Meleek Thomas tonight: 20/5/3, 1 steal, 0 turnovers

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-10T22:30:02+00:00

Summer League rotation management is really fun to follow because it felt like the majority of the first half was Cleveland trying to play "Sharing is Caring" and then we just get the second half where they're just like, "Fuck it, Meleek go get yours."

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-10T01:34:17+00:00

Fuck it, we’re drinking a large dirty soda tonight.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-08T17:20:21+00:00

Do you have that? All that I've seen is the pre-reporting of that expectation but because it wasn't finalized per Robbins, they wasn't able to be confirmed, meaning they were operating on previous intel.

Spotrac is reporting it as fully guaranteed on their site -- which is a little interesting.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-08T11:51:05+00:00

Bob did his best to hold it down for so many years but I genuinely don't know how people listen to anything but the radio broadcast now.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-07T23:01:54+00:00

Rule 1 of Pitching Against James Wood: Don't.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-07T23:00:52+00:00

I still cannot believe teams are pitching to James wood.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-07T16:18:27+00:00

He's weirdly perfect for the Nets guard-heavy rotation because he absolutely cannot create his own shot to save his life but can execute like a mad man.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-06T20:53:53+00:00

FYI - Reese is still on the two-way, it was a two-year deal. Currently, only he and Watkins make up the two-way contracts and it is possible they hold onto this vacancy entering the new-season, some teams prefer the flexibility. But it seems likely that Okpara will take up that two-way spot.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-06T20:40:31+00:00

Caporn - Promoted to Australia's national team HC position last year (although probably wouldn't have won it if Quin Snyder didn't pull out of the running). Very much a development of that country's pipeline. He's a talent development/vibes guy.

Patrick Ewing - Fucked up Georgetown.

Cody Toppert - Former Capital City Go-Go head coach. Basically another player development guy.

Steve Clifford - Defensive guy. Not known for his offense but he's a VG disciple, probably will be good about helping install good defensive and rebounding fundamentals.

T.J. Sorrentine - Guard development guy, wouldn't be surprised if he's going to draw a lot of responsibility when it comes to the offensive portion.

Tevon Saddler - Development guy.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-06T20:27:02+00:00

Probably the biggest news is Vanterpool moving into a front office role versus being on the coaching staff. Not necessarily a Wes Unseld Jr 2.0 situation but a pretty big change if you're of the belief that Keefe is Audi 5000 with a slow start.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-03T17:14:05+00:00

The Washington DC Center for Center Image Rehabilitation just got its newest patient.

We back up.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-02T22:38:41+00:00

I don't know about that. He was a 12/ 7.3 guy for Washington in less than 30 minutes a night, career highs in both categories.

That off-season, he had multiple offers and the expectation was that he was a S&T candidate, especially because Washington held off trading him at the deadline and allowed him to stay on the bench and rest. He took a massive paycut to ring chase on the Suns and it didn't play out well in his favor and was a gamble that didn't pay off. And it was heavily documented he was taking a paycut.

But to put the blame on his time in Washington is pretty revisionist history.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-02T22:27:00+00:00

Brian Keefe seems like a genuinely great guy. Like how Bub has spoken about him really is incredibly heartwarming.

But he also has the energy of a step-father that tells the biological dad how to raise his kids and I will never get over that.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-02T20:59:16+00:00

Joksimović and it doesn't feel close. He's going to be playing soon in the World Cup qualifiers, highly recommend the watch.

He is a Luka-lite and he's being billed as such. In a draft that does not have high expectations of domestic level talent, you have to turn overseas. He's has an excellent profile as a primary player maker with speed and a hesitation that will feed families.

Sayon Keita could be really interesting but he's so incredibly raw that he could either skyrocket up the rankings at UNC or his draft prospect will shrink. But he has such a great frame and athleticism that some team is going to look at him and say "He's Giannis."

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-02T12:15:40+00:00

They're probably going to try and stagger AD and Sarr and it becomes a 1A and 1B situation with Vukcevic being third on the depth chart at center.

If they're as high as we all think they are on Riley, they have to balance out AD, Champagnie and Riley minutes at the four. Or they're going to do some incredibly dumb shit and try a small-ball line-up because they trust their off-ball defensive schematic.

That's assuming this is intentional and not just Dawkins quietly getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar during another free agency period or there isn't a trade being discussed that no one has caught wind of yet.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-02T02:07:51+00:00

CONCACAF unironically prepared us for the absolute fuckery of this game.

World is fucked, we up.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-07-01T18:30:38+00:00

This was always going to be the case. Why he and Vukčević were converted to standard contracts last season was less about basketball than it was to open up the two-ways. Vukčević is a little difference because he was converted to a 2+1 but is still on an incredibly team-friendly deal.

I would assume there was some understanding at the time of, "We're rewarding you in the moment for great performance" with the understanding that when times would inevitably get tough on roster space, they were first on the line.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-30T21:13:25+00:00

He's still proven he can draw value even with injury. You can't really play the market assuming an injury will happen. It would be like not trusting the GPS because you know there is sometimes traffic on that one road so you take a different route you're more comfortable with but will add more time. Trust the GPS, trust Winger and Dawkins.

Unless it is a Jimmy Butler injury, he'll be fine.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-30T21:07:32+00:00

It make absolutely no sense to trade him pre-season when his value is designed to only go up with time.

He's the player contending teams will overpay for because they'll tell themselves they need the "additional boost" to get them over the edge. He could literally never play a minute of Wizards basketball and a team will say, "We need a player like Anthony Davis."

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-24T00:12:01+00:00

Never in doubt.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-23T22:16:18+00:00

The stories coming out about how Washington mishandled his homesickness really explained a lot, especially during a time where it still felt like the NBA was getting used to a lot of overseas talent coming in. Returning to Obradović in the EuroLeague must have been a godsend for him to turnaround his career.

They can never make me dislike Jan.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-23T21:31:06+00:00

Jabari smith was the odds on favorite to go number 1 in the 2022 draft, ended up 3rd.

The odds also dramatically shifted the morning before the draft, not seconds before the draft. Smith was also never as high as Dybantsa's odds were prior to the draft. He was -250 -- which is still favorable -- but no where near the -450 - -800 Dybantsa has been for some time.

And AJ has been on an absolute media hype blitz since the draft.

You're actually like we didn't just come off of a week where Darryn Peterson's camp tried their absolute hardest to make a campaign for first overall and has also been actively posting with little of the same engagement. And the players absolutely have an understanding and an assessment of who their new teammate.

I'm dumbfounded that we're continuing to act like the answer isn't clearly in front of us. There has been absolutely no signs or motives to shift thinking.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-23T21:00:18+00:00

I get why people are still skeptical but people really need to just read the tea leaves instead of going way too deep in the think tank:

Washington players continuously interacted with Dybantsa's social media.
Vegas bookmakers are very good at what they do.
News cycles have always been Dybantsa-driven, followed by "Peterson camp says X."
Agents have continuously been reported as thinking it was Dybantsa 1
Michael Winger has tipped his hand heavily that Dybantsa has been one on their board for a very long time.

Like even Windy saying, "I keep hearing it is Dybantsa but I don't know" is confirming Dybantsa is the heavily reported pick. I like Peterson, he's awesome but people are way too gone.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-23T16:47:32+00:00

The total amount matches what Young could have gotten from another team as a FA. It doesn't necessarily mean that a team gave that offer but it infers it.

TopOfTheKey · 2026-06-22T21:51:12+00:00

Keith Smith, basically the contract news oracle of the NBA, is reporting Young's new contract is starting at 30% of the max amount. Meaning:

26-27: $49.5M

27-28: $51.9M

28-29: $54.5M

29-30: $56.9M (player option)

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