Odds & Ends: Arenas, McGrady, Sixers, Kings

It's a Wednesday night full of storylines in the NBA, as LeBron James and the Heat go for their 20th consecutive win in Philly and Carmelo Anthony returns to Denver for the first time since he was traded to the Knicks.  Let's round up all the other Wednesday links from around the league here:

  • An NBA executive told Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen, via text, that he would be "shocked" if any team picked up Gilbert Arenas or Tracy McGrady in the final month of the season.  Both former NBA stars have spent this season playing in China.  
  • Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com caught up with 76ers president Rod Thorn on what has become an intriguing organizational situation in Philadelphia due to Andrew Bynum.  While Thorn initially refused to comment on Bynum, he eventually said, "It's a little bizarre, no doubt about it."  (Twitter links)
  • With regard to Nikola Vucevic, who the Sixers gave up for Bynum and is now averaging a double-double at 22-years-old, Thorn said, "Nik is a very skilled player with great hands. You could tell he had a very good future ahead of him." (via Twitter)
  • Sacramento city officials have given themselves an eight day window to construct a financing plan for a new downtown arena, writes Ryan Lillis, Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee.  With that timeline, the plan would be complete five days before the city council voted on the plan on March 26.  Cementing the terms of an arena deal is vital in the city's claim to keep the Kings.
  • The Bee's Marcos Breton writes that many knowledgable businessmen in the Sacramento area and beyond consider the city's last-ditch effort to keep the Kings a fool's errand.  Breton spoke with a leading authority on arena financing who describes the offer from the Seattle group "considerably stronger."
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