The Los Angeles Times (Mark Heisler) reports: Kobe Bryant, who lives for one-on-one challenges, went at it with former Trojan and soon-to-be Memphis Grizzlies rookie O.J. Mayo, a member of the U.S. Select team, last week in Las Vegas. “Kobe completely shut him down in the beginning,” said U.S. managing director Jerry Colangelo. “But the longer they went, the better Mayo got.” Bryant already knew Mayo, who attended his camp last summer, and already thought highly of him. “I think the world of him,” Bryant said. “I think he’s extremely talented. I think he has a great overall game that a lot of young players don’t have in terms of skills. He can handle, he can shoot, he can pass, he’s fast, he’s quick, so that’s the whole package.”

The Oklahoman (Mike Baldwin) reports on a team’s 82-game regular season schedule: “Four games against division opponents. Four games against six out-of-division conference opponents. Three games against the remaining four conference teams. Two games against teams in the opposing conference. A five-year rotation determines which out-of-division conference teams are played only three times.”

The AP reports: O.J. Mayo, the third overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in last month’s draft, made the most spectacular shot of his career Monday night at the NBA Summer League. Mayo converted a desperation three-quarters court shot from 69 feet to beat the first-quarter buzzer against San Antonio. Mayo, who shot it with both hands from straight away, rattled it through the rim. “I thought it wasn’t going to make it to the rim,” Mayo said. “I was surprised. After practices recently, we have been practicing half-court shots. I made a few there, and now I made one in a game.”

The  National  Basketball  Association today announced  that  the  Salary  Cap  for  the  2008-09 season will be $58.680 million.   The  new  Cap  goes  into  effect  immediately  as  the league’s “moratorium  period”  has ended and teams can begin signing free agents and making trades.
The  tax level for the 2008-09 season has been set at $71.150 million.  Any team whose team salary exceeds that figure will pay a $1 tax for each $1 by which it exceeds $71.150 million.
The  mid-level  exception  is $5.585 million for the 2008-09 season and the minimum  team  salary,  which  is  set at 75% of the Salary Cap, is $44.010 million.
For  the 2007-08 season, the Salary Cap was set at $55.630 million, the tax level was $67.865 million and the mid-level exception was $5.356 million.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal (Jim Masilak) reports: Excitement over the draft-night deal that brought guard O.J. Mayo to Memphis is palpable at FedExForum, where skeptical season-ticket holders are signaling their approval by re-upping for the 2008-09 season. “I’ve been here since the start,” said Dennis O’Connor, the Grizzlies’ vice president of ticket sales and service. “There has been more excitement stemming from draft night on the business side than in any year since I’ve been here.” As Grizzlies fans know all too well after back-to-back 22-60 seasons, excitement has been in pretty short supply at FedExForum. Although the emergence of second-year forward Rudy Gay provided a glint of hope, it has been dimmed by the team’s inability to find a bona fide star attraction.