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Storylines here have had a lot of the same story. How about a little Kevin Love news? Okay!
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reported yesterday that it was indeed the Timberwolves that asked Love to sit out of this year's World Cup.
"I know Minnesota did tell Kevin, "You know what? It’s probably best you not play for this team." And Kevin wholeheartedly agreed with that sentiment." - Mannix
While the timing was not ideal, it's pretty likely that Love's replacement (Paul Millsap) would have gotten the invite no matter when Love pulled his name from the player pool. And, to be fair, Millsap probably should have been invited in the first place. Love's absence in the World Cup will hurt, and Millsap's strong skillset and ability to spread the floor would certainly help if he's able to make the final roster.
The Hawks' All Star, along with the rest of the player pool started camp Monday, and had a televised special on NBA TV yesterday afternoon. The special didn't show anything too spectacular - just a couple scrimmages and commentary by Grant Hill and Steve Smith
They did mic up Coach K, something only the geekiest of hoops geeks can appreciate. It brought fans into his conversations, which featured him talking high praise of Kyle Korver (by the way, if you haven't read Zach Lowe's Korver piece from yesterday, you really should) with Tom Thibodeau. At another point, he talked strategy with James Harden and Derrick Rose. It was awesome.
On the court, the special featured 2012 gold medal winners Kevin Durant Anthony Davis, along with a return of former league MVP Derrick Rose. Seeing him back on the court was a great sight, and most reports that have come back say the athleticism seems to still be there.
While all that still remains a relative mystery, it was still fantastic to see this again.
Elsewhere, the Dallas Mavericks continued their stellar offseason, signing Ivan Johnson to a two year, partially guaranteed contract yesterday.
This tops off a great offseason, where they balanced off Chandler Parsons' massive contract with discounted deals for Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki, Al Faroq-Aminu, and Jameer Nelson. They also brought Tyson Chandler back to Dallas without giving up too much. I'm a big fan of their offseason thus far.
Past that, as Eric said (with pretty hilarious timing) a couple days ago, it's more or less the dead period of the NBA offseason. Not a lot going on right now, and with all but one of the major transactions complete, there isn't too much we can do at this point.
Shawn Marion free agency watch? I dunno.
Now, a little music. Broken Bells started their tour for their new album, After The Disco, at First Ave in Minneapolis. I was there, and it was fantastic. They must have enjoyed it, because they're back again at the same venue this Sunday.