Interesting summer league roster we have.
Zabian Dowdell is probably the most intriguing name out there besides all of our own players--Douby, Hawes, Ewing, Singletary and Thompson. Think a 6'2" version of John Salmons. Has an eerily similar skillset. No real flaws, but at 6'2" the fact that he has average athleticism and is not perceived as a real point guard has to hurt him. He's solid in everything, but doesn't excel in any one aspect. Solid defender, solid shooter, but nothing more than that.
Darian Townes was once an up-and-coming big man draftee stemming from his nice sophomore year--but he absolutely bombed his junior and senior years. His body is definitely NBA profile--has the strength and body and has a burgeoning inside-outside offensive skillset that he can develop, but for reasons only known to him he's never put it all together. Seems like an underachiever; just look at his poor rebounding numbers. I doubt he'll make the cut unless he gets a real mentor to help him, because there are so many who also fit his profile. Malik Hairston, whose lottery type potential crashed hard his last two years at Oregon, at least recovered into a mid/late 2nd rounder. Townes couldn't even raise any eyebrows.
Patrick Sanders from UC Irvine. He's definitely not going to make the team, but I'll just give him a little shout-out in this post because I have friends/family going to UCI.
Bo McCalebb is an interesting sort of guy. Needs a jumpshot to cut it in the league, but he's really athletic, pounds the ball and has excellent scoring instincts. Tough and gritty and solid defender. Think a smaller Ronnie Price--both were scorer extraordinaires who had questionable jumpshots playing for small schools. I think Petrie is trying to hunt for that BJax undersized 2-guard scorer ever since the failed Douby experiment, and McCalebb may fit that to a T. He was a bubble 2nd rounder this year.
Matt Walsh was once a 2nd round draft hopeful, being a Brent Barry prototype with the good three point shot, good passing skills, fundamentally sound game and ridiculously horrible athleticism. He's getting to the old side so I think his time has passed in the NBA, but his funky looking shot will probably draw some jeers out there in Vegas.
Juan Palacios, like Townes, is another guy who was once perceived as a lottery pick in his freshman year, and there were comparisons of Jamal Mashburn rung around him. But with his injuries, and his inability to develop any sort of scoring skills...his stock crashed to the point that he was already out of the draft bubble by his sophomore year. He's unathletic, but he's an all-around player at the SF position who's a scoring liability. Always nice to pick up guys who once had potential, as it once showed that they had the skills/capacity to make it to the NBA.
