UNLV's Derrick Jones Kills a Defender Once Again

Derrick Jones is the nation's best dunker.  He is also a gifted prospect that can play from anywhere on the floor.  Ranked 30th of all incoming college freshman by ESPN, Jones took his talents to the courts this summer in order to tune up for college ball at UNLV.  The results... well let's just say it went viral.

A crazy dunk is nothing new for Derrick Jones, and neither is going viral.  UNLV fans should be getting ready to appear on Sports Center Top 10 every night this season.  Also, Zach Lavine should start practicing his dunks some more as Derrick Jones may be challenging him in the NBA Dunk Contest in a few years.  Don't believe he can beat Lavine? Just watch these videos: 

Lawson's Future is In His Hands In Houston

Trouble meets trouble.  Ty Lawson has been traded to the Houston Rockets after the Denver Nuggets had lost hope in his future.  Just a week ago, Lawson was pulled over for drunk driving, the 4th time, and the second time this year.  At this point, the Nuggets were ready to move forward and start the Emmanuel Mudiay era, that is without Ty Lawson.

The deal for Lawson included a 2017 second round pick being sent to the Rockets in exchange for Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, and a lottery protected 2016 first round draft pick.

Houston now boasts one of the best backcourts in the league with James Harden, Patrick Beverly, and Lawson himself.  Even though Beverly had proven himself at the point guard spot, Lawson is an obvious upgrade.  He plays with lighting speed and opens up ample opportunities for his teammates to score the ball.  Lawson is going to thrive alongside James Harden and Dwight Howard.

With Harden, Lawson will have a partner in crime in the backcourt (no pun intended), and will be able to kick the ball to Harden for easy buckets.

On the other hand, with Howard, Lawson's lighting quick speed will benefit him blowing by defenders and setting up mismatches in the paint.  Look for many Sports Center Top 10 alley oops between the new duo.

On paper, this move looks good for the Rockets, but it could actually hurt their chances in the playoffs.  In Denver, Lawson was known to be a hindrance in the locker room and to cause trouble on and off the court.  After slipping up once again, hopefully the extremely talented guard will be able to clean up his act in a new atmosphere.  On the other hand, he may get worse after hanging around Dwight Howard.  Sometimes, when trouble meets trouble the results can be disastrous, but in other cases a pleasant surprise of success can come about.  Hopefully the latter is the case for the new look Houston Rockets.

D'Angello Russell Signs With Nike

It's official NIKE! #JustDoIt ✔️✔️✔️✔️

— D'Angelo Russell (@Dloading) July 17, 2015

It's official, the Los Angeles Lakers second overall draft pick D'Angello Russell has inked a deal with Nike.  This deal has been predicted by many for a while now.  Throughout high school and college, Russell's teams were outfitted by Nike, and they would often give him crazy custom shoes and clothes.  He is also now playing in Los Angeles alongside one of Nike's current signature athletes Kobe Bryant.  Maybe if Russell lives up to the expectations he will also get his own signature line of Nikes.  But good luck with that.  Even the NBA's highest paid player Anthony Davis is having a hard time to get Nike to make him one of their signature athletes.  In the meantime enjoy some pictures of Russell rocking some sweet Nike's throughout his career thus far.

Custom KD VI

Kobe 9 EM Premium

KD 7 Aunt Pearl

Custom KD V

Kobe 10 PE

Kobe 10 PE

And What Nike Athlete Doesn't Rock
Jordan 13s From Time to Time?

It's the Same Game and the Same Players, Just More Money

This year's NBA Free Agency had seemed relatively normal, that was until yesterday.  Besides the contracts that seemed astronomically high, none of the free agency news was too shocking.  Then, Doc Rivers and the Clippers decided to shake things up.  Instead of respecting the fact that DeAndre Jordan had accepted to sign with the Mavericks, the Clippers continued to recruit him.  They also decided to go to his house and not leave until he signed a contract to come back to LA.  It all seemed too crazy to be true.  Although this caused shockwaves to be rippled through the NBA, it also made a relatively boring free agency just seem exciting.  As with every exciting free agency, it gets hard to track which players have signed where.  In order to make sense of all the deals, below is a list of every contract signed so far this offseason.

On the Move

LaMarcus Aldridge: 4-year, $84.1 million deal with Spurs

Greg Monroe: 3-year, $50 million with Bucks

DeMarre Carroll: 4-year, $60 million deal with Raptors

Wesley Matthews: 4-year, $57 million deal with Mavs

Monta Ellis: 4-year, $44 million deal with Pacers

Tyson Chandler: 4-year, $52 million deal with Suns

Rajon Rondo: 1-year, $10 million deal with Kings

Robin Lopez: 4-year, $54 million deal with Knicks

David West: 1-year, $1.4 million deal the Spurs

Paul Pierce: 3-year, $10.5 million deal with Clippers

Lou Williams: 3-year, $21 million deal with Lakers

Arron Afflalo: 2-year, $16 million deal with Knicks

Al-Farouq Aminu: 4-year, $30 million deal with Blazers

Amir Johnson: 2-year, $24 million deal with Celtics

Ed Davis: 3-year, $20 million deal with Blazers

Aron Baynes: 3-year, $20 million deal with Pistons

Marco Belinelli: 3-year $19 million deal with Kings

Brandan Wright: 3-year, $18 million deal with Grizzlies

Mo Williams: 2-year, $4.3 million deal with Cavs

Jeremy Lin: 2-year, $4 million deal with Hornets

Kosta Koufos: 4-year, $33 million deal with Kings

Cory Joseph: 4-year, $30 million deal with Raptors

Gerald Green: 1-year, $1.4 million deal with Heat

Kyle O’Quinn: 4-year, $16 million deal with Knicks

CJ Watson: 3-year, $15 million deal with Magic

Derrick Williams: 2-year, $10 million deal with Knicks

Jason Smith: 1-year, $4.5 million deal with Magic

Alan Anderson: 1-year, $4 million deal with Wizards

Sonny Weems: 2-year, $5.8 million deal with Suns

Bismack Biyombo: 2-year, $6 million deal with Raptors

Luis Scola: 1-year, $3 million deal with Raptors

Wesley Johnson: 1-year, $1.1 million deal with Clippers

Jeremy Evans: 2-year, $2.3 million deal with Mavs

Staying Put

LeBron James: 2-year, $47 million deal with Cavs

Anthony Davis: 5-year, $145 million extension with Pelicans

Damian Lillard: 5-year, $120 million extension with Blazers

DeAndre Jordan: 4-year, $87.7 million deal with Clippers

Kevin Love: 5-year, $110 million deal with Cavs

Marc Gasol: 5-year, $110 million deal with Grizzlies

Jimmy Butler: 5-year, $95 million deal with Bulls

Kawhi Leonard: 5-year, $90 million extension with Spurs

Draymond Green: 5-year, $85 million deal with Warriors

Brandon Knight: 5-year, $70 million extension with Suns

Dwyane Wade: 1-Year, $20 million deal with Heat

Goran Dragic: 5-year, $85 million deal with Heat

Reggie Jackson: 5-year, $80 million deal with Pistons

Paul Millsap: 3-year, $59 million deal with Hawks

Tim Duncan: 2-year, $10 million deal with Spurs

Brook Lopez: 3-year, $60 million deal with Nets

Khris Middleton: 5-year, $70 million deal with Bucks

Tobias Harris: 4-year, $64 million extension with Magic

Danny Green: 4-year, $45 million deal with Spurs

Manu Ginobili: 2-year, $5.7 million deal with Spurs

Thaddeus Young: 4-year, $50 million deal with Nets

Omer Asik: 5-year, $60 million deal with Pelicans

Kevin Garnett: 2-year deal with T-Wolves (financial terms not yet disclosed)

Iman Shumpert: 4-year, $40 million deal with Cavs

Patrick Beverley: 4-year, $25 million deal with Rockets

Jae Crowder: 5-year, $35 million deal with Celtics

Corey Brewer: 3-year $24 million deal with Rockets

Rodney Stuckey: 3-year, $21 million deal with Pacers

Mike Dunleavy Jr: 3-year, $14.4 million deal with Bulls

Kyle Singler: 5-year, $25 million deal with Thunder

Alexis Ajinca: 4-year, $20 million deal with Pelicans

Jonas Jerebko: 2-year, $10 million deal with Celtics

Dante Cunningham: 3-year, $9 million deal with Pelicans

Omri Casspi: 2-year, $6 million deal with Kings

Leandro Barbosa: 1-year, $2.5 million deal with Warriors

JJ Barea: 2-year, $5.6 million deal with Mavs

Justin Holiday: 2-year deal with Hawks (financial terms not yet disclosed)

Joe Ingles: 2-year, $4.5 million deal with Jazz

Aaron Brooks: 1-year, $2 million deal with Bulls

In Case You Missed It: Draymond Green Was Turnt Up at the Warriors Parade

Nowadays with all the media attention surrounding sports, some things are easy to miss.  Example: I never found out until yesterday that Draymond Green was drunk during the Golden State Warriors championship parade.  After watching the videos below, it's evident that Draymond Green just loves to be the team's clown.  It's also evident that he is the perfect example of living out the dream life of a 25 year old, and having fun while doing it.