is somebody recording this?

The NY Knicks will have a Las Vegas Summer League entry. Note the picture at the top of the Knicks website... where's Stephon? Where's Eddy Curry? Where's Jerome James? Are they trying to tell me there is a future in this team?

So will the Dallas Mavericks:

Mavericks open summer-league play: The Mavericks will open play today in the first of three summer leagues this month, taking on the Denver Nuggets at the Toshiba Vegas Summer League.

The opener begins at 5 p.m. Rolando Blackman is coaching the Mavericks' entry in the Las Vegas league that is considered their "A" team. First-round draftee Maurice Ager joins veterans Josh Powell, Rawle Marshall and Pavel Podkolzin on the squad of 12. The "A" team also will compete in the Rocky Mountain Revue, July 14-21 in Salt Lake City.

The Mavericks will send a "B" team to the Long Beach Summer Pro League, which starts Sunday.

Unfortunately, the Bricks' Renaldo Balkman won't play against Ronaldo Blackman's Knicks (with the ten fans watching in Vegas yelling for a trade).

Meanwhile, the Knicks second-year players give the back alley whooping to Larry Brown's coaching style in the NY Newsday:

"It was like, 'I'm trying to do everything you ask me, and it seems like it's not good enough,' " [Nate] Robinson said. "It's like, 'We're butting heads here because, Coach, you told me to do this yesterday, but today, you told me not to do it.' ... At first, it was like he was trying to take my joy."

*****

"We won six in a row [in January, when I started at small forward], and I was a little surprised when, all of a sudden, I'm not only not starting, I'm not playing at all," [David] Lee said. "It was a little strange, and toward the end of the season [playing time] was so up and down. I really didn't understand what was going on."

Meanwhile, in New Jersey Nets camp, Cliffy Robinson is back and free of herbal smoke supplements.

Enjoy a visual offseason primer on the New Jersey Nets.

And their Orlando Summer League schedule.