Vital Info
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 190 lbs.
Position: Point Guard
Born: 10/22/1974
College: North Carolina
Drafted: 1996 - 2nd round, 37th overall
Player Type: Sub-NBA caliber guard
Strengths: McInnis has nice size for a point guard, passes reasonably well, and is (theoretically) a capable ball-handler. Because of his height, he can dribble down court and shoot midrange jumpers (of which he hit 41.6% in '08, better than average) over smaller PGs.
Weaknesses: A graduate of Jail Blazer Academy, McInnis has a rep as a clubhouse cancer, and his poor attitude has cost him jobs with multiple NBA teams. He has no 3-point range and can't really shoot anything but 15-footers, which isn't the greatest recipe for efficiency (those shots are still worth only 2 points, of course, despite the increased difficulty). McInnis used to be able to create shots for himself and teammates without turning the ball over, but those days are long gone -- he struggled to get his shot off in 2008 and, worse yet, he became one of the biggest turnover machines in the league. He adds nothing on the glass at this point, doesn't steal or block shots, and is a poor defender. All told, McInnis was one of the least valuable players in the entire NBA last season, and he'll be lucky to catch on with any team this summer.
Favorite shot: Midrange jump shot.
Earl Boykins
Vital Info
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 135 lbs.
Position: Point Guard
Born: 6/2/1976
College: Eastern Michigan
Drafted: Not drafted
Player Type: Pint-sized playmaker
Strengths: Because of his superior quickness and ballhandling ability, Boykins can make it very difficult for defenders to stay in front of him on dribble drives, and he has great finishing instincts when he gets around the basket. Even with all the tall trees around him down low, Boykins still shoots a good percentage by hoisting it over them. Boykins also excels at drawing fouls when he drives, and he's a good free throw shooter. But he's not just a shoot-first point guard -- Boykins is also a very good passer.
Weaknesses: Boykins is, and always has been, a major defensive liability because of his height. It goes without saying that he can be posted up at any time, and he's not good enough at ball pressure to make up the difference. He's also literally a non-factor on the glass, grabbing just 34 rebounds all of last year. On offense, Boykins' midrange game -- formerly one of his biggest strengths -- went south in '08, as he hit just 36.7% on 2-pointers. And as is the case with most small guards as they enter their 30s, his quickness is slipping fast; Boykins' rate of steals and, more importantly, his ability to create shots declined pretty seriously in his half-season stint with Charlotte. He turns 32 this summer, so this could be the beginning of the end for Boykins, one of the best ultra-small players in NBA history.
Favorite shot: Medium-range jumper.
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 135 lbs.
Position: Point Guard
Born: 6/2/1976
College: Eastern Michigan
Drafted: Not drafted
Player Type: Pint-sized playmaker
Strengths: Because of his superior quickness and ballhandling ability, Boykins can make it very difficult for defenders to stay in front of him on dribble drives, and he has great finishing instincts when he gets around the basket. Even with all the tall trees around him down low, Boykins still shoots a good percentage by hoisting it over them. Boykins also excels at drawing fouls when he drives, and he's a good free throw shooter. But he's not just a shoot-first point guard -- Boykins is also a very good passer.
Weaknesses: Boykins is, and always has been, a major defensive liability because of his height. It goes without saying that he can be posted up at any time, and he's not good enough at ball pressure to make up the difference. He's also literally a non-factor on the glass, grabbing just 34 rebounds all of last year. On offense, Boykins' midrange game -- formerly one of his biggest strengths -- went south in '08, as he hit just 36.7% on 2-pointers. And as is the case with most small guards as they enter their 30s, his quickness is slipping fast; Boykins' rate of steals and, more importantly, his ability to create shots declined pretty seriously in his half-season stint with Charlotte. He turns 32 this summer, so this could be the beginning of the end for Boykins, one of the best ultra-small players in NBA history.
Favorite shot: Medium-range jumper.
Ryan Hollins
Vital Info
Height: 7'0"
Weight: 230 lbs.
Position: Center
Born: 10/10/1984
College: UCLA
Drafted: 2006 - 2nd Round, 50th Overall
Player Type: Athletic shot-blocking big man
Strengths: Hollins is a pure shot-blocker, plain and simple. He's athletic for a 7-footer, and this couples with his length to make him an intimidating presence coming in off the help side. Hollins will also run the floor for dunks and easy buckets, and is a good offensive rebounder.
Weaknesses: Simply put, Hollins has athleticism but lacks basketball skills. He has no post game to speak of and has no shooting range outside of five feet. Defensively, Hollins severely lacks strength, making it difficult for him to get rebounding position and contend one-on-one with opposing big men inside.
Favorite shot: Putback dunk.
Height: 7'0"
Weight: 230 lbs.
Position: Center
Born: 10/10/1984
College: UCLA
Drafted: 2006 - 2nd Round, 50th Overall
Player Type: Athletic shot-blocking big man
Strengths: Hollins is a pure shot-blocker, plain and simple. He's athletic for a 7-footer, and this couples with his length to make him an intimidating presence coming in off the help side. Hollins will also run the floor for dunks and easy buckets, and is a good offensive rebounder.
Weaknesses: Simply put, Hollins has athleticism but lacks basketball skills. He has no post game to speak of and has no shooting range outside of five feet. Defensively, Hollins severely lacks strength, making it difficult for him to get rebounding position and contend one-on-one with opposing big men inside.
Favorite shot: Putback dunk.
Matt Carroll
Vital Info
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 212 lbs.
Position: Shooting Guard
Born: 8/28/1980
College: Notre Dame
Drafted: Not drafted
Player Type: One-dimensional pure shooter
Strengths: Carroll can flat-out shoot the 3, having drilled at least 39% of his attempts from downtown in each of the past 3 seasons. He also has decent offensive instincts -- he knows his long-range stroke is feared, so he's not averse to buying himself space for midrange shots and the occasional dribble-drive with a clever shot fake.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, Carroll's nice shooting stroke is just about his only asset these days. He used to be adept at drawing fouls on drives, but he slipped in that department last season, and as a result his scoring was way down. He used to have pretty decent hands for steals, too, but hasn't done well in that category in two years. And the rest of his game is seriously lacking, mainly because he lacks NBA-caliber quickness/athleticism. He's a poor defender despite decent court awareness, and adds very little on the boards. He's essentially a one-dimensional player at this point.
Favorite shot: Any 3-pointer.
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 212 lbs.
Position: Shooting Guard
Born: 8/28/1980
College: Notre Dame
Drafted: Not drafted
Player Type: One-dimensional pure shooter
Strengths: Carroll can flat-out shoot the 3, having drilled at least 39% of his attempts from downtown in each of the past 3 seasons. He also has decent offensive instincts -- he knows his long-range stroke is feared, so he's not averse to buying himself space for midrange shots and the occasional dribble-drive with a clever shot fake.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, Carroll's nice shooting stroke is just about his only asset these days. He used to be adept at drawing fouls on drives, but he slipped in that department last season, and as a result his scoring was way down. He used to have pretty decent hands for steals, too, but hasn't done well in that category in two years. And the rest of his game is seriously lacking, mainly because he lacks NBA-caliber quickness/athleticism. He's a poor defender despite decent court awareness, and adds very little on the boards. He's essentially a one-dimensional player at this point.
Favorite shot: Any 3-pointer.
Jared Dudley
Vital Info
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Position: Forward
Born: 7/10/1985
College: Boston College
Drafted: 2007 - 1st Round, 22nd Overall
Player Type: Tweener who makes up for physical shortcomings with hustle & smarts
Strengths: Dudley is a very smart player with a high basketball IQ, which helps him on defense and the boards despite a lack of size or athleticism. Two physical gifts he does possess are long arms, which let him rack up steals and hassle opponents on defense. Dudley plays with a lot of energy, and this translates to very good offensive rebounding numbers. Overall, he's a versatile player who isn't particularly bad at any one skill.
Weaknesses: Dudley is a classic tweener -- he isn't particularly athletic or quick enough to be an impact small forward, and he doesn't have the height of a typical power forward. His midrange game, billed as a strength going into the draft, was a disappointment last season -- his eFG% on jumpers was just .383. He can't really create his own shot at the NBA level, either. And while he isn't bad at any skill, he doesn't really stand out in any category, either, save for his superior intangibles.
Favorite shot: Midrange jumper.
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Position: Forward
Born: 7/10/1985
College: Boston College
Drafted: 2007 - 1st Round, 22nd Overall
Player Type: Tweener who makes up for physical shortcomings with hustle & smarts
Strengths: Dudley is a very smart player with a high basketball IQ, which helps him on defense and the boards despite a lack of size or athleticism. Two physical gifts he does possess are long arms, which let him rack up steals and hassle opponents on defense. Dudley plays with a lot of energy, and this translates to very good offensive rebounding numbers. Overall, he's a versatile player who isn't particularly bad at any one skill.
Weaknesses: Dudley is a classic tweener -- he isn't particularly athletic or quick enough to be an impact small forward, and he doesn't have the height of a typical power forward. His midrange game, billed as a strength going into the draft, was a disappointment last season -- his eFG% on jumpers was just .383. He can't really create his own shot at the NBA level, either. And while he isn't bad at any skill, he doesn't really stand out in any category, either, save for his superior intangibles.
Favorite shot: Midrange jumper.
Nazr Mohammed
Vital Info
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 221 lbs.
Position: Center
Born: 9/5/1977
College: Kentucky
Drafted: 1998 - 1st Round, 29th Overall
Player Type: Undersized rebounding center
Strengths: Mohammed wasn't blessed with great size or athleticism, but he can rebound with anybody, especially on the offensive glass. He's also not the worst finisher in the world, having shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 4 of the past 5 seasons, and he has a half-decent short-to-medium range jumper. In addition, he can block shots and does a solid job of drawing fouls.
Weaknesses: His hands are legendarily bad, as his high turnover rates will attest to. He is also a defensive liability because of his height and lack of quickness. Mohammed will never be considered a big scoring option in the post, and doesn't run the floor especially well, so a good deal of his points are of the garbage variety. He has a rep for being injury-prone -- although he has played 80 or more games in 3 of the past 5 seasons.
Favorite shot: Second-chance shot off an offensive board.
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 221 lbs.
Position: Center
Born: 9/5/1977
College: Kentucky
Drafted: 1998 - 1st Round, 29th Overall
Player Type: Undersized rebounding center
Strengths: Mohammed wasn't blessed with great size or athleticism, but he can rebound with anybody, especially on the offensive glass. He's also not the worst finisher in the world, having shot 50 percent or better from the floor in 4 of the past 5 seasons, and he has a half-decent short-to-medium range jumper. In addition, he can block shots and does a solid job of drawing fouls.
Weaknesses: His hands are legendarily bad, as his high turnover rates will attest to. He is also a defensive liability because of his height and lack of quickness. Mohammed will never be considered a big scoring option in the post, and doesn't run the floor especially well, so a good deal of his points are of the garbage variety. He has a rep for being injury-prone -- although he has played 80 or more games in 3 of the past 5 seasons.
Favorite shot: Second-chance shot off an offensive board.
Raymond Felton
Vital Info
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 198 lbs.
Position: Point Guard
Born: 6/26/1984
College: North Carolina
Drafted: 2005 - 1st Round, 5th Overall
Player Type: Pure point guard with no jump shot
Strengths: A great passer and ballhandler, Felton is a fantastic playmaker from the point guard position -- he's cat-quick, and he excels at penetrating into the lane, drawing defenders, and dishing off to open teammates for easy baskets. He also improved his finishing ability at the rim in 07-08 (he was awful, now he's just mediocre), converting on nearly 50% of his field goal attempts when close to the basket and drawing fouls at a higher rate. In addition, Felton is a good defensive player who compensates for his lack of height with superior quickness.
Weaknesses: Felton's jump shot continues to be shaky at best -- he's a below-average 3-point shooter, and he hit less than 45% of his 2-pointers despite improving his conversion rate on 2-point non-jumpers to 50%. Because of his subpar shooting and still less-than-satisfactory finishing skills, Felton isn't a big-time scoring point guard, notching just 13.9 pts/36 in each of the last two seasons. As you might also expect from a 6'1" guard, Felton is a complete non-factor on the boards.
Favorite shot: Dribble drive to the basket.
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 198 lbs.
Position: Point Guard
Born: 6/26/1984
College: North Carolina
Drafted: 2005 - 1st Round, 5th Overall
Player Type: Pure point guard with no jump shot
Strengths: A great passer and ballhandler, Felton is a fantastic playmaker from the point guard position -- he's cat-quick, and he excels at penetrating into the lane, drawing defenders, and dishing off to open teammates for easy baskets. He also improved his finishing ability at the rim in 07-08 (he was awful, now he's just mediocre), converting on nearly 50% of his field goal attempts when close to the basket and drawing fouls at a higher rate. In addition, Felton is a good defensive player who compensates for his lack of height with superior quickness.
Weaknesses: Felton's jump shot continues to be shaky at best -- he's a below-average 3-point shooter, and he hit less than 45% of his 2-pointers despite improving his conversion rate on 2-point non-jumpers to 50%. Because of his subpar shooting and still less-than-satisfactory finishing skills, Felton isn't a big-time scoring point guard, notching just 13.9 pts/36 in each of the last two seasons. As you might also expect from a 6'1" guard, Felton is a complete non-factor on the boards.
Favorite shot: Dribble drive to the basket.
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