Thursday Bolts – 7.9.15

Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider on DeAndre Jordan re-joining the Clippers: “A projection using the multi-year version of RPM, adjusted for age, shows L.A.’s offseason moves as a small net positive. The Clippers are probably still a tier behind the defending champion Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs, who added LaMarcus Aldridge, but they join the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies in what figures to again be a heated battle for home-court advantage in the West. Of those teams, the Clippers were the best last season in terms of point differential, outscoring opponents by 6.6 points per game — second only to the Warriors in the league.”

Darnell Mayberry on Josh Huestis: “Huestis has the length, strength, savvy and athleticism to be a prototypical ‘3 and D’ wing, a player who specializes in knocking down 3-pointers and locking up the opposing team’s perimeter threats with suffocating defense. But he must first improve his long-range accuracy. He made just 85 of 269 3-pointers (31.6 percent) with the Blue last season and never shot above 34 percent from behind the 3-point line in his four years at Stanford. But he’s seeing growth.”

If you missed it, the new salary cap is out. And here’s how it impacts the Thunder.

Also if you missed it, a big long Q&A with Billy Donovan.

Amin Elhassan of ESPN Insider pegs Enes Kanter as a mid-level player: “All indications are that Kanter will receive much more than midlevel from the Thunder; that doesn’t necessarily mean he should. I detailed back in March why he was so successful in an Oklahoma City uniform, and how much of his improvement could be linked to an oversimplification of the game for him by the coaching staff. The fact is, he fits the profile of a backup big: lack of attention to detail on either end of the floor and specialization of talent. Throw in the fact that the Thunder already have a pretty good starting frontcourt in Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams, and you’ll see why I don’t see the rush to hand over a bag full of cash.”

Interesting piece on player health.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com on the West: “The Clippers are legit contenders, just like they were last season. They would have had a hard time making the playoffs without Jordan. The Mavs have gone from being first-round fodder to hoping they get to hold on to their lottery ticket. Dallas isn’t one of the West’s 10 best teams.”

Excellent FAQ from Larry Coon on some salary cap issues: “For the Nets, swapping Johnson’s $24.9 million salary with Brendan Haywood’s non-guaranteed $10.5 million and $9.6 million for the injured Anderson Varejao would shave more than $15 million off their payroll and could mean a tax savings of almost $52 million. Conversely, a Cavs payroll with Johnson, James, Love, Irving and perhaps Tristan Thompson all with max deals (not to mention the rest of the roster) could rise to around $116 million (almost $35 million above the tax threshold), which would carry a tax hit of — get this — $106 million. For the math wizards at home, that’s a total payout of $222 million for one season. Now you see why Cleveland might be dragging its feet a bit to pay Thompson his asking price.”