After passing on the 2010 NBA Draft last week, the Bobcats have signed several undrafted rookie free agents to their summer league roster. Ridiculous Upside is all over the topic; check them out to find out the destinations of all the other “worth a look in summer league, but not worth drafting” type of guys.
The biggest name attached to the Bobcats so far is former Kansas point guard Sherron Collins. Despite a storied career at Kansas, Collins went undrafted mostly due to his size. He’s a bit short for the NBA at 5’10-11″, and struggled with his weight and conditioning throughout his college career, sometimes pushing 220+. Collins left a bad last impression when he played poorly as Kansas was knocked out in the second round of the 2010 NCAA tournament.
He then showed up at the NBA draft combine this spring weighing 217 pounds (not good when you’re supposed to be in the best shape of your life) and further compounded the problem when he weighed 229 pounds at a group workout in New Jersey a few weeks later. The excuse of a nagging groin injury didn’t ease scouts’ concerns, and Collins’ draft potential was effectively torpedoed.
Nonetheless, he’s strong, surprisingly quick, and (2010 NCAA tournament aside) knows how to win. KansasCity.com reports that Collins has signed a free-agent contract with the Bobcats, which gets him a spot on the summer league team and not much else. Here’s hoping that Collins gets in shape and impresses. Larry Brown always has room for another point guard (especially with Felton likely leaving via free agency). Plus, if Collins makes the team, then we can recycle our old Sean May fat jokes!
The Bobcats have also reportedly gotten commitments from several other undrafted rookie free agents:
- Denis Clemente, 6’1″ PG/SG, Kansas State
- Tyren Johnson, 6’8″ SF/PF, Louisana-Lafayette
- Marquis Gilstrap, 6’8″ SF/PF, Iowa State
Another guy to keep an eye on is Mikhail Torrance, a 6’5″ PG from Alabama who impressed at the Portsmouth Invitational Camp this spring. The words “6’5″ senior point guard” alone probably make Larry Brown start drooling. Bonnell floated his name over a month ago; because of that and the fact that Torrance was widely expected to be a solid second round pick, I figured he was the target the Bobcats were aiming for when talking about buying a second rounder.
However, some sort of cardiac issue scared off GMs in the second round, and Torrance went undrafted. He is now supposedly mulling multiple summer league offers, hopefully in addition to getting that ticker checked out. Only the Miami Heat are mentioned, but I think it’s reasonable to assume that the Bobcats are one of the other teams interested.
After not fielding a summer league team last year in a sad attempt to save some of Bob Johnson’s cash, the Bobcats will again be a part of the Orlando Summer League this summer. The Cats had previously confirmed that Alexis Ajinca, Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown will be a part of the summer league squad. Games start on July 5th — just a week away — so be on the lookout for more news this week about a few more additions to round out the roster.
Sheron Collins is a poor mans Raymond Felton, not a great deal of upside there.
Clemente, though, was the best player on a pretty good Kstate team this summer. He was more of a scorer, but if he could play the point he would be a very intriguing prospect.
From this post, it looks like Sherron Collins might be the perfect combination of DJ Augustin & Sean May! I'm surprised that the Bobcats didn't try to trade away their 1st round pick in the 2011 Draft to get him.
This guy could be the second coming of Acie Law in Charlotte.
Hoopsworld made reference to Torrance being on the Bobs summer league squad yesterday, but of course, he's not listed on RUS. He really should be every team's top choice for undrafted fa pointguards
i would much prefer torrance over collins… just think about the 2008 draft…..
oh….and with john wall and hinrich on the wizards….
any thoughts upon shaun livingston and randy foye??
i too prefer Torrance over Collins–solely because of his size.
Collins is an atheltic freak though, and he has the potential to be like a super athletic DJ at best, or the same old lacking confidence DJ we had last year.
im thinking that with Collins, maybe our backcourt D will pick up a step of intensity, but i am still skeptical about small point guards.
also, glad to see that somebody has been posting as me in my absence.
Torrance was signed to a contract by Miami. If we didn't take a shot with our own contract that was another stupid mistake. No bigger gamble than if you'd drafted him and signed him, and he has the biggest upside by far of anyone not drafted. But then again this is the time of year when our owner and front office are busy playing golf (literally..see the web-note about MJ and what he's doing lately). Summer league will show us how, again, we were still in the barn after the plowing started.
I'm sure we did make an offer to the guy, but it would have been so easy to grab a late second round pick to take him. I guess 5'10, 230lbs is what we want running the point.
To be fair though, we are just talking about an undrafted free agent. We're not going to find any solutions to our real pg issues in the summer league.
To paraphrase the old David Spade joke, "I liked the Sherron Collins movie better when I saw it the first time…when it was called Khalid El-Amin."
I wouldn't get my panties in a wad about Torrance. There's a reason that the guy went undrafted. Also, I'm reading that the Miami deal was at least partially guaranteed for the season and the Bobcats have too many financial obligations to deal with already – especially with the word coming out the Crash is due another $1 million bonus for his All-Star and All-Defense selections. Both of which, btw, count towards next year's cap.
Smart move by Torrance and his agent, though. The Heat are going to need a lot of cheap labor/role players. If I was an undrafted free agent, I'd be clawing for a spot with Miami's summer league squad, too — good chance of making the roster and getting NBA burn this season.
Well Collins, is and was good enough to be drafted! You wanna talk about size, two words SPUD WEBB! and that's all i gotta say bout that! And to let C.J. Henry get drafted over him even though thyey play different positions that was jacked up! Sharron honey, keep your head in the game and mind focused on your health and eating habits and you will be a star again! LOve you a K.U. Alum, and a true fan of yours!!!!!
SC,stands for scandelous & thats surely how you was doing your little collegiate buddies on the court, man u good & u know that, so just slim down a lil my nigg,do it moving,stay focused & i will b waiting on the announcer to say your name as the starting point guard the CHARLOTTE BOBCATS!!!!!