Breaking Down the NBA's Fringe Players

On opening day rosters this year - 427 / 450 (94.8%) of roster spots went to players who were either

a) 2014 Draft Picks
OR
b) Players who were on a league roster at some point during the 2013-14 regular season

Out of the remaining 23 roster spots, 6 were left vacant (much to the dismay of every player in the D-League) which leaves 23-6 = 17 players who somehow managed to rise above the cream of the fringe crop and snag a roster spot.

I've divided these players into five groups based on their ascent. Let's take a look at how they got to the NBA and how they are doing thus far this season -


Group 1: The Brad Miller All-Stars (undrafted college rookies)

• Travis Wear - Knicks
• Who is he?
• Travis is actually a twin - along with brother David, they were four year players who played their first year together at UNC before transferring to UCLA for their remaining three years of eligibility. David latched on with the Kings in training camp but was one of the final cuts (David was actually higher ranked than Travis coming out of HS, according to Rivals.)
• Travis was not expected to make the final cut for the Knicks - in fact his stats actually declined each year he was at UCLA (went from 11.5 pts/5.9 rbs as a sophomore to 7.2 pts/3.2 rbs as a senior). Regardless, the Knicks were impressed with his athleticism/hustle and mid-range jumper (both important in the triangle offense) 
• How's He Doing?
• While he has the 13th lowest PER in the NBA at -6.94, his usage rate is high when he's on the court (18%) meaning he's getting involved in the offense even in limited minutes. 
• Patric Young - Pelicans
• Who is he?
• Young played 150 games over his four year Florida Gator career, and while he has the body of an NBA player, his rebounding numbers lagged and he's a horrible FT shooter. Not what you want out of an NBA PF. 
• How's He Doing?
• Got some good burn in the preseason, but has not played in the regular season as of 11/11. He is seen as someone who can get emergency minutes if Anthony Davis or Ryan Anderson goes down with an injury.
• JaKarr Sampson - 76ers
• Who is he?
• Rookie out of St. John's. Attended the same high school as LeBron James
• How's He Doing?
• Averaging 1.7 pts and 1.9 rebounds on what could be the worst team in NBA history does not bode well for your future.
• Alex Kirk - Cavs
• Who is he?
• Behemoth center out of New Mexico. Averaged around 13.2 pts / 8 rbs / 2.7 blks his senior season and was named to the MWC All-Defensive Team
• How'd he Doing?
• Well, he hasn't attempted any field goals, but did make a free throw!

Group 2: The Luis Scola All-Stars (drafted international players left to develop overseas)

• Bojan Bogdanvoic - Nets
• Who is he?
• From Croatia, Bogdanovic was the 31st pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Heat. On draft night he was traded along with a future second round pick (2014 - Markel Brown) for Norris Cole to the Timberwolves*. He was then traded again, to the Nets.
• How's He Doing?
• So far so good! One of four rookies to start all of his games this season (6 games for Boji), he ranks fourth among rookies in minutes per game (27.3), second in points (10.0) and first in 3-pt FG's made per game (1.3)
• Kostas Papanikolaou - Rockets
• Who is he?
• From Greece. Drafted by the Knicks with the 48th pick in 2012, he was traded a number of times before winding up in Houston this year as a rookie.
• How's he doing?
• He third among rookies with 4.9 rebounds per game, but nothing really stands out in the advanced metrics. They perform much better offensively when he's off the court (http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612745/onoffcourt/advanced/)
• Nikola Mirotic - Bulls
• Who is he?
• From Serbia, but somehow plays on Spain's national team. Drafted by the Rockets with the 23rd pick in 2011 and bounced around on draft night trades before landing with the Bulls. 
• Finished second to Papanikolaou (above) in the 2012-13 Euroleague rising star vote. 
• How's he doing?
• Nothing special as of yet. He's averaging 3.5 pts and 3.1 rbs in 13.1 mpg. He's playing behind Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah, so the fact that he's getting any minutes at all is a good sign about his potential.
• Lucas "Bebe" Nogueira
• Who is he?
• From Brazil. A first round pick (16th) in 2013 by the Hawks. Traded to the Raptors before this past season. Is probably good at soccer. 
• How's he doing?
• He wears jersey #92, which cannot be a good sign consider the only other player to wear that number I believe is DeShawn Stevenson. Hasn't seen any game action this year - at 7' and under 230 lbs, likely headed for the D League or the Anthony Bosch clinic.

Group 3: The Alan Anderson All-Stars (started in the NBA, went abroad, and now have made it back to the NBA)

• Joey Dorsey - Rockets
• Who is he?
• The 30 year old Dorsey bounced around the league from 2008 to 2011 with the Rockets, Raptors, and Kings. He's spent the last three years playing Spain, Greece (where he did this), Turkey and Spain again. 
• Here's a funny tweet about Dorsey
• How's He Doing?
• Relegated to mop-up duty at the end of blowouts - the Rockets are minus-15 when he is on the court, which is pretty absurd considering he's only played 16 minutes. They basically go down one point for every minute he is on the court
• Sebastian Telfair - Thunder**
• Who is he?



**I actually saw him (Telfair) in the mall once
and  nobody else but me recognized him.
He was buying the original iPhone

•  "Bassy" was the NYC point guard who was the shortest player to go directly from High School to the NBA. After a less than stellar NBA career with a few arrests, he spent last season with his cousin, Stephon Marbury, in China. 
• How's He Doing?
• The Thunder are basically the walking dead this season (they even managed to get an injury exemption from the NBA) and Telfair has taken advantage of opportunities by averaging 10.9 pts (career high), albeit on just 34% shooting.
• Jerome Jordan - Nets
• Who is he?
•  This 7' Jamaican is basically the exact opposite of the only other 7' Jamaican to play in the NBA (some tall man who goes by the name of Patrick Ewing). Drafted 44th overall by the Bucks and then traded that summer to the Knicks, he bounced around between Europe, Asia, a stint on the Knicks, and the D-League. He actually was a D-League All-Star. He played last season in Italy. 
• How's He Doing?
• Actually had a decent game in the Nets 102-90 win over the Pistons on 11/1 with 6 points on 3-3 shooting in 12 minutes, snagged 4 offensive rebounds, and was plus 11, in a 12 point win). 

Group 4: The Patrick Beverley All-Stars (drafted, go play elsewhere first, then begin NBA career)

• James Ennis - Heat
• Who is he?
• Drafted 50th overall in 2013 by the Hawks and traded to the Heat. Ennis loves the sun - played college ball in Southern California at Long Beach State, then spent this past season in both Australia and Puerto Rico, before heading to Miami.
• How's he doing?
•  He's barely playing for the 5-2 Heat
• Erick Green - Nuggets
• Who is he?
• Green actually led the NCAA in scoring his senior year at Virginia Tech and was picked with the 46th selection by the Jazz (who traded his rights to Denver). He spent last season playing in Italy. 
• How's he doing?
• Played in 1 game so far, scoring a highly efficient 6 points on 3-3 shooting along with an assist and a rebound in 9 minutes. He leads the Nuggets in ESPN's PER rating
• Grant Jerrett - Thunder
• Who is he?
• A 2013 second round pick of the Blazers traded to the Thunder on draft night. He played last season with the Tulsa 66ers of the D-League
• How's he doing?
• Has not played yet this season. Also is the poorest player on the Thunder (at a paltry 2014 salary of $816,482).

Group 5: The Pablo Prigioni All-Stars (undrafted, veteran international free agents)

• Damjan Rudez - Pacers
• Who is he?
• From Croatia, went undrafted in his draft eligible year of 2008 and has played for a bunch of teams whose names I cannot pronounce (lot's of z's) in Croatia and Spain
• How's he doing?
• He can score (4.6 ppg) but can't do much else (0.6 apg, 0.8 rpg). From an analytics perspective, the Pacers two best lineups in terms of +/- both have Rudez in them. (http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612754/lineups/) 
• Zoran Dragic - Suns
• Who is he?
• Not a typo! The evil, younger brother of Goran by three years. Dragic has a solid season last year in Spain and followed that up with a good showing at the World Cup of Basketball (will never get used to saying that) and parlayed that into a two-year deal with the Suns. 
• How's he doing?
• Has not yet played in a regular season game
• Joe Ingles - Jazz
• Who is he?
• The 27 year old Aussie was signed by the Clippers this offseason and was one of their final roster cuts. They Clippers actually tried to sneak him through waivers, but he latched on with the Jazz.
• How's he doing?
• He's getting playing time (13.5 mpg for 8 games) but has an extremely low (third lowest on team) PIE of 4.7. This means that he only registers 4.7% of his teams statistics on both offense and defense when he's in the game. 

Needless to say, these players, with the exception really of the Luis Scola All-Stars, are on the fringe of the NBA, and it wouldn't surprise me if some of them are released or spend a good portion of the season playing in the D-League. 

* Looking at trade logs, this trade was actually the Wolves trading back for their picks. They were originally traded to the Heat for Michael Beasley. Basically, when you put the trades together the Wolves traded Norris Cole for Beasley and cash. KHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!!!!!!