In his latest piece, Marcus Thompson II of the Contra Costa Times lays out a few reasons why Carl Landry is a near-lock to turn down his $4MM player option in search of a bigger payday. But Landry tells Thompson that he hasn't made a decision yet, pointing out that he took a lesser deal to initially sign with the Warriors and adding that his decision won't simply be about money -- he'll also consider his potential coach, teammates, and the odds of playing in the postseason.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Association:

• Yesterday, our own Zach Links chatted with Todd Brommelkamp and Tyler Ryder of KGYM ESPN Radio and talked about the NBA Draft, what the Cavs might do with the No. 1 pick, and the courtship of Dwight Howard.  You can listen to Zach live on KGYM Radio every other Wednesday at 4:30 central.
• Speaking to Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, Stan Van Gundy acknowledged that there's a chance he could never coach an NBA team again.
• Eric Koreen of the National Post identifies a handful of candidates who could be considered - or are being considered - to replace Bryan Colangelo as the Raptors' head of basketball operations.
• The Raptors have indicated they're willing to exceed the luxury tax threshold by "a significant margin" if it helps Colangelo's successor build a winning team, reports Zach Lowe of Grantland.
• Lang Greene of HoopsWorld takes a look at the searches being conducted by the six Eastern Conference teams in the market for a new head coach.
• According to a report from Gigantes.com (translation via Sportando), longtime NBA forward Andres Nocioni intends to play another season in Spain in 2013/14.

History was made this morning, as Jason Collins publicly came out as the first active male athlete to announce that he's gay. Collins, who hopes to continue his playing career, will be a free agent this summer, looking for a contract from a team in need of frontcourt help. In his latest piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler looked at a few other big men facing free agency, exploring what their respective futures might hold. Let's check out the highlights....

• Andray Blatche is still being paid by the Wizards through next season, so he won't necessarily be seeking the highest salary offered this summer. However, if he can secure a multiyear deal, he may lean toward that opportunity, says Kyler.
• Although he's eligible for restricted free agency, Austin Daye is unlikely to receive a qualifying offer from the Grizzlies. Kyler doesn't expect the ex-Piston to be back in Memphis next season.
• Carl Landry remains likely to opt out of his last year with the Warriors in search of a longer-term contract.
• The Pacers won't hold full Bird rights on David West, but West's Early Bird rights will be more than enough to make him a competitive offer. Kyler thinks West and the Pacers are likely to work out a deal fairly quickly that will keep the power forward in Indiana.
• Kyler notes that trading Danny Granger would help give the Pacers the flexibility to bring back both West and Tyler Hansbrough, who is eligible for restricted free agency. Kyler expects the Pacers to issue a qualifying offer to Hansbrough and match any reasonable offer.
• Antawn Jamison is unlikely to re-sign with the Lakers, and if Earl Clark returns, it will have to be for not much more than the $1.24MM he made this year, says Kyler.
• Boris Diaw, who has a player option, and Matt Bonner, whose deal is only partially guaranteed, both figure to be back with the Spurs next season. However, Kyler says DeJuan Blair is "done in San Antonio," which echoes what we heard yesterday.

Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun believes the Raptors will pursue a power forward this summer via trade in return for Andrea Bargnani, and he advocates that Toronto go after Carl Landry, as the team is reportedly considering (Twitter links). If Bargnani is successfully dealt, he joins Greg Oden, Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James on the list of #1 picks over the last ten seasons to either eventually leave or be traded from the team that drafted them. Here are a few more tidbits to relay from the Atlantic Division: 

• Raptors guard Kyle Lowry tells Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun that he's hopeful about returning to Toronto next season and wants to be back, but acknowledged that the decision is out of his hands. Ganter, who argues that the 6'1 point guard must become a 'jack-of-all-trades' player to fit Toronto's needs, also mentions that Lowry has a $6.21MM team exception for next season.
• Celtics star Paul Pierce still finds it difficult to fathom that Ray Allen left for the Heat, saying that his former teammate could have gone anywhere else - citing the Lakers as another exception - and he wouldn't have felt betrayed, says Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
• Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com wonders why Doug Collins would want to return next season, when the 76ers may still be mediocre.
• Although P.J. Carlesimo would like to rest his key players as much as he can before the playoffs, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson aren't ready to sit just yet, writes Roderick Boone of Newsday. Williams and Johnson briefly mentioned the possibility of catching the Pacers, who are currently the third seed in the Eastern Conference. 

Last Wednesday, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Raptors would look to flip Andrea Bargnani for a "proven scoring post player" this summer. However, according to Spears' latest report, it sounds as if the Raps could also turn to free agency in search of the post player they covet. Spears hears from a source that Toronto may target Carl Landry if he declines his player option with the Warriors.

Landry, who signed a two-year contract with the Warriors last summer, is earning $4MM this season and has an option worth the same amount for 2013/14. Presumably, he'd only opt out if he felt that he could earn more than $4MM in '13/14 or if he thought he could get a similar annual salary on a longer-term deal. As such, it's hard to see the Raptors as a realistic fit.

Assuming the Raptors turn down John Lucas III's modest team option, the club will still have more than $71MM on next year's books for 11 players. Amenstying Linas Kleiza and his $4.6MM salary would get the team out of the tax, but would still make it difficult to use the full mid-level exception. As we saw with the Bulls this season, using more than the taxpayer portion of the MLE means that a club will be restricted by a hard cap for the remainder of the season. If the Raptors don't have the full mid-level available, it will be very difficult for them to make a competitive offer for Landry.

Of course, if the Raptors are able to clear more salary in other moves, the team could create enough flexibility to offer Landry the full mid-level, or perhaps try to acquire him in a sign-and-trade. But even then, I wouldn't be surprised if there were rival suitors prepared to make stronger offers.

Shortly after the trade deadline passed at 3pm ET on Thursday, it was revealed that the Hawks pulled out of discussions with the Bucks on a deal for Josh Smith. This would-be blockbuster was not the only deal that was discussed but never came to fruition. Here is a roundup of other deals that were discussed but never came to pass:

• Aaron J. Lopez of Nuggets.com writes that the Nuggets opted to stay the course rather than dealing a player such as Timofey Mozgov, whom they had been rumored to be shopping.
• Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News tweets that the Warriors explored the market for forward Carl Landry but ultimately did not find a deal they liked.
• Jeff Caplan of NBA.com tweets that the Mavericks received calls about rookies Jae Crowder and Bernard James, but ultimately decided not to deal either player.
• Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports that Knicks GM Glen Grunwald never seriously considered trading Iman Shumpert, despite reports to the contrary.

The Pacific Division will be well-represented in tomorrow's All-Star Game, as five of the 12 Western Conference All-Star spots are occupied by players from the division, and four of the five starters come from the two L.A. teams. There easily could have been six Pacific Division All-Stars if the coaches had selected Stephen Curry as a reserve. Here's more on a few All-Stars who were voted as starters by the fans, including a hint at retirement from one of them.

• Chris Paul and Blake Griffin would welcome Kevin Garnett to the Clippers if he's traded to the team, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com observes.
• ESPN's Chris Broussard wrote a couple of days ago that the Warriors are one of a few clubs believed to have inquired about Eric Gordon, but Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group reports that Golden State is not engaged in talks about the Hornets shooting guard. The W's are turned off by Gordon's injury history, contract, and the Hornets' likely asking price (Sulia link). 
• In a video on Nike Basketball's YouTube page, Kobe Bryant sat down with former NBA player Damon Jones and addressed how long he plans on playing. "Probably two years max," Bryant said."Two years max. Next year might be it. It's one of those things, I think I'll wake up, and I'll know, and if it's it for me, then that's it, and there's no looking back." Bryant's contract expires at the end of next season (hat tip to HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy). 
• Carl Landry, who has a $4MM player option on his contract with the Warriors for next season, spoke to Grantland's Zach Lowe about his enjoyment playing for Golden State and coach Mark Jackson (Twitter link).

We hope you're enjoying your holidays and today's NBA quintuple-header! As we look forward to the rest of tonight's action, let's round up a few more odds and ends from around the Association....

• Derek Page of HoopsWorld explores whether Derek Fisher's release from the Mavericks could eventually lead to a reunion between Fisher and the Lakers. For his part, the veteran point guard doesn't sound like he's ready to officially retire or immediately sign elsewhere: "My family is my priority and that is where I choose to be. I won’t close the possibility that I will play again, however for now my family and being close to them remains the priority."
• Mark Cuban fielded a variety of questions in a recent Reddit AMA, and the Dallas Morning News has rounded up a few of Cuban's basketball-related answers.
• We heard earlier that Turkish team Fenerbahce Ulker would buy out Shelden Williams' contract with Elan Chalon, but Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets that such a move now appears unlikely. Williams is expected to finish the season with the French club.
• Carl Landry, who signed a two-year deal with the Warriors over the offseason, has been everything Golden State hoped for and more, says Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News.
• ESPN.com's Chris Broussard delivers a lengthy profile on Rich Paul, longtime friend and now agent to LeBron James.
• Shelvin Mack and Garrett Temple both spoke to the media about signing with the Wizards, and the team's official site has the videos.

Over the summer, forward Carl Landry signed with the Warriors on a two-year, $8MM deal that grants him a player option for the 2013/14 season.  While Landry can put his toe in the free agent waters this summer, he told Lang Greene of HoopsWorld that he would like to sign a long-term deal with Golden State.

“Golden State has been more than good to me so far and that’s an understatement,” Landry said. “I’m really excited to be here. I signed a two-year deal and hopefully I can be here for a very long time...I think every player wants some type of security.  I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the league for six years and I’m very blessed to have an opportunity to do so."

As Greene notes, Landry has made just 63 starts over the course of his career despite being a starting-caliber forward.  For his career, Landry has averaged 12.2 PPG and 5.3 RPG on 54% shooting from the floor.  On a Per 36 minute basis, Landry has even stronger career averages of 17.6 PPG and 7.6 RPG. 

Landry may look to be a starter - and get paid like one - in his next deal.  If he looks to make that happen this summer, he may have a hard time finding the deal he seeks from the Warriors.  Golden State already has $75MM in commitments for next season, likely placing them in luxury tax territory.

All five Pacific Division teams are in action tonight, and four of the five are squaring off against opponents with records of .500 or better, including the Lakers, who have an opportunity to bounce back from an ugly loss to the Kings with a victory against the Grizzlies. The Suns figure to have the easiest go of it tonight, with a game against the Hornets, but that's certainly no guarantee for a rebuilding Phoenix squad. Here's more from the West Coast: 

• Carl Landry is glad to have the stability of the two-year deal he signed with the Warriors this summer, as he tells HoopsWorld. The deal includes a player option for next season, so perhaps this is an early hint that Landry plans to opt in, though that's merely my speculation.
• Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times breaks down potential trade candidates for a Lakers deal involving Raja Bell, and says via Twitter that the team won't cut Robert Sacre to fit Bell on the roster.
• The Lakers' decision on Bell will come down to whether they believe he's an upgrade over offseason signee Jodie Meeks, opines Ben Golliver of SI.com.
• ESPN.com's Chris Palmer thinks the Lakers made a mistake letting Matt Barnes sign with the Clippers, and ESPNLosAngeles.com colleague Arash Markazi believes Barnes would be a better fit in purple and gold under Mike D'Antoni than he was with Mike Brown (Twitter links).

Between the Dwight Howard sweepstakes and the implementation of the new CBA, this offseason was one to rememeber.  While we are barely a week into the new season, it is only natural for glowing reports to emerge of players who have shined with their new teams.  They are premature for sure, but so many players changed teams that keeping tabs on them is always useful:

• Now coming off the bench for the Heat, Rashard Lewis is healthy for the first time in two years, writes Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports.  Lewis was hampered by knee injuries the past few seasons, but has looked great so far in Miami, showing more lift in his jumpshot and even throwing down a few dunks last night against the Nets.  
• Within the same piece, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld looks at Jeremy Lin and Carl Landry.  While James Harden has deservedly gotten the Rockets headlines, Lin has quietly lived up to the hype during his brief time so far in Houston.  Meanwhile, Landry, a former Rocket, is proving once again that he is one of the NBA's most underrated players, this time averaging 17 points as a member of the Warriors.
• The man traded for Harden, the Thunder's Kevin Martin, is shooting a ridiculous 62 percent from three point range and averaging over 19 PPG so far in Oklahoma City, writes Chris Sheridan.  While Harden is clearly the best piece moved in the deal, it isn't hard to imagine Martin's skills and those draft picks making it look respectable for Sam Presti and the Thunder.
• Averging only 14 PPG, Joe Johnson is still getting acclimated to his new role on the Nets, writes Roderick Boone of Newsday.  The mixture in Brooklyn will probably take longer than most to jell, considering that not only is nearly the whole team new, but most of the high profile players have never played on anything close to an elite team before. 
• Kosta Koufos hasn't been a member of the Jazz since 2010, but Bill Oram's story about the former Utah draft pick's rise into the Nuggets starting lineup sure makes it feel like it was yesterday.  After beating out JaVale McGee for the center spot, Koufos is averaging 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in Denver.
• Shipped to Orlando after being drafted by Philly, Maurice Harkless played more than 22 minutes in his Magic debut on Wednesday, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.  Harkless didn't participate in preseason while he was recovering from a sports hernia, and still isn't 100 percent, but it sounds like the rookie is on his way.