Cuse Country

I’m calling it right now: if current circumstances persist through the summer (that is, no injuries or further trades) Donte Greene will be in the D-League next fall. The Houston Rockets rotation does not have much space. Of the nine “regular” guys in their rotation at playoff time, only* Chuck Hayes is not currently under contract for next season. Granted he is a small forward, but even if he leaves they have options on the contracts of Carl Landry and former Marquette sharpshooter Steve Novak who would fill similar roles. The Rockets are a “win-now” team and aren’t going to give significant court time in the uber-competitive Western Conference to a guy at Greene’s current ability level.

But if you think I’m being silly, check out these bits of an article from the Houston Chronicle (www.chron.com = awesome!) that Mike Waters linked to this morning:

“We needed size, athleticism and shooting,” said Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. “(Greene) has all of those things. He’s a young kid, one year out of high school. He’s a future bet.” … Morey said prior to the draft it was not likely the Rockets could find a player who would crack their rotation next season, so the team might be inclined to look for size and athleticism that could be developed for the future. Greene seems to be just that kind of project.

Of course, one awkward step by Luis Scola or Shane Battier in the Olympics and the Rockets might need to keep him around. But if the team as currently constructed stays intact, Donte can look forward to spending some quality time with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this autumn. I hear Hidalgo, TX is lovely in November — the low sunsets look beautiful glancing off the World’s Largest Killer Bee.

*-Technically Dikembe Mutombo is also not under contract for next season but he’ll be replaced in the lineup by some guy named Yao Ming.

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What about the other draft-night deals? As the Syracusan already pointed out, Hakim Warrick must have been a bit worried when the Grizz picked Kevin Love, only to let out a massive sigh of relief when Love was traded for O J Mayo. At the moment, Hak’s minutes look relatively safe — yes there is Antoine Walker, but can you imagine him putting forth anything more than a token effort on this awful team? Especially since they are committed to the “youth movement” at this point. The Wizards drafted a 7-footer out of Nevada, which may spell trouble for Etan Thomas’ long-term future with the team. Etan is under contract for two more seasons, though, which is plenty of time for Brendan Haywood to revert to his usual sucky form. (PS. How pissed do you think the Wizards, desperately looking for help in the post, were when local favorite Roy Hibbert got snapped up by Toronto right before they picked?) Carmelo’s Nuggets didn’t do much — they had no picks, but did trade for the rights to 2nd-round choice Sonny Weems, a shooting guard out of Arkansas. Not much happening there. And it’s not like Carmelo is going anywhere. (Is he?)

Which brings us to the Jazz. Jason Hart is still under contract in Utah, slated to earn about $2.5 million this season. He must be feeling pretty good right now because the Jazz took three European frontcourt players: Ohio State’s Kosta Koufos (remember him?) late in Round 1, and a Serbian forward and Croatian center in the latter half of Round 2. No competition there, so Jason’s status as the third PG on the team appears safe, such as it is.

Finally, there is the situation of Demetris Nichols. He had a good draft night as well — the Bulls elected to extend him a “qualifying offer” and make him a restricted free agent. So they’ve obviously got interest in keeping him around, even though he may spend more time in Iowa this fall. He’s now got this offer “in his pocket” so to speak, although he can poke around and see if there is another team that wants to sign him to an offer sheet, in which case the Bulls could then choose to match the offer or let him go to the other team. The flip side of that freedom is that the team is permitted to withdraw the offer at any point within the next four weeks (unless he signs it, I presume). The Bulls, of course, had the #1 pick in the draft and took Derrick Rose, but he’s a point guard. They also ended up with a Turkish center in the 2nd round, who will probably play in Europe this year anyway. So it seems like there is definitely room for Nichols in Chicago.