Good news: As many of us hoped, James White will play with the Knicks' Summer League team in Las Vegas. Yesterday, while White was signing his one-year deal with the Knicks, New York simultaneously dealt three members of the Vegas squad (farewell, Toney, Jerome, and Jorts) to Houston. White was planning on being in Vegas anyway, so it makes perfect sense for him to fill a vacant roster spot. I'm glad we and the Knicks will have a chance to watch him play in a five-on-five setting before training camp arrives.
Meanwhile, another American who's been playing abroad and is a member of the Summer League team, Chris Copeland, was also signed yesterday, albeit to a non-guaranteed training camp deal. (In short, he doesn't have a roster spot yet like White does, but he's been promised a chance to compete for one before Summer League even begins, which seems unusual). Since today has been slow, I've resorted to trying to figure out what this Copeland guy's deal is. I haven't learned much.
Copeland's a 6'8", 28 year-old forward who went to Colorado and was MVP of his Belgian league last season. Arichmix's wonderful Fanpost includes some good video highlights to help you get a sense of his game. From that small, one-game sample alone, it looks like...well, a game-- a slow, fading release and little in the way of interior footwork, but evidently enough to get points in Belgium. He looks decent, but there's nothing too titillating in that video. My tits are not yet illated. You can see Copeland's stats from last season here. The video Arichmix shared is, as far as I can tell, the only decent footage available online of Copeland playing ball, so we'll just have to wait until Saturday for a better look. I did, however, find this music video Copeland and his teammate Tyren Johnson made, apparently while traveling around Europe:
I also learned from Copeland's college profile that he likes poetry, which is cool. There's this, too, but my sources can't confirm that that's actually the Chris in question. I have my doubts.
So, uh...yeah. That's my contribution to our understanding of New York's Summer League/training camp roster for today. You're welcome?