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Yi, Stephenson, and Spurs rarity headline NBA cut-down day
The NBA’s final preseason roster cuts rarely get as much attention as those in other sports, where NFL special teams considerations and MLB service-time shenanigans can become nationally relevant stories. Yet that state of affairs is beginning to change as NBA transactions and player-specific stats become increasingly year-round phenomena. The construction of teams’ 2016-17 rosters from stars right down to benchwarmers. Each player has his role.
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So let’s take a look at some of the biggest moves teams made to get down to — and under, in one case — 15 men.
Yi passes up his second NBA chance
The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the offseason’s more interesting fringe moves in August when they agreed to a one-year deal with forward Yi Jianlian, a player once considered China’s next great star when the Milwaukee Bucks made him the sixth-overall pick of the 2007 draft. Yi’s first five NBA seasons were quite disappointing — he showed little interest in anything other than taking mid-range jumpers and went back to China in 2012 to pursue stardom for the Guangdong Southern Tigers.
The Lakers waived Yi on Sunday night, apparently at his request. According to general manager Mitch Kupchak and head coach Bill Walton, Yi comported himself well in his short time with the team and simply decided his role was not in line with what he wants out of basketball at this point in his life. He averaged just over 10 minutes per game in the preseason and apparently wanted more as a member of a rebuilding squad.
It’s not clear exactly what Yi thought he’d be doing for the Lakers when he signed just two months ago. The franchise has committed to building around young, high-potential players like D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram. Yi’s role was always going to be as a bench forward, a secondary scoring option of the bench who could help limit the minutes of youngsters like Ingram and Julius Randle. It’s possible he only decided that job wasn’t for him once he actually experienced it in training camp. Sometimes things just don’t fit.
It is very unlikely that Yi will catch on with another NBA team. He has never been especially productive and has a reputation as a somewhat lax worker, qualities which rarely help a fringe veteran. Expect Yi to return to China and stick in the minds of NBA fans as a combination of a cautionary tale and historical oddity.
The Lakers cut second-year wing Anthony Brown, as well, which means that Metta World Peace will be with the team for yet another season. Expect lots of intentional memes and goofy quotes.
Hey, it’s Lance Stephenson!
The New Orleans Pelicans’ decision to release veteran Alonzo Gee is not especially notable in itself. But the choice to keep Lance Stephenson is, because the playmaking wing remains one of the NBA’s most interesting weirdos. Stephenson has really only had one fully successful season and has been a problem player at the tail end of his time in Indiana and with the Charlotte Hornets, but he did some good work for the Memphis Grizzlies as they suffered through injuries. He is also a player who has always been at his best when people doubt him, and his reputation has arguably never been worse.
Spurs cut former first-round pick, join exclusive company
The San Antonio Spurs have a deserved reputation as one of the most value-conscious franchises in the NBA, regularly finding immediate contributors (and sometimes stars) at spots in the draft where most teams merely hope for a high-potential project. That’s especially true of foreign prospects, many of whom do not join San Antonio for several seasons.
One of those selections did not pan out for the Spurs, enough so that he has become just the fifth first-round pick to be waived before playing a single NBA game. The Spurs chose forward Livio Jean-Charles with the No. 28 pick in 2013 as a draft-and-stash player who could potentially contribute years down the line. Unfortunately, Jean-Charles hurt his knee a month after that selection and has never really been the same. The Spurs signed him on a rookie-scale deal this summer in an attempt to see what he could offer, but the answer turned out to be not much. He was released as the team opted to keep two players with non-guaranteed contracts.
Jean-Charles is admittedly unlucky to join the four prior first-rounders in this group. Royce White (anxiety), Leon Smith (attempted suicide), and Frederic Weis (the Vince Carter dunk) were all players with uncommon NBA stories. Only center Travis Knight falls somewhere in the vicinity of Jean-Charles’s situation, although he did nothing other than be drafted by a 1996 Chicago Bulls team looking to save money wherever possible.
This could be the last American fans hear from Jean-Charles. At least until the next team cuts ties with a first-rounder before he wears an NBA uniform.
Suns tire of waiting on Goodwin’s potential
Like many long-term lottery teams, the Phoenix Suns do not appear to be in a position to pass up on players with potential. It took some by surprise, then, to learn that they “cut guard Archie Goodwin after three full seasons with the club. Goodwin has clear scoring talent but has never really put it together well enough to carve out a sensible role.
It’s possible that Goodwin is the kind of tweener player with obvious talent but too much of it to fit into a real NBA team. Guards Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, and Devin Booker are all do much of what Goodwin does better, and it often makes more sense to keep a defensive-minded player on the bench in place of a poor replacement for those firmly in the rotation. It will be interesting to see if Goodwin catches on anywhere else, because he could be the sort of player who is better off in another league.
What’s up, Chicago?
The Chicago Bulls are the only team in the NBA that won’t carry 15 players into the season. That appears to be less due to a problem with any one decision than a lack of organizational direction. The roster features seven ball-dominant guards, six of whom were brought in this offseason. With German rookie forward Paul Zipser on the inactive list, that leaves six active players to fill the frontcourt. This team lacks shooting in the backcourt and will probably have to play three guards at a time anyway. It could get ugly.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
