- Adrian Wojnarowski: Atlanta had talks with Minnesota during draft on Josh Smith for No. 2 pick, but Hawks haven’t been aggressive in trying to trade Smith. Twitter
- Rajon Rondo might be leaving, too, with the Lakers and Utah seen as possible destinations. New York Daily News
- Adrian Wojnarowski: Atlanta did express an interest to Boston about Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett, but purely exploratory conversations, sources said. Twitter
- Gasol did acknowledge to ESPN.com that he has received a level of clarification about his status from Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak since Bryant’s speech … but wouldn’t describe it as any stronger than “some” indication of L.A.’s plans for him. Sources say that the Houston Rockets remain adamant that they won’t surrender Kyle Lowry for Gasol, no matter how much they like the big man, but it’s likewise still true that L.A. lusts for an elite point guard to pair with Bryant and has made it known around the league that it’s willing to surrender Gasol to get one. “There’s no guarantees still,” Gasol said. “The Lakers’ [recent public] statement said it pretty clearly. There’s no guarantees.” ESPN.com
- If the Lakers can’t make a splashy move for the elite point guard they crave — a long shot at best at this point — and can’t swing a deal for top fallback choice Ramon Sessions, taking Hinrich and his $8.1 million salary into their $8.9 million Lamar Odom trade exception is a natural move to give L.A. some semblance of an upgrade in the backcourt going into the postseason. The Hawks, as always, want to reduce payroll and would gladly take a future draft pick back for Hinrich, who’s no longer part of their plans. The Lakers, though, are rather skittish themselves about adding payroll these days, which is why they gave Odom away to the rival Mavericks in the first place and could actually prevent them from doing anything. ESPN.com
- Sources say that the Lakers are also among the teams that have inquired about Raptors guard Jose Calderon, but Calderon’s $9.8 million salary is too big to fit into the Odom exception. And Toronto isn’t willing to take any salary back for either Calderon or Barbosa to work a trade otherwise. ESPN.com
- The Lakers are not in the hunt for Orlando’s Dwight Howard according to sources on both sides, do don’t get your hopes up of Howard being a Laker in the next two weeks. HoopsWorld
- Royce Young: Team says Russell Westbrook is day-to-day with an ankle sprain. His status for Saturday is definitely up in the air. Twitter