The D-League has started play and it looks like the Idaho Stampede are pretty good! Dallas Lauderdale and Richard Howell are playing well in the frontcourt and Pierre Jackson is good at PG. There are some interesting players on other teams, though. In particular I'm intrigued by Jarvis Vanardo because he's averaging over 4 bpg and I think he would be a more useful 12th man than, say, Leonard. Also Jorge Gutierrez, who played alongside Allen Crabbe is playing well. He had a triple double, and he was also All-Pac 12 Defensive team, something we could do with. But obviously we don't need either unless we have an injury. I would like to see Barton and/or Leonard get some time in the D-League, though, just so we get to see them. Make Barton play PG full time (like in Summer League) - it would be good for him (if not necessarily for the Stampede...)
Would we just eat one of our 15 contracts, or would it require a pretend-trade (like 2 for 1 or 1 for cap space)?
Jarvis Varnado really looks interesting. He had 36 points (13/25 FG, 10/18 FT), 26 rebounds, 14 blocks in two games this weekend. If we could find someone who'd offer us a future pick for Leonard, I'd do it and sign Varnado in a shot.
Richard Howell continues to play very well. We don't officially have his rights, though, right? ("PIE"? WTF is that? It's like NBA.com has gone stat crazy. They're inventing new ones every day.)
I've liked Howell for years. I was really hoping he'd catch on, and I'm glad to see him doing well. If T Rob gets included in a deal for a more crucial piece, I hope we call Howell up immediately.
Performers of the week includes footage of our old pal Kendall Marshall: [video=youtube;pL8GV7U6WMk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL8GV7U6WMk[/video]
