NBA Rumors: Jeremy Evans expected to substitute for Iman Shumpert in the Slam ... - FanIQ (blog)

Jeremy Evans, the Utah forward is summing up to be the most likely replacement for Iman Shumpert in the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Right now Shumpert is struggling with a knee injury and competing in such a contest can adversely affect his performance and healing process.
According to Brian Smith from the Salt Lake Tribune and Alex Kennedy from the HoopsWorld, it is most likely that Iman Shumpert is going to sit out the All-star upcoming weekend so he can regain his strength to give his very best in the post season and this is exactly what the New York Knicks expect from Shumpert.
Shumpert at best is still considered to be a rookie and is going to have more than enough opportunities in the future to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest and this also means that Jeremy Lin would not be doing anything worth mentioning in the All Star event.
It was expected that Jeremy Lin was going to aid Shumpert in a dunk and as Shumpert is out then that pretty much rules Jeremy Lin out as well.
Jeremy Lin is still in the Rising Stars Challenge but still as the other contenders of the Slam Dunk Contest are not in house names so this is definitely going to hurt the Knicks ratings.
As far as the second year forward is concerned then Evans who is from Kentucky just does not add enough hype to turn a lot of heads.
Right now Evans is a player for the Jazz and has only played 16 games this year with averaging 1.7 points and 5.6 minutes per game.
Still there is no official news out from the NBA on this swapping but the reports do point to a press release coming from the league speaker anytime on Wednesday.
If Evans does become the guy then he will still be left with contending against the like of Chase Budinger from the Houston Rockets, Derrick Williams from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Paul George from the Indiana pacers.
 

23 Feb, 2012