When I asked earlier this month whether the Lakers would make the postseason, the votes were nearly split, with just over 51% of you predicting that the club would end up on the outside looking in. In the two weeks since I published that poll, the Lakers have gone just 2-6, and I'd guess if I asked the same question about the team's playoff chances today, the results would lean even more heavily to the Lakers as a lottery team. As the club looks to find a way out of its most recent spiral, let's check in on a few notes out of L.A....

• Metta World Peace could become a free agent this summer if he turns down his 2013/14 player option, but he doesn't intend on going anywhere, as he tells Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: "I want to stay here the rest of my career [and] get past this adversity. I want to finish as a Laker."
• The latest lineup change in L.A. involves Pau Gasol coming off the bench, a role he's not thrilled with, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Still, Pau wants to remain a Laker: "I feel like I'm a part of this team and part of this franchise. I love to play here for as many years as possible because I identify myself with the team. I want it to work."
• Kobe Bryant spoke to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports about the Lakers' current struggles.
• Following up on Mark Cuban's comments about teams with high payrolls and long losing streaks being more inclined to deal as the deadline approaches, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News wonders if the Mavericks might approach the Lakers about acquiring Dwight Howard. However, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld hears from Lakers sources that trading Howard isn't an option the team is currently considering.
• We recently heard that the Lakers inquired on the Timberwolves' Dante Cunningham, but according to Kyler, Cunningham was just one of a number of players the Lakers have checked in on.

Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reported yesterday that the Timberwolves are "heavily" shopping Derrick Williams, 2011's second overall pick. In his latest Scoops column, Wolfson shares a few more details on the T-Wolves' trade talks, plus a handful more Wolves-related notes. Let's dive in and round up the highlights....

• Within the last week, president David Kahn has transitioned from merely taking phone calls to making them himself. According to Wolfson, Kahn was "aggressively" working the phones this week and was making some progress on a trade. Such a deal would likely involve Williams, and would net Minnesota a big, rather than a wing.
• The T-Wolves don't have interest in Portland's J.J. Hickson or Atlanta's Josh Smith.
• Minnesota is still weighing whether it makes sense to pursue Rudy Gay. If the Wolves were to make an offer for Gay, it would likely have to include a third team, and would involve Nikola Pekovic.
• Brandon Roy's contract may be included in a trade at the deadline for salary purposes.
• The Lakers recently inquired on Dante Cunningham, but Cunningham's affordable salary makes the Wolves reluctant to part with him.
• According to Wolfson, interest in buying the T-Wolves is "as high as ever." Former Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley, who confirmed yesterday he has interest in buying another NBA franchise, is said to be kicking the tires on the Wolves.
• There's no word yet on whether Andrei Kirilenko is leaning one way or the other on his $10.22MM player option for 2013/14.
• Minnesota didn't apply for a disabled player exception for Malcolm Lee. As Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors wrote on Monday, such an exception wouldn't have provided much flexibility for the club.
• According to Wolfson, there's some speculation that the Wolves would like to take over basketball operations of their D-League affiliate in Sioux Falls. The Skyforce are currently affiliated with the Heat, Magic, and Sixers, as well as the Wolves.
• While it's been presumed for some time that Minnesota would be among the clubs interested in Greg Oden, the team hasn't done due diligence on him so far, like some others have.

Here are some rumblings out of the Western Conference tonight: 

• Grizzlies guard Wayne Ellington is in the final year of his rookie contract and aims to be more aggressive in order to earn consistent playing time in Memphis, writes Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal). 
• Brad Townsend of SportsDayDFW discusses the importance of Rick Carlisle's leadership skills as it relates to the Mavericks' ability to succeed this season (subscribers only). 
• Kevin McHale commented on some of the coaching challenges he's encountered with his inexperienced Rockets team (Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets notes). 
• According to this report from CSN Bay Area, Stephen Curry received no concerns from Dr. Richard Ferkel after the orthopedic surgeon evaluated his ankle today. Dr. Ferkel also checked out the progress of Andrew Bogut's left ankle and determined that his rehabilitation has been on schedule. Warriors GM Bob Myers says that while Bogut does not need clearance to participate in full-contact practice, the team wants to make sure that he is completely free of any pain or discomfort before they let him scrimmage.
• Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters that the their final roster spot will come down to deciding between Derrick Brown and Eddy Curry (Jeff McDonald of Spurs Nation reports). 
• Dwight Howard fully participated in today's practice with the Lakers and is prepared to make his debut tomorrow under the approval of their training staff (says Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN Los Angeles). Also, forward Jordan Hill was cleared to practice with the team today after being diagnosed with a herniated disk less than two weeks ago, and told reporters that he could possibly return before the season opener on October 30. 
• According to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, forwards Louis Amundson and Dante Cunningham have emerged as "energy guys" for Rick Adelman and the Timberwolves. 

Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW engaged in a chat with fans about the Mavericks' offseason. Among his more notable thoughts were that the team's interest in Steve Nash was never that serious, Mark Cuban deserves to be applauded for their attempt to land Deron Williams despite falling short, and that he gives the team a grade of "B"  for their work this summer. Here are some more of the highlights:

• The additions of Darren Collison, Dahntay Jones, O.J. Mayo, and Elton Brand should give Dirk Nowitzki plenty of reasons to be excited about the upcoming season. 
• Sefko has continued to hear good things about Jae Crowder (selected 34th overall in last month's draft) and thinks that Crowder, along with first-round pick Jared Cunningham, should receive long looks in training camp. 
• Being able to reserve cap room along with the collection of assets and one-year contracts that Dallas obtained this summer, he believes that the team still feels they have a shot at landing Dwight Howard, whether via trade or during free agency next summer. 

The Grizzlies and Timberwolves have agreed to swap Dante Cunningham and Wayne Ellington, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal (Twitter link). There had been rumblings over the last couple weeks that the trade would be consummated soon, but the T-Wolves needed to work through cap issues before making the deal official.

Financially, the deal works out almost perfectly, as the Grizzlies take on Ellington's $2,083,042 salary, while Cunningham and his $2,090,000 salary head to Minnesota. Ellington is in the final year of his rookie deal, while Cunningham has one more team option for 2013/14. From an on-court perspective, Ellington joins a Grizzlies' backcourt that has also added Jerryd Bayless and was in need of a shooter. Cunningham will add size to a T-Wolves' frontcourt that includes Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Derrick Williams, and Greg Stiemsma.

Having moved Cunningham, the Grizzlies will look to re-sign Hamed Haddadi for something close to the minimum, tweets Tillery. The Wolves, meanwhile, still need to officially finalize deals for Stiemsma, Alexey Shved, and Brandon Roy.

Earlier today, we rounded up a number of pieces reacting to the Knicks' decision to let Jeremy Lin sign with the Rockets, but the Lin updates continue to pour in. ESPN's J.A. Adande argues that Houston is the ideal spot for Lin to thrive, while the day's most interesting Lin piece came from Pablo S. Torre of SI.com, who chronicles the point guard's free agency process.

"Honestly, I preferred New York," Lin told Torre. "But my main goal in free agency was to go to a team that had plans for me and wanted me. I wanted to have fun playing basketball. ... Now I'm definitely relieved."

As the newest Rocket arrives in Houston, here are a few more items out of the Southwest Division:

• The Mavericks are still scouring the free agent market for bench options, GM Donnie Nelson tells Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "We're always looking. It's one of those situations where free agents have to be looking out for their best interest, and it's our job to look out for the Mavericks' best interest. We're looking at trying to get the best possible talent that we can."
• While the Mavs could still choose to re-sign Delonte West, Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com wonders if the club should turn its focus to a rebounder instead, and lists a few potential targets.
• The Grizzlies' front office is happy with how the roster is shaping up, says Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Tillery adds that the team still expects to send Dante Cunningham to Minnesota for Wayne Ellington, and that the trade could be finalized any day. I imagine the Timberwolves are still waiting for resolution on Nicolas Batum's offer sheet.

TUESDAY, 12:11pm: The Grizzlies believe they have a verbal agreement to swap Dante Cunningham for Wayne Ellington, but the Timberwolves seem to be looking to include Cunningham in another deal before finalizing anything, reports Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Tillery speculates that the T-Wolves are waiting for resolution on Nicolas Batum's offer sheet before making any other moves official.

"The shoe will drop this week or it won't get done," one source told Tillery, on the Grizzlies/Timberwolves trade talks.

FRIDAY, 12:01pm: The Grizzlies have engaged in trade talks with the Timberwolves in hopes of acquiring a guard, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Tillery says the Grizzlies are eyeing Wayne Ellington, Martell Webster, and Wesley Johnson, and are likely to prefer Ellington, the most affordable of the three.

Ellington, 24, is on the Timberwolves' books for about $2.08MM for the coming season, as opposed to $5.71MM for Webster and $4.29MM for Johnson. None of the three players were particularly productive in Minnesota last season, which is why the T-Wolves have been aggressive in pursuing wing help this summer. Trading a player or two could give the Wolves the cap space to sign the players they've been linked to this month.

Of course, the Grizzlies are over the cap and approaching the tax line as well, so I can't imagine they'd want to take on much salary themselves. As Tillery points out (on Twitter), Dante Cunningham would seem to be a logical trade chip for Memphis to use in a deal with the Wolves, particularly for Ellington, since the two players are on nearly identical salaries. If Minnesota would rather not absorb any salary, perhaps a third team would need to be involved to acquire Cunningham.

Let's check in on a few Wednesday updates out of the Southwest Division....

• The Hornets are expected to waive Chris Johnson and sign another big man to replace him, reports John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. With Chris Kaman and Emeka Okafor likely done for the season, New Orleans is lacking in frontcourt depth, and Johnson hasn't played in over two weeks since he suffered a concussion.
• Following up on the Ray Allen/O.J. Mayo trade rumor from Yahoo! Sports, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says he heard the Celtics' asking price also included Mike Conley, Dante Cunningham, and Josh Selby in a large deal that included draft picks. The Grizzlies didn't want to give up so many assets to rent Allen, says Tillery.
• Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld examines whether or not Mayo has a place in the Grizzlies' future.
• Asked if he could see Jason Kidd becoming a coach when his playing career ends, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle replied, "He'll probably be an owner" (Twitter link via Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram).