Rick Kamla and Steve Snapper Jones guiding us on Comcast via NBA TV tonight....Chenier and Buckhantz are probably getting sloshed at the Green Turtle. Kamla promises that Nick Young will dazzle. I've never been as pumped about watching a Wizards summer league game before, even when I made it to one live in Vegas in '06.

This is a very mature summer league squad, it's worth paying attention to the quality of shots (I know, obscene to expect they will be anywhere near decent) and turnovers. Let's start the show.

Q1

Nick Young starts out with a smooth fading baseline turnaround over Jerryd Bayless for the first points of the game. He looked very comfortable in doing so.

Travel Troubles: Last night, the Wiz were scheduled for a Sunday 8:30 pm commercial flight out of DC to Vegas. The rain hit hard beginning around 6:30, I know, I had to honor of leaving the apartment just as it began. The Wizards flight was at delayed until 9 pm and then canceled. Early on Monday they bused to Philly (the commercial flights out of BWI only had middle seats) and took an 11 am flight, which was also delayed. The team landed in Vegas at 3 pm local time, boarded a bus and got to the gym at 4 pm to start a game at 5 pm. It retrospect, it could've been worse.

JaVale McGee hits a turnaround baseline jumper....off the glass...with Duncan-esque technical form. 5-4 Blazers.

This Petteri Koponen guy is getting places a little to easily.

PK then picks McGuire who is attempting to bring the ball end to end. Koponen takes it down the court for a layup under heavy defensive pressure.

Portland gets a rebound, but Andray Blatche sticks around with veteran craftiness, gets a steal and a dunk....more vet moves as Andray jumps out in the passing lane off a side-out and takes it for an uncontested layup. 8-7 Wiz.

With 5:16 and the first commercial break, Wiz up 8-7. JaVale McGee has done well to contest shots without fouling.....so far, he's almost too quick to jump.

4:10 - Bayless took it to the hoop so fast and hard that McGee had no time to react and didn't even jump. I suppose he could have displayed more awareness.....plus c'mon dude, you get 10 fouls. 9-8 Blazers.

I like Dee Brown because he plays with a purpose and doesn't seem to hesitate with his decision making.

Vladimir Veremeenko checks in...for D Mac, who wasn't playing very well. The Cleaner tried to force the issue on both ends a couple times. Dontaye Draper checks in for Brown too.

Nick Young thinks he's Kobe....put his hand out to the defender to assist his positioning, Bayless fell and ref called a charge. Some players get away with it, as they should, but this is summer league and The Bean Burrito is not The Black Mamba.

Some guy named Frank Elegar got a bucket, and one......he kinda panicked when he got the ball in the paint with Bayless under him. Jerryd tried to draw a charge, but he was too far under the basket and Elegar hit a lucky shot. 14-12 Blazers.

Vladimir doesn't impress in missing two FTs, at least those were created by an offensive board.

Dontaye Draper with a great outlet to Gary Forbes for a breakaway hoop....the first assist in the game with 15 seconds left in the first. Quarter ends with Portland up 16-14.

Q2

Taj McCullough with a nose for the ball to snatch a rebound from a crowd on one end, an athletic Frank Elegar displaying flying put-back dunks and post moves on the other end. 21-19 Blazers after the dunk and two Elegar FTs on the subsequent possessions.

Elegar then catches a tough pass as he was running the floor on the break and coverts the basket, and 1. That's right, seven straight Wizards point from some guy named Frank Elegar

G-Town's Jonathan Wallace comes in at the seven minute mark, along with the nouveau Bill Walton, Arkansas' Steven Hill, for the Blazers.

Wallace's first move is to hit an arching, quick trigger deuce. 24-21 Wiz. Wallace has some nice handles too, bringing it up against Bayless on the break.

5:30 - All the starters have checked back in...Andray Blatche has lost the headband, sporting the bald head and hanging goatee. Kamla is disappointed with Nick Young so far. He's made some nice moves, but those mostly get him fadeaways and off balanced shots...he's missed 3 of 4, all jumpers.

Speak of the devil, and that's why Steve Snapper Jones warned Rick not to speak too soon, Nick Young gets another jumper, but this time he got a spot in the paint and made it easy on himself. 27 tie game.

I'm not sure Andray Blatche's arms look much bigger, but his "core" looks sturdier. He's also showing some nice footwork and quickness when working the baseline.

2:48 - Blatche continues to impress with a composed up and under after receiving the ball in the paint from D-Mac (behind the back) on the break. 29-30 Portland.

Good break by Dee Brown gets it to Blatche, who has nothing, but stops, doesn't force the issue, gives the ball back to Brown, who finds Nick Young in the corner for three. 35-31 Wizards.

Blatche continues to be all over the place.....and fouls continue to plague him as he picks up his 5th before halftime.

JaVale McGee is having his share of tough times, 1-8 from the field so far, Snapper Smith points out his "finesse" game.

At the half: Andray had 11 points and 5 boards, to go along with his 5 fouls. Jerryd Bayless played bigger than he looks (6'3") with a scrappy 17 points.

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Earlier today, Jake put us onto a listening session of Dee Brown's rap/hip-hop CD, Unwritten, which I'd heard of before, but hadn't heard before.

Since it looks like Illinois' Prince (I wonder why he didn't go with Prince of Illinois, doesn't seem as cumbersome to say...oh well) will be a Washington Wizard, or at least on the summer league squad to start, I decided to take a listen to see what else I could find out about this cat.

Here's what I learned:

1. Derek Fisher is his "pops."
2. He has a song called "Feelin' My Swag" -- Gilbert likey.
3. Hoopin' is his dream AND his passion...in other news, Dee Brown loves his job and he loves his sport.
4. Dee's trainer, the famed Tim Grover, gets a shot-out. I guess he's the Jacob the Jeweler of the basketball-rapper world.
5. If he ain't in the gym, he's in the club. Uhh....okay.
6. Music is Dee Brown's outlet.
7. Dee Brown's mom put some sense into him with that belt.
8. Dee Brown doesn't cuss except for hell, damn, and ass.
9. Dee Brown is all for positive music, and not using the 'N' word or downgrading women.
10. "Heat" rhymes with "feet" and "Suns" rhymes with "son."
11. He's been hoopin' since 9, reppin' since 17.
12. Dee Brown is not a battle rapper.
13. Dee Brown will make you laugh, and he'll do it on purpose.
14. Dee Brown really loves his momma, as we all should.

Overall, not a bad effort, but far from anything great. On the other hand, Dee Brown's stuff is miles and miles better than a ton of the crap out there....talking about Ying-Yang Twins, Soulja Boy, Gucci Mane, Ron Artest, Young Joc, Chingy, Juelz Santana, etc..

Every song seems to be about ballin' or makin' it (with some love to the ladies on the side, including his momma). I'd like to see some more diverse subject matter. Creative analogies wouldn't hurt either....in fact, I can't even recall a single one being used. It seems more like a mix-tape because the amount of recycled beats. But hey, if this guy sticks around, he may fit right in with this current Wizards team on, and off the court.

4-years, $50 million to AJ.......ok.

Now, Mike Jones is reporting $127 million over six for Gilbert Arenas?

To get to that figure, the Wiz would have to pay Arenas about $16.255 in year one and give him the max 10.5% yearly raises.

Can they do that?

In 07-08, the max a player with seven years in the league could earn was $15,649,500 (30% of the salary cap).

A conservative estimate would be a 7.5% increase, putting next season's salary cap around $59,802,250. 30% of that is $17,940,675.

Is Gilbert's true max $140 million over 6 years? Who knows.

But factor in the salary on the books for next season, AJ's contract, along with McGee...and giving Gil $127 barely leaves the Wiz with enough money to use the Bi-Annual Exception (of $1.91 million), much less any of the mid-level exception.

It's becoming more clear that taking a pay cut for Jamison had noting to do with anything.