[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

There were alot of guys, in this past draft class, who didnt get much time but should have.. Could have been injury, the doghouse, or log jam at their spot.. Regardless, what do you think some of these guys are going to do for next year?

11th – Cole Aldrich – Played in 18 games this year and only played aroudn 8 mintues a game in those 18.. He could be a bench center to back up Perk and could, one day, be a starting C for someone..

12th – Xavier Henrey – Played in 38 games this year and got close to 15 minutes per game.  He was good enough to take Mayo out of the starting lineup and, while playing, looked to take the reigns from Mayo, forever.. Could have to fight to earn his spot back but has shown the skill to be a starting SG in the league.

16th – Luke Babbitt – Played in 24 games and wasnt even getting 6 minutes per game. Obviously has the offense to play in the league but does he have everything else? The Blazers have plenty of guys capable of playing the SF spot so Babbitt got phased out. 

19th – Avery Bradly – Played 31 games and didnt get 6 minutes a game. Sort of a tweener who is decent at both positions but not good enough to play much at either.. Behind Rondo, Allen, West, Pierce, and even Wafer.. Lets not forget that Nate was taking his time early too..

20th – James Anderson – Played in 26 games this year and showed some production.  Looked good after recovering from injury but was stuck behind some good players and came during a time when the Spurs were really trying to win every game.

21st – Craig Brackins – Only played in 3 games this year.. Hard to see anything in that amount of time..

22nd – Elliot Williams – Played 4 games with no production.. Tough situation in Portland.

25th – Dominique Jones – Played in 18 games and could never find any time once Roddy recovered. Then, Roddy lost his spot.. So Jones was behind lots of small, productive guards..

29th – Daniel Orton – Never stepped foot on the floor during an NBA game.. So he will be a rookie next year. 

What do you think some of these guys will do next year or 2??  Also, why didnt some of them get to play??

 

[sheltwon3Participant]

I think at some point a lot of these players will make some noise but some may continue to get no playing time until traded.  I remember that Shannon Brown was a Dallas pick who got no play time until he went to Charlotte. Aldrich should get time with Mohummed possibly leaving.  Orton should gets some minutes but I doubt he does much until year 3.

Henry may be one of the guys to get the most minutes if Mayo is moved which could happen sometime next year because they will not be able to pay him.  James Anderson could get moved for a 1st round or high secound round so Spurs can get some more big men because they have a lot of good guards.

[JoeWolf1]

Every guy on this list played on a playoff teams, and with the D-League now, rather than let a rookie rot on the bench a team can give him minutes playing for their D-League affiliate.  All of these guys came up (sans Orton) and got a taste of the NBA if only for a few games.  The only exception is Xavier Henry who Memphis tried starting, but he just played pretty awful until he got hurt.  I personally don’t think Xavier will pan out as a good NBA player.

I think their respective teams are still invested in them and hope for them to contribute in the future.  OKC pulled Cole Aldrich out of the D-League playoffs so he could travel with the team during their playoff run and Danny Ainge spoke very highly of Avery Bradley during the combine.  I just think we’re seeing teams use the D-League in a way that hadn’t been done 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[B FreeParticipant]

Elliot didn’t play a game this season due to injury.

[Tobe BryantParticipant]

I remember a game when Dominique Jones was playing against the Spurs, I see potential in this kid. He is not a lights out sooter, but he is soooo strong with the ball and has good handle.

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

Luke Babbitt has no shot of playing time, Portland is so deep, samething with E-Williams.

I like Cole Aldrich out of this list to make the most improvement next season. I like his length and rebounding ability. I liken him to Joel Pryzbilla with more potential offensively.

[JoeWolf1]

 ^ Yeah, and Portland has no unrestricted free agents next season, so both Blazer 2010 Rookies better improve if they want a chance at consistant playing time.

Patty Mills is restricted so if he leaves that is some room for Mills, but he played alright last year they could very well keep him.

[aamir543Participant]

Daniel Orton was a HUGE project to begin with. We knew he had character issues, and possibly conditioning issues. But what scares me is that after the big trade, Orlando had nothing behind Dwight. So to not even try to see what he can give you raises red flags to me.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

I would love to see Stephenson get some PT.  The future of Collison – Stephenson – George – Free Agent PF – Hibbert can be a pretty good team.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

Sheltwon3…Shannon Brown was drafted by the Cavs, easily mistaken with Maurice Ager, also from Michigan State, who was drafted by Dallas the same year.  But shannon was then traded to bulls, also couldn’t get time there, then to Bobcats then to lake show.  

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 I know he wasn’t a first rounder, but he was projected as one for most of the year.  What are peoples opinions on him? 

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

Eventually Whiteside will be part of the Kings frontcourt rotation (too gifted of a shotblocker). If Kings decide not to bring Dalembert back, he could possibly be the 2nd Center on Kings depth chart next season.

[omphalosParticipant]

Yeah I think Whiteside is the Kings C of the future, hopefully he starts getting minutes as early as next season. He and Cousins form a perfect frontline with a mix of offensive and defensive skills.

I too think Stephenson should have gotten more playing time, but they seem happy with George at the 2 for the moment as he’s shown himself capable of defending 2s at least. However, if he hadn’t had those off-court dramas I think he would definitely have been part of the rotation, but Indiana has to be very careful with how they present themselves since the Malice in the Palace, and it wouldn’t have come off well for Lance to be getting lots of minutes only to end up in jail potentially. Hopefully he’ll find a way into the rotation as 6th man at least and show what he can do.

[iguapops420Participant]

 I’m just hoping for more Ebanks sightings next year. Could care less about the other guys. Xavier seemed good, Aldrich could be a good backup for Perk, and I liked Bradley until he became a C so util he’s gone fuck him.

[franfranParticipant]

 Ebanks and White

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

@sheltwon3

Are you still confident that almost every player in the first round and some in the second are going to be better than Hayward? Still for sure that Babbitt will be better than Hayward?

[AKOOParticipant]

Those 2 tell you all you need to know about playing time. You simply can not show what you can do without consistent playing time. Jordan gets traded and shows that he can be effective in the NBA, maybe he is not a starter but he can give you some nice play off the bench at worse. Teague should what everyone in Atl with the exception of the coaches and management already knew, he should have been playing 25+ minutes a night even when Bibby was there.

I dont really see anyone on your list blossiming next year. The best candidate is Elliot Williams since I can see Portland not even re-uping Andre Miller and even if they do, they will need to groom another PG because Miller’s contract is running out and he is old. I think Armon Johnson will get those minutes though and he is not on your list.

 

 

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