hawkman

This. Kobe was drafted to be a combo off the bench. He's perfect for that when healthy. All the Hawks need from is to be the primary ballhandler for a few minutes and 8-10ppg off the bench. I wish someone like Lou Will could mentor him on how to maximize his role.

I didn't think it necessarily sped him up. I think he knew he could get past his man after Miami switched. I think that was by design. You could see them purposely setting screens to give him a more favorable matchup and he attacked each time. I actually like his ability to change speeds while going to the basket.

He handled the ball and made a few decent passes, but he's definitely a combo guard. He can be a backup PG but it's not his natural position. To his credit, he can defend PGs and he doesn't get sped up on offense or make a lot of mistakes. He can also score. That's all we really need.

Honestly, he looked better last Summer League even though he was playing out of position. He looked more explosive.

Toppin will be a nice emergency forward to have around.

Shut 'em up Kobe!

Nice drive by Kobe!

Toppin will stick.

Love his activity though. He's all over the place.

Play Lamont Butler.

Great on offense minus the TOs. His handle and ability to attack the paint at his size looks legit. Edit: He still has sleeves albeit short ones.

He's not, but the NBA is going to pretend he is and move on. Maybe that's for the best. There's a part of me that doesn't even want to know how far this goes. Hopefully, Beasley doesn't choose to set the house on fire on his way out the door.

Stern was more about catering to dynasties and superstars and giving them preferential treatment (through officiating) in the Playoffs. I still haven't forgotten Game 6 of that Kings Lakers series in 2002. Donaghy stating that game was fixed on his way down didn't surprise anyone. Stern's hands aren't completely clean, but he never condoned outright gambling on games... that we know of.

It's funny because it's true. On a serious note, there's way too much potential for contamination when you go out of your way to host events in Vegas and allow sports betting sites to sponsor everything but the games themselves. Adam should know better after what happened under Stern's watch. Maybe, Adam Silver can somehow convince the feds that Beasley is an isolated case like Stern did with Ted Donaghy. Of course, we all know better, but at least it will put the other guys on notice... for a while.