And-Ones: Carmelo, Bazley, Seattle, Rookies

Carmelo Anthony, the newest member of the Rockets, published a letter earlier this week thanking his old team, along with the Thunder fans. As Erik Horne of The Oklahoman details, Anthony said that he wanted to bring a championship to OKC and was “sorry it didn’t work out” while he was there. However, despite only being with the Thunder for one year, Carmelo said he’ll never forget the experience and the support he received from the “incredible” fans in OKC.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Within an Insider article on his observations from the Nike Basketball Academy in Los Angeles, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony notes that there’s speculation among NBA scouts that prospect Darius Bazley may end up not playing in the G League, as was originally planned. Bagley didn’t look great at the event, so if he feels he’s not ready for the G League, he could take the Mitchell Robinson route and forgo competitive basketball for 2018/19, writes Givony.
  • Seattle is in “a class by itself” in terms of cities that are candidates for NBA expansion, Marc Stein of the New York Times writes in his latest newsletter. In Stein’s view, there are a handful of cities that could be options to join Seattle if the NBA decides it wants to expand to 32 teams at some point, but none of those cities are on Seattle’s level.
  • A handful of top NBA rookies spoke to ESPN about which fellow rookie they’re most looking forward to playing, their biggest purchase since signing their rookie contract, and – most interestingly – their pick for Rookie of the Year. ESPN’s Chris Forsberg has the details.
  • The NBA announced this week that the NBA 2K eLeague will introduce four expansion teams for the 2019 season, with the Hawks, Nets, Lakers, and Timberwolves adding affiliates.
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