Erik Spoelstra wants to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.

"If we learned one thing from the 2006 title, it was that you need to continue to reinvent yourself and improve as a basketball team," Spoelstra said. "That year we brought the exact the same team back, we thought it would be the same path and same journey. It never is.

"It's always going to be different. And we ended up losing the first round and we were swept in four games. Another year later, we only won 15 games and we were the worst team in basketball and that's how fragile this game can be."

Miami signed Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to add depth and three-point shooting to a rotation that includes Shane Battier, Mike Miller and James Jones.

David Kahn acknowledged that Derrick Williams will have to improve his play in order to receive more playing time in his second season.

The Wolves signed Andrei Kirilenko, which will certainly impact the minutes he could have otherwise received.

"I think it challenges Derrick to seize the moment," Kahn said. "I think that, otherwise, Derrick probably would have been in a situation where he would have felt the minutes would just have been handed to him. I think in this environment, Derrick should feel challenged, and I hope he accepts the challenge to seize what he wants as opposed to it just being handed to him. There are no limitations on Derrick's ability to play here, from a minutes standpoint."

The big issue for the Kings entering the 12-13 season is whether they can find cohesion.

Sacramento re-sign Jason Thompson as a piece that won't need to score to impact the game.

"The big opportunity for our team, Jason along with the rest of his teammates is how much more cohesive they can become as a group and making each other better when they play," said Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie.

Heading into just his second season, Tristan Thompson is already thinking about a leadership role on the Cavaliers.

“I think I need to take a bigger leadership role,” Thompson said Tuesday while in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League. “(With) Kyrie and myself coming in here we’ve got a lot of young guys so we’re almost like the veterans.

“We’ve got to come in here and show them the ropes, show them right from wrong, really build chemistry.”

Thompson plans to stay in Cleveland this summer to work with teammates and the Cavaliers coaching staff.

Daryl Morey is banking on the limited displays of potential Omer Asik flashed as a reserve with the Bulls.

"They've been the best defensive team in the league the past couple of years," Morey said of the Bulls. "They've been at their best defensively with Omer in the middle, better than with their other bigs on the team. Obviously he's going against non-starter players often. That said, when he played against starters he played great, and in those limited minutes, even when you adjust for maybe some of the backups he was going against, he was still elite, elite."

Houston landed Asik after the Bulls chose not to match Morey’s offer sheet for the restricted free agent.

"We think that's where you can find opportunity in this league," Morey said. "In free agency it's very hard to find players to add and that have a fit in the overall structure of what we're trying to do to get back to being a championship contender. One way to do it is to find a guy who hasn't played much who we really believe in, and then add him to our team.

"Anytime you can get a defensive presence like him - 7-footer; long; probably the best paint-rim protector short of one or two players in the league the last couple of years; superior rebounder - that's always a good thing to add no matter what your roster looks like.

"We think he's a 10-plus a night rebound guy (and) one of the best defensive bigs in the league. Obviously not many people have seen him play because he did have a limited role there, and time will tell if our scouting that we believe in is right. But we believe in Omer and he believes in himself."

While teams over the luxury tax will be hurt financially with a punitive penalty, the limitations of sign-and-trades for those teams will be even more of an issue in the eyes of Mark Cuban.

"The financial side isn't the big hurdle," Cuban said. "That's just money. It's the flexibility. I don't want to be in a position where I can't do a sign-and-trade for somebody if that can help my team. I can't get a free agent because I have no cap room -- all I have is $3 million -- and I can't do a sign-and-trade. The trades are limited to 125 percent [in matching salary], so you can't be that team that takes on a bunch of bad contracts. ... That's how we've always done it, taking somebody else's mistakes."

Under the previous CBA, the Mavericks frequently agreed to sign-and-trades while already being over the tax threshold.

"It's tougher to put finishing pieces in place," Cuban said. "And it's tougher to trade your way to a championship team if you're over the tax. You're going to have to take a step back and create flexibility in order to do the trades because otherwise, if you're already over the tax, you're stuck.

"Everybody's saying, 'Oh, there's all these people spending all this money,' " Cuban said. "There's what, seven teams that went crazy early on and spent all the money, and 23 did nothing except re-sign their own guys or a little play here or there? So I think it's dramatically changed the activities. Maybe we're all wrong and the seven teams that went crazy are right. We'll see."

Damian Lillard was named co-MVP of the 2012 Las Vegas Summer League and Blazers' director of college scouting Chad Buchanan talked about his performance and potential.

"I thought he had a very solid four games," said Buchanan. "First half of the first game, he had some nerves, trying to get acclimated to his new teammates and the NBA game. I thought he settled in very nicely, continued to get better with each half. Very good with the ball, showed that he can run a team, very unselfish but can put the ball in the hole. A very positive week for him."

Buchanan was asked to offer a comparison for the type of point guard Lillard can become.

"In a best case scenario down the road, [Blazers GM] Neil [Olshey] has talked a lot about Chauncey Billups for Damian," said Buchanan. "I think there are some similarities between those two guys and their temperament. Good pick and roll players. Not elite athletes but good enough athletes."

Greg Monroe has volunteered to help mentor Andre Drummond despite being just 22.

"He's going to need help from us, from the coaching staff, from the front office," Monroe said. "So I think, personally, obviously, I was in a similar position, and he's going to need my help a whole lot. So I have to take the responsibility and just try to mentor him and help him any way I can."

Monroe has exhibited great maturity during his NBA career, even during his rookie season in which the Pistons were in turmoil with former coach John Kuester.

LaMarcus Aldridge was disappointed that the Blazers were unable to acquire Roy Hibbert in free agency.

Portland agreed to sign Hibbert to a contract, but it was rescinded after it was clear the Pacers would match.

Aldridge and Hibbert exchanged phone calls and regular text messages during the NBA free agency moratorium. 

"I definitely felt like he would have put us over that hump of being on the next level," Aldridge said. "Having him beside me; that's big time. So I was disappointed." 

Alvin Gentry believes Michael Beasley can orchestrate the Suns’ offense.

"I think he can be a go-to facilitator," Gentry said. "We need that guy you can throw the ball to -- not necessarily to score the points but to create situations that lead to points.

"We'll have him handle the ball some in screen-roll situations. We're excited about some of the versatility he brings our team."

Beasley, 23, addressed his troubled past, including his history with controlled substances.

"Everybody has a lot of ups and downs," he said. "I've had a lot of downs. Sometimes to keep from crying, you have to laugh.

"I realize 10 minutes of feeling good is not worth putting my life, my career, my legacy in jeopardy.”