The Thunder's courtship of Mike Miller is the dominant headline among Northwest Division teams this evening, but it's not the only news. Here's more on some of the teams who've spent the last two seasons looking up at Oklahoma City in the standings:
- Nikola Pekovic has yet to receive an offer sheet from any team trying to pry him away from the Timberwolves, according to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Wolves reportedly have offered a four-year deal worth as much as $50MM, and Walters figures he'll wind up signing it.
- Soon after the draft, it seemed unlikely 47th overall pick Raul Neto would join the Jazz for this season, and the Brazilian point guard recently told Basketeria that he'll probably spend 2013/14 playing in Spain (translation via Jody Genessy of the Deseret News). That appears to be the Jazz's preference, as Neto said last week that his choice is to play in the NBA, while Genessy notes that Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey wouldn't mind if he got more experience overseas.
- Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune believes that it's premature to declare the Jazz winners of the Deron Williams trade, in spite of the collection of assets Utah received.
- Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey noted his preference to keep the team's roster at 14 players for now as he spoke on video with Dwight Jaynes of CSNNW.com. Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge has a transcript of the conversation, which touched on a range of topics.
- Timberwolves 2012 second-round pick Robbie Hummel is with Minnesota's summer league squad as he attempts to find a way to the NBA. If he falls short, Spanish club Obradoiro CAB, with whom he played this season, and Pallacanestro Cantu of Italy are pursuing him, Sportando's Emiliano Carchia reports.