According to Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com, the 76ers are currently undecided on the future of Andrew Bynum but would still consider re-signing him. Managing owner Josh Harris, who insists that he'd still approve last year's trade if given the chance again, told the media that the team is "going to look to bring Andrew back," despite the young center failing to suit up for Philadelphia this year due to injury. Harris adds: 

“A healthy Bynum is a needle mover, a top 15 player...We’re going to weigh the positives and the negatives and try to make a reasoned assessment about what’s appropriate for Andrew. Certainly, we’re open to the prospect of bringing him back...I’m not saying we’re going to bring him back. I’m saying we haven’t ruled it out. Bringing Andrew back is an important risk that we’re not ignoring.”

Earlier this month, we heard that Bynum would consider a return to Philadelphia next season. Though with the former Lakers star slated to head into free agency coming off of arthroscopic surgery on both knees, it remains anyone's guess in terms of how interested teams will try to assess his value this summer. 

As Tuesday night winds down, here are some odds and ends from around the NBA:

• Chase Budinger, a soon-to-be unrestricted free agent, would like to return to the Timberwolves next season but is only likely to do so if Rick Adelman is retained as the head coach, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.  Adelman pushed the Wolves to acquire Budinger, who he coached in Houston, in a draft-day trade with the Rockets last June.  Budinger missed four months this season with a knee injury. 
• After he signed Tracy McGrady, general manager R.C. Buford said that with the status of the Spurs roster right now, they "felt like [they] needed to look at some depth and experience," tweets Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News (via Twitter).   
• The true winner of last summer's biggest blockbuster was Magic GM Rob Hennigan, writes Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel.  Hennigan fleeced the Sixers and obtained three first-round draft picks and Arron Afflalo, says Bianchi, and most important, did not end up with Andrew Bynum.
• Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer looks at the biggest issues facing the lowly Bobcats this summer, specifically pointing at the futures of head coach Mike Dunlap, restricted free-agent-to-be Gerald Henderson as well as the six other Bobcats who could become free agents.

TNT's David Aldridge, writing for NBA.com, delivers a lengthy summary of the fallout from the presentations that competing bidders for the Kings made today before a group of owners. Aldridge concludes that the key issue has shifted from the size of the bids to how quickly each city can build a new arena. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com gives his take on the affair, noting that four of the 12 owners scheduled to attend today's meeting were not present. The Kings saga is the major story of the day, but there's plenty more happening around the Association:

• Even with Bradley Beal out for the rest of the season, the Wizards aren't planning to bring in another guard, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
• Lon Babby's first three years as the Suns' president of basketball operations have included plenty of both hits and misses, but owner Robert Sarver likes the job Babby has done with the franchise, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Babby was offered a two-year extension this past Sunday, and accepted the offer on Tuesday.
• Andrew Bynum isn't ruling out a return to the Sixers in the offseason, agent David Lee tells John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• A roundtable of ESPN.com contributors debate the best free agents not in this summer's class but in 2014 — a group that apparently won't include Zach Randolph.
• N.C. State small forward T.J. Warren will return to school rather than enter the draft, his father tells Joe Giglio of the News & Observer. Opinions on Warren vary widely, as Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him as the 31st-best prospect, while Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranked him No. 62.
• Nerlens Noel remains atop many draft boards in spite of his torn ACL, and a Western Conference executive told Chris Mannix of SI.com that with so much medical information available these days, "it's easy to predict that he will be fine." Mannix has more draft-related updates on Steven Adams, Alex Poythress and Cody Zeller.
• HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy provides further insight on why Noel is rated so highly, noting that scouts like Noel's upside while advanced statistics demonstrate his high value.

Luke Adams also contributed to this post.

It's starting to look like the Knicks will win their first Atlantic Division title since 1993/94. Brooklyn's loss to the Jazz last night dropped the Nets four games back of New York, and five games back in the loss column. The Celtics are eight games back in the loss column. It remains to be seen whether the Knicks can duplicate another feat they pulled off in 1993/94 and make it to the NBA Finals, but while we wait for that playoff story to unfold, here's the latest buzz from the Atlantic:

• A source tells John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Andrew Bynum won't give the Sixers any special consideration in free agency this summer, but Mitchell believes the team's best option is to re-sign the oft-injured center and hope he can get healthy for at least a couple of seasons.
• Shavlik Randolph's play, particularly his efficient rebounding, is justifying the Celtics' decision to keep him around, observes Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe, who also points to the improved performance of offseason signee Jeff Green.
• J.R. Smith has a $2.933MM player option for 2013/14, but he should be able to command a much greater salary as a free agent if he turns it down. Newsday's Al Iannazzone looks at the career year Smith's enjoying this season with the Knicks.
• Doug Smith of the Toronto Star answers reader questions about the Raptors and other NBA issues in his mailbag column.

The Lakers announced yesterday that Metta World Peace underwent successful surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus, and will miss six weeks. Whether or not the Lakers make the playoffs, World Peace's season could be over, and Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News wondered yesterday if the veteran forward has played his last game as a Laker.

World Peace isn't necessarily in the final year of his contract, since he has a player option for next season. However, if he exercises that option, he becomes a prime candidate to be amnestied. If he declines the option, he'll hit unrestricted free agency. Either way, the man formerly known as Ron Artest may sign a new contract before he plays in his next NBA game.

A number of players are in the same situation as World Peace, with potential free agency looming and an injury keeping them off the court. Here are a few guys who we may not see play for their current teams again, and whose free agent stocks could be affected by their current injuries:

• Leandro Barbosa (Wizards): If you'd forgotten Barbosa was on the Wizards' roster, you're probably not alone. Acquired for salary purposes in the deal that sent Jordan Crawford to Boston, Barbosa is on an expiring minimum-salary contract, and his ACL/MCL injury may hurt his chances of signing another deal this offseason. Having suffered the season-ending injury in February, he probably won't be healthy in time for fall camps.
• Rodrigue Beaubois (Mavericks): Eligible for restricted free agency this summer, Beaubois underwent surgery on his hand last week, and is unlikely to return this season. I doubt the Mavs will make him a qualifying offer, and there's a good chance he doesn't return to Dallas.
• Andrew Bynum (76ers): As well-documented as any non-Derrick Rose injury this season, Bynum's ongoing knee troubles will certainly hurt his earning potential in free agency this summer, and may also ensure he never plays a game with the Sixers.
• Richard Hamilton (Bulls): While Hamilton remains optimistic that he'll play again this season, his ongoing health problems will likely lead the Bulls to part ways with him this summer. Hamilton's $5MM salary for 2013/14 is partially guaranteed, so he figures to receive a $1MM buyout and hit the free agent market.
• Sasha Pavlovic (Trail Blazers): Pavlovic's quad injury has kept him out of action for more than a month, but even if he were healthy, he doesn't appear to be part of the Trail Blazers' plans. Although he's under contract for two more seasons, both years are non-guaranteed, so he may find himself seeking a new deal this July.
• A.J. Price (Wizards): Price earned 22 starts this season for the Wizards, so perhaps the team will have interest in bringing him back next year. He's eager to return to the court to try to improve his free agent stock, but for now, groin issues are keeping him out indefinitely.
• Brandon Roy (Timberwolves): All the time Roy has missed this season with knee problems ensured that the second year of his contract with the Timberwolves became non-guaranteed, and there's virtually no chance the Wolves will retain him and his $5.33MM salary. If Roy is forced to call it a career at season's end, it would be an unfortunate way for him to go out, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's where we're headed.
• Brandon Rush (Warriors): After going down during the season's first week, Rush underwent knee surgery in January that ended his year. Fortunately for him, he's got a $4MM player option for 2013/14, so he figures to be returning to the Warriors rather than looking for work next year.
• Jason Smith (Hornets): Out for the season with a torn labrum, Smith, like Hamilton, has a partially guaranteed contract for 2013/14. The price to keep him wouldn't be exorbitant - $1MM of his $2.5MM salary is guaranteed - so we'll have to wait and see what the Hornets decide.
• Kurt Thomas and Rasheed Wallace (Knicks): A pair of aging Knicks bigs on expiring contracts, it would be a little surprising to see both Thomas and Wallace playing in the NBA next year, even if they return in the playoffs. Even if Thomas and Wallace wanted to extend their playing careers, their latest foot issues would raise red flags for any interested teams.
• Elliot Williams (Trail Blazers): Unlike some other players on this list, Williams is no lock to receive an NBA contract, especially if he can't show that he's healthy before the fall. That's probably why, even after surgery on his achilles, he talked about wanting to return to the court in '12/13 and auditioning in the Summer League.

With an All-Star appearance and two championships on his resume, Andrew Bynum looked primed to stake his claim as the Eastern Conference's premier center after joining the 76ers last summer. Unfortunately, injury setbacks have kept Bynum from suiting up in a regular season game in Philadelphia, and a huge question mark looms over his future as he approaches free agency this summer. ESPN's Chris Broussard, who originally thought that the 76ers were the biggest beneficiaries of the Dwight Howard trade, spoke with six other NBA executives about how they would handle the 7-foot center's contract situation this summer (Insiders only). Although they each offer unique approaches, it's not much of a surprise that none would offer a max contract. Here's more out of the Atlantic Division: 

• Jared Zwerling and Ian Begley of ESPN New York discussed the latest on the Knicks, most notably about the health of Carmelo Anthony and Iman Shumpert. Begley also added that he thinks that the team will revisit adding another player before the playoffs start, being that it would be a big gamble to start the postseason with three players unavailable due to season-ending injuries. 
• Newsday's Barbara Baker says that Shumpert appears healthy today after a scare during last night's game against the Magic, when the second year guard said he felt a "pop" in the same knee that he suffered an ACL injury almost one year ago. 
• Tim Smith of the New York Daily News talks about Kenyon Martin's resurgence with the Knicks as the former number one pick fills in for the team's injured big men.
• Danny Ainge told Salk and Holley of 93.7 WEEI FM that Celtics swingman Jeff Green is starting to prove that he deserves to be on the court for "most minutes of the game" (Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com reports).  

As the Sixers announced yesterday in a press release, Andrew Bynum underwent bilateral arthroscopic surgery on both knees on Tuesday, effectively ending his season. The timeline for his recovery ensures he won't be off crutches until May, just weeks before he'll officially become a free agent. There likely won't be a more interesting case in free agency this summer than Bynum, who was once viewed as a lock for a maximum-salary contract, but is now considered a risk on more than a one-year deal. Here's the latest on the big man, who may never play a game for the Sixers:

• As Jason Wolf of the Courier-Post writes, the Sixers should receive about $6.76MM in salary relief from insurance on Bynum's contract this season. Rod Thorn indicated last week that the club was covered under the league-wide program, which sees the insurance company pay 80% of a disabled player's salary, following a 41-game waiting period. That means insurance will cover 80% of half of Bynum's $16,889,000 salary, for a total of $6,755,600.
• ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (Insider link) spoke to a handful of executives, asking them what sort of deal they anticipate for Bynum this summer, and some were more bullish on the center's prospects than others. Said one exec: "I don't think the guy's going to make a ton of money this summer. He's sat out the whole year. He's not going to make the max. He was on his way to making that for sure. I'd say make him a one-year, partially guaranteed offer."
• Another exec polled by Broussard was more optimistic about Bynum's chances of getting the max for at least the first year: "I think you've got to do a two-year deal; really, a four-year deal.... I would max him the first year, give him the second year half-guaranteed. It'd be fully guaranteed if he plays a certain number of games. So in a four-year deal, the first year is 100% guaranteed; the second year is 50% guaranteed but if you play 60 games the second year, it's fully guaranteed. Same thing in the third year."
• The same exec said he could see the Rockets making an offer like that, but that Mark Cuban and the Mavericks would likely be reluctant to do such a deal.

We're still a long way from the NBA offseason, but as teams are eliminated from playoff contention (and eventually the playoffs), we should start to hear more and more about their free agents.  Here are a few links on some of the players that will be part of this summer's free agent crop:

• In his Tuesday chat session, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News says that O.J. Mayo can be the third best player on a legitimate title contender and that the Mavericks need to bring him back if they can get him at the right price.  For Sefko, that price is somewhere under $10MM per year.  He recommends something in the ballpark of a four-year, $30-35MM pact, though he admits that may not get it done for Mayo.
• Sefko also opines that Chris Kaman, a free agent at season's end, will likely sign elsewhere this offseason.  One option to replace Kaman at center would be Andrew Bynum, who Sefko calls "double-damaged-goods" because of his balky knees.  However, Sefko says the Mavs should still consider offering Bynum their mid-level exception because should he return to health, at his age, he could be then be the NBA's biggest bargain.
• With news of his knee surgeries, Moke Hamilton of Sheridan Hoops has dropped Bynum to 13th on Free Agency Rankings.  According to Hamilton, Bynum's talent makes him worthy of a multi-year deal, but anything more than three years is unlikely.
• Dwight Howard has fired his business manager and cousin, Kevin Samples, after nine years of service, Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports.  Ding suggests that this move is another step in Howard's transformation into his "own man".  Without Samples, who moved to Los Angeles when Howard joined the Lakers, Howard will presumably head into free agency looking elsewhere for advice.

Over at Grantland.com, Zach Lowe checks in with the early favorite for the week's most interesting NBA piece, delving into the SportVU camera-tracking system and explaining how it's employed by the Raptors. I highly recommend checking out Lowe's story, which includes some fascinating details that, frankly, I'm surprised the Raps were willing to share publicly. Here are a few more notes from out of the Atlantic Division:

• Multiple NBA executives tell Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld that they wouldn't be surprised if a "desperate" club offers Andrew Bynum a max contract this summer. Kennedy expects the Hawks, Mavericks, Rockets, and Trail Blazers to be among the interested teams (Twitter links). I'd imagine that the Sixers will at least have to kick the tires on re-signing Bynum as well.
• Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld also looks ahead to Bynum's free agency in the wake of news that the big man will undergo season-ending surgery. According to one executive who spoke to Kyler, if Bynum is willing to agree to injury exclusions in his contract, teams likely won't hesitate to make him big offers. It remains to be seen whether Bynum would be more interested in a deal like that or a  smaller offer made up entirely of guaranteed money.
• Although a report last week suggested that the Raptors would likely recall Quincy Acy from the D-League, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star says the team likes having Acy getting consistent playing time with the Bakersfield Jam. For now, there's no rush to bring him back to Toronto, where he'd receive limited minutes.

Sixers center Andrew Bynum is scheduled to undergo surgery on both of his knees in New York tomorrow, sources told Howard Eskin of 94WIP Radio (on Twitter).  The operations, which will clean out debris in his knees, will sideline him for the remainder of the 2012/13 season.

The news means that the 76ers didn't get a minute of Andrew Bynum on the court after giving up Andre Iguodala, Moe Harkless, and Nikola Vucevic this offseason.  To make matters worse, Bynum will be a free agent after this season and despite his health troubles, the center could still command something near a max deal if everything checks out medically.  Philadelphia could still make a play to keep the 25-year-old, but their frustration over what has happened is apparent.  

If the Sixers do re-sign Bynum to a max deal, it'll cost them nearly $102MM over five years, as our own Luke Adams calculated recently.  The max for another team would be $75.7MM over four seasons, which is still costly considering the immense risk a club would take on by signing him.