Harris & Jawad Redux?

One of the best (if not the best) NBA Development League Blogs is Ridiculous Upside. If you've never read it before, you should.

I fell behind recently, but after catching up on what I missed, here's a post that jumped off the page at me and let me to this Weekend Dime by ESPN's Marc Stein.

Here's the gist. NBA teams that have players with non-guaranteed contracts have to decide by Wednesday whether to guarantee the contacts or waive the players.

Stein reports that, among the players with non-guaranteed contacts are two former Vipers:

Jawad Williams (Cleveland) $736,420
Mike Harris (Houston) $489,503

Neither has played much this season in the NBA. Harris started the season with the Vipers and was probably the best player in the NBA Development League. During Williams' stay with the Vipers last year, he was probably the best player in the league, earning NBA Development League Player of the Month honors in March.

In brief:

Mike Harris

• Allocated to the Vipers during the 2009 pre-season.
• Averaging a team-best 25.3 points (second in the NBA Development League) to go with 7.1 rebounds in 10 games.
• Scored at least 19 points in every game, tying his career-high with 30 points on December 4 against the Tulsa 66ers, breaking it with 32 points on December 10 against the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, and breaking it one more time with 35 points on December 19 in Tulsa. He also had 12 rebounds on December 19, his second of two double-doubles this season.
• Earned GATORADE Call-Up to Houston Rockets on December 23, 2009.

Jawad Williams

• Made Vipers debut on February 18, 2009, scoring 43 points in 44 minutes, the third-highest single-game points total in franchise history.
• Played in 19 games (18 starts) for the Vipers, averaging 25.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
• NBA Development League Player of the Month for March 2009 after scoring 20 or more points in ten of the Vipers’ 11 games and leading the team to a 7-4 record.
• Earned GATORADE Call-Up to Cleveland Cavaliers on April 9, 2009.

The Vipers already have one of the best (if not the best) teams in the league. Imagine if they got those two players back? The Vipers own Harris' rights and I imagine Williams is on their returning players list, meaning the Vipers have his rights too, should Cleveland waive him.

I honestly hope the Vipers don't get them back, though. I'm always happy to see a Viper alum in the show, living the dream.

Of course, even if Harris and Williams get waived, they could get re-signed to two 10-day contracts (that period begins Tuesday) before having to get their contract guaranteed or return to the Vipers.

But it is a situation to monitor.