The 10-man rotation, starring Kent Bazemore, a funny dude becoming a serious player
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: Hardwood Paroxysm and SB Nation. A pair of good Summer League reads from Seerat Sohi and Mike Prada on Golden State Warriors guard Kent Bazemore, whom our readers probably know best as a sideline curiosity, but who continues to develop into what could be an exciting backcourt contributor for coach Mark Jackson.
PF: ClipperBlog. Another good one from Vegas by Sohi about the relentless Jerome Randle, a former Pac-10 Player of the Year at Cal who can't nudge north of European squads and the D-League because he "is great at everything except for being tall," which is kind of a bummer in an industry where that, like, really matters.
SF: Grantland and PistonPowered. Zach Lowe and J.M. Poulard look at what the Detroit Pistons' planned frontcourt of Josh Smith, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond might be able to do well, what it will likely do poorly, and what that could mean for the postseason hopes and development of a Pistons roster that finds itself in a pretty interesting place for the first time in a few years.
SG: Journal & Courier of Lafayette, Ind. Here's a gallery of 32 pictures from the making of "Blue Chips," which filmed at Frankfort High School 20 years ago this week and which many of us who grew up in the '90s know pretty much word-for-word. (Never did like that Ricky Roe.)
PG: Bourbon Street Shots. Anthony Davis blocked 112 shots as a rookie for the New Orleans Hornets last year. Andrew Smith really dug 'em. Here's a 21-minute video of them all, in case you're feeling midsummer blues and just want to see some crazy long limbs flyin' around all crazy-like.
6th: ESPN Boston. Chris Forsberg's story about how Brad Stevens has pinballed around the country since accepting the Boston Celtics' head coaching job includes a Dora the Explorer joke and the phrase "sharknado of change," so you know it's good.
7th: FOX Sports Southwest. After re-upping Manu Ginobili for two more seasons, the San Antonio Spurs appear headed for a big ol' reset button come the offseason after the 2014-15 campaign, when the contracts of Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker will all be up and San Antonio figures to be flush with salary-cap space and open roster slots. Not so fast, general manager R.C. Buford tells Art Garcia: "People have been trying to put a finish line on the Big Three era for a long time [...] We're not looking for a finish line."
8th: TrueHoop TV. Kevin Arnovitz sits down with new Memphis Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger to talk about his minor-league coaching come-up, what exactly constitutes "vomit basketball" and the importance of messing with Oliver Miller.
9th: SB Nation. Paul Flannery on the end of Paul Pierce's 15-year career with the Boston Celtics: "It's a cruel reality of sports that he has to spend his final days somewhere else, and it feels all kinds of wrong that he'll do it in Brooklyn."
10th: Half-Court Press. J.P. Pelosi takes a fresh look at the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals between Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls and Isiah Thomas' Detroit Pistons ... well, "fresh," if also through glasses whose lenses run "a deep red."
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