The tournament portion of the Las Vegas Summer League begins today, and the Wolves, seeded 11th, get a rematch with the Golden State Warriors, who they beat in sudden death last night, today to begin proceedings.
The game is at 5:30 CDT on ESPN2.
Huge revenge game for the Warriors, right?
Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch this one. Unfortunate because I’d like to get another look at Jordan Bell for the Warriors. He looked terrific last night. Blocked six shots, controlled the paint defensively, grabbed five steals, passed the ball effectively...it was impressive. I hate to pile on the Bulls, but...oof. Selling that pick was a big mistake.
Here’s a question I asked last night on twitter: How good are two-way contracts for the players? The money is better: $50K vs. anywhere from $13-25K, which obviously makes a difference. Also, you have a team investing in you. On the other hand, it limits your call-up options to one team as opposed to any of the 30 NBA teams. Now, since they exist, teams will probably be more likely to call up their own guys, which means the fact that if you aren’t on a two-way, and thus available to everyone, is perhaps less valuable than it has been in the past.
Either way, you still aren’t getting the best North American non-NBA guys. Those players will still head overseas, where they can make a better living.
Elsewhere, we’re in a waiting game to see how the Wolves wind up filling out their roster, but they pretty clearly are done with anything major.
Doogie Wolfson dropped a podcast yesterday with an interview with Jamal Crawford, who will be signing his contract with the Wolves at some point in the coming days. He expects to play a significant role on the court, and wants to be part of something growing.
Doogie also reports that the Wolves had a deal agreed to with C.J. Miles pending their ability to clear the requisite cap space, but their refusal to move the Thunder pick stymied their efforts.
Tom Thibodeau was interviewed during the summer league game last night, and, well didn’t say much, of course. He spoke about liking the versatility of the squad, particularly pointing out that Taj Gibson can play with any of the other three bigs on the roster. Also suggested that they could use Butler as a small ball four in certain instances.
Was asked specifically something I’ve been wondering about: Whether Nemanja Bjelica would be playing more small forward this season. He responded that he can play both spots, but seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea. I had been wondering if that was actually part of the plan, given the guys they have acquired, but it didn’t sound like Thibs had it at the forefront of his mind.
I suppose that’s enough to be getting along with for this morning.
Today’s musical birthday
Christine McVie, born in 1943. Keyboardist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac.