Dorsey to the D-League

The farm system is finally in play in the Valley. Forward/Center Joey Dorsey was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers today to work on his game. Last week, Garrett Temple signed with the Vipers as well, but as a regional allocation candidate. Dorsey is available for assignment because by NBADL rules, first and second-year players who are still on a 15-man NBA roster may be assigned to their affiliate D-League team. I am still not sure why Dorsey has not gotten any playing time this season, since he owned the boards in the pre-season and Summer League and seemed poised to play a significant role this year for the Rocklets.

I am similarly confused as to why the team waived Pops Mensah-Bonsu today. Not so much that they waived him, but why now and why at the same time they sent Dorsey down? The moves seem to leave the Rockets with a dearth of depth at the big positions. Only Hayes, Scola, Andersen and Landry are legitimate inside players. Brian Cook is tall, but he plays more like a shooting forward that a big man.

The moves also reduce the roster to only 13 players in Houston, including Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. That's just 11 guys in uniform. McGrady will almost certainly be activated within the next couple of weeks. Jermaine Taylor has only seen spot garbage time so far and McGrady's return makes the probability of Taylor sightings even more remote. Frankly, Jermaine seems like an excellent candidate for the Vipers as well. You don't get better by sitting on the bench.