Satnam Singh returns to the Dallas Mavericks' Summer League roster

A year ago, Satnam shattered a proverbial glass ceiling to become the first Indian to be drafted into the NBA, by the Dallas Mavericks. Satnam never actually earned a call-up to the Mavericks and instead played bit minutes for their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends.

Now, for the second year in a row, he'll take part in the Mavericks' Summer League squad in Orlando and Las Vegas for another shot to prove he can run with some of the best young basketball players in the world. The grind continues...

The Dallas Mavericks announced their full roster for the upcoming NBA Summer Leagues, in Orlando (July 2-8) and Las Vegas (July 8-18). Satnam, 20, will be part of the roster for both competitions, and he will be joined in Orlando by other young standouts including Brandon Ashley (Satnam Legends teammate and D-League All Star), Jaleel Cousins (DeMarcus' younger brother), Cory Jefferson, and Marquis Teague (who has played for the Bulls and Nets in the NBA).

Satnam, who was the 52nd pick in the 2015 draft, played a minor role for Dallas's Summer League team in Las Vegas last year, and took some baby steps to improvement. The Mavericks were knocked out at the 2015 Vegas league's Quarter Final stage. Satnam played bit minutes in five of Dallas' six games and showed hints of his potential. He played an average of seven minutes per game at the Summer League, scoring 2.6 points and grabbing 2.4 rebounds per game.

For the Texas Legends last season, Satnam played in 19 games during the course of the season and started twice. He averaged just under eight minutes per game and put up 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest. Those aren't particularly impressive statistics, but most importantly for the young Punjabi, he was able to experience professional life and the pace of the D-League, and has been hard at work this summer to return to the court better than ever.

Hopefully, Satnam's increased experience and improving skills will earn him more on-court action this Summer League. If he is able to make a mark, there's a chance that the Mavericks may finally consider a call-up during the course of the season. History awaits to make him the first Indian citizen in an NBA game.

But for now, the grind continues...

Stumble, stutter, and baby steps forward: What we learned from Satnam Singh's Summer League experience

Back home in India, there was breathless anticipation and the heaviest weight of expectation on the number 52 pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, Satnam Singh Bhamara. This was not entirely unexpected, of course, because Satnam just so happened to be the first Indian citizen to be drafted into the NBA, after the Dallas Mavericks picked him late in the second round. But in contrast to the hype back home, NBA scouts, coaches, and most of the learned basketball media were had little or no expectations of the 7-foot-2 when he was named in the Mavericks' squad for the Summer League in Las Vegas. Most insiders believed that Satnam was too raw and inexperienced for this level of the game, and expected little more than him to trip over his own feet at the Summer League.

Unfortunately, the first few seconds of his NBA-lite action in Vegas was a rude awakening that left the critics smirking with self-satisfaction. When he checked in against the New Orleans Pelicans, his first shot was blocked by 6-9 Jarvis Varnado. Minutes later, he actually did trip on his own feet on the defensive end. He may have been the biggest guy on the court, but the 19-year-old looked, well, 19-years-old, confused, and perhaps a little intimidated by the moment.

But the great thing about good basketball players is that the game can provide them almost instant redemption. Satnam got back on his feet and got back to the play, brushing past the early nerves. He ended up playing 11 minutes in his debut, taking three shots, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in the limited time.

By the time the Summer League ended for the Mavericks - they were knocked out at the tournament's Quarter Final stage by the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday - Satnam had played bit minutes in five of Dallas' six games and showed hints of his potential, including games against the Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Lakers, D-League Select, and Hawks. He played an average of seven minutes per game at the Summer League, scoring 2.6 points and grabbing 2.4 rebounds per game. While the likes of Dwight Powell and Justin Anderson shone brightly for the Mavericks in Vegas, Satnam's bit play went mostly unnoticed and didn't contribute much to the team's fortunes.

And yet, even in his small way, Satnam did enough to leave an encouraging impression on the minds of the same scouts and coaches who may have had been skeptics earlier. He showed intelligence when cutting to the post, finishing strong around the basket, communicating with his teammates on defense, and generally, making the most of his small moments. There were stumbles and there were stutters, but Satnam took baby steps forward each game, and showed flashes of promise on both ends of the floor.

"I thought Satnam played pretty well," said Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to Mavs Moneyball at the end of the team's Summer League campaign, "He raised a lot of eyes. I think people didn't expect him to move as well and be as skilled as he is. I think he comported himself very well."

More from the Mavs Moneyball piece by Doyle Rader:

Mavericks Summer League head coach Kaleb Canales isn't hesitant to point out what he is doing well in Las Vegas.
"His communication on defense has been great," Canales said, "He's been aggressive. He's not shy which is a positive I think. He's not afraid to attack on offense. And on defense he's been talking pick and roll coverages but also hitting the boards."

"It's NBA 101," Canales said of where Singh is. "From terminology to system and in terms of concepts and principles, he's learning step by step in this process. It's a long journey for him ahead."
Luckily, everyone with the organization is on the same page about Singh. He isn't ready for the NBA. The Mavericks didn't draft him with the expectation that he would have an impact right away. He's a project player.
Next season he will play for the Texas Legends, the Mavericks' D-League affiliate, so he can continue to develop. Steven Kyler of Basketball Insiders tells Mavs Moneyball that the Legends will bring in former Maverick DeSagana Diop to mentor and work with Singh.

As for Singh, he already feels that he is up to the challenge.
"I think it's good to work with these guys," he said about his teammates and coaches. "When I was here [in the first game] and we were really close with some D-League [players] I said, ‘Of course I can play with these guys. My body is ready for these guys ... I'm here. I'm ready.'"

Earlier in the same article, Mark Cuban explicitly stated what the rest of us have been thinking: "I don't see him playing in the NBA this year," he said, "We'll give him time to develop."

This is fine, and this is to be expected. Satnam isn't one of the top rookies that came out shining at the Summer Leagues, like Emmanuel Mudiay, Mario Hezonja, or Kristaps Porzignis. He won't be expected to contribute to his team straight away like them, and even if he improves to an NBA level, he won't be expected to be a game-changer.

Still, his appearances at the Summer League proved that Satnam is more than just a publicity stunt. Satnam is a genuine NBA project and was a low-risk pick for Dallas at 52nd in the draft. If he can continue progressing and improving, he may earn an important role for the Texas Legends in the D-League, and hopefully, we'll see him back at the Summer League in Vegas a year from now with a bigger and better role. And after that, if the career trajectory continues positively, perhaps the NBA debut wouldn't be too far away.

It's official: Sacramento Kings sign Sim Bhullar to a contract & make him the NBA's first desi ever!

And now, officially, a player of Indian-descent has become a part of the NBA family. If you've been following the desi-hoops noises in recent years, you wouldn't be surprised to hear that this player is the 7-foot-5 Canadian giant Sim Bhullar. And of course, it wouldn't surprise you that the team which picked him is the Sacramento Kings, the first and only NBA franchise whose majority owner is an Indian.

As India awoke to celebrate Independence Day on August 15th, thousands of miles away in a different time zone, Bhullar - born to parents that immigrated from Punjab, India to Toronto, Canada several decades ago - announced via his own Twitter account that the Kings had signed him to his first NBA contract. Further details of the contract haven't yet been announced, but the rookie minimum this year is $507,366, and it can be assumed that it's a non-guaranteed deal to participate in training camp with the Kings from October.

Bhullar, who played the last two years for New Mexico State University (NMSU) and won the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) tournament MVP honours in both years declared for the 2014 NBA draft earlier this summer, but wasn't picked by any NBA team on draft night. Only a few days later though, the Sacramento Kings signed Bhullar to join their Summer League roster for Las Vegas, with hopes that the giant Center could earn a potential roster spot.

He didn't exactly make waves at Vegas, but he wasn't given much of an opportunity to make even a tiny ripple. Bhullar only hit the floor in four games at the Summer League for the Kings, playing just about two and a half minutes per game. He only attempted and scored one basket (so, that's a 100 percent from the field!) and grabbed just two rebounds in a total of 10 minutes of action through the entire tournament.

Meanwhile, the Kings did pretty well at the Summer League without much help from Bhullar, as they won the tournament with a final triumph over the Houston Rockets.

Despite his near-absence from meaningful Summer League action, the Kings chose to sign Bhullar, officially making him an NBA player. Bhullar will now attend training camp and will have a chance to prove that he can be a part of the roster on Opening Night of the 2014-15 season.

Despite the odds against him, the big man's chances are looking good. At this point, the only other listed Centers for the Kings are DeMarcus Cousins (aka Boogie Smooth, the people's champ, who needs to be an All Star this season) and Aaron Gray, who was traded to the Kings last December but only played around 10 minutes a game in Sacramento last season. Cousins is the literally and figuratively the centerpiece of this franchise, but if Bhullar can prove his worth to Coach Mike Malone, he may be able to earn some spot as Cousins' backup Center.

In all likelihood, Bhullar will make the team but probably not play too often. Despite his dominant years in college, he may have a much tougher time keeping pace with the speed of the NBA. That said, Bhullar has indeed gotten in much better shape and lost a lot of weight over the summer, and we hope that the hard work that he has put in to improve both his game and his conditioning can reap him some rewards.

Of course, all of this smells like a marketing ploy hatched by the Kings and their Indian-born owner Vivek Ranadive. In just over a year as the new owner of the team, Ranadive has shown great creativity in promoting the team to their existing and potentially new fans. It is all too well known by now that the billion-plus population of India is basketball's most exciting (relatively) untouched market, and many are hoping to capitalize on that potential fanbase. Ranadive's Kings have of course taken the lead in this matter, Over the past year, Ranadive’s Kings have hosted Indian-culture nights, launched the NBA’s only Hindi-language website, and much more. When Bhullar was added to the Summer League roster, the Kings even announced him as 'Indian' under the 'Nationality' column of the team-list, which had to be corrected after a few of us complained on Twitter.

So yes, Bhullar's official signing to the Kings will continue to the trend of popularizing the Kings (and thus, the rest of the NBA) to India. Bhullar's jersey sales won't exactly skyrocket - since most Indians are still new to the NBA - but there should be a noteworthy bump for sure. Hell, I might go buy one, too. Here's a guy who seems to love Butter Chicken almost as much as I do AND he could play backup minutes to Boogie Cousins? That's a no-brainer.

But the big question for the big man now is, can he prove that he's more than just a marketing tool? Bhullar has made desi ballers around the world extremely proud, and now, the next step is to silence all the doubt and the hate by proving that he really does belong in the NBA. The Kings could sure use strong contribution from a talented young big man who can be a beast on defense, a soft touch around the basket, and a wingspan to strike fear in all opponents. He has improved dramatically over the past two years, and hopefully he keeps improving to have a more well-rounded game for the upcoming NBA season.

UPDATE: Kings' owner Ranadive commented on Bhullar's signing, further signifying the India connection in this move:

“I’ve long believed that India is the next great frontier for the NBA, and adding a talented player like Sim only underscores the exponential growth basketball has experienced in that nation,” said Ranadivé. “While Sim is the first player of Indian descent to sign with an NBA franchise, he represents one of many that will emerge from that region as the game continues to garner more attention and generate ever-increasing passion among a new generation of Indian fans.”      

Giant Strides: Sim Bhullar leads with a big step forward for Indians in Basketball

 This article was first published in my column on Ekalavyas on July 12, 2014. You can find the original post here. 

Photo Courtesy: NMSU / Ekalavyas

I’m waiting for the day that this news isn’t a big deal. That a brown-skinned with South Asian features gets signed to an NBA team’s Summer League roster, and the rest of the brown-skinned, South Asian world doesn’t freak out about it. I’m waiting for the day when such an announcement is a regular occurrence that doesn’t make us raise our eyebrows or make us scramble to identify the player’s racial feature or heritage. For the day that this relatively minor bit of news doesn’t attract our breathless attention.

But, for the better of the Indian diaspora, this news is indeed a game-changer. And that’s because Sim Bhullar has become the first, the first of a community with one of the largest populations on planet Earth to break a major barrier in the hoops world. In this small step, he has taken a massive stride, and for that, he deserves all the attention that his currently being showered upon him.

The 21-year-old Bhullar is not a small man. At 7-foot-5, he is a giant on the basketball court capable of dwarfing the biggest fellow players even in the world’s ‘tallest’ sport. He wears size-22 shoes on his massive feet, and with each gargantuan step, covers much more of length of the court than his smaller counterparts.

Last week, as the hoops world tuned in to watch the finest young players get drafted into the basketball’s greatest league – the NBA – Bhullar and his size-22s took a very small step forward: Less than a day after being spurned and going undrafted in the NBA, he signed a Summer League contract with the Sacramento Kings.

While most of the serious NBA media showered their concerns on the young superstars on Draft Night or the upcoming stars on the league’s free agency market, Sim Bhullar’s tiny ripple made a massive dent. When the Canadian-born Indian – whose parents moved from Punjab to Toronto 30 years ago – signed the contract with the Kings, he became the NBA’s first-ever player of Indian-descent.

The Summer League offer is still a long way to go before the ‘NBA Dream’ is fully seen into reality and Bhullar actually makes the final cut of the Kings’ (or another team’s) roster. Bhullar will likely have to star at the league in Las Vegas over the next month and perhaps even prove his way up from the NBA’s Development League, but it brings him one step closer to becoming the first desi to ever play in the NBA. And thus, be brings all the desi basketball lovers from around the planet – from Toronto to Jalandhar by way of Birmingham, Houston, and Indore – one step closer to our collective dream.

For those who have closely followed his progress, the story is well-known by now. Sim and his brother Tanveer grew in height and in basketball skill with the same phenomenal acceleration and began to earn some fame in High School. The ‘Giant Bhullars’ moved from Canada to the USA to better develop their skills, playing at the Kiski School in Pennsylvania and the famous Huntington Prep School in West Virginia. For college, Sim was recruited to play for the New Mexico State Aggies in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in Division 1 of the NCAA. A year later, his 7-foot-5 brother Tanveer followed.

Sim played two successful seasons for New Mexico State. He was named WAC tournament MVP twice, as he led the conference in blocks (3.37 per game) and shooting percentage (64.8) and helped his team reach the NCAA national tournament in both seasons.

But two months ago, the 21-year-old giant decided to forego his final two years of college eligibility and declare for the NBA Draft. Instantly, he captured the imaginations of South Asian basketball fans everywhere, who were hoping that there would be an NBA team out there willing to take a chance on the biggest prospect – vertically, at least – of this year’s draft class. He went undrafted, but disappointment swiftly turned into elation as it was soon announced that he would be joining the Sacramento Kings.

Of course, there is a sense of cynicism among many about this news. Ranking fairly low in the eyes of most scouts among available prospects, Bhullar’s name wasn’t called after complete 60 picks in the first and second rounds of the NBA draft. Despite his size, and abilities, few have been expecting Bhullar to be physically ready to handle the frenetic pace of an NBA game, the highest level of the sport of basketball in the world. And yet, despite his perceived weaknesses, the Kings gave him a chance.

Which should be surprising, but it isn’t. The Kings are owned by Vivek Ranadive, the first and only Indian-born owner in the NBA and the man most aggressively pushing for the sport of basketball to gain popularity back in his homeland. Over the past year, Ranadive’s Kings have hosted Indian-culture nights, launched the NBA’s only Hindi-language website, and his point guard Isaiah Thomas visited Mumbai and Chennai this offseason. The Kings were one of the few teams where Bhullar had a pre-draft workout, and it seemed to be an open secret that they would be among the frontrunners to bring his 7-foot-5 presence to the NBA.

This is where the cynic speaks up, claiming that Bhullar was given a chance by the Kings more for his potential commercial outreach to you and I – the fan of Indian basketball – than for the skills that he can bring for them on the court. In that case, mission accomplished: the Kings and Ranadive, through Sim Bhullar, indeed, now have India’s attention.

But now, it will be up to Bhullar to prove that he is more than just a marketing tool. That he deserves a shot in the NBA for the talent he brings on-court instead of the hype that he brings off of it.

Bhullar will become the tallest active player in the NBA if he signs onto the Kings’ roster for the season. He has a long wingspan and big hands. He’s a great rebounder on both ends of the floor, has a soft scoring touch around the basket, and can absolutely shut down opponents once he gets his positioning on the defensive end of the floor. Although he seems to have lost a lot of weight over the summer, Bhullar still needs to get better conditioned and also work on further developing his post-game. There is a lot of room for improvement in the young man’s game, which is actually a good thing given that he has shown the willingness to improve so drastically in the past two years and can get much better in the future.

Off the court, Bhullar’s effect, like his size, can be massive. If he eventually does become the first Indian-origin person to play in the NBA, he could be in the unique situation to b an inspiration for Indian basketball players everywhere. If he stays with the Kings (or their affiliate D-League team, the Reno Bighorns), expect Ranadive to use Bhullar as a vehicle to boost his outreach to India and fulfil his dreams of making the Sacramento Kings into “India’s home team”.

Several months ago in this column, I had written about the importance for Indian basketball to have role models for the next generation to look up to. India still lacks a home grown basketball star that has captured the imaginations of the fans and the media; Bhullar may be Canadian by nationality, but his cultural heritage and background will not go unnoticed by the country of his roots. Bhullar, to his credit, has embraced his role as a potential role model for the Indian community and has shown a genuine desire to help accelerate the rise of basketball in India.

As a basketball fan and an Indian, I have been elated to hear that there is an NBA team out there – owned by an Indian, no less – who is willing to give a real chance to a basketball player of Indian origin. But it would make me even happier if Bhullar shines on the court and proves that he belongs, so much so that we would be ready to look past the colour of his skin to appreciate his basketball talents. It would be fantastic to see Bhullar’s “Indianness” celebrated because of his play on-court, instead of using his heritage a substitute to fill in the gap and to simply tell an interesting story about a bit player in the NBA’s fringes.

Bhullar is inching closer to breaking one of the last racial barriers in the NBA, and this is why him stepping into a ‘Kings’ jersey for the Summer League is a big deal, why this one small step by this giant is a giant stride for Indian basketball. 

Simmering Summer? Undrafted Sim Bhullar signed by the Sacramento Kings

It's 2014, and we live in a world where the difference between a historical moment and a forgettable one can be made in under 140 characters.

In case you haven't been paying attention, the NBA Draft was conducted yesterday, a selection to bring in the top amateur and international talents into the world's finest basketball league. After 60 selections over two rounds, one big name went uncalled. That name was of Sim Bhullar. 7-foot-5 by height. Canadian by nationality. New Mexico State by foregone alma mater. And most importantly for our discussion here, Indian by race.

Bhullar was the closest that an Indian-origin basketball player had yet come to be drafted into the NBA, and he missed his chance...

... Until a few hours ago, this happened:

New Mexico State's massive center Sim Bhullar will sign with the Kings, per agent Mike George.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) June 27, 2014

Through a simple tweet, TNT's NBA correspondent David Aldridge informed the world (via Bhullar's agent) that the Sacramento Kings are set to sign Sim Bhullar. Since then, there have been no further confirmations or denials of this news, but there certainly has been a whole lotta reaction to it. For the first time, a player of Indian-origin had been signed by an NBA team. It may not be the 'Yao Ming' moment for the diaspora of South Asians worldwide, but it's certainly a major first step into breaking one of the last racial barriers in the NBA.

The fact that it was the Kings who took the plunge with the massive center is no surprise at all. Around this time last year, the Sacramento Kings became the first NBA team to have a majority owner that was born in India: Vivek Ranadive. While the team itself hasn't made any major improvements on court, Ranadive's vision and off the court efforts have transformed the culture around the franchise. Ranadive has already placed importance in reaching out to the untapped market of basketball fans in India and has hopes to turn the Kings into India's favourite team in the near future. It seemed obvious that the team with most interest in reaching out to Indians will be the team that reaches out to the one Indian with (fringe) NBA potential. And now, the obvious seems to have happened.

Bhullar is still far away from actually securing a 'real' NBA contract and suiting up for a team at this point. As a first step, he'll be playing for the Kings in their Summer League team in Las Vegas next month, from July 11-21. Bhullar will have to prove that he belongs among other young rising prospects here. For the past few years, despite his successes with New Mexico State University (NMSU), he was questioned for his motor on court and doubted if he could truly handle the pace of the game at the NBA level. The Summer League will be a shade of what he can expect.

From there on, if Bhullar doesn't make to the final cut of the Kings' roster straight away, he'll probably hope to get a chance with a few teams in the NBA's D-League, including the Reno Bighorns, who are the single-affiliate D-League team of the Kings. If he is able to develop his game from there, he could have another chance of earning an NBA call-up.

It is also my fantasy/Christmas wish/Diwali wish to see Bhullar play alongside DeMarcus Cousins one day to form the most lovable big man tandem of all time. #BoogieBhangra

There is of course, eventually, the overseas option as well. But, as former NMSU state guard (and Euro-ball experienced) Billy Keys suggested to the Las Cruces Sun-News, the wear and tear of travel in Europe and elsewhere abroad could be detrimental to a big man like Bhullar; persisting to play in the US/NBA would really be the best option.

Worst-case scenario? Bhullar was drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters two days before the NBA draft, along with American Football player Johnny Manziel, real football player Landon Donovan, and a guy who holds the Guinness World record for the longest basketball shot. So there's that.

For now, let's remain optimistic that it'll be a 'simmering summer' for Sim in the Summer League. Let's go our various brown/desi/Indian gods and good luck charms and do what we have to do to hope that the big guy gets his chance with the NBA. Let's place good luck charms with lemons and chillies outside the Sleep Train Arena and hope that Bhullar stays clear of too much ghee in his diet. Fingers crossed and all that - an Indian guy (by way of Canada) is nearly in the NBA. The big day of desi-hoops reckoning cometh!