Post good passing PGs that will be/you think will be available

The New York Knicks are diving full bore into the D-League this week. Following their partnership with the Erie BayHawks earlier on Wednesday, team executives invited a host of professional prospects to take part in the first of two planned free agent workouts as the team builds its database of potential training camp invitees.

The Knicks had what was expected to be around 18 players in on Thursday, though Ridiculous Upside's trusty network of league sources was only able to learn 10 of the names as of late Thursday night.

The most recognizable name expected in attendance was 34-year-old NBA veteran Bonzi Wells. Wells was a lottery pick in the 1998 NBA Draft , eventually amassing 591 NBA games with five teams, before recent stops playing professional basketball in China and Puerto Rico.

Others confirmed to be invited to the workout were guards Jerel McNeal, Will Conroy and Javaris Crittenton along with big men Cedric Simmons, Jeff Foote, Vernon Goodridge, Trent Plaisted, Ivan Johnson, Arinze Onuaku and Joe Alexander. McNeal, Crittenton, Goodridge, Johnson and Onuaku all played in the D-League last season.



If the names compiled so far aren't intriguing enough, it's actually the first of two planned free agent camps the Knicks have in store this month.

"We have two free agent mini-camps that we are holding which will give us an idea of how to prepare," new BayHawks general manager Allan Houston told D-League.com's Matthew Brennan. "The draft workouts are also helpful, this draft has some good players who might not get drafted. We've already started to catalog guys that we feel could be good for the team, and we'll take it as it goes as the summer moves forward."

"I'm looking forward to learning more about the D-League, and about developing the young prospects we know are going to be in the NBA at some point," Houston went on to say. "It's about getting a landscape of scouting players who can potentially be in this league, and learning more about operating the team."

The Knicks second workout, according to a source, is schedule for June 25 and 26 -- two days after the NBA Draft.

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nuckles2k2 said:

http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2011/6/10/2216914/knicks-free-agent-workout-d-league-bayhawks

I dunno how complete that list is, but it's the best I could find so far.

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finestrg said:

I've seen Stinson a handful of times and although his defense never really stood out to me (that's probably because his toughness, strength, passing and scoring did), on paper, it looks to be better than average. He's a good combination of toughness, physicality, strength (this dude went for 17 on the bench press a few years ago when he was tested---that's crazy for a PG) along with above average quickness & agility. His wingspan (6'5") and standing reach (8'1.5") looks to be right on par with or slightly better than any PG that got tested at this year's Combine, so nothing hurts him here.. His steals rate has slipped a little lately in the NBDL (down to 1.3/game this year, still a decent number) but this guy's gone for at least 2/game at different times wherever he's been:

Iowa State Cyclones (college)
2003/04: 1.7/game
04/05: 2.3/game
05/06: 2.4/game

Iowa Energy (D-League)
08/09: 2.2/game
09/2010: 2.2/game

That's really bringing it defensively -- anytime a guy goes for 2 spg or over, it stands out...You don't put up those type of numbers on accident..

I really like Stinson a lot. With some of the garbage teams have on their rosters in the NBA these days, I really can't believe this guy has never gotten a call-up & then at least a steady backup gig for some team somewhere along the way. He's definitely good enough imho...Brings so many good intangibles to the table... He's a mixture of a lot of solid NBA PGs, past & present: Stephon Marbury/Gary Grant/Anthony Carter/Jarrett Jack.

I'd be perfectly fine with Curtis Stinson as my reserve PG next year. I betcha he could do a much better job of running the team over Toney Douglas. I like Toney, he's gritty and is a decent scorer when he's on, but he's just not an NBA PG..Case closed..Toney needs to play off the ball to be effective and when he does, we're left with is a 6'1"-6'2" shooting guard who's severly undersized for that position, not to mention overrated offensively & defensively..I'd actually shop Douglas along with Rautins and cash to see if I could come up with another 1st round pick in this draft. Douglas is completely replaceable if you ask me. I just hope he still has some value coming off the shoulder surgery. Ahh, whatever, they love TD and he isn't going anywhere...And if they really liked Stinson, he would've been a part of this mini camp they just held. I don't know every player that attended (anyone have a complete list??), but I know his name was never mentioned and you figure it would've been if he were there, being the DL MVP and all. I'd give him a shot -- we need a backup floor general and this guy's capable & would come cheap.

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