SH Blog: Jackson thought Kobe faked injury, Bledsoe and Hayward to become restricted free agents

• Like Bledsoe and Hayward, Avery Bradley also failed to reach a deal with the Boston Celtics, from Gary Washburn of Boston Globe: “#celtics and Avery Bradley unable to agree to framework of 4-year deal, according to source. he will be a restricted free agent next summer.”

• Before all the developments on Thursday, Rivers believed that the Clippers were chasing after the Warriors, from Rusty Simmons of San Francisco Chronicle: “They’re a fun team to watch,” Rivers said, “but we have to play against them.” When asked if the Warriors can win the Western Conference this season, Rivers didn’t hesitate. In fact, he said they could have won it last season. “If David Lee was healthy, who knows?” Rivers said. … “This is a team that we have to catch, in my opinion.” The Warriors did beat the Clippers in three of the teams’ four meetings last season, but the Clippers won the Pacific Division by nine games. Jackson said, “Doc said they had to catch us? … He was (coaching) in the East. What does he know?”

• The Sacramento Kings appear to have no interest in keeping Jimmer Fredette beyond this season, according to Sam Amick of USA Today: “The NBA career of former college sensation Jimmer Fredette took another turn for the worse Thursday, when, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Sacramento Kings informed him they would not exercise the 2014-15 team option that would have paid him $3.1 million for that season. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been announced.”

• Phil Jackson is concerned about the well-being of Lamar Odom, from Eric Pincus of LA Times: “Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson says he’s concerned about Lamar Odom and his life after basketball. “We thought the Kardashian arrangement, or marriage, was a terrific thing for him because it’s a family, a structure, something that would give him support,” Jackson said on “The Seth Davis Show,” referring to Odom’s marriage to Khloe Kardashian. “Maybe it wasn’t,” he continued… “Everybody that’s been close to him in my group … cannot get through to him,” Jackson said.  “No one can get through to Lamar, basically I think he’s thrown his cellphone away.”

• Tom Gores expects his team to make the playoffs, at the very least. Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News has the story: “Wojnowski: You said last season you expected to make the playoffs and it didn’t happen. The Pistons made lots of moves this offseason, signing Josh Smith for a lot money, and I assume expectations are higher? Gores: Absolutely. We’ve done a lot of what we wanted to do, and at the minimum, our expectation is the playoffs. Really, that’s the minimum. We need to keep developing our young talent, too. We said we’d spend the money and people wondered if we would. And we did.”

James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Be sure to follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.