The Vegas summer league begins today. Woooooo! Links:
- Mike has a couple things he'd like to see from the five Wizards that actually matter in summer league.
- Ben Standig has his own goals for the Wizards' summer league Fab Five. [CSN Washington]
- BNIE is looking forward to summer league, particularly tomorrow's game against the Rockets.
- The summer league squad wrapped up its four-day minicamp yesterday at Verizon Center. [Wizards Insider]
- Like NBA fans, Bradley Beal is excited to finally get summer league going. [Washington Examiner]
- As always, Jan Vesely interviews are chock full of tiny, delicious morsels of brilliance. And for some reason, I can't stop laughing at this headline. [Truth About It]
- Given speculation that adding a veteran point guard remains the Wizards' lone remaining offseason priority, Shelvin Mack might have the most to gain or lose of anyone on the summer league team. [Washington Post | Washington Times]
- Mike's rounded up some vital summer league info: the Wizards' schedule, roster and key players they'll be facing.
- Kevin Arnovitz breaks down the key summer league contributors for teams in the East and West. Not sure why he has Kim Tillie and LaRon Dendy listed for the Wizards, though.
- Chris Singleton talks about his offseason, summer league goals, and how the Nene trade transformed the locker room last year, especially in terms to placing the focus on basketball. He gets exhausted just talking about the first half of last season. [CSN Washington]
- Video of Wizards shooting around on Day 3 of minicamp, plus post-practice interviews with Beal, and Randy Wittman.
- Mack was mic'd up for Day 3 of mincamp and also spoke to the team's website about getting ready for summer league along with Singleton.
- I'm surprised it's taken this long for someone to get his thoughts on the drafting of Bradley Beal, but it sounds like Jordan Crawford has the right attitude about adding another shooting guard to the roster. [CSN Washington]
- The Wizards have re-signed Cartier Martin. Michael Lee reports the deal is for one year and the veteran's minimum, or about $1 million in Martin's case. [Wizards Insider | Washington Examiner | Press release ]
- The Wizards are still considering whether to amnesty Andray Blatche. [Washington Post]
- Nonetheless, Frank Hanrahan remains convinced Andray Blatche will never play another second for the Wizards. He's just not sure what route he'll take out of D.C. [CSN Washington]
- The guys over t TAI answer the question: Should the Wizards amnesty Blatche? [Truth About It]
- The Nuggets have reportedly offered JaVale McGee a five-year, $50 million contract, the former Wizard is in no hurry to sign a long-term deal just yet. [Denver Post]
- Here's an interview with John Wall following his last practice with the Team USA Select Team. [Wizards.com]
- Sounds like no one impressed more on the Select Team than Kyrie Irving. Ugh. [Cleveland Plain Dealer]
- While the Wizards are leaving D.C. for Vegas, Team USA is leaving Vegas for D.C., where they will practice Saturday (D.C. Armory) and Sunday (GWU) before playing Brazil on Monday at Verizon Center. [Washington Times]
- Team USA pounded the Dominican Republic in its first exhibition game 113-59, but by far the most noteworthy thing about the game is that John Calipari (yes, that John Calipari) was coaching Team Dominican. Say what? [Wizards Insider | ESPN]
- Blake Griffin is out of the Olympics, reportedly with a meniscus tear that will require surgery, and will be replaced on Team USA by Anthony Davis. [SB Nation | Yahoo! Sports]
- The Thunder's Big Three are ready to take their frustration from losing the NBA Finals out on the world. [Yahoo! Sports]
- Ian Thompsen writes that, despite Team USA's beat down over the Dominican Republic, that the squad would stand little chance against the Dream Team and its post players. [SI]
- Larry Bird is awesome. [SB Nation]
- The Rockets want Dwight Howard really bad, and plan to amnesty Luis Scola to make room and take back even more salary from the Magic in a potential trade. [Yahoo! Sports | ESPN]
- They've even started using Twitter in weird ways that suggest they may want Superman a little too much. [SB Nation]
- The Lakers have their eye on a trio of veteran/old big men. [ESPN]
- Mike Woodson says the Knicks plan to match any offer Jeremy Lin gets and start him next next season. [NY Post]
- The Mavericks plan to go after Scola if they can't get Elton Brand. [ESPN Dallas]
- Following the signing of Kyle Lowry, the Raptors and Jose Calderon's agent are trying to work out a trade for the veteran guard. [ESPN Dallas]
- Reebok has released an animated video chronicling Wall's "break out" in high school which eventually led him to the NBA. [Ballertainment]
- Tom Ziller remembers the legend that was Darko Milicic. [SB Nation]