The 10-man rotation, starring optimism about the NBA dealing with new billions
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: Bleacher Report. Howard Beck brings sunshine through the cloud cover provided last week by the words of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Michele Roberts: “While more money might create more reasons to fight, the opposite could also be true: It might convince everyone not to mess with a good thing. And there are an increasing number of voices on both sides who believe the latter axiom just might win the day.” (NBA.com’s David Aldridge struck an optimistic tone, too, noting that both “sides will likely continue talking in August, in private, and talking is always better than not talking.”)
PF: Houston Chronicle. Brian Smith talks to former star point guard, addict, coach and recovery guru John Lucas, who has “been contacted” by the Houston Rockets to work with Ty Lawson, whom the Denver Nuggets traded to Houston shortly after being arrested for his second DUI in six months. (That’s one element of the outcome that many observers, including CBSSports.com’s Ken Berger, hoped would result from Lawson’s move to Houston.)
SF: RealGM. Smart stuff from Jonathan Tjarks on the Rockets’ nice problem to have — a super deep squad chock full of players in their primes — and how it still could be a problem: “This season, for the first time in the Harden era, everyone on the roster is going to have to sacrifice.”
SG: The Triangle. Zach Lowe on the Orlando Magic’s $64 million bet on Tobias Harris, and the challenge of evaluating “good stats on a bad team” players.
PG: PistonPowered. Mike Davidson wonders what exactly it’ll take for Reggie Jackson’s brand new five-year, $80 million deal with the Detroit Pistons to start looking like the “bargain” that head coach Stan Van Gundy predicts it will wind up being.
6th: Silver Screen and Roll. Drew Garrison goes to the videotape to take a look at what D’Angelo Russell did well and poorly in his Las Vegas Summer League debut for the Los Angeles Lakers.
7th: The New York Times. Michael Powell discusses NBA corporate welfare not from the perspective of the Milwaukee Bucks’ ongoing arena deal saga, but rather from the vantage point of the reigning Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
8th: The Oregonian. Mike Richman reports that despite a drastic offseason overhaul that’s been marked by a major increase in youth and athleticism (and a significant decrease in experience), Terry Stotts doesn’t plan to alter the way his Portland Trail Blazers approach things on the defensive end.
9th: The Triangle. Jason Concepcion on the different ways in which international front-office executives, scouts and coaches evaluate players during Summer League.
10th: SportsNet and The Toronto Star. Michael Grange and Doug Smith on Anthony Bennett, the much-derided former No. 1 overall draft pick who’s yet to live up to his lofty draft position with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves, showing out for the Canadian national team at the 2015 Pan-Am Games and finally looking like he’s having fun playing basketball again.
More NBA coverage:
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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