Micah Hart reports that the Hawks will put Olumide Oyedeji on waivers prior to Monday's pre-season opener in Orlando. That's what happens when you get outclassed by Solomon Jones on a consistent basis. Good luck to Oyedeji wherever he next lands.
There's a reason my look at the free agents in training camp never progressed beyond Frank Robinson: I'd rather not contemplate a regular season roster that includes Oyedeji (which it won't) or Marcus Hubbard. I couldn't pick Hubbard out of a lineup, but looking at his stat line at Angelo State I have no idea how he could be useful to an NBA team. Listed as a center, more than a third of his field goal attempts came from beyond the three-point line, he rarely grabbed an offensive rebound, and his block shot and steal rates were so different between his junior and senior seasons, I suspect he was playing hurt. Throw in the low level of competition and I'm befuddled as to his presence in camp. Of course, I can't wait to see him play. He's a mystery man.
In injury news, Thomas Gardner took a nasty spill on Friday. Again, from Micah Hart:
I saw one of the nastiest spills I've ever seen today near the end of practice. Thomas Gardner was going to the hole, guarded by Mario West, when West slipped on the floor and Gardner went with him. Gardner went down face first into the floor, causing his head to snap back in a terrible manner. I was sure he was knocked out, or had broken parts of his face for sure, but amazingly Gardner got up and walked it off under his own power. The training staff checked him out, but he appeared to be ok. For his sake I sure hope he is, because it looked at the time like he was going to be hurt pretty badly. Gardner has been out the last few days with a leg injury, which must have been pretty severe considering his reaction to today's spill. That is one tough dude.
Speedy Claxton pulled a hamstring in practice Friday. He's expected to travel with the team to Orlando, Phoenix, and Kansas City (playing Portland) but is not expected to play. Which, presumably, is his default setting at this point.