Barea

Nor'easter cuts J. Thompson, picks up Juan Jose

Jason Thompson, the rookie sensation SAC PF, has seen his stock fall a bit with the emergence of Spencer Hawes and the returns of Francisco Garcia and Li'l K-Mart. He's lost his starting gig, and his minutes have declined as well - in his last game he only played 11 minutes, scoring no points (only one FGA). His medium-term outlook is not great, but again, he's worth keeping an eye on, as he's got fine scoring and rebounding skills, and there are a lot of injury-prone types ahead of him.

Juan Jose Barea has always looked great in limited minutes, and his minutes are on the rise. The diminutive Puerto Rican PG is mostly a quickness-based penetration type scorer, not a 'handles' guy (more Barbosa circa 2006, less Arroyo). He shoots 3s well, but doesn't take them often - we suspect his lack of height requires him to be wide open to get a good look. He can fill it up, in any event, and put up a lovely 18/3/4 line tonight in his first start at SG. With J-How injured, and the many other tryouts at SG having shown little (G-Green, B-Bass, A-Wright), we might see more of Juan Jose, though I suspect that playing against an undersized PHX team is the main reason he started and throve tonight.

Judgment: We like J.J. - ad J-Thomp is probably useless for a while. Though the recent additions of Gordon, Barea, and McCants will surely provide some points and 3s, we are concerned that Nor'Easter has overshot the mark, and is now rather weak in the BigManCats, despite Dwight and T-Dunc.

Thompson scooped up again

Nor'Eadter drops Maxiell, picks up Thompson

In another dropping of an overhyped big man, Nor'Easter has given up for now on Jason Maxiell. Like recently dropped Blatche or Amir Johnson, many had Maxiell pegged as something of a sleeper, and indeed, he looked quite good in spurts last season. But thus far he's just not getting the minutes in a deep DET frontcourt to produce. So far, he's averaging only 5/3 in only 16 MPG. Remarkably, he has yet to produce an assist this season. With Kwame Brown now starting, Rasheed playing extraordinarily well, and McDyess perhaps returning to DET, Maxiell's short term upside is low.

We've talked about Thompson quite a bit - to review: Thompson is a rookie PF in Sacramento - in Brad Miller's absence during the first 5 games of the season, he looked terrific. My$hkin dropped Paul Millsap to pick him up. Then Miller returned, and Thompson's minutes declined steeply; my$hkin dropped Thompson at that point for Gerald Green. Then Kevin Martin got hurt, and Thompson was inserted into the starting lineup, and had a fine game or two. Martin should be back in a week or so, and Francisco Garcia will eventually return as well, so presumably Thompson will not be starting for long at SF. Mikki Moore is a pretty terrible PF, though, so there's hope for Thompson. It should be noted that Spencer Hawes has been producing, and adds to the crowd in the frontcourt. In any event, Thompson seems quite capable of 15/10 nights, if given the minutes.

Judgment: We're not convinced either player will be helpful for very long, but Thompson has shown he's NBA-ready and is at least producing a bit right now. Maxiell won't be missed (though all should keep an eye on him, in case his role increases), but we suspect we'll see Thompson on the wire again in the coming weeks.

Thompson dropped after Miller's Return

my$hkin drops J-Thomp, picks up Gerald green

We covered Jason Thompson here. He looked pretty good until B-Mill returned from injury - he's struggled in 2 games since (2/2, and 7/7).

Gerald Green, former slam dunk champ, has had trouble maturing in the NBA - he just hasn't shot consistently, or done much but shoot, when given the chance. Last year was basically a waste in MIN after a pretty good sophomore effort in BOS in 2006-7. Josh Howard hurt himself, and G-Green filled in admirably, with a fine 13/12 performance. Howard may miss another game or two, and, it should be noted, is pretty generally injury prone. Even when Howard returns, Green could be useful in the second unit (especially because he does shoot quite a lot when he can). He can rebound, block, and hit 3s when he's on.

Judgment: I might have waited a bit longer to see how things shake out in Sactown, before cutting Thompson, but my$hkin may have enough middling PF-types anyway. Green will be inconsistent, and may or may not have a role when J-How returns, but there's a lot of potential here.

Millsap Dropped!

my$hkin drops Millsap for Jason Thompson

Paul Millsap, in his 3rd year out of La Tech, has been quite effective as a rebounder when given minutes. He's a high-energy wideman, and will be highly sought after when Boozer goes down. Until then he'll have nights like his first game (20 minutes - 4/4) with occasional 10/14 outbursts

Jason Thompson, picked 12th overall by Sacramento, surprised everyone with a 18/10 opening night. The intrigue mounted when it was realized that, even after B-Mill returns from his drug suspension, has only Mikki Moore ahead of him at PF. In tonight's game, he had 10/7 in only 18 minutes.

Judgment: I'm not sure, honestly. Thompson has a bit more opportunity, it seems, than Millsap, but Millsap has proven he can perform consistently. Thompson's a rookie from a tiny school (Rider), and will likely struggle at times. As they are both rebounding specialists, I'm calling this one a wash.