ESPN’s John Hollinger and Chad Ford recently completed the latest edition of their ‘Future Power Rankings.’ (Found here, requires ESPN Insider). Like previous versions, they begin their rankings with the following introduction:

The Future Power Rankings are ESPN Insider’s projection of the on-court success expected for each team during the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Each of the NBA’s 30 teams received an overall Future Power Rating of 0 to 1,000, based on how well we expect each team to perform in the three seasons following this season.

In determining the Future Power Rating, Hollinger and Ford rated each team in five categories. The sum of those ratings = a team’s Future Power Rating. From the article, here is an explanation of each category: Read more »

In case you haven’t heard, the Wizards added some more bread filler to their training camp crabcakes with the signing of Vincent Grier and Paul Davis. But these are just test crabcakes, when the season starts, they’ll be much more potent.

Vincent Grier

Grier, who spent last year playing in France and has previously made off-season appearances with the Miami Heat (2006) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2008), seems to be one of those ‘dime-a-dozen’ swingmen.

Here’s a synopsis of what I was able to gather via Grier’s Draft Express profile (written in Feb. 2005):

He’s an explosive lefty slasher who can score in bunches, take smaller guards in the post because of his size (6’5″, 200 lbs. or so), and rebounds well. However, he can be out of control on offense, his jumper is inconsistent, and his handles are shaky. He can uses his muscle to play decent defense, but doesn’t necessarily have lateral quickness.

Grier has no chance of making the team. But as goes common knowledge, his simple association with an NBA team might help with a contract down the line. If anything, Flip Saunders seems to be doing his fellow University of Minnesota alum a solid. Seeing the meager client list of Grier’s agent Mark McNeil, they could use the extra help.

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