As the latest rumors and rumblings continue to suggest that Nerlens Noel, long considered the odds-on favorite to be drafted first overall, could slip on draft day, Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports that the Kentucky big man has a meeting lined up on Saturday. Noel is unable to work out for teams while he recovers from his ACL injury, but he'll meet with the Wizards, who have the third overall pick, says Lee. Here are a few more notes out of the Eastern Conference:

• John N. Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer echoes a similar report from ESPN.com's Marc Stein, writing that the Sixers have interest in Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt for their head coaching opening. Philadelphia has yet to officially seek permission to speak to Hunt, who is also said to be in the running for the Denver job, but there has been "some talk through the back channels," a source tells Mitchell.
• Mike Miller talked this week about wanting to play a few more seasons in the NBA, but it remains to be seen if he'll remain with the Heat for the duration of his current contract. In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses the possibility of Miami amnestying Miller.
• Now that the Sioux Falls Skyforce have entered a one-to-one affiliation with the Heat, the Magic will need a new D-League affiliate, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel explains.
• A week ago, Bucks owner Herb Kohl told reporters that bottoming out and undergoing a full-scale rebuild wasn't an option for his team. However, Michael Hunt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel isn't sure the Bucks have another better option.
• Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times believes Chris Andersen would make an ideal free agent target for the Bulls this offseason.

According to an anonymous source familiar with the situation, USA Today Sports' Jeff Zillgitt reports the NBA is reviewing Dwyane Wade's elbow to Lance Stephenson's face last night in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.  

With 4:05 left in game 2, Wade turned the ball over to the Pacers. As he was sprinting back on defense, Wade jumped to avoid Stephenson and hit him in the head with his elbow. Stephenson remained in the game.

Zillgitt believes the hit by Wade appears "too nebulus to warrant a suspension," but the office of NBA vice president Stu Jackson is reviewing the specific play in question.  Some other notes from the Eastern Conference Final entrants:

• Ethan J. Skolnick with the Palm Beach Post reports that Pacers broadcaster, Mark Boyle, said at the end of game 2  (by way of PageQSports): "These losers are leaving,. They are flocking to the exits with their team down by three. This city does not only not deserve this team, they don’t deserve any team.” The Pacers were 24th in the league in attendance this season, Skolnick adds. 
• Chris Reynolds of the Associated Press looks at the impact Chris Andersen has had since joining the Heat on a pair of 10-day contracts mid-way through the year. 
• Chris Sheridan at SheridanHoops.com is dreaming of an NBA Finals match-up between the Pacers and Grizzlies just like the joke the New York Post's Marc Berman told on Twitter earlier today.  

Considering the rumblings that Pistons GM Joe Dumars had his sights set on either Nate McMillan or Maurice Cheeks as the team's next head coach, along with the notion that Dumars had apparently hoped to make a hire before the start of last week's NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Chicago, ESPN's Chris Broussard wonders if the hold up with regards to a coaching decision gives any indication that Phil Jackson - recently tabbed as an adviser for the head coaching search - could soon be running Detroit's front office (Insiders only). According to popular thought around the league, Brian Shaw would be Jackson's first choice, and while some insist that Dumars is still in charge as the general manager, Broussard suggests that their next coaching hire will be a strong indicator of how much control the Pistons legend still has of the franchise. Here are more notes out of the Eastern Conference tonight: 

• Jackson - a member of two championship Knicks teams as a player - spoke with Harvey Araton of the New York Times about the current makeup of his former team and how he compares them with their cross-town rival Nets: "(The Knicks) still have to find some accommodating group of guys that know how to play ball together, move the ball, play the game the right way...With Brooklyn, if you’ve got a point guard and a solid center, or a good point guard and a great center, you’ve got two of the pieces that you want to have toward a champion.”
• According to an NY Post report (via the Associated Press), former Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo is interested in remaining as an ESPN analyst just through the postseason and would consider a coaching opportunity if it presented itself afterward. 
• Celtics big man Jared Sullinger tells Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com that he should be 100% healthy by September or October. 
• Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated profiles Chris Andersen, the Heat forward who has shined as one of Miami's key reserves during the current postseason. 
• Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago grades Carlos Boozer's season and touches on what's next for the Bulls' forward. 

After not landing an NBA job until January of this season, Chris Andersen has become a crucial piece of a Heat team that has posted a 42-4 record since adding him to the roster. If it's up to him, his stay in Miami will extend beyond this season, as agent Mark Bryant told Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Sulia link).

"We’re certainly hopeful," Bryant said of the possibility of Andersen re-signing with the Heat. "But he’s going to finish this task first (of trying to win a title with Miami). But, absolutely, he has embraced (being with the Heat)."

Andersen is in his first year with the Heat, which means, somewhat ironically, that the Birdman only has Non-Bird rights. Because he's on a minimum-salary contract with Miami, the team's ability to offer him a raise next year is limited. The Heat could elect to use all or some of its mid-level exception, which will have a starting salary of $3.183MM, on Andersen, but the club figures to explore outside options as well with that exception.

Given the Heat's recent success, there will likely be several veteran players interested in that mid-level exception in free agency this summer. Earlier this week, we heard that Samuel Dalembert, whose Bucks are currently facing the Heat in the playoffs, has interest in signing with Miami for next season.

Samuel Dalembert didn't play in the Bucks' first playoff game against the Heat yesterday, and has only appeared in one game all month. If he does see action during Milwaukee's first round series though, he may be auditioning for his next team. The free-agent-to-be told Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida that "the Heat will definitely be an option" when he searches for a new contract this summer.

"I love that option," Dalembert said of Miami's proximity to Haiti, where he was born. "That’s an option to move back and forth… I have a lot of family (in South Florida) and we have a lot of concentrated Haitian population here."

The Heat have had interest in Dalembert in the past, having explored signing him for their $3MM mini mid-level exception prior to the 2011/12 season. The big man had reservations about signing for that amount, and eventually landed a two-year, $13MM+ deal with the Bucks, while the Heat used their MLE on Shane Battier.

Whether or not Miami will pursue Dalembert again this summer remains to be seen, and could depend on whether the team decides to re-sign Chris Andersen, as Tomasson notes. As for Dalembert, he'll be looking for a chance to compete for a championship, and the Heat are a good bet to start next season as title favorites once again.

"It’s up to them and seeing what’s going to be out there," Dalembert said. "But at this point you want to be with a contending team. You don’t want to go backwards, so you want to chase that promised land."

Heat president Pat Riley held court with the media today for the first time since July, and offered insight on how the 66-win Heat were built, as well as a few hints about his plan to keep the defending champs together. Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com all provide detail. We'll round it up here:

• Riley suggested the team may need a new, high-dollar local television contract to absorb the tax hit necessary to keep LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh together beyond 2014, when they can all opt out and become free agents. A report last summer suggested the team was in talks with Fox Sports about a deal that would pay them $80MM-$100MM per season, but both the team and Fox denied it. 
• Riley thinks keeping the team together is "doable" and said the front office has already begun to craft its plan for doing so, but said it's ultimately up to Micky Arison to decide how much he wants to shell out.
• Coach Erik Spoelstra was the driving force behind the team's midseason acquisition of Chris Andersen. "If I got another text from (Spoelstra) about getting Chris Andersen, I was going to put my hands around his neck," Riley quipped.
• Riley declined comment on Spoelstra's contract, which runs out after next season.
• The team believes Wade can handle point guard duties in case Mario Chalmers or Norris Cole goes down, and that's why they didn't seek more depth at the position this season.
• It doesn't seem as though the Heat will fully embrace analytics anytime soon, as Riley said proponents of advance metrics "make me squeamy a little bit," Haberstroh tweets.

A pair of Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchups have been locked in, and one is particularly intriguing, as the No. 2 Knicks will take on the No. 7 Celtics. The winner of that series will avoid playing the Heat in round two, but could eventually be the biggest threat to Miami in the East. Here are a few of today's notes out of the Eastern Conference:

• Ongoing injury woes had Wizards big man Nene considering retirement earlier this season, as he tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "Tough enough to think about the end of my career? Yeah, that’s how tough it was," Nene said. "It was so hard to play the way I did it. I thought to end my career because it’s so painful, my body can’t support. I’m glad I finished the season, but the way I suffer, I hope, never again."
• With coach Doug Collins seemingly on his way out of Philadelphia, Tom Ziller of SBNation.com suggests some potential replacements for the Sixers to consider.
• Chris Andersen hasn't given much thought yet to whether or not he'll remain with the Heat beyond this season, writes Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post.
• Donnie Walsh isn't sure if he'll be back as the Pacers president next season, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. "I took this job because Larry [Bird] wanted a year off," Walsh said. "If Larry wants to come back, I’m out. I’m leaving. If he doesn’t I don’t know what I’ll do."
• Rumors are swirling about the futures of Joe Dumars and Lawrence Frank in Detroit, but Greg Monroe tells David Mayo of MLive.com that he trusts the Pistons decision-makers.

Although the Mavericks/Lakers game tonight will have a serious impact on the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference, it's not the only noteworthy game on the schedule. The Knicks and Heat have comfortably clinched playoff spots, but New York is still vying for the second seed in the East, while the Heat are looking for a split of the season series with the Knicks. As we wait for those teams to tip off in Miami, let's round up a few odds and ends from around the NBA:

• Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside passes along word that Henry Sims will leave the D-League's Erie BayHawks to play in the Philippines. The Hornets signed Sims to a 10-day contract a month ago, but decided not to re-sign him when the deal expired.
• Suns president Lon Babby is in the final year of his contract, and Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic wonders whether he'll be back in Phoenix next season, since Babby's future with the team may be linked to the futures of head coach Lindsey Hunter and GM Lance Blanks.
• Grantland's Zach Lowe unveils his "I can't believe he's this relevant" All-Stars, which includes a number of players who will hit free agency this summer, including Luke Walton, Marco Belinelli, and Kenyon Martin.
• With Al-Farouq Aminu headed for unrestricted free agency in July, John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune asks Hornets fans whether the team ought to re-sign him to a new contract for 2013/14.
• Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald makes the case for why it may make sense for the Bulls to re-sign Nate Robinson this summer.
• In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses whether the Heat will have the flexibility to bring back Chris Andersen next season.

The race for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference continues to become less dramatic by the day, as the Bucks won again on Monday night. Milwaukee now has a seven-game cushion on the ninth-place Sixers, who are at home against the Celtics tonight. If there's any drama in the East, it relates to seeding -- the Bucks and Celtics are two of five playoff teams currently separated by just three games in the Eastern standings.

Here are a few Tuesday morning items out of the East:

• Whether or not Chris Andersen returns to the Heat next season may depend on how much playing time he gets in the playoffs, says Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, noting that Ronny Turiaf left Miami last offseason after becoming an "afterthought" in the postseason.
• Terrence Williams' contract with the Celtics will become guaranteed for next season if he makes the team out of camp, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
• The Bobcats have told Tyrus Thomas to stay home during the team's four-game West Coast road trip for physical rehab and individual work, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Thomas, who has fallen out of Charlotte's rotation entirely lately, remains a strong candidate to be amnestied this July, as I noted last week.
• Kyle Lowry's first year with the Raptors hasn't been entirely smooth sailing, but after the team traded Jose Calderon, Chauncey Billups had dinner with Lowry and impressed upon the ex-Rocket that Toronto must have plenty of faith in him to hand him the point guard reins (Sulia link via Ric Bucher).

9:49am: The Heat have officially signed Andersen for the rest of the season, the team announced today (Twitter link).

9:32am: Chris Andersen's second 10-day contract with the Heat is set to expire at midnight tonight, but the Birdman won't be out looking for work tomorrow. According to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post (via Twitter), Andersen's agent says his client will be signed for the remainder of the season by the Heat.

Andersen, 34, will be the 15th man on the Heat's roster, meaning the team won't have any open spots remaining. If Miami wants to add another body, the team could always release a player on a guaranteed contract and absorb the extra cap hit. It's also possible that the club opens up a roster spot before the trade deadline by moving a player or two.

After seeing limited minutes during his first 10 days in Miami, Andersen has been worked into the team's rotation during his second contract, averaging 4.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG in four February contests. His rest-of-season contract will be worth a pro-rated portion of the minimum salary, though it's not clear whether or not it will include a team option for next year.