[Note by Steve Perrin, 01/22/10 3:43 PM PST ] It's official. Here's the press release.
[Note by Steve Perrin, 01/22/10 4:18 PM PST ] Lots of notes. Scott Schroeder from Ridiculous Upside went into call up mode and put together a post about Curry to the Clippers. As I suspected, this is completely out of left field - which frankly has me a little stumped. It's no big deal in all likelihood. I mean, it's a ten day contract, and most of those last about... wait for it... ten days. So odds are that whoever the Clippers signed right now wouldn't be a Clipper for very long. But Curry is an extreme long shot to help. Thanks to Scott for getting us this info.
According to Lisa Dillman's recent Tweets, the Clippers will be signing JamesOn Curry from the D-League Springfield Armor to a 10 day contract. Hat tip to Citizens C's Up and bestclipfan for getting this info into the FanShots quickly. The Clippers will waive Kareem Rush to make room on the roster. I assume that the plan is to have Curry in uniform against the Wizards on Sunday.
I don't know a lot about JamesOn Curry. I remember watching him some in college when he was at Oklahoma State. He struck me as a gunner then, so to see him described as a combo guard or a point guard is a little disorienting.
I checked the SBNation D-League blog to find out a little more. It's not exactly good news. First, there was this brief description in the '65 People you Might Know in the D-League' post.
JamesOn Curry - Curry is best remembered for this in D-League circles. In NBA circles, it's that as well, probably. In college, it was an affinity for off-the-court issues, ultimately making him transfer from North Carolina to Oklahoma State. You may also remember him for thinking he's some sort of shoot-first, pass-second point guard. He's currently averaging 16.8 points and 6.5 assists for the dreadful Springfield Armor. If his team were better, I'd be hyping him. Unfortunately, I can't support a point guard that has his D-League team at 2-11ish.
If you follow that link above, it takes you to a story about Curry being arrested for urinating in public while he was a member of the Chicago Bulls assigned to the D-League Iowa Energy. Yikes.
I have asked Scott at Ridiculous Upside for more on Curry. I have to say I'm a little surprised that Curry's the guy the Clippers went with. Scott has a long list of potential call ups he's periodically touting, and Curry isn't on it. In fact, just this morning he was surveying the landscape for a prospect for the Cavs, who've recently lost Mo Williams and Delonte West at least for awhile. Curry's name wasn't among the eight guys Scott recommended. Hmmmm.
Given Curry's size and combo guard status, one wonders what this says about Eric Gordon's health. Is this signing about Sebastian Curry Telfair being out for awhile? Or is it about Eric Gordon being out for awhile? I'm worried.
As for the roster machinations, this was always an option. Don't feel too bad for Rush. It sucks that he got injured, but being waived doesn't change his status much. The silver lining for him is that his partially guaranteed Clippers contract became fully guaranteed when he was lost for the season. Whether he finished out the season on the Clippers roster or as a free agent didn't make much difference. I've seen him around the training facility rehabbing, and I assume I still will. The roster spot is paper work and doesn't really affect him.