Hello and welcome to the 6 O’Clock News.
As the NBA regular season dies down and the playoff races heat up, we’ll keep you updated every day at 6 O’Clock. What’s happening today?
Here’s the latest news around the league that does not involve Kobe Bryant. Fror plenty of that, check out the just-published SH blog:
Hawks offered Josh Smith three year, $45 million extension.
ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that prior to the season, the Hawks offered Josh Smith a very sizable contract to keep him in Atlanta. Sources say the talks never got too serious as Smith was adamant about making it to free agency. League rules stated that the Hawks could only offer Smith a maximum of three years in an extension to his current contract. 
Smith, however, wanted to maximize the length of his next contract by waiting until free agency to start negotiating.
Atlanta grew uneasy with the prospect of losing Smith in free agency and aggressively tried to trade him prior to the February 21st deadline. After seeing limited interested at the trade deadline, the Hawks decided to hold onto Smith.
Smith will be among the best unrestricted free agents on the open market this offseason. We have him ranked fifth here.
Monta Ellis likely to opt-out of current contract.
According to Gery Woelfel of RacineSportsZone.com, acquaintances of Monta Ellis believe he will opt-out of his contract at the end of the season to become an unrestricted free agent. Meanwhile, Ellis, himself, has refused to answer questions about his future.
Ellis is averaging 19.3 points per game but has shot the ball inefficiently all season. He is shooting 41% on all of his field goal attempts and is shooting a porous 27% from deep. 
Ellis is currently on the hook for $11 million next season. Very few general managers believe he could receive more than $11 million annually in free agency. However, with a dearth of scorers heading into free agency, Ellis has a chance to cash in. Among the teams with ample cap space in need of a shooting guard, the Hawks, Suns, Mavericks, and Timberwolves have all had past ties to Ellis.
Ellis has been rumored to have interest in signing with the Grizzlies. Although he owns a home in Memphis and spends time there in the offseason, the Grizzlies do not figure to have enough cap space available to sign Ellis over the summer.
Mark Cuban believes Vince Carter should retire as a Maverick.
After accepting blame for the Mavericks’ inability to make the postseason, Mark Cuban said that there was at least one silver lining in Dallas’ disappointing season: the resurgence of Vince Carter.
Eddie Sefko of DallasNews.com reports that Cuban said, “Vince is a warrior. All these things I’ve heard in the past about him being soft and not playing hard, (that’s bull). That dude comes out to deliver every night. 
“I feel worse for Vince than I do for Dirk (Nowitzki). Vince hasn’t been there and he’s had two great seasons for us. And he’s just a first-class guy who busts his (tail) every game. You never look at Vince and say he’s taking a play off. I’m proud that he’s on the Mavericks. The guy lays it out every time. I can’t put it any other way. He’s one of those guys I want to retire here.”
Cuban believes that with the advancements in medicine and nutrition of recent years, it is very possible for Carter to play past his current contract, which expires at the end of next season.
He can play for more than a year, easily. He’ll be cranking those motorcycle handles for a while.”
