I am shocked. Lasme clearly must have not impressed the coaches enough to warrant a roster spot but what has he done wrong since the start of the season? If they were going to do this, why not do it earlier? or do it before signing him so we'd keep his rights. I was excited about what Lasme would bring in the future with his good shot-blocking abilities, rebounding and athleticism. I know he isn't known for his offensive play but I thought he had more than enough talent/potential to warrant a spot on the 2007-2008 roster despite being quite old for a second-round pick.
I don't know much about Mbenga but the Mavs waived him and know we have signed him so he joins Croshere as an ex-Dallas player on our team. He can't be that good if he was waived and he has hardly played over the last couple of seasons. Does anyone else know more about him?

Very interesting.
Perhaps Lasme isn't as healthy, or perhaps he just wasn't making progress in practice.

Mbenga is certainly athletic, we'll if he can translate it.

I got to say it: Dominic McGuire

mbenga was out last year with a torn acl, which is why he got waived. Another 7ft wont hurt our rebounding, though im disappointed to see lasme get waived

Kosta is a waste of space and money

a little something about him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.J._Mbenga

this move was soo OUT OF NOWHERE! Maybe he was brought in for practice purposes,or maybe to make the center spot more competitive. Who knows?

All that I know is that I was eager to see what Lasme got, hopefully another team will notice his promise and not end up like our last last pick Taft.

Yea him. I remember he got some minutes the beginning of his rookie season, and I think something happened with his back.. then he just disappeared.

Anyways,GOOD LUCK to Lasme to where ever you end up!

Hopefully DJ Mbenga will mesh with the rest of the boys. Also, it adds another complicated name to our team!

Didier Ilunga-Mbenga !!!!

three-headed monster aka "Ghidorah" effect?

ah well, 6 more fouls in the middle; that can't hurt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1rZBxn3Zx8&feature=related

From a personnel standpoint, I don't understand it.  Biedrins is clearly our starting center.  POB is growing into a solid backup center for us.  We have our 1.8 million dollar man Kosta Perovic riding the pine.  Where does DJ MBenga fit in?

Meanwhile, our depth at PF remains the biggest concern.  Harrington starts, Wright is promising but unreliable as a rotation player at the moment, and Barnes/Pietrus should not be used at that position for heavy minutes.  Lasme could have filled our void at backup PF.

There's alot of things that we, as fans, don't see.  Maybe Lasme was just a poor fit, having the mentality and skillset of a center but the size of a small forward or big guard.  Maybe he has a poor attitude or work ethic.  I just wonder what the reason for cutting him was, he had a very intriguing upside to him.

if he remembers this:

and hearing about stephane's abilites.  I did check out mbenga and he actually looks pretty good.  athletic, long, has blocked the likes of desmond mason, Kobe Bryant, and our very own monta ellis.  He was good enough to get some minutes with dallas he could be a nice player.

Remember, POB isn't signed for next year and Kosta is unlikely to be ready.

Mbenga, if nothing else, gives us another shot to find a big man for the rotation. More big men at least gives you the chance to find a useful big body.

Also, as Adam L pointed out, it pushes the existing bigs in practice.

...if we could have simply sent Lasme down to the D-League instead?  I don't mind us adding Mbenga, but I was surprised that we flat out cut Lasme.  Is there a rule preventing us from adding a free agent to the current roster, while sending a player down to the D-League??

Kosta was sent down to the D-League today.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=6080

Got some insight from Bill Ingram, our man down in Dallas. He said DJ had a spot in the Mavericks rotation before the ACL injury and thinks that the Dubs may have picked up a key piece for the playoff push.

Is how I feel about this. I'm sorry to see someone like Lasme go, because a guy who can gaurd and block shots with his athleticism just reminds me too much of one of my favorite players in Gerald Wallce.

But at the same time, I'm completely on the same page as Mullin, I see what he's trying to do. Mbenga's built like a tank, the man's 7'0 tall and strong as an oxe. He's also a sadistic banger in the low post who fuels off contact and loves to mix it up. EXACTLY what we need. You can see a glimpse through the method in madness as to what exactly will be Mbenga's role with the team on defense. With all the defensive help and switching, bodies running and flying everywhere, Mbenga can go to battle with us as an enforcing head banger.

Name ONE other guy on our team that can bring that to the table... It was a smart move, but DAMN! I'm with those who were for cutting Perovic instead...booo hoooo hoooooooooooo

Howard and Milicic weigh 250 and 265, Howard has got to be atleast hovering around 300and Milicic has got too be more around 280, those guys aren't rails, Shaq was posted at weighing about 300 for years and he was easily kickin' it at 350.  Biedrins is way undersized.

I guess pro sports is always about talking up potential, but you always have to take it with a grain (or maybe a tablespoon) of salt. Belinelli, Lasme, POB, Wright, were all suppose to be these full of potential prospects, but when they get to camp Nellie writes them off in two seconds. Are they really not worth the effort to nurture? Is this just all part of Nellie's rookie mind-gaming? Will the Warriors ever be able to draft a bona-fide keeper? It sounds like even now people are having second thoughts about AB and Monta being the future of the franchise.

I think signing AB and POB to long term contracts this offseason while we can get them cheap because of the cap situation around the league, would be great for the team. But we need to start with our big men first.