The Lakers asked Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma to back off on their social media trolling battle.
However, they made an exception for this new Wish.com app ad (Wish is the Lakers’ jersey ad sponsor).
Well played guys.
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Miami bringing Briante Weber into camp with chance to make roster
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For three seasons, Briante Weber has bounced around the fringes of the NBA. The defensive-minded point guard has played in short stints (often 10-day contracts) for the Grizzlies, Heat, Warriors, Hornets, and last season he got in 13 games for the Rockets (plus five in Memphis). He’s spent most of his career in the G-League, working for his chance to get in the door.
Miami is bringing him into training camp, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports.
This is apparently camp invite.
There is roster space in Miami if Webber blows them away. Miami has 12 fully guaranteed roster spots and, with Webber, two partially-guaranteed deals (Malik Newman, who was undrafted out of Kansas, is the other).
The problem for Webber is Miami is deep at the point guard spot: Goran Dragic will start, and if Tyler Johnson is healthy (as expected) he will get a lot of minutes behind him, and then there is Newman. The Heat also have in the guard rotation Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder, and possibly Dwyane Wade if he returns (all of those guys are more two guards).
That’s a lot of guys for Webber to beat out and find a spot. On the other hand, his defensive style is something different from what the Heat have on the roster.
Webber is a longshot, but he’s at least going to camp.
Russell Westbrook “very, very excited” Paul George re-signed with Thunder
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What did you expect him to say?
Rather than a potential rebuild — or another “Russell Westbrook vs. The World” season — the Oklahoma City Thunder were one of the big winners of the off-season when Paul George agreed to re-sign with the team. They also moved on from Carmelo Anthony, will get Andre Roberson back from injury, and added Dennis Schroder to give them a shot creator off the bench.
Needless to say, Westbrook is a happy man. We could kind of tell that from the party he threw the night George agreed to re-sign, but he said it directly in an ESPN interview while in China on his Jordan Brand Tour.
“I’m very, very excited. Paul has been an unbelievable teammate, obviously a great friend. I’m very, very excited that he is back and we’re ready to make some noise. We are just going to take it one day at a time. I think our team has a lot of great, young talent. We have one goal now and that is winning a championship.”
While it’s hard to envision the Thunder reaching that goal (as constructed), the Thunder could well be the three or four seed in the West and have home court in the first round of the playoffs. While the margin for error in the West will be minuscule (with 12 teams having a shot at the eight playoff spots), with the Thunder’s strong top-10 defense and two stars who can take over games nightly, they should be one of the more consistent regular season teams in the West.
Either way, the Thunder are a lot more interesting with George than without. It’s going to be a good season for the Thunder.
PBT Extra: Carmelo Anthony officially a Houston Rocket now — this can work
Did the Houston Rockets get better this summer? The conventional wisdom is no, they will miss the switchable defense and versatility of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute against the NBA’s other elite teams.
But with Carmelo Anthony officially signing with the Rockets on Monday, don’t expect a big step back, something I cover in this latest PBT Extra.
The Rockets had the second-best offense in the NBA last season (almost tied with the Warriors) and ‘Melo can enhance that — he can still punish switches in the post, he has a catch-and-shoot game, and while he may not be as efficient as he once was, the man can get buckets. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, expect Mike D’Antoni to find him minutes while Chris Paul and James Harden rest where he can be an offensive focal point.
This all could work out in Houston.
James Harden named in police report, allegedly threw woman’s phone
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It’s one of those things they have to now cover at the NBA’s rookie symposium, but a lesson James Harden may have forgotten:
You can’t grab someone’s phone away if they are taking pictures you don’t like if it’s in a public place. Nor can you slap it out of their hand. Or anything along those lines.
We don’t know that reigning NBA MVP Harden actually did that, but he is alleged to have in a police report for an incident outside a Scottsdale, Arizona, club. TMZ has the details:
James Harden has been named in a police report filed by a woman who claims she was roughed up by the NBA star at a Scottsdale nightclub — and she has video.
The woman claims she was partying at Mint nightclub on Saturday morning when she claims a member of Harden’s entourage got involved in a fight — and when James noticed she was recording, he grabbed her wrist and snatched her phone before throwing it on the roof so she couldn’t sell the footage to TMZ….
The woman claims Harden threw her phone on the roof of the club, and then a member of Harden’s crew came up to her and offered her $200 for the phone. She took the money, and then she says Harden came up to her and handed her another $300.
This is all alleged, nothing proven, and is still being investigated by police. Scottsdale police confirmed that as of now Harden is not a suspect.
Harden allegedly hit a phone out of a heckler’s hands in Utah after a playoff game this season, however, the league investigated and did not fine Harden for the incident. That was also different, it was in an arena after a game.
For this new case, the law is well defined — if something is happening in a public space, people have a right to take pictures or video of it. Get in a fight on the street outside a nightclub, that is fair game.
