- Noah also talked about the progress of his foot injury, from Mike Mazzeo of ESPN: “Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, who was plagued by plantar fasciitis in his right foot at the end of last season, says he’ll be ready to play by the start of the 2013-14 campaign. “My foot feels a lot better, but I still have a lot of work to do,” Noah told ESPN NewYork.com Wednesday at the “Steve Nash Foundation Showdown,” a charity soccer game in Manhattan. “I’m still not 100 percent, but I feel pretty good and I’ll be ready at the beginning of the season.”
Steve Nash expressed the desire for Dwight Howard to return to the Lakers next season, from Bernie Augustine of Daily News: “We love Dwight,” Nash said of the controversial center who will become a free agent on July 1. “We were just scratching the surface last year before all of the injuries. We think we can form something really special after having a year under our belt and going into training camp together.”… Nash, who was limited to 50 games due to injury, thinks the Lakers, if healthy, can put it all together next season with Howard working within D’Antoni’s pick-and-roll offense. “He played Mike’s offense, pretty much, in Orlando. I think we can make it work. We need to surround him with some shooters, but I think he’ll be great in it,” Nash said.”
Luol Deng may be a difficult piece to move for the Bulls, from Mike McGraw of Daily Herald: “Deng will be tough to move because of his high salary. Washington and Cleveland are two young teams that could use a veteran presence, but there’s no chance Deng would draw the No. 1 or 3 overall pick in return. Maybe if one of those teams were picking 10th, it might be possible. Otherwise, teams looking at Deng would want the Bulls to take back a long, large contract in return and the Bulls aren’t in position to do that. Would New Orleans trade Deng for Eric Gordon (3 years, $44.5 million)? Probably, but the Bulls wouldn’t take on that contract, even if Gordon and Derrick Rose were on friendly terms.”
Gilbert Arenas was in the news for the wrong reasons, again. Details from Mike Foss of USA Today: “Gilbert Arenas was pulled over by California law enforcement early Thursday morning, and was subsequently arrested by police for possession of illegal firework, the LAPD confirmed toFor The Win. TMZ captured footage of police handcuffing Arenas, and putting him into a police cruiser before removing numerous boxes of fireworks from the back of the former NBA star’s pickup truck. Because of the number of fireworks in Arenas’ possession, an LAPD bomb squad was called in to handle the removal.”
LaMarcus Aldridge may be looking to find a way out of Portland, from Jason Quick of The Oregonian: “Throughout this summer, there have been rumors the Trail Blazers might trade LaMarcus Aldridge, and I’m not the least bit surprised. Not that I believe general manager Neil Olshey is looking to move the star power forward. But I believe Aldridge wants out. Will it result in a trade during Thursday’s NBA Draft? I doubt it, unless it includes Portland getting either Atlanta’s Al Horford, New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, New Jersey’s Brook Lopez, or the Clippers’ Blake Griffin. See, Aldridge wants to end his seven-year run with the Blazers because he thinks Portland is too small. Too boring.”
- Nate McMillan will be an assistant to Frank Vogel next season, according to Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Nate McMillan is finalizing an agreement to become the top assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers, league sources tell Y! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 27, 2013
Bad news for Lakers fans (depending on who you ask) – Dwight Howard is unlikely to return next season, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN: “There is very little chance of Dwight Howard re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, according to sources close to the situation. Howard is willing to forgo the extra $30 million the Lakers can pay him to play for a coach and in a system he feels will better use his skill set, one source said. The Lakers can offer Howard a five-year, $118 million contract, while other teams can pay him only $88 million over four years. Howard plans to meet with Dallas, Houston and Atlanta before meeting with the Lakers once teams are allowed to contact free agents beginning July 1, a source said. It appears that the teams will visit Howard in Los Angeles.”
Kosta Koufos and Darrell Arthur have been traded for each other, from Ben Golliver of SI: “The Grizzlies traded forward Darrell Arthur and the rights to Joffrey Lauvergne, the No. 55 pick in the 2013 draft, to the Nuggets in exchange for center Kosta Koufos. Arthur, 25, has spent his entire four-year career in Memphis, posting career averages of 6.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per game. He is on the books for $3.2 million next season and holds a $3.5 million player option for 2014-15. Koufos, 24, holds career averages of 5.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game in five seasons with the Jazz and Nuggets. He is on the books for $3 million per year in both 2013-14 and 2014-15.”
- Live on ESPN, Doc Rivers more or less called Bill Simmons an idiot (via The Pro Basketball Talk)
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