Morris Almond is done with the D-League.
The two-year veteran appeared in 34 games for the Utah Jazz since they made him the 25th overall pick of the 2007 draft, but he spent most of his time with their D-League affiliate, the Utah Flash. Playing in 48 games, Almond averaged 25.1 points--a figure which qualifies as the best in D-League history--on 46.4% shooting from the field and 36.7% shooting from three-point range. He also tied the D-League's single-game scoring record with a 51-point outing against the Austin Toros on December 21, 2007.
But that's all behind him now. He's here with the Orlando Magic in training camp on a non-guaranteed deal, hoping to stick in the NBA. As he told me, if Orlando elects not to keep him, he has no interest in returning to the D-League, and he has yet to consider going overseas:
I think I'm done with the D-League. I've done what I can do with there. I've left my mark there. Just bein' in Utah [with the Jazz] I didn't have the opportunity to play, because we had a stacked team, had a good team, a Hall-of-Fame coach [Jerry Sloan], in a tough conference.
So haven't really gotten started in the NBA yet, to consider doing anything else. That's kinda how the league works. I didn't start a game in college until my junior year, but I didn't want to quit the sport then, but... that's kinda how it works. You just bide your time, pay your dues, and it'll open up eventually.
The odds don't appear to favor Almond's staying in Orlando for too long, as the Magic are even deeper than either of the Jazz teams of which he was a part. Still, if he flashes enough of his scoring ability this week in training camp, and throughout the preseason, he might just make it after all. Biding his time would have paid off.