Sioux Falls Skyforce Get Second Call-Up Of Season

The bare bones assessment is this:  the Sioux Falls Skyforce got two games out of an NBA player and two wins while he was in the lineup.  Donald Sloan was parlayed to Sioux Falls in the NBA Development League as part of a three-team agreement.  Sloan  promptly earned a GATORADE call-up to the NBA by New Orleans 13 days after being let go by Cleveland.  No wonder they didn’t stitch his name on the back of the jersey.

This wasn’t the worst of all results for doing the deal.  You start with the fact that Sloan hit the shot with under a minute left to push a one point lead to three on Friday in Reno then stroke it for 22 points and 10 rebounds the next night in Los Angeles will get you noticed.  Losing both games, with Sloan getting called up then getting blitzed by the player (Andrew Goudelock) you traded the following weekend would classify as the worst.  Plus look at the current standings and how tight they are.  Two road wins could pay huge dividends down the pike.

Nonetheless, the Skyforce head into the NBA Development League Showcase a little thin at guard.  Backup point guard Chris Davis was held out of the game on Saturday with a sore ankle and former NBA guard Troy Hudson has been inactive with foot problems.  It will put more responsibility on the other new acquisition Mychel Thompson and possibly Demetris Nichols to handle the rock a little more for the Monday tussle against Bakersfield.

Amongst the bigs, the exodus of Arnett Moultrie will alter things a bit as he is called back to the Philadelphia 76ers.  The other chip in play involves the possible return of Jarvis Varnado.  He was released by Boston and could rejoin the Skyforce on Wednesday.  The tea leaves turned against Varnado with a deadline of a guaranteed NBA contract looming this week.  Once the Celtics recalled Fab Melo from Maine regardless of the state of Melo’s head Varnado was soon to be balling somewhere else.  There is currently room on the Skyforce roster for a shot-blocking machine now that Sloan is gone if no one claims Varnado.  Look for the Skyforce to make some more moves to shore up the team during and after the D-League Showcase.  Already the player movement between the leagues is unprecedented so the ride is wild only 16 games into the schedule.  Make sure you keep up with all happenings from the Showcase with Jeff Thurn and Overtime live 4-7 Central Time from Reno on ESPN 99.1.