Salim Stoudamire Drafted 16th by Stampede, Deal Worked Out Before Draft

Salim Stoudamire, the 31st overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, has not played a regular-season basketball game since 2007-08 with the Hawks, in part due to injury.

While there are plenty of red flags when it comes to selecting a player that hasn't played professional basketball in two full seasons, Stoudamire's immense shooting ability almost surely made him worth selecting before the Idaho Stampede grabbed him with the last pick of the first round in Monday's NBA Development League draft.

Surely 15 D-League teams wouldn't just decide to pass on a player that was appearing in NBA playoff games just two seasons ago and now reaching his should-be prime at the age of 28, right?

FanHouse dug a bit deeper into the situation and learned that an e-mail had been circulated to D-League teams prior to the draft requesting that he not be selected that reads as follows, from a person "writing on behalf of Salim Stoudamire":

Salim has decided to play in the D-League this season and we have already worked out an arrangement with a team in the D-League and he will be chosen in the first round.

We kindly request that you DO NOT PICK SALIM. HE WILL NOT REPORT TO YOUR TRAINING CAMP.

Well, that explains why teams were hesitant to draft Stoudamire, regardless of the ethics of said e-mail.

For what it's worth, FanHouse has learned that Stoudamire has family in the area and only felt the D-League would be beneficial to him if he was able to be close to family, which, if true, is obviously understandable.

"I'm excited to get to Boise," Stoudamire said in the team's press release announcing their draft picks. "Not only will I get a chance to play organized basketball, but also get to spend time with my family, which is important to me. It's a low-key city, everybody is really nice. I've felt a good vibe there."

The more talent in the D-League, the better -- certainly -- but it's difficult to imagine that all 15 teams were happy to pass on drafting one of the best player's available.