This year’s draft class has the potential for a number of gems to come out of the second round. I think Dejuan Blair, Sam Young, Dajuan Summers and Marcus Thornton will all make an immediate impact this season. But another guy to keep an eye on is someone that we’ve all known about for years: Chase Budinger. Cue the eye rolls. Read More »

Guys like Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry and Brandon Jennings are making headlines with standout stat lines, but one of the most consistently impressive rookies in the Vegas Summer League so far has been DeMar DeRozan. Four games in, he’s steadily improving — last night DeRozan put up 20 points on an efficient 9-for-16 from the field (56 percent) against the Suns — and is showing he’s got more to his game than running, jumping and dunking. (Not that he didn’t throw in a couple highlight-reel bangers.) With Anthony Parker headed to Cleveland, DeRozan should be Toronto’s opening day starting two-guard, and between Jose Calderon and Hedo Turkoglu’s playmaking, and Chris Bosh drawing double-teams, DeRozan should have plenty of opportunities to succeed early. Read More »

Even more than in last week’s Orlando summer league, we’re seeing a trend develop in Vegas: The star rookies aren’t just getting the green light to fire away, they’re having the entire offense run through them. Guys like Tyreke Evans, Stephen Curry and DeMar DeRozan are getting 20-plus shots a day, and consider these are shorter games where almost everyone else on the court is trying to earn an NBA job … In yesterday’s big head-to-head matchup, Steph and Tyreke were like Allen Iverson and Steve Francis circa 2001: Curry put up 29 points (8-22 FG, 10-11 FT) and six boards, while Evans had 25 points (8-19 FG, 7-12 FT), 10 boards and five assists. Read More »

I was so impressed the first time I saw DaJuan Summers play, I had to remind myself to preface each bit of praise with, “Seriously, I’m not just saying this ’cause he’s going to Georgetown.”

(People who know me know I’m a G’town fan. No, I didn’t go to school there. But the Hoyas were my favorite team growing up, and since my alma mater, Seattle U, was D-2 when I went there, I wasn’t breaking any sports-fan rules by sticking with G’town as my squad.) Read More »

Alonzo Mourning had his #33 retired during halftime of Heat/Magic, the first player in Miami franchise history to get the honor — if you don’t count when the Heat retired #23 for Michael Jordan or #13 for Dan Marino — and the right player to get the honor. After Glen Rice set the foundation and before D-Wade came around, ‘Zo has been the heart of the franchise and was its defining player for a long time … Dikembe Mutombo, Big John Thompson, Riles and Tim Hardaway (towel draped over his shoulder for some reason) were among those in attendance. Read More »