Simplyvelo

Scoot Henderson of the Portland Trail Blazers and Amen Thompson of the Houston Rockets, both top-four picks in the NBA draft, left their Summer League matchup early Friday with injuries. Top players often are shut down early in Summer League as a precaution. Henderson injured his right shoulder and Thompson his left ankle in the Rockets' 100-99 victory over Portland.

The split between Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers has reached the “chess match calculations” phase, as Lillard tries to engineer a trade to the Miami Heat while Trail Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin insists upon exploring other offers. The conflicting aims and machinations of the two sides were revealed by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnaroswki in an extensive piece on the ongoing Lillard saga [subscription required]. Wojnarowski ran down the usual list of trade possibilities, but the most interesting material involved the principals themselves.