Does anyone know much about this guy? All I know for certain is he's Dominique's son (amazing he's not called 'Nique Jnr), he attended Georgia and has impressed in our first two Summer League games. I am told he underachieved in college after coming in with (inevitable) high expectations, and is a decent perimeter defender. Interesting to note that he seems to be getting the majority of two guard minutes at this stage, with Dave Young getting a few scraps off the bench. Of course this will probably change with Young getting some starts too, but does anyone know anything about him and would he be a chance at making our roster? I would think he'd be battling Young for the final guard spot.
Just doing some research. Apparently Damien attended NC State and in 2000/01 averaged 11.7 points per game as a sophomore. He entered the draft, withdrew, and transfered`to Georgia after a falling out with the coaching staff at NC State. <div align="center"></div> He sat out 00/01 as per NCAA rules, and played two years at Georgia. His NBA Draft Net profile describes him as not overly talented, but an excellent defender, good passer, good scorer inside 20 feet and very gritty and hardworking. At 6'6 and 220, he's got good size too. Oh, and apparently he's the son of Gerald, and nephew of 'Nique.
A little bit on Josh Powell, too, courtesy of Draft City. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Josh Powell: Didn?t get the minutes he deserved and was played out of position when he was in the game, but in spite of that this guy looks very, very intriguing. First off, he?s a great athlete, very quick and with an excellent vertical leap which he uses to bounce up off the floor in the blink of an eye. He was very intense in the games I saw him, playing in an active and aggressive manner on both sides of the floor. When he was going up against Dwight Howard it was hard to guess who was the #1 pick and who went undrafted, he simply outplayed him on both offense and defense, establishing position deep in the paint on him and finishing strongly at the basket. His perimeter skills are much improved as well according to people that watched him this year in Italy, to the point that he is now considered a forward capable of playing both the 3 and the 4 spots, although he didn?t quite get the chance to show them off while playing power forward for the Heat next to Wang Zhizhi, as the Heat were stacked at the 3 spot with Darius Rice, Matt Freije and Ron Hale. Powell will now be moving on to play with Seattle, where he should have a decent shot at making the roster.</div>
He is the son of former NBA journeyman Gerald Wilkins and nephew of high-flying Dominique Wilkins, Damien has had a rough go of it over the past three years. Full Story
He is taking the minutes of David Young, which is crazy considering you would think that your number two draft choice would be given an opportunity to keep his job. I don't know whether or not Bob Weiss has a hidden agenda but Dave has played 25 minutes total in two games (both losses by the Supes). Damien Wilkins is a pretty big guard who can defend and rebound. He doesn't have range on his jumper but he can hit the mid range jump shot. He isn't overly athletic but he makes up for it w/ his strength. He's actually a decent player who now seems like he has an opportunity to make the Sonics roster. Dave should get a lot of minutes tonight and knowing him he is going to be very aggressive offensively. I just hope that Bob Weiss isn't trying to sabatoge his opportunity before it even starts.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">Damien Wilkins is a pretty big guard who can defend and rebound. He doesn't have range on his jumper but he can hit the mid range jump shot. He isn't overly athletic but he makes up for it w/ his strength. He's actually a decent player who now seems like he has an opportunity to make the Sonics roster.</div> A less athletic Kirk Snyder?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting tradebark:</div><div class="quote_post">statswise he seems to be doing well i reall wish i could watch him in action</div> The Sonics play on NBA TV tomorrow (Wednesday) at 3 p.m. Pacific Time against the Suns. I'm amazed that you found that sig b/c that definitely didn't happen too often last year. That must have been a Milwaukee Bucks photo and you changed the jerseys. Ray is the nicest guy in the world when he doesn't feel threatened.
i dont have nba tv unfortunately & yeah i found the pic and just thought i HAD to make a sig out of it haha ;P they're such a cute couple. didnt sleep last night and just went on a sig-making spree to kill time though, so I made this new flip sig :] the 'brothers' sig and some others at: http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20164 (shameless plug)
Should be interesting to see how we go against Phoenix. I rate Barbosa quite highly, and I would assume Wilkins would get the defensive job on him.
I'm guessing they want to give Wilkens every opportunity to prove himself now, and when training camp roles around they'll let him and Young battle it out.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Casual:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm guessing they want to give Wilkens every opportunity to prove himself now, and when training camp roles around they'll let him and Young battle it out.</div> That would make sense, although with Luke down injured, you would think there would be some minutes for Dave. He's basically getting scraps and nothing more.
From the looks of things Damien Wilkins has already proved that he is capable of earning a roster spot. Dave Young needs the opportunity to show that he is a capable summer league player. I don't think that any other franchise would keep their second round pick on the bench the entire game in the summer league. Sometimes I think that the Sonics do everything backwards on purpose.
Damien Wilkins is good, I've heard a lot of him before this thread but it was pretty much all about his defense... And he does remind me of less athletic and not so big Kirk Snyder... Sign HIM..
What confuses me the most is Wilkins is capable of playing both guard spots, and a bit of small forward. It makes no sense that he'd be taking Dave's minutes, as there is easily room for both in any given line-up.
