Pops

Mensah-Bonsu

“Guys with his athleticism and competitive mind-set don’t go undrafted,” president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. “He was the most athletic 4 [power forward] I saw this summer outside of Amare Stoudemire.” That’s some big-named company for Mensah-Bonsu, who injured his knee last season at George Washington and went undrafted.

The rookie out of George Washington grew up in London playing soccer and averaged eight points and five boards in the summer league, but won’t have fantasy value this season. He does, however, have a pretty cool name.

Mensah-Bonsu was waived with the Hornets in January of last season and never returned to the league. He nearly averaged a double-double with ASVEL in France and should do well in Turkey with Deron Williams’ former club.

Mensah-Bonsu will play with Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the last time we saw him on the NBA radar was when the Hornets waived him in January of 2011.

Mensah-Bonsu is injured and won’t be able to return to the court for over a month, so the club will be forced to move on.

This is the same team that just waived Pops Mensah-Bonsu because of an injury. White is likely to explore his options in the NBA before deciding whether or not to go overseas, and it’s a small surprise he hasn’t been able to latch on to an end of a bench by now.

Even with Emeka Okafor (neck) out indefinitely, the Wizards still have some solid depth. Mensah-Bonsu may have a fun name, but there’s little reason to pay attention to any of these guys.

If they don’t cut him by Aug. 31, his salary becomes guaranteed for the upcoming season. If the Mavs land Chris Webber, look for Mensah-Bonsu to be released.

The team had until Friday to guarantee his contract for the upcoming season and it now appears that he will play in Europe this year.

Patrick O’Bryant (eight points, one rebound, two blocks) got the start in place of Andrea Bargnani, but Mensah-Bonsu was more productive off the bench. Unfortunately, these numbers came largely out of nowhere -- he had combined for just 13 minutes total in his previous two games.