Tuesday Bolts: Fun, Official Business

I've always banged the "none of this matters" drum regarding summer exhibition play, a subject which has turned into another Twitter-wide fight. You can absolutely enjoy Summer League as a fan, and even learn a thing or two as a nerd. The games (and practices, and agent negotiations, and sidebars with other team staff) matter very much to the franchises working every angle of development and cap management from the top of the draft to the basement of the G League. Just don't bank your analysis on summer tape. A rough summer does not a bust make. Neither does a strong showing in July bank a star. On the other hand, summer cynics shouldn't crap on the long-shot dream-chasing that players, coaches, and the scouting apparatus come together for at this time of year.

In a word, Summer League should be fun.

Thunder Bolts

• ICYMI @ Daily Thunder: Thunder drop first Summer League games against Hawks and Grizzlies... weekly bolts and this week's Thunder schedule... keep up with our offseason timeline and Summer League viewing guide.
• The free agency moratorium lifted yesterday, and the salary cap numbers are all real now.
  • OKC announced the official re-signings of Isaiah Hartenstein and Kenrich Williams, as well as the trades of Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe.
  • Nothing has been reported or announced on Cason Wallace's contract after day 1 of 106. I wouldn't get too antsy until a full week has passed.
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played another qualifier for Team Canada, which they won. Shai exits global play looking dominant and fresh. Summer fun: check.

• Nate Duncan and Sam Quinn have been highlighting that the evaporation of local TV revenue has slowed the salary cap's growth and player/owner earnings more than the CBA's apron structure. The Thunder were hurt by the slow-motion death of Bally FanDuel* Sports Network like everyone else, but that revenue stream is relatively less painful for OKC since their small-market broadcast rights are less lucrative in the first place. They haven't announced their plans for next season on the broadcasting front; the most common arrangements are .
  • *I can't let this bolt pass without noting that two slapdash infusions of gambling money didn't help the now-defunct media entity--whose shuttering left nearly half the league without a broadcast partner--save its business or provide fans with a quality NBA product. Daily Thunder hasn't collected a penny from gambling companies, and we won't be getting wobbly no matter how much the sportsbooks and prediction markets saturate the NBA landscape.
• Collin Butrlakornk on squinting at Summer League stats:

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