When the Thunder bench starts firing in the NBA Finals, it will be a case of what could have been for the Heat, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. For the Heat, Derek Fisher is the one that got away while Daequan Cook was given away. In order to create cap space in the summer of 2010, Miami sent Cook and the No. 18 pick to the Thunder for the No. 32 pick. Fisher, meanwhile, rejected the Heat that summer in order to re-up with the Lakers. More items from around the Association..
- The spread provision in center Brendan Haywood's contract could make the Mavericks center a sweetner in trade talks, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Any team that waives Haywood can spread out the payments for the remainder of his contract until 2026, meaning that they would be on the hook for no more than $2MM per year over the next 14 years.
- Despite David Morway’s best efforts to work together, newly-minted Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard consistently went behind his back to upper management to cut him out, sources tell Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld. Pritchard was apparently the catalyst behind the George Hill and Leandro Barbosa trades.
- It appears that the Pistons will have two workouts for big men, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (via Twitter). The first workout will take place on Tuesday with top names like Arnett Moultrie and some less-heralded prospects like Kyle O'Quinn of Norfolk State.
- Alabama's JaMychal Green has been improving his draft stock in recent weeks, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Green was a top-20 player coming out of high school but didn't quite play up to his potential in college.
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