From Espn: The Good, the Bad, the Kitchen Sink Updated NBA Depth Charts Yao Ming, Jay Williams and a host of other rookie lottery picks are all living the life. The cameras, the commercials, the billboards, the money and the love. Don't ever forget the love. Twenty-eight select individuals from the draft class of 2002 got their three-year guaranteed contracts, an Escalade and a piece of the blacktop dream. Even guy No. 28, the Hawks' Dan Dickau, gets his money, a chance to develop and the security that comes with being a first-round draft pick. Guy No. 29? His name is Steve Logan. He was a First Team All-Amercian selection last year — a fiery point guard who put up gaudy numbers on one of the best teams in the nation. Today, he is hanging around the Bay Area rehabbing an injured foot, hoping against hope that Warriors GM Garry St. Jean decides that he's worth a one-year, non-guaranteed minimum deal. What a difference one draft selection makes. J.R. Bremer can tell an even better story. Fifty-seven names were called on June 26th. His was not one of them. Forget, for a second, that he ranked fourth in the nation in scoring during his senior season at St. Bonaventure or that he outplayed most of his peers at the Chicago pre-draft camp. "I guess I was one of the forgotten ones," Bremer told Insider this summer while playing for the Celtics in the summer league. Just hours later, GM Chris Wallace called his agent with an offer. A one-year contract. "It feels nice to be found," he told me later. "Real nice." The impact of second-round picks and undrafted rookies has never been greater than this year. Thirteen second-round picks and an astounding 12 undrafted rookies made opening night rosters this season. Call them the forgotten ones. The ones who once were lost, but now are found. They run the gamut of talents and abilities. Three of them, Bucks big man Dan Gadzuric (drafted No. 34), Sonics forward Reggie Evans (undrafted) and Magic center Pat Burke, have already cracked the starting lineup. A couple more, like the the Heat's Rasual Butler, the Lakers' Jannero Pargo, the Nuggets' Junior Harrington and the Grizzlies' Mike Batiste, are seeing meaningful minutes. Several young prodigies like the Bulls Roger Mason Jr. (drafted No. 31) and Smush Parker (undrafted) will be charged with holding the clipboard and filling out out the injured list this year. But both have bright futures. Others like Burke and Raptors center Nate Huffman (undrafted) are veterans of the international game who are finally getting a shot. "Going in, I didn't think, 'Hey, this is a longshot,'" Burke said just hours after getting the official congratulations from Magic head coach Doc Rivers. "I knew I could play. " And then there's 29-year-old Juaquin Hawkins (averaging 30 mpg for the Rockets), who gives a new definition to the word "journeyman." Hawkins has played in Taiwan and Japan, the CBA, ABA, USBL and with the Harlem Globetrotters. "It feels a lot better being on this end of [the final cut]," Hawkins said. "I've been so close but just couldn't get through. This is my third time around — I've been to two other camps and both times I was the last cut. Me being 29 years old, I was like I've had my chances, it's not in the cards for me. But this is truly a blessing." Factor in another six former second-rounders making their debuts in the NBA this season (led by the likes of Emmanuel Ginobili and Marko Jaric) and you have an unheralded 59 new players in the NBA this season. Now you know why jobless veterans like Jim Jackson, Danny Manning, George McCloud, Greg Anthony, Dell Curry, Rafer Alston, Tony Massenburg, Bryant Stith, Grant Long, Greg Foster and Tim Hardaway are a little peeved. There wasn't a sudden surge in the talent pool this offseason. Guys like Hawkins, Evans and Pargo make rosters because they're young, cheap and expendable. Veteran free agents come with guarantees, larger minimum salaries and the requisite egos. For example, the Warriors cut veteran point guard Alston, in part, because his contract became guaranteed if he made the opening night roster. Guaranteed for what? The veteran's minimum. Instead, the Warriors decided to keep second-year guard Dean Oliver. Oliver, another undrafted player, has no guarantees and his minimum salary is about $100,000 less than Alston's. Choosing Oliver over Alston wasn't a basketball decision, it was a financial one. Former stars like Jackson, Manning and Hardaway are getting squeezed for the same reason — it's cheaper to fill your roster with kids who'll accept anything just to make an NBA roster. Sometimes, going with the young guys can really pay off. There are a significant amount of second round and undrafted rookie success stories out there. Eduardo Najera, the Mavs' 38th pick in 2000, signed a six-year, $23.25 million contract this summer. Michael Redd, the Bucks' second-round pick two years ago, recently signed a four-year, $12 million deal. Four second-round picks from the 2001 draft — Trenton Hassell, Gilbert Arenas, Loren Woods and Jarron Collins — have nabbed starting jobs and look to cash in big time next summer. Just two players from the class of 2000 and four players from the class of 2001 have made it big, which speaks to the odds. But for these 31 or so forgotten ones, their one shot to shine is once in a lifetime opportunity.
Some may have thought financial reasons figured in the cutting of Oscar Torres and keeping Juaquin...but its not true. He got on the roster the old fasioned way,,HE EARNED IT..!!!!!!
thats soo true..I really liked Oz and wanted to see him make it this year but, Hawk provides more defense than Oz had.. the only advantage OT had was his offense..but on a team loaded with scorers..we could afford to lose that. Go Hawk!
