40 Acres Sports

DJ Augustin confident he’s ready to lead a team. The lowest he’ll fall will be to the Pacers at pick #11.

The New York Post is reporting that TJ Ford is being shopped by Raptors. Toronto has one point guard too many.

Bad news for [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag]’ NBA aspirations but possibly good news for next year’s basketball team. The NBA did not invite AJ to the league’s pre-draft camp being held this week in Orlando.

From the AAS:

Longhorn guard AJ Abrams is not at the NBA Pre-Draft camp in Orlando this week, after all. Abrams thought last week that he was going. Others, in the media, predicted that Abrams would make the list of players competing there.

But when the list was released by the NBA Monday night, Abrams was not one of the 64 players included. He can still work out for teams starting on June 3 before deciding whether to remove his name from the draft before the June 16 deadline and return to school for his senior season.

This essentially means that according to the NBA Abrams is not one of the top 64 draft eligible players. Hopefully this means he’ll be headed back to Texas next year, assuming he’s willing to accept his role as defined by coach Rick Barnes. This team needs him back draining threes.

Chad Ford’s Mock Draft, Version 1.0. Sonics take point guard at 4 and DJ Augustin goes 11th to Pacers.

Mark Cuban on NBA agents and high school kids. Thinks the IRS would be interested in all this money moving with no taxes paid.

WFAA ABC in Dallas reports improprieties with Darrell Arthur’s academics while at Dallas South Oak Cliff High School. SOC already had to forfeit 2006 state title.

Former Horn and current Cleveland Cavalier point guard [tag]Daniel Gibson[/tag] separated his shoulder against the Celtics Wednesday night. After an MRI on the injury the team estimated that he’d be out for at least one to two weeks, and that means he’s likely out of action for the rest of the playoffs. The Cavs are down three games to two against Boston and losing “Boobie” isn’t going to help them stay alive and win game 6.

Gibson’s minutes this postseason are down from last year due to the team’s addition of Delonte West midseason and Gibson missing time this season with other injuries. He averaged about 30 minutes and 12 points in the first round against Washington but against Boston his minutes are down close to 21/game and his points per game average is down to 5.6. He had a solid game in the clincher versus the Wiz and another good one Monday when he scored 14 while adding 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

It doesn’t look like the type of injury that will linger so hopefully Daniel recovers quickly. If the Cavs pulls the upset and keep rolling there’s a chance he could be back for the NBA Finals if they make it that far.

Kevin Durant headlines NBA’s all-rookie team, but one moron didn’t put him on their team. Probably a Hawks writer.

Daniel Gibson scores 14 points, adds 16 rebounds and 4 assists in Cavs game 4 win over Celtics. Best game of the series so far.

AAU basketball and college basketball recruiting is so freaking dirty. In completely unsurprising news ESPN is reporting that USC’s O.J. Mayo received cash, clothes, a tv, and other gifts for himself and his friends and family:

Former USC basketball player O.J. Mayo, a projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft, received thousands of dollars in cash, clothes and other benefits in apparent violation of NCAA rules while he was still in high school and during his one year in college, a former Mayo associate told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”

Louis Johnson, who was a part of Mayo’s inner circle until recently, said Mayo accepted around $30,000 in cash and gifts during the past four years from Rodney Guillory, a 43-year-old Los Angeles event promoter. In addition to cash, the gifts included a flat-screen television for Mayo’s dorm room, cell phone service, a hotel room, clothes, meals and airline tickets for Mayo’s friends and a relative, according to Johnson, others with knowledge of the gifts and store receipts.

When Mayo was in high school in Ohio and West Virginia, Guillory was receiving monthly payments from the Northern California sports agency Bill Duffy Associates. Johnson said BDA provided Guillory with around $200,000 before Mayo arrived at USC, and that Guillory used most of the money to support his own lifestyle but also gave a portion of it to Mayo.

In exchange for the payments and gifts, Mayo entered a verbal agreement to allow BDA to represent him when he turned pro, Johnson told “Outside the Lines.”

It was widely known that Guillory “gave” Mayo to USC. There wasn’t even any doubts about it or secrets about how it went down, and yet it took ESPN to investigate and uncover what was happening. It’s absolutely no surprise that money was changing hands. The NCAA is an impotent organization that lacks the stones to strike with what little authority they do have.

The problem with college basketball isn’t players skipping school or leaving early, it is that the NCAA continues to allow people like Guillory and AAU “coaches” to hang around and “help” make decisions. If they don’t step in and prevent these lowlifes from pimping these young men for their own personal gain then they’re not acting in the student athletes’ best interest.

The NCAA needs to come down hard (death penalty?) on USC and Tim Floyd or else this type of thing will continue to happen. They need to set an example of what will happen when you enter these types of situations. They have no jurisdiction over agents so they must punish the schools, the coaches, and the players that knowingly break the rules. It’s the NCAA’s job to protect the integrity of amateur athletics and athletes, I somehow doubt they’ll be up to the task.