Forgotten 5

Payton showed up! The rookies tore up the summer league! Is Raef’s knee alright? Is Marcus coming or going? Who will start, Jiri or Ricky?

This camp has had its share of story lines, so its easy to focus on a few guys at a time. But lets not forget about some of the other guys that will be counted on this year. Here’s my quick takes on the 5 more forgotten players in camp (that are likely to make the rotation).

1. Walter McCarty

2. Mark Blount

3. Kendrick Perkins

4. Justin Reed

5. Yogi Stewart

I love Wal-tah! He should be much easier to love as a role-playing specialist off the bench than he was as an over-utilized, out-of-position starter. We know that he can run the break and shoot the 3 (so long as he’s wide open). We also know that he can get those long arms in an opponent’s face and play an annoying-but-effective style of defense. Doc has called him "the rock" and Payton sites his "veteran leadership." On a team that is so young, that’s going to be key. Aside from all that, he’s relatively cheap and he’s been here long enough to provide Paul someone to reminisce with. That should count for something. I’m happy to have the guy back because while he’s not going to provide anything special on a nightly basis, you just know that he’ll sneak up on other teams and win 4 or 5 games this season by making that extra effort.

It’s easy to forget about Mark Blount, even though he was the early off-season story of the summer. He was the team’s top offseason priority and they landed him when nobody in their right minds thought they could. So is he going to be just another big man to cash in and fade out? Or is he going to prove that his emergence last year was the natural progression of a man who’s worked tirelessly on his game? Based solely on his work ethic, I tend to believe the latter. He’s never had the natural skills to be one of the great ones, but he’s fast for a center and he actually has a great NBA body. I think he’ll be solid for at least a few years.

Kendrick Perkins is last year’s news. The H.S. kid has been replaced by this years flavor Al Jefferson. Everyone believes that Al can be the next franchise player, and I won’t doubt that. However, Kendrick has a year of coaching and practicing under his belt in a pro environment. Of course you could argue that O’Brien’s assistants are college level guys, but we can at least say that last year was Kendrick’s college experience. He’s worked hard on shaping his body to prepare for the NBA, and I think it will show this year. Look for him to spell Blount and maybe even Raef (when we need more beef) off the bench with real minutes this year. It’s nice to have such a young, potentially talented big on the bench. (Besides, he's my pet project for this year)

Justin Reed is about as forgotten as they come. Some (including me) questioned how he would even make the team after his dismal summer league performance. But he got a contract and he’ll be available off the bench, though I doubt he sees much time. In college he was known for his tough play in the middle of the paint and a knack for doing all the little things right. Think Eric Williams without the horse teeth and 100,000 miles on the speedometer. We can only hope that he learns the NBA game as well as Eric did because he’s nowhere near that yet.

(Update: Reed earned some praise from Doc - comparing him to Ron Artest)

Yes, I said Yogi Stewart. Will he play? Not likely. But you knew I couldn’t get through a whole article without bringing up trade possibilities. Package his expiring contract with a player or pick and you’ve got an instant contributor (if not star). Fox is done and Gary could stick, but Yogi is clearly not in the team’s plans. On the other hand, he has some value even if we can’t deal him. Letting his contract expire only saves $5M off the books, not good enough to get under the cap for free agents. However, it would give us the room to resign our own players and stay under the luxury tax.

So don’t forget about these guys when you are checking up on the camp stories. They may fly under the radar, but they could have some role to play before this story ends. Some roles will be more important than others, but they are all part of this team.