Five random people surfaced at Bulls media day this season, and only one of them was Doug. The other four are the Bulls new training camp signees; Derrick Byars, Steven Hill , Chris Richard and Curtis Stinston.
All four are D-League veterans, who played some or all of last season down there. All except Stinson are also training camp veterans, whom were with an NBA team for training camp last season (Hill with Portland, Richard with Minnesota, Byars with Oklahoma City). All have a chance to make the Bulls roster. But none of them have a very big chance.
- Vanderbilt product Derrick Byars is a former draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers, who survives as a relic of one of former Sixers GM Billy King's under-the-radar bad moves. In the Allen Iverson to Denver trade of December 2006, the Sixers received two first round draft picks in the 2007 draft, the first of which they used on Daequan Cook (immediately traded for Jason Smith), and the second of which they sold to Portland in exchange for a 2007 second and cash. (Portland later selected Petteri Koponen at #30.) The Sixers received the #42 pick, used it on Byars, signed him to a completely unguaranteed contract, and waived him. They therefore got absolutely nothing for their first round, a tolerable result had Carl Landry, Marc Gasol and Ramon Sessions not been picked in the second round. Whoops.
After that, Byars split the 2007/08 season between France and Germany, producing no numbers of note, before spending last season in the D-League. Byars averaged 38 mpg, 17.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 2.8 apg on percentages of .425/.383/.753 in 49 games for the Bakersfield Jam. He has an ideal body type for the NBA, measuring 6'7 and 210lbs and with decent athleticism, and his strength is his jumpshot. He quite strongly resembles Martell Webster, as a good sized wing player with a strong jumpshot and decent defense. However, he doesn't rebound particularly well, and the Webster comparison is heightened by Byars' sketchy ball handling ability. The Bulls could use some more backcourt shooting, and you can never have too much perimeter defense, so Byars has perhaps the best chance to stick.
(Martell Webster is obviously better than Derrick Byars. I'm just saying, though. Similar.)
- Chris Richard was picked one spot before Byars in the 2007 draft (41st overall out of Florida), and spent one season as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging only 1.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 fouls in 52 games. He was re-signed for training camp last season, but didn't make the cut, and was waived in deference to luminaries such as Mark Madsen, Calvin Booth, Jason Collins and Brian Cardinal. That can't feel good.
Richard was made the 1st overall pick of the D-League draft last year, but only averaged a sedate 11.9 points and 8.3 rebounds (alongside 2.2 turnovers and 3.0 fouls) before his season ended after only 20 games with a back injury. He hasn't really shown anything in his two professional seasons, partly due to the injury and a lack of opportunity, but in the time he's had, he's shown very little offensive ability and an alarming foul rate. Richard is very strong, but is undersized at 6'8, particularly for the centre position, where his skillset (largely consisting of nailing himself to the paint on both ends) is more ideally suited.
- Steven Hill is a spectacularly hairy man out of Arkansas known for both his shot blocking skills and for being spectacularly hairy. He was signed by the Blazers last training camp after averaging more blocked shots than rebounds for them in summer league (as well as more fouls as the two combined), but didn't make the team. The Thunder then picked him up almost immediately, and Hill spent the best part of two months with them. Hill appeared in only one regular season game, for a total of 2 minutes, but he managed to total 2 points, 3 rebounds and a PER of 88.3 in that time, which is not bad going. He spent the rest of the season in the D-League, serving as Richard's replacement for the Tulsa 66ers, and averaging 7.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 7 games.
As mentioned above, Hill's only significant NBA-calibre skill is his shotblocking, and it comes to the direct detriment of his foul rate. Hill has NBA size at 7'0 and 245lbs, and averaged 2.8 blocks per game in both his sophomore and junior seasons at Arkansas in only 23 minutes per game, but his offensive skill is limited to unmissably easy shots. His career high in free throw percentage is only 59%, and he was also a terrible rebounder in college, averaging a highest of 4.4 rpg in his junior season. He continues to get looks in the NBA because of the perceived potential that his size and shot blocking instincts bring, but the rest of his game is severly lacking.
- Former Iowa State guard Curtis Stinson is the next Jason Kidd, if only for the fact that he rebounds a lot for a 6'3 player. Last year in the D-League, Stinston averaged Kidd-like numbers of 16.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 8.4 apg and 2.2 spg, playing 44.6 mpg in 50 games for the Iowa Energy. His three year professional career has seen him play for 5 D-League teams, as well as in Greece and Croatia; Stinson had signed in Greece for this season, too, but was released last week as his team (Aris Thessaloniki) deemed him 'unsuitable.' (Not my quote.)
For some reason, the Bulls seem to sign someone out of Iowa State every year, but Stinson's all right. The numbers are self-explanatory, and he has produced everywhere he's gone at every level immediately beneath the NBA level. He also played on the D-League select summer league team, and performed well again, averaging 8.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. However, Stinson's NBA prospects have been undermined by an inability to shoot; in his 3 D-League seasons, Stinson has hit only 30 three pointers in 100 games, on 133 attempts, resulting in a poor 23% success rate. He is not much use without the ball in his hands, and despite the high assist numbers, he is still primarily a scorer. (And not a very efficient one at that; a lead guard who plays 45 minutes a night should get more than 4 free throw attempts per game, particularly if he can't shoot three pointers.) Stinson is also now 26, and is stuck on a team which absolutely totally and completely does not need a point guard. His chances don't look good.
Of the four, Byars may have the best chance of making the roster. The Bulls already have 4 centres, even if they don't really want one of them, and their point guard rotation is the best in the league. And, seeing as the Bulls have two open roster spots right now (and as he will only cost the rookie minimum of $457,588), Byars' chances of making the roster are further increased.
But there's also a good chance that none of them make it.
Other Bulls in training camps around the American globe include Jared Reiner (Sixers), Mike Wilks (Hawks), Demetris Nichols (Pacers), Anthony Roberson (Clippers), Ronald Dupree (Jazz), Linton Johnson (Magic) and Thomas Gardner (Grizzlies). Mike Sweetney is rumoured to be about to sign with the Boston Celtics, but nothing is confirmed.
Hey Mark
Ronald Dupree is in Utah not Indy, i know its not a big deal because he wouldnt have a shot in Indy like he has none in Utah.
Whoops, that was a typo. Was confusing him with Nichols.
Out of all those former Bulls I only see Mike Wilks having a real opportunity of being on the roster come October 31st. As for the four guys with us none will make it as Paxson likes to keep a spot open just in case.
The Hawks brought in Wilks, Frank Robinson, Juan Dixon and Aaron Miles, all to fight for a shit as the third string point guard. Right now they have only Bibby, Teague, and the unsuitable Crawford. Wilks is probably the best of the lot, but he's disadvantaged in that he's recovering from a knee injury that made him miss all of last season. If he proves to be healthy, he has a chance. But there's also a good chance that they keep none of them.
Also, the Bulls have two open spots, as well as a history of keeping as full of a roster as the luxury tax allows. They didn't have a full compliment last year, but only because they couldn't afford it. See also; Linton Johnson, Tommy Smith, Eddie Basden, etc.
Wasnt Miles with our SL last year? Also there are so many guys who usually would have guranteed 1 year deals now finding themselves fighting for jobs, the NBA is getting croweded.
Miles was on our summer league team back in 2006, and played pretty well. His only NBA experience was with the Warriors later that year.