The Weekside: How Aldridge, George and Love will be defined by adjustments

Around the Association: The East

Atlanta Hawks

Welcome to Atlanta, where the Hawks stay tinkering with good things and making them worse.

Boston Celtics

Isaiah Thomas picked his top-five ball-handlers in the NBA: Jamal Crawford, Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden (with an honorable mention of … Isaiah Thomas). Harden is the one interesting one and at first I thought to myself, “hmmm,” but then I was like, “definitely.” It can be fun to mock Beardy’s reliance on the stepback and penchant for over-initiating contact, but the fact is that he is simply unguardable when he has the ball and after his genius-level understanding of space in time, it’s mainly because his has such great control of the rock at all times.

Charlotte Hornets

Al Jefferson told the Charlotte Observer about one key to him losing a bunch of weigh this summer: “Every Popeye’s commercial I see, I have to turn the TV off.”

Chicago Bulls

Pau Gasol showed great signs during Eurobasket that he may be able to repeat his, to many, unexpectedly great play from last season. He’s 35, but whose to say that really matters with guys like Tim Duncan increasingly showing the modern-era players can stay productive a lot longer than dudes from the early ’90s and before.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Chris Broussard reported yesterday that Tristan Thompson signed a three-year deal. But Thompson did not do that, and is instead still reportedly some $14 million away from reaching an agreement. Re-signing their big man was not the number-one priority of the summer. Re-upping with LeBron and Kevin Love, both of which they accomplished, was much more important. But losing Thompson would be huge, and it’s hard to believe they will let him get away without offering a near-max pre-CBA-jump deal.

Tristan probably isn’t worth that — he’s a bench player for Cleveland — and the Cavs can probably still get out of a horribly weak Eastern Conference without him. But losing him would be a depressing end to an otherwise splendid summer that saw them reach the Finals in June despite a thousand injuries and hit all their other offseason goals.

Detroit Pistons

The Pope was closer to Madison Square Garden, but he made sure to show love to his fam in Auburn Hills.

Miami Heat

Chris Bosh is healthy in real life and the best version of himself in the video game world.

Philadelphia Sixers

Nik Stauskas is currently a basketball player employed by a company pretending to be professional basketball team so it’s only fitting that he is spending part of his offseason pretending to be a weatherman for an actual professional news organization. And, man, for a first-time meteorologist, he really nailed his report. I am impressed as I am glad I don’t live in Ft. McMurray, Canada. (via Sports Illustrated)

Washington Wizards

Former Wizard Caron Butler got very candid with Washington Post reporter Dan Steinberg about the career-altering, firearm-related locker room incident he witnessed between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, who is currently doing an unrelated 23-year stretch in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Butler told the paper that on that day in the arena, Crittenton “pulled out his own gun, already loaded, cocked it, and pointed it at Gilbert” and the altercation “was a decision made by two young men that kind of led to how my career was shaped.”

He says that was the end for a Wizards era that has once been a joy to watch due to the goofball confidence of Arenas and fundamental, top-level play of him and Antawn Jamison. “We just knew that whatever we had going, whatever it was, it was over, because of that situation,” Caron told Steinberg.

Next: Around the Association: West