Tough Break for Sondy, Reiner

Yesterday the Korean League draft was held, and that is big news for anyone who is a fan of the D-League. Many of the players chosen in that draft come from the D-League, and it is a job that many want due to the fact that the Koreans pay so well and have a reasonably comfortable place to live. My last summer before I decided to retire, I had a pretty good shot at a job in Korea, and I was really pursuing it for the reasons I stated above.

This summer, we had two players out at the Vegas Korean workout who were trying to be among the few chosen at their draft. Sondy has been working out with Korean teams for the better part of the last three months, and I thought he had a real shot from all the feedback I had heard. Reiner also was up for the draft, but I had not heard he would be attending the draft. Instead I heard it from the person I hear all my D-League news from, Scott at www.ridiculousupside.com. Unfortunately, neither were drafted in the draft. I am a bit surprised, too, because there are some real no names on that list. Of the guys I do know, I would certainly take Sondy over guys like Marcus Hubbard and Eric Dawson. No disrespect to them, but Sondy is just better. Not as athletic certainly, but just flat out a better basketball player. For that matter, I think Noel Felix is a nice player, but I think Sondy demonstrated that he was a better player last year. As for Reiner, I think the only center who could possibly have a resume close to his is Chris Alexander. Jared is a skilled, savvy center who I think would kill in that league. Anyways, my two very biased cents, but I think some of those teams missed out. Then again, I have never seen a Korean team play, so what do I know?!

Well, I am off for a fun weekend with family. I may hop on here should something good happen, but otherwise, I will see you guys on Monday.

Forbes Top Fifty Franchises

Forbes released their top fifty in terms of franchise value today, and I was shocked by the results. It took until numbers 49 and 50 for an NBA team to get on the list. I think every team in the NFL was in the top 50 (all above or close to a billion dollars in value), and there were probably 8 Euro soccer teams in their as well. The rest were a few baseball teams and a few car racing teams. It is pretty clear that you better have some major liquid if you are thinking of owning an NFL team, because it costs a lot to buy, and it likely costs a lot to run. In fact, it isn't like they are turning monster profits. The top dog in terms of profit in the NFL is the Redskins at $77 million. I am sure there are many not doing nearly as well, like the Jaguars. They are hurting for revenues, but still get a value of $900 something million for a failing franchise. Crazy.

Clearly, the big winner in terms of ownership is the Glazer family. They have the top valued franchise in Manchester United, and they also have the Tampa Bay Bucs who are also over a billion and ranked 12th on the list. Even better than all that, Malcolm Glazer has the best beard in sports!

Gary Neal Signed to Spurs; Samuels to Cavs

This really has nothing to do with the Mad Ants in any way, but I found this to be good news. Our boy Scott Schroeder at Ridiculous Upside is reporting that Gary Neal signed a three year deal with the Spurs and Samardo Samuels has signed with the Cavs.

The reason I find this good news is that it is very tough for guys to sign on with teams that are not drafted. Players may have NBA talent, but if they are not drafted, it seems like NBA teams will keep signing journeyman retreads instead of giving a young player who has all the skills, but just needs a break. I thought Gary Neal was one of the best two guards I saw this summer, and I was worried he would head back overseas (he's been a great player in Europe the past two years) because he couldn't get a guarantee. Instead, the Spurs recognize that the guy can play and lock him up. I think he will help them this year.

Samuels is an undrafted rookie from Louisville who I liked because of how hard he played and how relentless he was around the basket. Again, I'm happy to see a young guy rewarded with a contract, because it is next to impossible to get one once you go undrafted.

For a better recap on this, head to www.ridiculousupside.com.

Vegas Recap

I am a few days back from my trip to Vegas, and I have some time to reflect on what I saw out there player wise.

First, let's talk about our guys. To be honest, outside of Sean Sonderleiter, we did not have the good performances we had like last year. If you remember, we had Ron Howard getting major minutes for the Knicks, Walker Russell, Jr. becoming a darling of the blogs and other scouts, and Coleman Collins demonstrating some of the athleticism and potential we all thought were there.

This year, Ron Howard could not get on the court, Jeremy Richardson could not hit a shot, Ryan Ayers could barely get any run, Jared Reiner could not get consistent opportunities, Rob Kurz got hurt (but played well when he did played), and Chris Hunter didn't even make it out to Vegas due to some tendonitis. Indeed, a tough year for our Mad Ants at the summer league, but we did have one success story in Vegas. Sondy has steadily improved over the last year, and I thought his time in Vegas was the culmination of his hard work. I think Sean has solidified him as a top level D-League big man who will be able to weigh a ton of lucrative offers overseas. I know that Sean has the skill to play in the NBA, but I doubt scouts would give him a shot due to his athleticism. With that said, he scored well, defended well, and rebounded well against players with higher profiles than he did. Moreover, he had his success without the benefit of a proper point guard. It was great to see him do so well.

So, combining the Orlando and Vegas summer leagues, I think Sondy and Oliver did the most to establish themselves, with an exception for Rob Kurz, who was playing well in the limited amount of time he played before his injury.

Looking at some of the top players playing during my stretch, I will give you a top five:

1. John Wall: I thought he was all he was cracked up to be. Very good.

2. Patrick Mills: These top two guys were the two most explosive guys I saw. Mills is clearly more refined at this point, and I thought he dominated every game I saw.

3. JJ Hickson: A stud!

4. Sam Young: Tough, athletic, and skilled -- a nice combination.

5. Ty Lawson: He was really good throughout the week -- cat quick and tough as nails.

6. Demarcus Cousins: A head case, but very talented

7. Derek Caracter: I thought he was a stud and probably the most consistent in the post

8. Gary Neal: This guy should be in the NBA. He looked like a 10 year NBA vet when I saw him and hit everything. If the Heat are looking for cheap players with high quality, they could do worse than Gary Neal.

9. Greg Monroe: I liked his game a lot. Knew how to play, and I think he will help the Pistons.

10. Richard Hendrix: All he does is outplay people. He may be undersized, but he is a stud

Other notables: Landry Fields; Sonny Weems; Alonzo Gee; Cartier Martin; James Augustine; Matt Bouldin; John Lucas III; Samardo Samuels; Devin Ebanks; Reggie Williams (probably deserves to be higher, but I am too lazy to cut and paste); Larry Sanders; Alonzo Gee.

Well, those are the guys that left impressions with me. There are a lot of other guys who played well, but I thought these guys really stood out. Love to hear what others think -- let me know!

Day Whatever: Vegas

Yes, I know I have been MIA on the blog, but I have been working really hard on all my scouts. Either that, or I was on a three day hot streak that left me looking like Stu Unger. In any event, I'm back here with a quick Vegas update.

I must say that it has not been the greatest of weeks for former Ants save for one. Most are not getting much -- if any -- playing time. Ron Howard hasn't played a minute, Jared Reiner wasn't playing for the Pistons, so it looks like he got himself traded to the Cavs where he didn't play last night. Ryan Ayers is playing a little bit, and so is Jeremy Richardson. Rob Kurz was getting some good minutes before taking a nasty hit to the head that gave him a nasty head laceration and concussion. Like I said, no joy in Mudville for Mad Ants fans in Vegas.

Yet, I did tease that one was getting consistent minutes and doing something with them -- Sean Sonderleiter. Yes, Denny Sutton's favorite player has continued his ascent to the top of the basketball world by playing efficient, intelligent, and good basketball. He has shown some good offensive ability, and his defense looks much improved. Sean is going to walk away from Vegas with some nice offers based on this past season and this summer. Congrats Sean!

Okay, back to the action. More later!

Bron Bron!

What a shame that we didn't land LeBron last night, but I will not eviscerate him like Dan Gilbert did. For those who don't know Gilbert, he is the owner of the Cavs, and he went off on James in a letter posted on his website. He went to battle with LeBron, and I think you have to like that if you are a Cavs fan. I will be curious if they rally around the franchise and keep buying tickets, or will people run for the hills.

On the other end, how are tickets sales in Miami this morning? I would love to be an AE down there, because all the sudden your commissions are going to go way up. I suspect that the Heat will sell out every game for the next 6 years, and I suspect sponsorship prices just got jacked up big time. What a great investment for Pat Riley and Mickey Arison -- their franchise value must be through the roof today.

Here is one question I have -- while the big three take a big chunk out of the salary cap, can't the Heat go over the cap and pay the luxury tax? Wouldn't it be worth it to pay the dollar per dollar penalty for going over the cap if you can sign some other good role players and bring in four to five championships in the next six or seven years? I am not familiar enough with the salary cap rules, but if it can be done, I sense Riley will do it.

Technology Wins -- Another Vlog!