Just as we crossed into the final month before the trade deadline, the first deal of the new year went down today, and the action will no doubt pick up going forward. Here are a few more notes from a busy evening.

• J.J. Redick, an unrestricted free agent at season's end, wants a raise on his $6.19MM salary, but the Magic want him to take a hometown discount, reports USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. If the team doesn't believe it can re-sign him when the trade deadline rolls around, Zillgitt won't be surprised to see the Magic trade Redick, since they don't want to lose him without any return.
• The Wizards are looking to make moves, and Jordan Crawford is drawing the most interest of any of the players they'd make available, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler reveals, noting rookie Bradley Beal isn't among the players they're dangling, Kyler adds.
• Damion James is heading back to the D-League's Bakersfield Jam, as the Nets have opted not to renew his 10-day contract, which expires tonight, tweets NetsDaily.com.  
• Jae Crowder's contract with the Mavs is fully guaranteed through next season, but he doesn't want that to be the end of his tenure in Dallas, where he wants to play his entire career, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reveals.
• Elliot Williams, who tore his left Achilles tendon in September, isn't ruling out the possibility he could return at some point this season, as he tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The league, believing he was done for the year, has already granted the Blazers a disabled player exception, but the team will get to keep it even if he makes it back.
• Ben Baroff of SheridanHoops.com believes there will be more deals similar to today's Cavs-Grizzlies trade in the years to come, as luxury tax penalties become more severe.
• Amid another round of Dwight Howard rumors, Nets brass has assured Brook Lopez he won't be traded, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

The Brooklyn Nets have signed forward Damion James to a 10-day contract, the team announced in a press release. James had previously been playing for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League.

James, drafted 24th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2010 and acquired by the Nets in a draft-day trade, has played parts of two seasons with the team, averaging 4.5 PPG and 7.7 RPG.

There has been much talk that the Lakers should trade Pau Gasol. Ben Bolch from the Los Angeles Times gives five possible trade scenarios that could end up pleasing both parties. .

• Ridiculous Upside's Keith Schlosser writes that former first round draft pick Damion James is currently down in the D-League fighting his way back to the NBA. And he's not the only one. Ryan Ripley tells the same story with Morris Almond. 
• ESPNNewYork.com's Jared Zwerling writes that Knicks head coach Mike Woodson prefers to push the ball and increase the tempo. 
• The Orange County Register's Kevin Ding writes that Lakers fans should be exicted as they await Steve Nash's return. 
• Former Bulls backup point guard C.J. Watson says he was "mistreated" in the offseason and had no plans on re-signing with Chicago, writes The Chicago Sun-Times' Neil Hayes. Watson is currently backing up Deron Williams with the Nets. 

 

The Hawks waived their last pair of players on non-guaranteed deals, cutting ties with James Anderson and Damion James, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports via Twitter. The team's roster is down to 14 players, 13 of whom have fully guaranteed deals. Kyle Korver has a partial guarantee of $500K on his $5MM deal, but he seems unlikely to be let go.

There are seven preseason games around the NBA tonight, and not one of them involves a team from the Southeast Division.  But that doesn't mean their aren't links coming surrounding the division that houses the current NBA champs.  Let's keep track of them here:

• Ramon Sessions talked with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo!, explaining why he decided to opt out of his contract with the Lakers to sign a 2-year deal with the Bobcats.  Sessions, who has bounced between teams throughout his career, was concerned that the Lakers may move him and was looking for some destination certainty, which he found in Charlotte. 
• Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that should the Hawks stick to the 15 player roster limit, the last two spots will come down to James Anderson, Damion James and Anthony Tolliver.  Point guard Carldell Johnson is still with the club, but will almost definitely miss the cut.  Vivlamore adds that it is no guarantee the Hawks keep a roster of 15, but they need to get down to at least that by October 29.
• New Magic coach Jacque Vaughn says that, despite the loss of Dwight Howard, he intends to instill his own defensive philosophy this year which revolves around protecting the paint, says Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.  Robbins is skeptical is they have the personnel to do it, but Vaughn says, “The way we’re playing defensively is definitely geared toward the personnel that we have right now, for sure.  It is a team defense based around five guys being in the right position at the right time."
• Brian Schmitz of the Sentinel writes that the Magic have essentially had a superstar in 19 of 20 years of the franchise's existence if you don't count the first three.  Without Howard, Schmitz opines that the team's history tells us that it is only a matter of time before they find the next one.  The question is, how long can they keep him once he arrives, whoever he is.

The Hawks have officially announced their training camp roster, and as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes, there are some new names on the list. In additions to signings we'd heard about before, such as James Anderson, Anthony Tolliver, and Damion James, the team has also added Keith Benson and Carldell Johnson to its camp roster.

Benson, 24, was the 48th overall pick in the 2011 draft, but didn't earn a spot on the Hawks' roster. The 6'11" big man ended up playing 20 games for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, averaging 15.2 PPG and 7.8 RPG, and also signed a 10-day contract with the Warriors late in the season. He appeared in just three games for Golden State, playing limited minutes.

Johnson, 29, has played over 200 D-League games for the Austin Toros since going undrafted in 2006. The 5'10" point guard known as Squeaky finally made his NBA debut last season for the Hornets, appearing in 15 contests for New Orleans.

Benson and Johnson both figure to be on non-guaranteed deals, and it's unlikely either player will end up on Atlanta's regular season roster. While the team does have at least one open roster spot, with 14 players on fully or partially guaranteed contracts, I'd expect Anderson and James to have a leg up on Benson and Johnson for that final spot.

4:28pm: James' deal will be non-guaranteed, tweets Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

1:43pm: The Hawks have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with Damion James, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). We had heard in late August that James was close to making a decision on where to sign, and it appears he has chosen Atlanta.

The 24th overall pick in 2010, James only appeared in 32 games for the Nets in his first two seasons due to foot injuries. Based on his performance and health history to date, it seems likely he'd command no more than a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal.

When James and the Hawks finalize their agreement, the 6'7" wing will become the 15th player under contract for the club. If Atlanta eventually agrees to terms with restricted free agent Ivan Johnson, James could find himself battling for the team's final roster spot with training camp invitee James Anderson.

Small forward Damion James has one more team visit lined up, and will make a decision on where to sign by the end of the weekend, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). James has spent all of his brief two-year NBA career with the Nets after they acquired him from the Hawks the night Atlanta drafted him 24th overall from the University of Texas.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post speculated that James is among the small forwards the Nets could consider now that their signing of Donte Greene is on hold, and fellow New York Post scribe Tim Bontemps reported back in July that the Nets were eyeing James. If the Nets bring back James, it would be on a minimum salary deal, since the team renounced his free agent rights after declining the third-year option on his rookie scale contract.

There's been little talk about James this summer, so it seems likely he'd command no more than the minimum wherever he signs. James had his rookie season cut short after 25 games because of a broken foot, and after starting the first seven games of the season last year, he aggravated the injury and was out for the rest of 2011/12. The 6'7" James has averaged 4.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 17.9 minutes in 32 career games, 16 of them starts.

"Though he sure didn't act like it," writes Marc Berman of the New York Post, "Jeremy Lin still wants to be a Knick." Berman cites a source close to Lin who says that the young point guard is hoping the Knicks match Houston's offer sheet. Berman's apparent critique of Lin's handling of free agency is somewhat bizarre, considering the Post scribe reported two weeks ago that the Knicks intended to sit back and wait while Lin went out and let the market set his price tag.

As we wait to see whether the Knicks will truly let Lin walk, here are a few more items out of the Atlantic Division:

• The Knicks still want to make some minor adjustments and figure to make a couple more small moves, says Gery Woefel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter).
• Expect the Raptors to sign 2011 fifth overall pick Jonas Valanciunas in the "next couple days," tweets Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.
• With Jose Calderon's future in Toronto uncertain, the Raptors would like to upgrade their bench at point guard, says Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter).

Earlier updates:

• The Nets are still seeking backups at small forward and center, says Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. According to Bontemps, Brooklyn is eyeing Damion James as a potential bench addition.
• After signing Landry Fields and trading James Johnson, the Raptors are still pursuing a star small forward, but there don't appear to be any matches out there, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
• Wolstat adds in a separate tweet that the Johnson trade was all about his fit in the locker room, rather than talent. According to Wolstat, the former first-round pick never meshed with Raptors coach Dwane Casey.
• The two international players the Trail Blazers acquired from the Knicks in the Raymond Felton deal make the trade a winner for Portland, according to Wendell Maxey of Ridiculous Upside.

It may not be many more days until our long national Dwightmare is over. Yesterday's reports on Howard suggested talks involving the Magic, Nets, and Cavaliers were getting serious, and that Orlando plans to make "one last sweep" around the league before deciding whether to accept the Nets' offer. While we wait to see if anything is agreed upon today, here are the latest rumblings on the Howard front:

• Chad Ford's ESPN.com report includes some more slight tweaks to the framework described below. Ford adds Chris Duhon to the list of players headed to the Nets, suggests the Magic would receive one fewer first-rounder (a total of three instead of four), and says the Cavs would receive $3MM in cash.
• Ford's report, along with tweets from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, suggest that the Cavs and Clippers still aren't entirely on board. The Plain Dealer tweets that talk of a deal getting close is premature, while Berger says the Clips haven't agreed to anything yet and are one of several potential fourth-team facilitators in the mix (Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

• It "sounds like" the Magic, Nets, and Cavs have found a fourth team to facilitate the Howard blockbuster, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. According to Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Twitter link), that team is the Clippers -- Los Angeles would acquire MarShon Brooks in exchange for a lottery-protected first-round pick, which would go to the Magic.
• In addition to the framework described by Wojnarowski below, the Magic would also receive Armon Johnson from the Nets in the proposed deal, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who cautions in a second tweet that pieces could still move in or out.
• Before either team agreed to any deal, Magic doctors would need to examine Brook Lopez and Nets doctors would need to examine Dwight Howard, says Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
• Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports had the details of the proposed three-team blockbuster: The Nets would receive Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark, the Magic would receive Brook Lopez, Damion James, Shelden Williams, and Luke Walton, and the Cavs would receive Kris Humphries, Sundiata Gaines, and Quentin Richardson. The Nets would also send three first-round picks to the Magic, one to the Cavs, and would send MarShon Brooks to a fourth team to acquire another first-rounder for the Magic.
• A source tells the Cleveland Plain Dealer that a deal involving the Cavs looks doubtful at this point (Twitter link).
• Don't expect a Howard deal to go down today, tweets Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.  Getting Andrew Bynum from the Lakers would be Orlando's best deal, but the club is concerned about his knees holding up, Schmitz tweets.
• Kris Humphries would be seeking a four-year deal with the Cavs and wouldn't be willing to sign a one-year deal, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Sign-and-trades require a three-year minimum, but only one year needs to be guaranteed. Frankly, with a rumored 11 to 14 players involved in the proposed deal, and many of them needing to be involved via sign-and-trade, I'd be surprised if Humphries was the only player that could hold things up.
• We should expect resolution on the Nets/Magic talks pretty soon, according to Alex Raskin of HoopsWorld, who says Brooklyn intends to move on if a deal can't be consummated in the near future.
• The Nets are willing and able to take on Jason Richardson's salary in the proposed three-team deal, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
• Bob Finnan of the News-Herald hears that the Nets want one of the Cavaliers' first-round picks in the trade, which could be a dealbreaker for Cleveland.
• Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal and J.A. Adande of ESPN throw some cold water on the Howard talk. A source tells Adande that "to act like it's almost done is overblown" Twitter link), while Lloyd continues to hear that there's "isn't much to it" on the Cavs' end (Twitterlinks).
• Numerous reporters, including Fred Kerber of the New York Post (Twitter link), are noting that the talks between the Nets, Magic, and other teams have "a lot of moving parts," but that progress is being made. According to Kerber, the odds are better than 50/50 that Howard is sent to the Nets.
• Magic brass are meeting this morning to discuss whether to pull the trigger on the proposed Nets/Cavs deal, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
• A fourth team may be entering the mix to take MarShon Brooks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that up to 14 players could be involved (Twitter link).
• Although the Cavs look like the Nets' best bet to find a taker for Kris Humphries, Brooklyn has found traction on two other possible scenarios, says Wojnarowski.