award for using the D-League most effecitively. Last season with Golden State, he was primarily (read: only) a pick-and-pop shooter. After that gig didn’t fly in a number of opportunities this offseason (Orlando Summer League with the 76ers/Nets combined team, Vegas Summer League with the TWolves, preseason with the Cavs), he came to the D-League and has worked on becoming more than a shooter. It’s actually really working. I’m not sure how much credit to give to his coach (Joey Meyer was also credited for developing Ramon Sessions while in the D-League), but Kurz is now able to score in the post and averaging over 10 boards per game as the lone bright spot for his struggling Mad Ants. Oh, and don’t worry – his 47% shooting from beyond the arc proves he’s still able to shoot as well.

8. Mustafa Shakur, Tulsa 66ers (19.9 ppg, 6.4 apg, 4.5 rpg, 2.1 spg, 50% FG, 35% 3pt) - While I was quick to write Mustafa (I refuse to refer to anyone but Tupac as ‘Shakur’) off earlier this season, every time I watch him, I become more impressed. He’s an efficient scorer, an above the rim finisher, and has held together the 66ers very fluid roster. Considering he’s shooting over 50% from the field, over 35% from beyond the arc and has greatly improved his free-throw shooting this month, I don’t really know what the NBA teams would be looking for that he isn’t currently bringing to the table. Defensively, he’s big enough and athletic enough that, at worst, he’s going to outperform which ever player he’s matching up with. I can’t say he’s great on defense, but there are many worse options in the D-League.

9. Coby Karl, Idaho Stampede (28.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 49% FG, 32% 3pt) – Before you go crazy looking at the numbers, realize he’s only played in four games and it was with an Idaho team that was still struggling to find it’s new identity.  Then read Jon L’s comment: “Seeing as how I’m the guy who ranked Karl the highest, perhaps I should explain. It’s probably a stretch to say he can play three positions, but he can handle and pass the ball with some skill, he can shoot threes and he can rebound a little bit. Karl was on Cleveland’s roster this season before getting cut just as his contract would’ve been guaranteed, and at age 26 he’d be a solid bench contributor for someone else.”

10. Antonio Anderson, Rio Grande Valley Vipers (16.1 ppg, 6.1 apg, 4. rpg, 1.2 spg, 47% FG) – I didn’t rank him, so I’ll leave this comment for Weinman: Remember when I said he would be rising on my list every week? That was before he took a nosedive in every major statistical category in January, highlighted (lowlighted?) by swooning from 58 percent true shooting in December to 51.5 in January. Still love his long-term prospects though. -sw

To round it out, Moore’s comment for why he ranked Desmon Farmer may as well apply to my ranking of Othyus Jeffers and Jon’s ranking of Rod Benson: “Mario West got called up. If he did, Farmer deserves a burn.”  I’d throw JamesOn Curry in that mix as well.

It was close to 1:45 a.m. Friday in New York when Pat Gaines started to cry the happiest tears she’d ever known. She could thank her son Sundiata, who managed to hit the shot of a lifetime just five games into his NBA career with the Jazz.

“I couldn’t find words at first last night, I was just so welled up and filled up,” she recalled. “I said, ‘This is so great.’ It’s just something he’s worked so hard for. And, you know, moms cry. That’s what moms do. They cry when they’re happy for their child.”

via Utah Jazz: The shot of a lifetime for Gaines – Salt Lake Tribune.

The NBA isn’t really a very human game. It’s about style and motivation and determination and certainly there are some human elements to it, but it somehow manages to be the most expressive of all the sports and still feel the most aesthetic in regards to emotion.

Which makes this story about “Yatta” Gaines and his mom that much better. Bear in mind that Gaines was looking at making less than what you make a year. Now, in about eight days, he’ll probably be making ten times what you make. And moreso, it’s validation. It’s the cementing of his own belief that he doesn’t belong on the outskirts, that he belongs in the game. He hasn’t earned it yet, he’s got to keep up the work. But from the article above, it sounds like Sloan has his back and they’re telling him the right things.

That Sloan sounds genuinely happy for the kid? That’s something special. Sloan is one of those guys we’re not going to appreciate until he’s gone, and even then, people that only look at the game’s surface (“The Lakers are winners!” “The Nets suck!”) aren’t going to see everything he’s done for this game. But some of us will know. And that’s enough for a legacy.

While the players take care of business on the court….off the court, the Red Claws brand is proving to be a money maker as well.

The team logo features Crusher the lobster—on hats, shirts, banners, even the foam claw. It’s not just Mainers….the team ships out orders to fans across the country.

To try and capitalize on the logo’s success the team has ventured into uncharted marketing territory in the NBA.

Case in point, red claw ale….Gritty McDuff’s a Portland brewer agreed to make the special beer for the team…started selling at the expo where they play, selling so well…why not sell it in other places as well”

So Gritty McDuff’s put Red Claw Ale into 22 ounce bottles and started selling it in grocery stores and beverage centers like RSVP in Portland. Even before the displays went up…customers were buying.

Thomas Wilson–Gritty McDuff’s: “We had boxes or cases of the 22 ounce bottles and people were walking up and taking bottles out of the boxes”

via Red Claws brand proves to be a slam dunk | NECN.

Serious stuff: The work that the RedClaws have done with community development should be put into a case study with attached presentation and sent to every start up franchise in the D-League. Solid affiliation with a parent club, stable ownership, concentrated marketing, and strong community ties, that’s the formula for victory in the D-League marketplace.

If you’re not in a major market, that last point is particularly true. You have to be able to effectively make a connection with the community. Games have to become somewhere people come socially, to see the same people, to make the same jokes, to drink the same light beer. How do you think the NFL has become so popular in places like Green Bay, Kansas City, and other small markets? Sure, the game itself is intensely popular, but on top of that, there’s an overriding sense of community that is present at every tailgate. That’s how you build a consistent fanbase. The Red Claws get that.

Nonserious stuff: Other beers I would like to see: The Sundiata Wheat, The Ten-Day Lager, The Blake Ahearn Tripel-Pointer, BoomGotThemDos Equis, and of course, the Nightmare Artois.

However, I also wonder just how many players in the D-League have the ability to play at the NBA level and whether the increased appeal of playing in the D-League over the next decade (two decades?) will be enough to cover a nearly 100 percent jump in player populace.

But while I’m on the fence about whether high-volume expansion would hurt the D-League from a fan watchability standpoint (yes, I made that word up), if the goal here is really to develop players for the NBA, the risk seems worth it: The earlier players become acclimated to the NBA systems that they will be playing in should they be called up, the better they will perform once they reach the next level. It stands to reason that a one-to-one affiliate ratio would make the cream of the D-League crop more prepared to step in and contribute in the Association, and that’s the primary goal here.

via D-LeagueDigest.

Weinman comes through with a fantastic article, well-sourced and thorough about D-League expansion. Long story short: D-League obviously wants more teams (though their open admission about working towards that goal of one affiliate per NBA team is a shift from a few years ago), Red Claws GM is worried about dilution.

Here’s the problem with skepticism about expansion. Any expansion that’s going to come will likely end up being at least partially built in by the CBA. And once the CBA is (please God, help us) changed to allow teams to actually put players on payroll that don’t count against cap or roster space, you know what’s going to happen? All those dudes that are American that took off for Europe for the money are going to come back. That’s a ton of players. There are a lot of guys who would love to play in the NBA, but aren’t willing to go through making 12 to 20 grand for six months of work.  By building an actual farm system with moderate sized contracts, you’re going to increase your player pool. More teams means adding more water, but changing the CBA means adding more syrup.

As far as teams investing in the D-League, there will always be teams that mishandle their D-League teams. You know why? There are teams that mishandle their actual teams! Every business has things it does well and things it doesn’t do so well. But even if the CBA doesn’t require the operation of an affiliate (which it really should; you can own and operate a D-League team for a whole year for a fraction of what Jason Collins costs), the trend is heading towards outright ownership. Starting next year, three of the five Southwest Division teams own their own affiliate. And while the Lakers are currently focused on championships with this core, I’d expect the D-Fenders to get a lot more attention starting in two years.

The trend is happening. The future is coming. Whether people are ready or not.

Seriously, I decided this yesterday after looking at the SBNation NBA Power Rankings.

I think the best of the NBA D-League might be able to compete with what Mike Prada calls the “Dregs of the League.”

You’re probably asking, “But Scott, is it really a positive to think that a team made up of D-League players could compete with the worst of the worst of the NBA?”

I’d answer, “Actually, loyal reader, kind of, considering that most dismiss the D-League altogether. If a team made up completely of current D-League players could legitimately compete with even one NBA team, doesn’t that show that there is, in fact, talent in the D-League?”

via Hypothetically, the D-League is, roughly, the 28th best team in the NBA. – Ridiculous Upside.

Click through for Scott on something I helped him with yesterday that apparently he feels no need to hat tip me on, the selfish jerk.

I actually hate the Timberwolves matchup because they have Jefferson who is better than every player on the D-League team. However, I think that with the right coach (Mackinnon, maybe?), the D-League could be the first team to succesfully run a full court press against an NBA team. Trapping Flynn constantly and forcing Corey Brewer to make smart passes? That may just work.

The Nets they could probably out-offense (Scott’s team is loaded with shooters) at least for a game, maybe get the split if they played thrice. They might be able to run with Houston, actually, if the Rox are having a bad shooting night. And they could beat Detroit, at least once. Possibly double-digits.

The difference would be that almost every playoff team would outscore them by 30, and even the Warriors and Knicks would abuse them.

But still, a single win would go a long way in proving the legitimacy of the D-League.

Mahinmi has technically played NBA minutes. But not many, and never when a game was still undecided. The bulk of his professional experience came two years ago with the Austin Toros, where he excelled as the D-League’s best player. Prior to this game, Ian Mahinmi had not even seen the active list for the Spurs. He played 24 minutes in this game, putting together an impressive 15 points, 9 rebounds and the block you saw in the highlight above.

Why did the Spurs activate Ian Mahinmi, let alone play him?

Gregg Popovich said, “You feel it when you feel it. He’s worked hard for two years and had some bad breaks with injuries. It was good to give Tim a little rest. You don’t want to look past anybody and I knew Ian wouldn’t do that. He did a good job.”

via New Jersey Nets 85, San Antonio Spurs 97 | 48 Minutes of Hell.

Watched that kid for two years in Austin. Likeable, quiet, good work ethic. Thought he’d never get there because he wasn’t tough enough. Maybe it was just part of growing up. It’s just one game, but I can’t say I’m not stoked. Not only would it be great to see a young guy get his run after so many years of working hard, but it would do a lot for the D-League, a guy who spent two years there developing, turning into a decent pro.

His players are scoring and winning, and MacKinnon has a stat of his own to point out to them.

“We’ve done a little research on it,” MacKinnon said. “Over the past three seasons, 87 percent of players who were called up were on teams that were winning 55 percent of their games or better, so winning does matter. I think that’s another thing we’re trying to impress on our players. Teams don’t want you from a losing situation; they want you from a winning situation.”

via D-LeagueDigest.

This complicates things.

Look, if you’re a D-League franchise and five of your players get call-ups throughout the year, you’ve done what the league has asked you, especially if a few call-ups get recalled for active duty. But you’re also likely in the tank, not selling tickets and possibly on the edge of bankruptcy.

What these numbers tell us is that teams do value a “winning attitude.” That can be huge, considering how many of these guys have previous character issues that were the reasons they found themselves in the D to begin with. I’d also like to see a cross-reference of how many of these call-ups have come from owned affiliates. Because the Spurs rotate those guys off the end of the bench like they’re Netflix.

But this is also a really positive trend for the D-League. Winning begets success is the lesson you want to be teaching these guys. It’s actually a more successful strategy than getting numbers. You want to be able to show you can contribute to a team’s success not just get your own to impress the scouts. That may be the gap between coaching staffs and scouting staffs.

Also interesting in this piece is the discussion of pace, and how Mackinnon has used it to boost stats and give the players what they want while also contributing to winning. My only fear is what it will do to team’s concerns about their defensive effort when they look at the results. Idaho is last in the league in points allowed at 105.6 (no, I have not calculated def eff yet. It’s on my to-do list, okay?).

Currently, the only D-League players tied to specific NBA clubs are those on assignment. Joey Dorsey is a member of the Rockets who plays for the Vipers. But the rest of the Vipers are free agents and can be called up by any NBA team.

For NBA teams that have made the financial commitment to run D-League clubs, one reward could be holding rights to additional players on those rosters besides those who are assigned. For example: if the Suns want to call up one of the Vipers, maybe the Rockets would have the ability to match.

via NBA.com: Plenty of suggestions to improve NBA D-League.

Art Garcia lays out a fine list of proposals to improve the D.

Couple of interesting notes here. I quoted the above because I’m not in favor of forcing teams’ hands. I don’t feel that drastic increases in forced contributions from the NBA teams is a good idea. But I do like removing restrictions on what teams can do. The cap structure is mind boggling, and all the contracts are with the league. If the Rockets want to sign Michael Harris to an $80,000 contract to keep him available for call up where he would make the prorated minimum, shouldn’t they be allowed to do that? Removing those restrictions is what the league should shoot for.

Garcia notes the CBA-change necessity in all these conversations, but also mentions that these changes are likely to be at the bottom of the list.

At the same time, the league and owners can get a lot out of a system revamp because it means more effective player management. Not only can you assign players to get them more time and possibly have more control over how they’re coached (hybrid system), but you can develop a full blown farm system, invest in assets and keep them in your system without wasting a roster spot. And the players union needs to evaluate this as well. One of the best things about the PA is that instead of working to protect guys who have done nothing in this league (hello, NFL rookie scale), they protect veterans. But at the same time, they can keep the rookie scale which helps the veteran contracts (owners don’t feel as burned as they would after giving Darko $100 million), while protecting the bottom end as well by supporting the D-League. Revamping the D-League will add to their numbers by allowing players to sign with D-League teams for staying salary.

Everyone wants these changes to be put in place. It just sucks we have to wait another year and a half to see if they happen.