Ty Lawson believes he could make a big difference for the Houston Rockets if they play the Golden State Warriors again in the playoffs.

“Steph Curry needed someone to go back at him,” Lawson told Yahoo Sports. “I thought Steph was just chillin’ on defense – and then going crazy on offense. He looked like he was just putting shots up and not working so much on the defensive end. He would just come down and hit three or four 3s. He can shoot when he’s got his legs under him.”

The Rockets primarily had Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni at point guard as Curry's defensive assignment.

“I’m not saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to stop Steph,' but just make him work harder at the other end. I saw that in the Cavs series too.

“He wasn’t really working at the other end.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers plan on using Kevin Love more prominently in his second season with the team.

"I just think he's more comfortable in the situation that he's in," LeBron James said after practice Wednesday. "He's got a year under his belt; he knows what he expects out of himself and what his teammates expect out of him. I expect big things from him this year with a year up under his belt."

Using Love more would also allow James to rest more than he has in the past.

Love's numbers took a noticeable hit last season, as he averaged just 16.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while often appearing an ill fit for coach David Blatt's schemes. Love's usage rate dropped from 27.7 in his last season with the Timberwolves, second among all power forwards, to 20.4 in his first season with the Cavs, 20th among all power forwards.

Damian Lillard was asked on media day how he's worked on expanding his individual game in the offseason.

"The first thing I did this summer was find different things that I could do for my body. Instead of when they say ‘take time off after the long season,’ and you go get out of shape and you don’t do any activities, this summer was different for me. I started swimming. That’s all I did for, like, two and a half months is swim. I did core exercises. You know, just did a lot of stuff to help my body so I could recover from the season but I could also be training at the same time. I think that was a huge thing for me. The way I ate was a huge thing for me; just working on things to challenge myself.

"A lot of the things I did on the floor had to do with my balance because a lot of the shots that I’ve gotten over the first three years of my career have been tough shots, and I can make tough shots, but if I can get my balance down when I get to certain spots and get put in certain positions, if I can be a more efficient shooter then I can be a better player.

"I did a lot of ball handling. I did a lot of passing. You look at the leaps that Steph Curry made over three years, and a lot of it had to do with how well he began to handle the ball, how well he began to pass the ball, and that affects everything. Being able to do that affects how well you shoot the ball and your playmaking ability and your ability to break down defenses. So that’s basically what my summer was based on."

D'Angelo Russell has been assigned the locker next to Kobe Bryant in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I don’t know how much longer he’s going to be around,” said Russell, who will first practice with Bryant on Tuesday in Honolulu. “So to have the opportunity to pick his brain a little bit every day, I don’t have to make it weird by walking to his locker. I’ll just look to my right and there he is.”

“He has a good head on his shoulders,” Bryant said of Russell. “My responsibility is going to help him just not to lose sight of what’s most important, which is the game.”

Russell was asked about his first assist to Bryant.

"He told me he likes to shoot the ball so If I get it to him, it’s his job to finish it,” said Russell.

Harrison Barnes turned down a contract extension with the Golden State Warriors worth $16 million per season.

Barnes is just 23 and can play multiple positions though he hasn't proven himself capable of scoring at the type of level one assumes you are getting with a contract that significant.

“It just may not be in the cards for me to create more here,” Barnes says, “but I can do it, and maybe this season there will be more opportunities.”

Barnes uses only about 15 percent of Golden State's possessions.

“His versatility is what the league is all about now,” Kerr said.

Kristaps Porzingis has been studying film of Usain Bolt in order to improve his running technique.

Porzingis was the New York Knicks' first round pick at No. 4 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.

The Indiana Pacers want to play small with Paul George receiving significant minutes at power forward, but he's skeptical.

“Um, you know it’s, uh, I was open for – to try it out,” George said. “It’s definitely a change. It’s something new. We’ll see how it goes. As the season goes, it might be better for me to just be at my regular position. But I told them I was open to the situation and (we’ll) see where it goes.”

George is still coming back from a broken leg and playing power forward will be more physically demanding.

“Yeah, I believe (that’s his main concern),” George said. “It’s just being outmatched strength-wise with guys at the four spot is really the only concern. It’s not really the concern for one game. It’s the concern just over the course of a season just how my body would take it, especially coming off the injury that I had and a whole year of rehabbing. Just not sure of how it’s going to take it. (We’ll) start camp, see how camp goes. Again, I’m not too thrilled on it, but it could change the more comfortable I get at the position. But we’ll see. But again, I could very much end up loving it, so it’s all up in the air. I’m open to the position.”

LaMarcus Aldridge isn't a perfect fit for the San Antonio Spurs' existing offense predicated on quick ball movement, but they figure to make adjustments on both sides.

“LaMarcus will be different,” said R.C. Buford. “And we’ll be different than we were before LaMarcus. We have to figure out how LaMarcus will play within our group, and produce at levels that he’s capable of — and that are important to him, and to our success.”

Aldridge can counter small lineups on both ends of the floor.

“Shots taken off ball movement are more efficient than shots taken off ball stoppage,” Buford says. “That’s irrefutable. And it’s by enough of a margin that I don’t think it’ll be hard for Pop to say, ‘Move the ball.’”

Aldridge shot 51 percent when he held the ball for less than two seconds before jacking, and 42 percent when he kept the ball any longer, per NBA.com.