Five Players Who Showed Out at the D-League Showcase

The teams competing at last week's D-League Showcase all wanted to win it, and they played that way, but winning was not really the point of the five-day mini-tournament in Santa Cruz. The point was for players to show out for scouts from all 30 NBA squads (and a wealth of international teams) as the league enters its roster-churn season.

NBA teams had until 5 PM Thursday to waive players on non- or partially guaranteed contracts; after that deadline, those contracts are guaranteed for the rest of the season. Ordinarily, this results in a flurry of roster moves, but the axe fell on fewer players than usual this year. With teams were able to sign players to 10-day contracts as of Tuesday, there are nine spots up for grabs: Phoenix, Denver, Houston, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, and Utah all have open slots; Phoenix and Utah also have players (Lorenzo Brown and Elliot Williams, respectively) on 10-day deals that may or may not be extended. Everyone at the D-League Showcase was auditioning for these jobs.

Even with worse odds than usual, the D-League Showcase mattered a great deal to its participants, who each got a chance to play two games in front of some very important people. Two games is just two games, but a winning performance can change a player's career, not just in the immediate future but also in helping create opportunities this coming offseason. Players can only do so much—that paucity of roster spots is hardly within their control—but a few made the most of the very real opportunity.

Coming out of the showcase, here are the five most likely NBA call-ups in the D-League.

1. Sean Kilpatrick, SG, Delaware 87ers

The 26-year-old Cincinnati product got a quick look from the Minnesota Timberwolves last season—he was an emergency signee for a decimated team, arriving less than an hour before tip-off—but it's high time somebody else gave him an opportunity. That's an argument Kilpatrick's play has been making all season, but he saved a pair of outbursts for the big stage, totaling 66 points on 52 field-goal attempts at the showcase against quality defenders in J.P. Tokoto and Toure' Murry, among others.

Kilpatrick is averaging 27.1 points on the season while shooting 47.7 percent from the floor and 44.5 percent from long range. That's remarkable efficiency given the volume, and he's been a non-zero on the glass and as an occasional distributor. He's also shown well enough as an on-ball defender, although he's hardly a lock-down guard and is exploitable off the ball.

Kilpatrick is still mostly a scorer, but he's a much more aggressive and decisive one than last year. Given his prolific three-point shooting, teams in need of an offensive spark off the bench could certainly do worse. (He's the first player on this list to get a shot: on Tuesday afternoon, after I filed this piece and before it was published, Kilpatrick signed a 10-day contract with the Nuggets.)

2. Erick Green, SG, Reno Bighorns

Green spent last season with the Denver Nuggets , but he was waived by the team on November 5 after playing just seven minutes in three games this season. He didn't get a great opportunity to show what he can do in 46 games with Denver, and strong summer league and preseason showings never led to a steady role.

The 24-year-old Virginia Tech product seems impatient for another chance. He scored 37 points with five rebounds and five assists to start the showcase and then capped things off with a 29-point outburst in the tournament's finale, a two-point victory. Shooting 22-of-34 over two games is one thing, but Green's now averaging 27.7 points on 53.8 percent from the field and 47.9 percent on triples, with 4.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.4 steals to go along with the scoring.

"He's as close as a player can be to getting a call-up," Bighorns general manager Peja Stojakovic said Sunday. That assessment seems about as accurate as a Stojakovic catch-and-shoot three. Denver apparently wasn't it, but there should be a home in the league for Green.

3. Ronald Roberts, Jr., PF, Raptors 905

Roberts may be the biggest victim of the lack of contract cuts. Of the seven teams with an open roster spot, none have a frontcourt need except maybe the Suns. That doesn't change the fact that Roberts' play at the showcase amounted to a commanding "if you don't have a spot, find one." He opened with a good but not great 13-point, 14-rebound, four-block performance against Jarnell Stokes on Thursday but followed it up with a 12-of-15 night against a very talented Rio Grande Valley frontcourt, finishing with 29 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.

Those around the 905 have accepted for some time that Roberts, in his own words, has "a foot and a half in the door" of the NBA. The Toronto Raptors just don't have a roster spot for him, which means Roberts is the most attractive big man in the D-League for a second season in a row. He has averaged 17.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks while shooting a staggering 66.5 percent over two D-League seasons, and while he got a two-day cup of coffee with the Philadelphia 76ers last season, he's yet to see NBA action.

He's the D-League's best rebounder, a terrific finisher around the rim, and a solid defender in man-to-man or help situations. It would be pretty shocking if someone didn't give the 24-year-old a look at some point down the stretch.

4. DeAndre Liggins, SG, Sioux Falls Skyforce

Liggins was a second-round pick out of Kentucky in 2011, and has 57 games of NBA experience under his belt. He has spent the past three seasons trying to fight his way back to the big time between stints in the D-League, Germany, and Russia. The 27-year-old used the showcase to prove to teams that he's improved leaps and bounds since his last opportunity.

Generally a defense-first wing, Liggins exploded against the 905 on Thursday, scoring 19 points, dishing nine assists, and nabbing five steals. While his offensive role was much smaller Saturday against Santa Cruz, his defense was crucial in the blowout win: the Skyforce were a plus-23 in his 31 minutes on Saturday; they allow a miniscule 93.2 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor.

His defensive impact was already a known commodity. Now Liggins is knocking down 44.8 percent of his 3.5 three-point attempts per game and looking far more comfortable with the ball in his hands, averaging 6.7 assists to go along with his 13.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.6 steals. If a NBA team needs a two-way two-guard, this is the guy.

5. Vince Hunter, PF, Reno Bighorns

One of the highest-ranked prospects to go undrafted this summer, the UTEP product has aggressively set out to make 30 teams regret it. There was some concern about Hunter's face-up game and strength as a 6-foot-8 four, but neither of those issues manifested at the showcase. Sure, he's a bit slender for the post, but his motor helps make up for it. Nobody seems to want each rebound as badly as he does.

And he got plenty. Hunter totaled 43 points and 34 rebounds over two showcase games opposite the likes of Darion Atkins and Jordan Mickey, flirting with a 20-20 on both occasions. The only surprising thing about Hunter's week was that he "only" shot 17-of-37, below his 57.7 percent mark from the floor for the season.

He's just a shade behind Roberts in rebounding and is one of two players in the league averaging 20-and-10, scoring 21.4 points per game with 11.9 boards and 1.6 blocks. He faces the same roster crunch Roberts does as a frontcourt player in a league without a lot of open frontcourt roster spots. At just 21 years old, Hunter might intrigue a team as a longer-term investment.

Honorable Mention: Raphiael Putney, Toure' Murry, Earl Clark, Jimmer Fredette, Scott Suggs