Top Stories of the Week: Wizards Summer League, Elena Delle Donne’s June, and hello Dwight Howard and Jeff Green

Hope your July has started off on a strong note. Here is what’s going on with the Wizards this past week.

The Wizards’ NBA Summer League begins with a whimper

The Wizards played the Cavaliers last Friday in their first game of the Vegas Summer League and lost, 72-59. Troy Brown, the Wizards’ 2018 first round draft pick had an inefficient night and didn’t get much help anywhere else.

Later today, the Wizards will play the Spurs’ Summer League team. Unfortunately for us D.C. fans, Derrick White will enter this game on a tear, where he’s been playing at a high level for San Antonio in the Utah and Vegas Summer Leagues.

Elena Delle Donne and the Mystics are in great form

The Mystics are 12-6, third in the WNBA standings after defeating the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday night. Their win yesterday also gives head coach Mike Thibault his 300th win.

The Mystics are building on an excellent June when they moved into the Top 4 of the WNBA standings. Elena Delle Donne won two Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards in June which was more than enough to make her the Conference’s Player of the Month last week.

Things for Delle Donne also seem to be getting better. She’s currently second in the WNBA All-Star Game voting returns, which means that she will be a captain in the game if she remains second — or moves up to first.

Finally, check out this column Ava Wallace of The Washington Post wrote on reserve forward Tianna Hawkins. In the column, Hawkins goes in depth on how she lost 20 pounds over the offseason to increase her mobility on the court. Last winter, most of the Mystics players, including Hawkins, stayed stateside to work on their shooting skills and athleticism. That has paid dividends this summer.

Welcome to D.C. Dwight Howard and Jeff Green

Last, but not least, we have NBA free agent news. The Wizards’ biggest reported signing is that of Dwight Howard. Howard was traded to the Nets and bought out. His deal is for two years, with the second as a player option. Jeff Green will also come to Washington on a one-year minimum contract.

The Wizards, who already play in a rather talent depleted Eastern Conference, could actually have a good chance to go far in the NBA Playoffs this season. That’s because LeBron James is moving out west, where he will sign with the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year, $154 million contract.

The Lakers apparently are thinking of adding more stars to their team via trade. For what it’s worth, there were some preliminary reports that they are looking into acquiring John Wall and/or Bradley Beal, according to national NBA reporter Chris Sheridan. That said, Sheridan’s report also indicated that the Lakers are also looking at many other players, including the Toronto Raptors backcourt of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.

It’s unlikely that the Lakers would want to acquire Wall and his supermax salary. And for the Wizards, trading Wall away to the Lakers for example could mean acquiring Lonzo Ball. While Ball himself could be one of the NBA’s better point guards sooner rather than later, do the Wizards also want his outspoken father LaVar Ball around? Probably not.

That’s all I have for this week’s top stories. Enjoy the rest of your weekends everyone!