Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
James Young is supposed to be the veteran and RJ is supposed to be the guy trying to figure things out. But if you look at the first few games of summer league, you’d think that RJ was the guy in his second year and James Young was the rookie based on the way they’ve played.
Young has plenty of time to get back into the good graces of the Celtics and prove his worth but right now RJ Hunter is coming and he’s coming quick.
The James Young hype train came to a screeching halt, huh? All the talk about a renewed work ethic and 15 pounds of muscle are a distant memory after a few poor shooting nights and a hip injury in Summer League.
After a pair of goose eggs in his first 2 games, RJ Hunter dropped 18, 13 and 21 points in the next 3. He even saw a standing ovation.
We all can admit that talent assessments made in July are worthless. Sure, you’d want all of your Summer League players to get rave reviews but that isn’t realistic.
Young and Hunter will continue to battle for a roster spot right through training camp. Maybe Hunter’s emergence will light a fire under Young.
Who knows, maybe one or both will be dealt for a more seasoned shooter, like say Danilo Gallinari.
There isn’t much new to add to the Gallinari trade report that surfaced yesterday. Bleacher Report’s Brian Robb laid out 5 possible trade scenarios, a few of which are intriguing.
On Page 2, DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl kiss and make-up. Kinda.
DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl finally shook hands during the Sacramento Kings‘ summer league game on Monday night. It was a start, but there is a lot more work to be done to repair the relationship between the Kings’ All-Star center and their coach before next season.
“I just said hello to him this afternoon,” Karl told Yahoo Sports. “I don’t think it’s something we have to rush through. You got two guys that are very frustrated with losing, two guys that are somewhat stubborn and two guys that love to compete.
“Sometimes, that doesn’t work the first time you hang around. But you have to take your time to make it work. I’m very confident to make it work.”
The rift between Cousins and Karl grew after Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported before the NBA draft that Karl wanted Cousins traded. Cousins responded by tweeting out an emoji of a snake in the grass. A day later, Karl said Cousins was the Kings’ best player but the franchise needed him to be “committed and dedicated to being in Sacramento.”
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive was so upset with Karl that he seriously considering firing him, a league source said. Cousins wanted to be traded before the draft, a source told Yahoo Sports, but no deal was consummated.
“Cousins felt like if Karl wanted [him] to be traded then he wanted to be traded, too,” a source close to the situation said.
Watch the video of Boogie and George shaking hands and you’ll see one lukewarm greeting.
The Kings are going to give it a go with this highly combustible roster. They’ve added Rajon Rondo, Willie Cauley-Stein and a couple of shooters, why not try to capture lightning in a bottle?
Rajon Rondo on mutual interest in Kings ‘a great fit, so far. We haven’t played any games; George hasn’t thrown me out of any practices yet
— Sean Cunningham (@News10Sean) July 14, 2015
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Gotta love Rajon’s sense of humor.
Worst case (or best case for Celtics fans) scenario is that this team implodes by midseason and Cousins demands to be traded.
The rest of the links:
Herald – Holmes a perfect fit | Smart dives into pool | ESPN Boston – How Shaq, Starbury helped Cs get under cap | Sportando – Datome signs with Turkish club
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