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The NBA's Vegas Summer League is in its fifth day of action, and David Thorpe is on the scene, livetweeting away his best basketball insights.

You can pay to watch online here. You can follow Thorpe's Twitter feed here, and read his commentary from the Orlando Pro Summer League here. You can read Kevin Arnovitz's tidy summer league preview here. And here is a schedule of the many games taking place in Las Vegas over the next week.

Today, Thorpe will begin his coverage with the Knicks vs. Grizzlies game at 6 p.m. ET.

In case you needed another sign that the Utah Jazz plan to keep Paul Millsap, here's Carlos Boozer, talking to ESPN Radio in Chicago (as transcribed by Sports Radio Interviews):

Do you think you will be traded?
Yeah I do. I had a talk with the Jazz. The Jazz told me they want to go in a different direction and I respect their decision. We mutually agreed to work out a trade that was beneficial for them and beneficial for my family and me. So with that being said, I'm gonna be traded relatively soon or in good time.

Will you be traded to the Chicago Bulls?
I definitely heard a little rumbling about it. Whether it will go down or not, it's kind of between the Jazz and Chicago, but obviously if I did get traded to Chicago, I'd love to be a part of the Bulls.

• Lawyer Michael McCann (of Sports Law Blog and Sports Illustrated) has published a draft of a fairly lengthy paper examining Judge Sonia Sotamayor and her record in sports law. McCann was on the legal team that represented Maurice Clarett when he sued to join the NFL. There is an interesting prediction in the paper: "In the near future, the NBA eligibility restriction is poised to trigger a 'Clarett-like' case, which could culminate in a Supreme Court review of professional sports eligibility rules ..." McCann continues that, had he not elected instead to go to Kentucky, John Wall would have been a candidate to file such a lawsuit: "Consider, for instance, North Carolina native John Wall, the nation's top-rated basketball prospect in 2009. During the spring of 2009, Wall, a fifth-year high school student, contemplated declaring for the 2009 draft. Had he done so, the NBA could have rejected the declaration on grounds that Wall had failed to satisfy the eligibility rule. Wall had met the 19-year-old age requirement, but due to assorted transfers between high schools, there was confusion as to when he 'would have graduated' from high school. Although some projected that he would have been among the first five players selected in the 2009 draft -- which would have meant securing a guaranteed contract worth at least $7.7 million over three years -- Wall instead accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Kentucky. His decision removed the possibility of a potential challenge to the eligibility rule, but revealed the type of fact-pattern that could induce such a challenge." Also interesting from the paper: The Collective Bargaining Agreement has nothing to say about players with G.E.D.s. In theory, a player could get the equivalent of a high-school diploma and a year later make a case they're NBA eligible.
• And as long as we're considering the merits of more or less insisting top players go to college, Basketbawful's Matt McHale continues his amazing series (names and identifying stuff mostly changed) on being the college roommate of an elite NCAA basketball player. A typical passage includes talk of McHale meeting with dorm honchos, trying to get assigned to a different room:  "I spilled my guts. I talked about the booze, the occasional drug use, the fact that he slept with a different woman every night. I told Chad that Mat never went to class, that he stayed up all night, that he ignored me when I asked for compromise. I didn't want to get Mat in trouble. I didn't want revenge. All I wanted was a new room assignment. And I really figured that what I told Chad would seal the deal ... and maybe even get Mat kicked out (even though I didn't want that to happen, if only so that I could avoid his wrath). 'Matt, there's something you need to understand,' Chad said. 'Student athletes are special people. They're under a tremendous amount of stress. It isn't easy balancing school work and classes and all their responsibilities to the team. We have to be patient with them, and very understanding. We have to make special allowances for them because student athletes make our lives better. They represent the university. They give of their bodies and minds so we can feel happy and excited about our teams. Don't you think that the least you can do in repayment is give Mat a little of that patience and understanding I was talking about?'"
• A little behind-the-scenes footage of Ron Artest's first visit to the Laker practice facility and corporate offices. He asks for a bunch of Artest jerseys, presumably for his friends, and there is talk he may have to pay for them.
• A tale of witnessing William Wesley introducing high-school junior LeBron James to Michael Jordan, who was reportedly there to sway James to sign with Nike.
• The game of chicken going on between Lamar Odom and the Lakers.
• Headed back to Greece: Josh Childress.
• John Hollinger (Insider) on Otis Smith's fancy footwork: By making Dallas believe that they wouldn't match the offer for Gortat, they were able to throw the Mavs off the scent of [Brandon] Bass. At the time, the Mavs were thinking letting Bass go to the Magic would eliminate any chance of losing Gortat. Here's what The Dallas Morning News reported at the time: 'The Mavericks stepped aside in negotiations for Bass, allowing him to sign with the Magic. His presence with the Magic virtually guarantees that Marcin Gortat will be a Maverick. He signed an offer sheet … and Orlando has until next week to match the offer … The Mavericks are no longer worried about that possibility.' Psych! This is Lucy pulling the football out from Charlie Brown, folks. Orlando created the impression that it was going to let Gortat leave, the Mavs fell for it hook, line and sinker, and as a result the Magic got to sign the player they coveted at power forward (Bass), in addition to keeping Gortat like they always knew they would."
• Kevin Arnovitz of Clipperblog on the idea of Allen Iverson as a Clipper: "The Clippers could conceivably plug him in as their backup point guard, run him out there with the second unit for 25 minutes a night, and have a potent starter when Baron Davis is afflicted with whatever it is that afflicts Baron Davis."
• Antoine Walker used to follow in Charles Barkley's footsteps as an apparently overweight guy who managed to produce in the NBA. Now he's following in his footsteps as somebody with a very public six-figure debt to a Las Vegas casino. The only difference is that Walker's debt comes with an arrest warrant.
  
• Oklahoman writer Darnell Mayberry tweets: "Kevin Durant: 'I'm not leaving Oklahoma. What ya'll keep asking me for?'" (Via Daily Thunder)
• Conan O'Brien's show, with the videotape of LeBron James getting dunked on in a pickup game. The best part is when he says "hey, we've got more interns."

After winning the title and heading into the off-season on a high, the Lakers had some free agents to worry about, most notably Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom.

The negotiations with Ariza stalled a bit and boom ... the Lakers went in another direction, bringing in Ron Artest instead.

Odom -- a favorite Laker, with abundant skill and size -- has now reached the point where his own contract negotiations have reached a sticking point.

A bit of a nervous time for Laker fans and Odom alike.

The L.A. Times' Broderick Turner reports:

Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who improved on his offer of $8 million a season to Odom, is getting frustrated and is thinking about pulling the deal off the table soon.

Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak talked at halftime of a game between the Lakers and Clippers on Monday in Las Vegas at the summer league, saying that the talks with Odom left him "not as hopeful as I was on Friday."

When asked why, Kupchak said, "Just a feeling you get."

"Right now, I'm not sure we're on the same page."

Kupchak added that it might be nearing time to give up on the talks, and Odom was coy about whether or not he had an offer from the Miami Heat. (Odom played well for the Heat in the 2003-2004 season, before being shipped to Los Angeles as part of the Shaquille O'Neal trade.)

Lamar Odom has been keeping nice company as a Laker. But with contract talks stalled, his return to the champions is uncertain. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)

Andrew Kamenetzky of the L.A. Times caught up with Odom, who tried to be somewhat sunny in the videotaped interview, but came off decidedly neutral when asked about the state of negotiations. "It is what it is," he said.

Odom also pointed out that even if you have a great relationship, things can get uncomfortable with anyone when the topic is money. "You can have a brother, a sister, a father, but when you start talking about money, it gets a little ... ehhhh ..."

Odom acknowledges he's in the middle of a balancing act. There's an argument for trying to get the most money possible. "You take a business man, anyone with a business mind, and they want the most money possible," he says. He points out that he's 29, and needs to secure his "legacy as a basketball player, and a business man."

But at the same time, Odom is clear that having a great chance to win a title means a lot, and he articulates a sophisticated bargaining position: "We try to do what's best for both sides, like what's fair. It doesn't happen overnight."

A Fair Price for Lamar Odom
It's very hard to say what any player is worth in this economy. So far there has been no suggestion that the teams with cap space -- Oklahoma City and Portland -- are in pursuit, so on the open market his suitors are the Lakers, who have Odom's "Bird rights" and can pay him any price, or some team's mid-level exception, which starts at a little under $6 million a year.

Reportedly Odom is hoping to get $10 million a season. 

There are two players who are worth comparing Odom to.

The first, and most obvious, is Odom himself. Over the last five years he has earned something in the neighborhood of $55 million. Although he's seen as an inconsistent producer from game to game, Odom has been remarkably consistent from season to season. Over the last half-decade:

• Odom's PER has moved in a small window from 16.1 to 17.3. Last season it was 16.6.
• His true shooting percentage has been between 52 and 58% each of those years.
• His total rebounding percentage started the period at 15.9, and after a couple of off-years has been at 15.6 and 15.5 over the last two seasons.

In the 2009 playoffs, Odom was even better. According to Basketball-Reference, he had a PER of 18, a true shooting percentage of 59%, and a total rebounding percentage 16.7%.

Another comparision for Odom, from this summer's free agent market, is Hedo Turkoglu, who was also asking for $10 million a season, and reportedly received slightly more. They're very different forwards -- Odom plays more power forward, while Turkoglu handles the ball like a point guard -- but similar in that they're borderline stars for a Finals team.

By every measure, except those concerning passing, Odom's numbers look good compared to Turkoglu's. In this year's post-season, for instance, Turkoglu had a PER of 13.2 compared to Odom's 18, a true shooting percentage of 55% compared to Odom's 59%, and a total rebounding percentage of 7.3 which is less than half of Odom's 16.7.

That said, Turkoglu has value in creating shots for teammates. He assists on an estimated 21.6% of his teammates' shots when he's on the floor, compared with Odom's 9.1 rate.

What does it all mean?

The Lakers can make the case that at 29, in a bad economy and alongside Ron Artest, Odom is set to produce less on the basketball court, while the team has less ability to make money off of his efforts. They can also point out that their payroll is massive and in need of restraint. They have surely made the case that barring a big offer from Portland or Oklahoma City, or a sign-and-trade at the Lakers' behest, no one can pay Odom close to what the Lakers are offering.

The Odom camp can argue that $10 million is already a pay cut, the Lakers make more money than most teams, and how much can you ask a player to take a hit when he just won a title playing the best playoff basketball of his career?

So ... what's fair in a case like this? Both sides are right, so it's no wonder both sides sound frustrated. In a good economy, Odom is certainly the kind of player who would get a big contract. If Odom takes significantly less than $10 million from the Lakers, or plays somewhere for the mid-level, I'd take that as a sign that the economy is a factor in 2009 free agency.

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

• The best pure passer in Las Vegas this week? Try Walker Russell, Jr. from the D-League Select team. Russell lives for threading needles, lobbing alley-oops, dishing on the break, and swinging skip passes to the weak side. He couldn't care less about his own shot. There are 150 players here this week with more electric games than Russell, but few of them are more enjoyable to watch, and none of them are having more fun on the floor than Russell. 
• Ahmad Nivins looks like a pro player -- long, muscular, athletic, and coordinated. The but that usually follows this profile is ... lacks fundamentals, or doesn't have a post game. With Nivins, though, that doesn't appear to be the case. He displays good footwork, moves around the floor with purpose, and is a beast on the boards. When you ask folks here why he dropped to No. 56 in the draft, you get a lot of shrugs, followed by a soft endorsement of his skills. He's had a nice week thus far -- 14 points and 6 rebounds per game on 51.6 percent shooting from the field. The only apparent drawback is that he looks waaaay too wound up on the court, and that intensity occasionally works against him.    
• Funniest moment of the day came before the first ball was tipped. In the opening introductions of the Timberwolves-D-League Select team, Wayne Ellington was introduced as hailing from Duke. As Ellington trotted onto the floor, he did a double-take -- Whaaa?! -- then cracked a big smile as the public address announcer corrected himself, noting that Ellington went to North Carolina. "That was ridiculous!" Ellington said of the PA's snafu. "I had to go over and say something to the guy."
• Kurt Helin watched the Pistons-Warriors matchup. Looks like Stephen Curry is fitting in just fine with Golden State's system: "[Curry] is a gunner to the point of recklessness - but what fan doesn't want to see that. He has not met a shot he didn't like. Making said shots... well, maybe that will come with time. He was 4 of 14 in his first game, 8 of 22 in his second, 7 of 19 in the third. In case you're not up for the math, that is 34.5%. He's better from three - 39 % - and tends to drain those if you leave him open. Not only do the fans not care, neither do the coaches. 'The shots he's missing now he will make soon, he's learning to make decisions,' said Keith Smart, who coaches the Warriors Summer League team. You can see how Curry could fit well as a point guard - a shoot-first point guard, sure, but he has the ball handling skills and made some good decisions trying to set up teammates. In the third game, with some Warrior regulars around him, Curry was clearly trying to set people up. Of course, then he would jack up a 28-footer."
• Blake Griffin was the story of the evening for the Clippers, but DeAndre Jordan continues to flash glimmers of hmmmmm. He went 8-for-9 from the field against the Lakers in 27 minutes. Jordan was on the receiving end of some alley-oops, but he also worked the post for a few of those buckets, something he had trouble doing effectively last season. It wasn't all pretty for Jordan -- four turnovers, and an 0-for-5 night from the line. But when he slows down and works deliberately (but assertively), his athleticism is a tough matchup for 95% of the bigs in the league.
• David Thorpe had an interesting tweet-servation about Griffin that, at first, seems counter-intuitive, but makes a lot of sense when you watch the rookie up close: "Griffin is a special athlete. Not because of his explosiveness. It's the combination of athleticism, power, balance, and coordination." 
• Jerryd Bayless has a Summer League scoring title to defend, and he got 22 points in his first game. His seven assists and eight free throw attempts are probably more important to the Blazers' brain trust. 
• Dante Cunningham put on a show for the Trail Blazers faithful (who, needless to say, travel well), from Joe Freeman of The Oregonian: "While general manager Kevin Pritchard and coach Nate McMillan scrutinized Bayless from the stands, Cunningham stole a lot of their attention. The second-round pick from Villanova started at power forward and showcased a nice midrange jump shot, a nose for the basketball and sturdy defensive prowess. He finished with 21 points and nine rebounds, making 8 of 17 field goals and 5 of 6 free throws. After the game, he was chosen to man an autograph zone in the lobby of the arena, where he scribbled his name on jerseys, shirts and hats and posed for pictures with fans -- many of whom sported Blazers jerseys. 'If he can knock that (midrange shot) down consistently, he's going to be a player,' McMillan said. 'And I think that's going to come. His rotation and everything is good. He just needs to keep shooting when he's open.'"
• I didn't get a chance to see the Kings-Bucks game, but Tyreke Evans put up eye-popping numbers that had the campus abuzz: 33 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists. What's more? 19 free throw attempts, 17 of them successful. Evans is the most physical guard in Las Vegas this week (with Eric Gordon coming in second).
  
• The Warriors have Anthony Randolph and Anthony Morrow mic'd up for Summer League games. 

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

Moments prior to Blake Griffin's NBA debut, the Los Angeles Clippers' brass was lined up courtside, smiling widely like expectant parents. And if the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas weren't a smoke-free facility, they would've been lighting up stogies two minutes into the Clippers' Summer League game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Griffin, the Clips' prized rookie and the first overall pick in this year's NBA draft, delivered seven points in the game's first three possessions. In his first professional set, Griffin hooked up with second-year guard Eric Gordon for a pick-and-roll that resulted in an easy layup for the rookie. 

"That should be the bread and butter this coming year," Gordon said. "We're both young guys and we should have a great chemistry."

The Gordon-Griffin connection was just the opening salvo in Griffin's 27-point, 12-rebound attack, but it was a huge relief for the rookie who was antsy to play competitive basketball for the first time since suiting up for Oklahoma in the NCAA tournament last spring. 

"I really wanted to hit my first layup to take the edge off a little bit," Griffin said. "I kind of settled down on my jumpers." 

You could say that.

Though Griffin hit a grand total of three 3-pointers in his two-year college career, he followed up that first layup Monday night by moving out to the perimeter for his next two buckets. On the Clippers' second possession, Griffin got the ball from guard Mike Taylor, absorbed hard contact from Lakers big man Ben McCauley, squared up and went glass from 15. He bested that the next trip down with a silky 3-pointer.

What got into Griffin?

It might have something to do with the fact that Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy actually stopped practice the other day to implore the rookie to launch the ball when he's got an open look. 

"I caught one almost in the same position, passed it up, and he stopped me and said, 'Shoot the ball. I'm not going to get mad if you take a wide-open shot,'" Griffin recounted. "So I'm trying to get into that mindset."

Griffin has been plugging away to refine his outside shot. In a league increasingly dominated by power forwards who can do more than just throw their weight around inside of 15 feet, he knows he'll have to develop a face-up game if he wants to live up to his promise.

"The kid's been working like crazy on his outside shot," Dunleavy said. "Yesterday in practice, he hit a 20-footer, then a 3-pointer to end one of the games, and made probably six jumpers over 20 feet." 

Griffin finished 11-of-15 from the field, and those 11 shots came every which way. He worked familiar territory on the right block. He pulled down offensive rebounds and muscled up putbacks. He fired turnaround hook shots. He even ignited a solo, coast-to-coast break to punctuate his performance in the fourth quarter. Granted, Griffin will draw tougher assignments this fall than McCauley and David Monds, but the range of skills the rookie displayed Monday night was impressive. 

"He did everything we expected him to do," Dunleavy said. "For a guy like him, it's hard to have a bad game because he plays so hard and does so many things. He's very unselfish and he draws a lot of attention. Tonight, he made the plays to the right people at the right time and got them easy scores." 

Along those lines, Griffin repeatedly laid out hard screens for Gordon and Taylor, precisely the sort of grunt work that the Clippers sorely missed last season at the power forward spot. Twice when he got doubled in the right post, Griffin whipped sharp interior passes to open teammates.

On defense, Griffin was the most vocal presence on the floor for the Clippers, playing traffic cop on every defensive set. He let his guards know when screens were coming, and called out defensive assignments in transition. 

"I did a lot of that last year in college," Griffin said. "This year I have to step it up even more because it will help me out, and if I talk I'm more aware of everything that's going on around me." 

Awareness wasn't a strong suit of the Clippers last season. They finished 19-63, and dead last in the league in offensive efficiency. Although injuries played a measurable role in the team's struggles, their nightly routine was marred, above all, by laziness and a lack of intensity. 

Griffin brings no such deficit to the court. If anything, the rookie was overly keyed up for his first game. After his early scoring spurt, Griffin racked up a couple of careless turnovers -- a function of playing too fast. As he went back to the bench at the end of the first quarter, the coaching staff had a tip for him. 

"Just relax and have fun," Griffin said.

The NBA's Vegas Summer League is in its fourth day of action, and David Thorpe is on the scene, livetweeting away his best basketball insights.

You can pay to watch online here. You can follow Thorpe's Twitter feed here, and read his commentary from the Orlando Pro Summer League here. You can read Kevin Arnovitz's tidy summer league preview here. And here is a schedule of the many games taking place in Las Vegas over the next week.

Today, Thorpe will begin his coverage with the Suns vs. Mavericks game at 6 p.m. ET. 

• That's a wrap for today. Thanks and I'll be back tomorrow.
• Great to see a big game by Joe Alexander. He's been really good.
• We're seeing Brian Roberts vs. Jennings. Quick on quick.
  
• Jodie Meeks looks good as a shooter.
• Jenning just led a barrage of dunks with guys racing to the rim. Nice to see his interest in that.
• Doing a quick interview on NBA TV. Back tweeting soon.
• Jennings and Evans combined for 12 assists. 6 each.
• Thompson looks like he's finding his way, mentally. But physically it's not happening. The mental is more important
• Evans is doing better at finding guys. And the kings have made shots. He has 5 assists in 12 mins.
• Evans is not very fast. But he's an expert at changing speeds and that makes him so much faster.
• Evans and Jennings, between them, have accounted for 90 percent of the dribbles thus far.
• Brockman has 6 boards in 7 mins.
• Jennings took some bad shots right away. He's going to learn on the job.
• Sorry. Had to step away for an espn news piece. Back in gym.
• Clips win. Kings-Bucks next.
• Griffin is a special athlete. Not because of his explosiveness. It's the combination of athleticism, power, balance, and coordination.
• How nice would a Blake Griffin/Ricky Rubio pick and roll look??!!
• Jordan's brain is a beat behind his game.
• I know people are concerned that Gordon can get too big/muscular. I think he can lean out and still be powerful.
• I'd like to see Ammo be more balanced when he shoots.
• I like that the Clips are letting Blake rebound and run with the ball. It starts a great break.
• Anyone defending Griffin has to stay balanced inside. Because otherwise he'll knock them down and get an easy dunk.
• And he just had an impressive drive and finish.
• DeAndre Jordan had a sweet lob dunk. But I like that he's working to set good screens.
• Gordon explodes off screens for the catch perfectly.
• Griffin missed an easy shot, but he earned it with a sweet middle attack-counter spin. He'll convert it 70 percent of the time.
• Gordon trying to guard Ammo. Not easy in this setting.
• Blake doing a lot of talking on d. Nice.
• Taylor struggling mightily as a pg.
• Griffin can afford to spend a little less time training, and a little more time learning and studying tape. His body is beastly already.
• Eric Gordon could have a really tight body. He doesn't. Yet.
• Blake just crushed a guy on a screen, for gordon. That is a big part of what he brings.
• Then he tried to go coast to coast. Turned it over after 2 dribbles. But I like the confidence.
• 3 ball!!!!!
• Scored on a pick and roll. Absorbed the contact. Then hit a short j.
• Griffin looks awesome. Before the tip anyway.
• Blake is here!
• Beaubois down.Left knee issue. Helped off court. Right to locker roon.
• Darrell Armstrong coaching well for Dallas.
• The vets play with intelligence, patience, and vision.
• There is such a difference between rookie pg's who fly around and get little done, and the euro pros (from america).
• I'd be excited about the 15 and 14 Lopez has, but Nathan Jawai is not as good as most centers in the pac-10.
• Dowdell is terrific. Hokie fans be proud!
• Lopez, like most young bigs, has no plan in the post when he has the ball.
• For the first time I'm seeing some talent in Dragic. But it's not enough yet. Just not productive enough.
• Taylor Griffin with a monster jam. Blake is smiling.
• 2 airballs for him now. Looking more like a young TP. :)
• Beaubois is both quick and crafty.
• Robin Lopez can be an excellent player. Does he want to be?
• One of my fave students just made 2 plays. Stole the inbounds and hit the long 2. Zabian Dowdell from Va Tech.
• Nivins is everywhere.
• Beaubois reminds people of Tony Parker. He just airballed a 10 foot jumper. Even so, I'm not ready to say that yet. But he's lightning.
• Dragic showing some athleticism.
• Earl Clark being held out with back spasms.
• Mavs Suns in 10.
  

• Amare Stoudemire says he's no longer calling himself STAT, preferring "Sun Tzu." Sun Tzu is the author of the Taoist military classic "The Art of War" which includes a line about good leaders keeping a vigilant eye on their defenses. You think that's what Stoudemire might be doing here?  In fact, I think he's doing the painful and tedious work of healing a retina.
• Stephen Curry gets donuts for the Warriors. "Probably not the last time I'll be doing this," he says into the Warriors' video camera. "Hopefully I'll develop a good relationship with the donut guy in Oakland." The mental training of serving his teammates seems to have quickly paid off -- moments later he's on the same video making some great on-court assists.
• A very thorough write-up of Courtney Lee, circa 2009. Some fascinating evidence that he has star potential, and a curious situation whereby the Nets have twice now had to choose between Ryan Anderson and Courtney Lee. The first time they chose Anderson, the second time they chose Lee.
• There's a bit of consternation about the state of things in Portland where efforts to sign Brandon Roy to an extension have not been entirely smooth. This is important perspective. UPDATE: Brandon Roy does not sound confident that his max extension is imminent.
• Trying to make sense of the recent moves in Toronto.
• Dwyane Wade weighs a contract offer from the Heat. Of course the baseline analysis for every player is to play in whatever way will get you the most guaranteed money. But if your ultimate goal is happiness, I think there's also quite a big of merit in giving yourself some flexibility to move to a different team if you're not sure which direction yours is heading ...
• In talking about the offer sheet Paul Millsap signed with the Blazers, Jazz executives sound like people who are ready to match.
• Shaquille O'Neal is a law and order guy, but apparently he's not too hung up on wearing his seatbelt. (Via Weird Shirtless Guy)
• UPDATE: The streetball tournament in France some call the best in the world.

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

• One of my favorite matchups of the day was Darren Collison-George Hill. As David Thorpe pointed out in his twitter thread, Hill is a brutal guy for Collison to have to deal with on the first day of class. Hill was able to shoot over Collison, shake him off the dribble, and beat him in transition with his combination of handle and speed. But Collison put together a few nice sequences of his own, including one in the third quarter on a screen-and-roll with Earl Barron: Collison was able to penetrate off the screen, then lob a pretty floating pass to Barron, who slammed it home. In general, Collison marshaled the floor with confidence. The most notable feature of his halfcourt game as a point guard: Patience (hello, UCLA). He attacked only when he had an invitation, rarely forced a pass, and executed high-percentage feeds to the right guys on numerous occasions.  
• DeJuan Blair: As advertised -- intuitive, beastly rebounder (10 in 23 minutes), goes up with force on the putback, great at drawing contact inside, but occasionally lacks a plan of attack in the post. He finished with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, and 5-for-6 from the strip in his very Millsapian effort. 
• Jonny Flynn communicates to his team on every offensive possession. He choreographs, directs, goads, and encourages. When teammates need to move from the weak to the strong side for an entry pass, Flynn barks out an order -- and he's almost always right. Flynn coughed the ball up seven times on Sunday against seven assists, but his management skills are there.
• Is two Summer League sessions one too many? The Thunder, the only team playing in both Summer Leagues, just came off five games in five days in Orlando, with most of their primary names logging big minutes. The team looked exhausted Sunday in its 86-57 loss to Memphis. The Thunder recorded 22 turnovers, but only 20 field goals. 
• Marcus Williams managed the game perfectly for the Grizzlies. He worked the ball to the right guys at the right spots, picking up 17 assists in 28 minutes. It helps when Sam Young is nailing jumpers and Darrell Arthur is finishing with authority, but Williams simply controlled the game. "He did a great job getting into the paint," Memphis assistant Dave Joerger said. "We ran different pick-and-roll looks and he picked the defense apart." Williams is a frustrating player to figure out. His pure point skills are apparent almost every time he takes the floor. His court vision is otherworldly. But as selective as he is as a playmaker getting other guys nice looks, he takes a lot of iffy shots himself -- to say nothing of his defense, where he doesn't seem to care all that much.
• If you're the Grizzlies, Hasheem Thabeet's debut was encouraging. The Grizzlies haven't had a banger like Thabeet beneath the basket ... ever, really. He intimidated Serge Ibaka and anyone else on the Thunder who stepped foot into the paint. Will Thabeet be able to have that effect against a legitimate, veteran NBA center? If the answer is yes, Memphis will be an improved defensive squad in 2009-10, if nothing else. 
• Brandon Jennings has some good instincts, but sometimes he misreads the game. A perfect example came in the second quarter against the Cavs. He drew big man Jawad Williams on the switch out on the perimeter. With the floor spread, Jennings had the opportunity to use his quicks to blow by Williams. What does he do instead? A cutesy crossover, then a step-back jumper from beyond 20 feet that wasn't close.
  
• Fast forward to the second half, when Jennings came out of the locker room (it's really just a curtained-off alcove in the far corner of the gym) and hit three consecutive long-distance shots. His stroke still lacked a follow-through and his balance was tipsy, but the shots fell through. David Thorpe: "The guys with good form shooting the ball, but don't have great numbers? They worry me. The guys who don't look good shooting the ball like Jennings and Ricky Rubio, but somehow find a way to make shots? Those guys will learn to shoot better. They already have the talent to hit shots now -- even with bad form. As you clean up their form, they'll put up better and better numbers." Jennings scored 23 points and dished out eight assists against only three turnovers in the Bucks' win over the Cavaliers. He went 4-for-8 beyond the arc, and worked his way to the line for six attempts -- all of it a big improvement over his first game. 

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

The Spurs' George Hill was horrible in the 2008 Summer League.

How bad?

He shot 8% from the field.

You read that correctly. 

But a year with the Spurs' coaching and development staff can do wonders for a young guard. The results were evident on Sunday in the Spurs' first Summer League game. Hill scored 25 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field, and a perfect 11-for-11 afternoon from the stripe. Hill was aggressive going to the hoop, and a menace in transition. 

We caught up with him after the game. 

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

Kevin Love had a stellar rookie year for the Timberwolves. His foray into the world of popular media may have been even more impressive. He worked as the rookie correspondent for NBA TV during the playoffs, and he jumped out ahead of the pack on Twitter, even breaking the story of Kevin McHale's firing via Twitter. 

Two years ago, The Onion ran a piece with the headline "Curt Schilling To Start LiveBlogging From Mound." Thanks to guys like Kevin Love and Charlie Villanueva, life is starting to imitate parody.

This week, Love is in Las Vegas, tweeting live from the 'Wolves bench.

TrueHoop dropped by at halftime to check in on his progress, and to get his picks for the NBA's All-Twitter team. 

The NBA's Vegas Summer League is underway, and David Thorpe is on the scene, livetweeting away his best basketball insights.

You can pay to watch online here. You can follow Thorpe's Twitter feed here, and read his commentary from the Orlando Pro Summer League here. You can read Kevin Arnovitz's tidy summer league preview here. And here is a schedule of the many games taking place in Las Vegas over the next week and a half.

Thorpe begins his marathon session today at 4 p.m. ET with the San Antonio-New Orleans game.

• I'm done. Tweeted out. Done and done. Back at it tomorrow!!!
• I still like Meeks. If he can shoot the 3 better, he can stick. If not, he won't.
• Jennings is moving the ball fairly well, actually.
• It's been 3 halves, and I still love Danny Green.
• Alexander is hard not to foul when attacking. Has 6 FTs in 11 mins.
• Jennings 1-6, with almost every shot a poor choice.
• Eyenga sharper today. At least as a shooter.
• Skiles has to put his teachers hat on for Alexander and Jennings. Jennings is ultra-quick, which can get him into trouble until he gets it.
• The only guy who knows how to play for this Bucks team is Luc. Maybe Chris Richard too.
• It's difficult to watch Alexander play, and then he makes an explosive play and shows a future.
• I just don't think Joe Alexander has anything figured out yet.
• Jennings can hurt defenses in push balls by using the drag screen hard. He's soft with his dribble on it now. And he does not shoot the ball. He flings it.
• I liked Jodie Meeks before this game. I'll tell u how I feel about him once I see him a bit.
• Bucks Cavs.
• I've seen teams play well in consecutive summer leagues. OKC is not one of them. Getting drilled.
• 14 assists and counting.
• Harden can really @#*@*# pass.
• Ibaka, stellar at times in Orlando, is really bothered by Thabeet.
• I do not enjoy watching Marcus Williams play. At all. But dude has 12 assists.
• Thabeet gets his first block. 4th period.
• Livingston just 1-5 but I still think he's gonna be ok.
• A foul or a turnover. It ended up as a turnover (but maybe he got fouled!).
• I just saw something I never want to see again. BJ Mullens posting up and backing down Haddadi. There were only 2 possible outcomes.
• NBA teams are going to be scratching their heads about passing on Sam Young and D Blair in the 2nd half of round 1.
• Interesting twist of philosophies. Westbrook is playing in his 2nd summer league this month. D Rose will not be in any. Mayo either.
• Kyle Weaver 3-4 from 3. That helps stick on this team come October.
• For the life of me, I've never understood why Haddadi is in the NBA. I love the Iranian people (met many in Salt Lake City last summer). ... But he's not likely a player in this league.
• Dave Joerger, coaching the Griz this week, is ready to run an nba team.
• Thabeet doing a great job of diving to the center of the rim after center hi ballscreens. Think DHoward.
• James Harden plays with a better pace than any rookie I've seen since joining espn.(Read full post)

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

• Austin Daye has been playmaker extraordinaire for Detroit. On the Pistons' first possession Saturday, he whipped a sharp pass from the perimeter to Trent Plaisted underneath for an easy two. On his team's second sequence, he took his man straight off the dribble to the rack for a layup. A minute later, on a pop-out, Daye nailed a silky 3-pointer. A few possessions later, he flew in from the weak side for an offensive rebound and a vicious putback slam.  And that was only the first eight minutes. For all the talk about Daye lacking an NBA body, it's hard not to draw the comparison to another lanky, versatile Pistons small forward who's done well for himself in the league. 
• DaJuan Summers: Picked up where he left off Friday. After posting 24 points on 18 possessions along with seven rebounds Friday, Summers again worked his inside-out game for the Pistons on Saturday to the tune of 19 points and six rebounds. Summers executes that inside-out game with smarts. He recognizes mismatches in the halfcourt. Against a slower defender, he drives to the hole. Faced up against a shorter guy, he'll get separation and launch a jumper.
  
• Anthony Randolph should have a Summer League exemption. It's really not even fair to the rest of the competition: 24 points on 10-of-13 from the field, 11 boards, five blocks. We saw him finish with his right, run the break in transition coast to coast, post, shoot from the perimeter. It was the full Randolph canvas on Saturday, and he's far and away the best talent here over the first two days. 
• David Thorpe on the process that combo guards like Tyreke Evans and Stephen Curry will have to endure to make the transition to point guard: "Some guys have the gift, but there are 30 starting point guards in the NBA and not all of them have it. Chris Paul and Steve Nash do. But Deron Williams and Chauncey Billups aren't great passers, yet they're great point guards. It took Chauncey four teams to figure out how to play point. Will Evans figure it out? Possibly. But that's up to him, his willingness to learn, and also the organization. You can teach it, but you have to put strategies and structures in place to make that happen. You can't let him run free at the expense of learning how to run the team. That's on the team and the coaching staff."
• On a day when the Mavs inked future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd to a three-year deal, the best point guard in Las Vegas was Dallas rookie Roddy Beaubois. He dazzled, scoring 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field (7-of-12 from 3-point range), recorded eight assists against only two turnovers. "He brings us a different dimension," Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle said. "We don't have this kind of angular speed, or supreme-type athlete at the point guard position right now. So he gives us a different look." Carlisle was cautious in his praise. It's only Beaubois' second NBA game, and he still has to learn how to play an NBA brand of defense. "When you come from a mid-league in Europe to the NBA, you have to ratchet up your level of awareness,"  Carlisle said.
• Personal highlight of the day: I happened to have iTunes open on my laptop before the first game. David Brody, who works for the Summer League and has been at the controls for music in the Cox Pavilion, informed me that my playlists were showing up under the shared list in his iTunes. He offered to let me put together a playlist for the day to be played during warmups and timeouts. Of course, I happily obliged. Featured artists included Eric B. & Rakim, Z-Trip, James Brown, Le Tigre, De La Soul, and Daft Punk. 

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

The construction of an NBA Summer League roster follows a certain blueprint: Start with draft picks and most of the second-year guys under contract. Throw in an undrafted rookie or two, some D-Leaguers, then the journeymen who've been bouncing around or playing overseas.

But how do organizations actually choose among the hundreds -- maybe even thousands -- of players who exist in this talent pool?

We sat down with Sam Hinkie, the Rockets' vice president of basketball operations, to better understand how Houston's Summer League roster was put together. 

"Gersson Rosas [the Rockets' director of player personnel] handles the heavy lifting in putting the team together," Hinkie said. "The rest of us weigh in heavily, but Gersson does most of the legwork."

The primary goal for a team?

"Figuring out who you want to learn about. Who can be an NBA player? That's the key," Hinkie said. "All of these players have some skill or something that's shown up somewhere that's caused us to say, 'There's a reason that guy can be in the NBA.'"

Winning is way down on the list of goals for the Rockets in Summer League play in Las Vegas.

"We want players who want to win," Hinkie said. "We want players who will lead to winning and they ought to impact winning on this level too, but winning here is the least of our concerns." 

With that, we went through the Rockets' Summer League roster name by name, with Hinkie explaining the organization's rationale for each invitation:

Garrett Temple
Hinkie: "He's a perfect example. He's a two-position, maybe three-position, defender. He's a massive winner. He's caught between positions."

For a big, combo guard like Temple who didn't work in the most generous system for his talents at LSU, Summer League offers the perfect laboratory to see what he can do at the point. 

Hinkie: "It might take him a month. It might take him a few years in Europe. But if he can make that transition, he's an NBA player."

Wherever Temple ends us next year, the Rockets will continue to watch him.

Rod Benson
Hinkie: "He's killed in the D-League. That gets you a look. Guys who kill in the D-League end up on the Rockets' radar."

Jermaine Taylor
The Rockets drafted Taylor with the 32nd pick in this year's NBA draft out of Central Florida. The Rockets are curious to see what he can do against superior competition.

Brad Newley
The Rockets' drafted the Aussie swingman with the 54th overall pick in the 2007 draft. Newley has played in Greece each of the past two seasons. 

Hinkie: "He's played well and is making big strides. He's one of our properties, so learning about him is important."

James White
Hinkie: "He's important to us. We invested in him last year, and he's got a chance to make our roster this year."

Aside from Tracy McGrady, the Rockets have only three wings at the moment -- Trevor Ariza, Shane Battier, and Brent Barry. Given the team's familiarity with White's game and, as Hinkie said, its previous investment in him, White will get a strong look.

To that end, Hinkie emphasized that it's important to be familiar with a player before you pick him up mid-season.

"When we put a guy on our roster, I don't want that to be our first look at him," Hinkie said. "Why not be in position where not only our staff weighs in, but our coaching staff can weigh in and say, 'He was good at this, or he struggled at this?' It gives us a chance to perform more due diligence." 

Joey Dorsey
The Rockets selected Dorsey 33rd overall in the 2008 draft.

Maarty Leunen
Houston took Leunen with the 54th overall pick in the 2008 draft. He played last season in Turkey.

Charles Gaines
Hinkie had said that, as a general rule, the younger the player, the better in Summer League. Given that Gaines will be 28 before the year is up, I asked him why the team made an allowance in Gaines' case.

Hinkie: "He earned his way. He played really well in Europe. He came in a make-good Summer League situation. Even though we have a roster of guys with his sorts of skills, he's the kind of player we love -- rebounds his tail off, plays hard, is undersized and doesn't care."

Hinkie's answer sounded uncharacteristically sentimental for a Rockets' organization that bases every decision on empirical fact. I asked him if, in Gaines' case, the Rockets bowed to their love of his grit. 

"The only sentimentality to Gaines is that he does the things we know are empirically valuable," Hinkie responded. "He just rolls hard. He just sets good screens. He just bodies guys at the elbow when they come down. He just tries to get every single rebound."

Hinkie draws a comparison between Chuck Hayes and Gaines. Like Hayes, Gaines knows his offensive limitations, so he resists shooting, making him a more efficient player.

"Gaines is a Houston Rocket," Hinkie concluded. " We might not have room for him, but he's earned his way."

Darryl Watkins
With Yao almost certain to miss the entire 2009-10 season, the Rockets are in need of size.

Hinkie: "He fits that need. He's young and getting better -- and we want to see how much better, and how quickly."