Summertime champs

July 10, 10:55 AMGolden State Warriors ExaminerVittorio Tafur

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The Warriors start summer league play today, and as everyone in the NBA knows the Warriors own the summer league. Golden State was 4-1 and tied for first in Las Vegas last summer, when the legend of Anthony Morrow was born. The Warriors then followed that up with a first-place-tying 3-1 record at the now-defunct Rocky Mountain Revue in Utah.

Two years ago, local scribes wasted a ton of ink writing up Marco Belinelli's exploits in the summer league.

The summer league has one real purpose to me: to see if big men can compete inside and get rebounds. If they show off an offensive move or two, it's a bonus. Last year, you could tell right off that Anthony Randolph had the tools to do something special -- or at least noteworthy -- in the NBA.

The wide-open, no-defense style of play won't tell you much about guards. Warriors rookie Stephen Curry will get plenty of open looks  to hit his jumper and ample fast-break opportunities to show he can make the pretty pass as well as the smart one. Most of these guys playing in Las Vegas won't make the NBA, so big games from guards aren't worth much. (One of my first times going, I saw former Spurs scrub Jaren Jackson totally dominate for three days straight and I have been correctly jaded ever since).

The Warriors will have three rotation players getting some burn in Randolph, Morrow and Curry, so it should be entertaining to watch. Former Cal and Lakers forward Jamal Sampson has a chance, I guess, to outshine Jermareo Davidson and take the 12th spot on the roster. There will be an Acie Law sighting. And there's always the opportunity for someone to pull a Morrow and come out of nowhere -- Australian Joe Ingles and Stanford product Lawrence Hill are both 6-foot-8 and legit dark horse candidates.

As far as rumors the Warriors may be up for sale in the next two years, I am going to leave that one alone. Owner Chris Cohan is extremely secretive and reports that someone thinks he might do something because he needs money ...

No, not going to do it. Not going to post for the first time in 10 days and then criticize other writers. If I did, I would start with Chris Broussard, the ESPN expert who may be having the worst offseason in broadcast journalism history. He actually went on the air the other day refuting his own story from earlier in the day on what LeBron James told Trevor Ariza.

But let me do a better job with this site before I start throwing stones like the striking World Cup stadium builders in South Africa.

Next up, why the Warriors can't get Carlos Boozer (Jazz don't want any of their big contracts) and why standing pat with this roster may not be the worst thing in the world.