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.

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.