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Top stories of the week: Analyzing the Wizards' free agency signings, cap space and WNBA All-Star voting

Who said July was a slow time for basketball?

By Albert Lee Updated
Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

We're now into the first full week of July. Here are some of the top headlines for the week.

1. The Wizards have now officially brought in Jared Dudley and Gary Neal

Click here for more on Dudley's acquisition from the Bucks, and Neal's signing here.

2. Alan Anderson signs a deal with D.C.

Anderson played for the Nets last season. In D.C., he will shore up the wing position. The best part is that the Wizards didn't use the entire mid-level exception to get him AND HE JUST SIGNED FOR ONE SEASON. HMMMMM.....

3. Drew Gooden III's back!

Who would have thought that a player who did anything he could do to leave D.C. five years ago would now be a cult classic? Not me! Click here for Jake's take.

4. Washington still lost out on the David West sweepstakes

He will sign with the Spurs, who now are the champions of the offseason. But I wrote that despite not getting West, it's a good thing to see that he did consider playing here nevertheless. In past seasons, players like him wouldn't have thought about it.

5. Breaking down the amount of cap room the Wizards have in 2016-17

Jake has an extended take on how much salary cap room the Wizards are expected to have for the 2016-17 season when some lanky forward from Oklahoma City is supposed to be up for grabs.

6. The Mystics lost to the Liberty in overtime on Thursday, 79-76

Washington falls to 6-5, while New York improves to 7-4. This loss also drops the Mystics to third in the East. Stefanie Dolson led the Mystics with 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists to lead D.C. For New York, Tina Charles had 21 points and 10 rebounds of her own.

I haven't watched the game since it was a matinee, so I can't really make any call on the game. But it is a concern that the Mystics have hit a slump so far in July.

7. NBA players (WHO AREN'T WIZARDS PLAYERS) love Bria Hartley's crossover

So, we decided to vote for every Mystics player last weekend, including Bria Hartley. For her, we added a GIF of her most notable play in her young WNBA career.

The GIF is from a crossover and layup she did on Indiana Fever guard Maggie Lucas in a home game last season.

A number of people retweeted -- and voted -- for Hartley with the tweet, including herself. But the tweet caught the attention of some other NBA players like Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green. Yes, the SAME DRAYMOND GREEN WHO HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE D.C. AREA AND PLAYS FOR THE DEFENDING NBA CHAMPIONS!:

Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond also went to UConn like Hartley back in the day. He definitely appreciates her game:

And Kendall Marshall -- who was technically a Wizard for a few days after that Marcin Gortat for Emeka Okafor deal a couple seasons ago -- forgot to add #WNBABallot in his shout out:

The WNBA doesn't have high-flying dunks every game. But there are definitely a good number of players who have some playground dribbles up their sleeves. And it's great to see that NBA players publicly recognize that too. It's not uncommon to see men's and women's basketball players befriend each other in high school, college, etc. We never anticipated seeing this type of response -- I don't recall any response like this to any #NBABallot we had last season -- but at the same time, we do appreciate it. :)

The starters for the WNBA All-Star game will be announced next Tuesday, July 14 on ESPN's SportsCenter.

8. John Wall releases his new shoes

See the tweet below:

That's all I have. Enjoy your long weekends.