Links: Ted Leonsis thinks the Washington Wizards are moving in the right direction

Friday links:

• Mike Wise sat down for a 45-minute interview with Ted Leonsis, and the result was predictably excellent. [Washington Post (column, blog, transcript)]
• Mike gives his thoughts on what Leonsis had to say.
• Many fans have wondered why the Wizards have not made more of an effort to surround John Wall with good shooters, outside of first-round draft pick Bradley Beal, but BNIE points out that adding new players is not the only way to improve the team's shooting woes.
• Dan Devine thinks it's time for John Wall to start building an NBA identity. [Ball Don't Lie]
• Mike hands out his summer league grades.
• So what exactly did the Wizards learn in Vegas? [Wiz of Awes]

• Beal on his summer league experience. [Wizards.com]
• Courtney Lee, whom several of us here at BF thought was a perfect fit for the Wizards, is headed to the Celtics in a sign-and-trade. [SB Nation | CSN Washington | ESPN]
• There's certainly risk for the Nuggets in JaVale McGee's new contract, but there's also plenty of potential reward. [Ball Don't Lie]
• Wizards VP of Player Personnel Milt Newton recaps the team's draft. [Wizards.com]
• The Wizards locker room welcomed a pretty noteworthy (hint: presidential) visitor Monday. Unfortunately, since Team USA was using the room for its game against Brazil, no Wizards were actually present. [Wizards Insider]
• Former Wizard Etan Thomas has written a book, called "Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge," composed of 44 essays from athletes and other celebrities, along with his own writings. Sounds like it might be worth a read. [Washington Times]
• NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver (you know, the bald guy everyone cheers at the NBA Draft because he's not David Stern) said it's "likely" that league jerseys will have ads on them in the 2013-14 season, generating up to $100 million in revenue. What kind of ads would go with a Wizards jersey? Magic: The Gathering trading cards? The next Harry Potter video game? [SB Nation]
• The Brits didn't put up much resistance in Team USA's third exhibition game. [SB Nation | SI | ESPN]
• Ernie Grunfeld was once an Olympian. Yep. [CSN Washington]
• Andrew Sharp hopes the brewhaha over Jeremy Lin's signing with the Rockets doesn't obscure the fact that, when healthy, the kid was pretty damn fun to watch. [SB Nation]
• Because you clearly haven't had enough of Lin yet, here's the story of his exodus from New York from six different perspectives. Six. [ESPN]
• MSG, the company that owns the Knicks and Madison Square Garden, saw its stock drop after Lin signed with the Rockets. Because the stock market is stupid. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Dwight Howard = Lame. [ESPN]
• But would swapping Andrew Bynum for Howard create a new Lakers dynasty? [SB Nation]