SH Blog: Phil Jackson will officially join Knicks on Tuesday; Rockets to pursue Carmelo Anthony in Free Agency; Klay Thompson first to 500 3’s

• Rockets coach Kevin McHale says Joakim Noah is the league’s best defender: “”He’s played very well,” McHale said after his team’s shootaround at Moody Bible Institute. “He should be defensive player of the year. He’s done a great job with these guys. They’ve been winning a lot just on his energy and effort, his kind of determination and toughness. Those are all qualities everybody appreciates.”  McHale was complimentary not only of Noah’s defensive game but of his offensive one as well. “He’s just more confident in what he’s doing,” McHale said. “He’s making plays with the pass. He’s driving and kicking. When he was coming out, I thought he’d be a pick-pop-and-drive playmaking 4. He’s doing more of that now.” Howard also spoke highly of Noah’s progression. The two first played against each other in high school when both were part of the Class of 2004, which also produced center Roy Hibbert. “I’ve played against Joakim since adidas camp back when he was 15, 16 years old,” Howard said. “I’ve seen a difference in his game. The one thing that has remained the same is his intensity level on the floor. He’s always going after every play, trying to get all the loose balls, stuff like that.”

• Terrence Ross says the NBA’s groupie culture is a thing of the past: “I suppose it’s possible that Ross is the most oblivious man in the world (or trying to cover up an insane amount of tabloid behavior), but chances are he’s giving an accurate picture of the situation. While his answer does not mean there are no women who gravitate toward NBA athletes in public (such as when players go to clubs), it does suggest that the image of women lurking in hotels waiting to pounce on men like predators is not true, if it ever existed to that extent at all. Whether this reality is due to security or some other change is open to debate. Ross could be right — teams do far more to protect their players than they ever did in the past. On the other hand, the world of professional sports can be wildly misogynistic, so it could be that the extent of groupie activity was always exaggerated. Perhaps the players were always more complicit in seeking out these supposed temptresses than they ever cared to admit.”

• Lamar Odom will miss at least a month for Baskonia, the spanish club he plays for overseas: “Because Odom signed only a two-month contract with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia, sources said, it is still being determined whether he will return to the club before the end of the Spanish season. After a long layoff, Odom signed the two-month deal with Baskonia on Feb. 18. But he played in only two games for the Vitoria-based club that has sent the likes of Goran Dragic, Luis Scola, Tiago Splitter and Jose Calderon to the NBA, logging just 23 minutes in those appearances. Earlier this week, Baskonia issued a statement saying Odom had permission to leave to see a back specialist in New York after initially undergoing tests in Spain.”

• One more accolade to add for San Antonio’s Big Three: “After the failure of a Finals loss to Dallas in their first year together, the Heat have validated Pat Riley’s vision of a modern-day Super Team with a run that could culminate in a fourth straight Finals trip this June. Impressive indeed, until you consider what the San Antonio Spurs are on the verge of accomplishing. Thus, I bring to your attention this remarkable story from Jeff McDonald of the San AntonioExpress-News, who informs us that the Spurs’ Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are poised to pass the Showtime era Lakers threesome of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper for the third-longest run of regular season games together — behind only the Celtics’ Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish (729) and the Pistons’ core of Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer and Vinnie Johnson (711). Duncan, Parker and Ginobili came together in 2002 when a crafty Argentine rookie named Manu was added to the mix. On Wednesday night, they played their 663rd regular season game together, tying the Lakers’ illustrious trio.”

• The Houston Rockets will make a push to add Carmelo Anthony in the offseason: “According to a league source, the Rockets will make a bid for Anthony this summer, even though they probably won’t have cap space and would have to orchestrate a creative sign-and-trade. The source said Houston asked the Knicks about Anthony before February’s trade deadline. The Knicks have held discussions with the Rockets about power forward Omer Asik. Even though Rockets president Daryl Morey is the pioneer of advanced statistics and Anthony has never fared well in some efficiency categories, Morey’s old-school instincts believe he could form a terrific Big 3 with Dwight Howard and James Harden. Rockets management also believes Anthony has made advancements in the grit department the past two seasons. The only way the Rockets can get under the cap is by dealing the expiring contracts of Jeremy Lin, who is entering the poison-pill year of $15 million, and Asik, also scheduled to make $15 million.”

• The Miami Heat have signed D-League All-Star Justin Hamilton to a contract: “Unlike with Liggins, Hamilton was signed for the balance of the season as well as to a non-guaranteed contract for next season, which allows the Heat to retain the rights to the former LSU center. Despite playing for the Charlotte Bobcats beyond the March 1 deadline for playoff eligibility with another team, Hamilton will be playoff-eligible for the Heat because he was only on a 10-day contract with Charlotte, not the standard NBA contract he subsequently has signed with the Heat. The addition of Hamilton, an outside-shooting big man, gives the Heat four centers: starter Chris Bosh and reserves Chris Andersen, Greg Oden and, now, Hamilton.”

• Gordon Hayward may be the best non-superstar on the free agent market: “”Maybe I have the best poker face, if I’m always laughing,” he says. “If I’m always laughing, how do you know if I’m ever serious or not?” The logic is hard to argue. And really, Hayward has probably needed the laughter as a cushion against a disappointing season, and the poker face as a bulwark against his hazy future. Hayward will be a restricted free agent this summer, and despite his struggles this season, he figures to be a hot commodity: the best young non-superstar on the market. The Jazz want to keep him. But Hayward could be pricey—potentially commanding $10 million a year or more—and interest will be high. About half the league could have significant salary-cap room this summer. “It’s weird to think about,” Hayward said, “just because it’s been four years and you kind of see yourself as staying with whatever team you get drafted by. But we’ll see where it goes. I can’t worry about it now. I’m just excited about where it can go.””

• Golden State’s Klay Thompson becomes the first player to make over 500 3’s in his first three seasons: “Thompson hit 211 last year; with 178 through 16 games, he’s on pace to shatter that. So if you average out to 200 per year, let’s give him a generous 15 seasons compared to Ray Allen’s 17-and-counting. That puts him at 3,000 made three-pointers at age 36, giving him the all-time record. Obviously, this is preposterously early and there are a million things that could change. But it does show you the ridiculous pace Thompson is on and how special of a shooting talent he is.”

Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.