Western Notes: Mayo, Rockets, Nuggets, Bayless

Although the Lakers are receiving all the headlines and attention for their slow start this season, another team expected to be a contender in the West has had its own struggles so far, without the injuries or coaching turnover that the Lakers have. The Nuggets pulled their record to .500 last night, however, with a solid win in Detroit, while the Lakers continued to slide, losing to Kyrie Irving and the Cavs in Cleveland. As the Nuggets prepare to play in Minnesota tonight and the Lakers head to New York for a Thursday night TNT showdown with the Knicks, let's round up a few other updates out of the Western Conference:

  • "Your odds of winning the Powerball lottery are better" than the odds of O.J. Mayo exercising his $4.2MM player option with the Mavericks next season, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. However, that doesn't mean Mayo won't be a core piece in Dallas going forward.
  • Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle looks at how offseason acquisitions James Harden and Jeremy Lin are fitting together with the Rockets.
  • Although the Nuggets are off to a slow start this season, the front office continues to express complete confidence in the current roster, Danilo Gallinari tells Lang Greene of HoopsWorld. Gallinari singled out the Nuggets' extension for Ty Lawson as a confidence-booster for the entire team: "Especially with a player like Ty who is going to play with the Nuggets for a long time. For all of his career. It was very important for us because he’s a great guy and I thought our front office did a very good move in giving him a long contract."
  • Within Greene's piece, the HoopsWorld scribe also details how Jerryd Bayless has been making a strong impression with the Grizzlies after signing a two-year deal this summer. Bayless will have the opportunity to opt out and become an unrestricted free agent again at season's end.
  • While Virginia Beach City Council voted to continue pursuing a new arena, council members seem to recognize that the current proposal includes too much public money, writes Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee.
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