Earlier, we heard that Tyrone Corbin's job was safe after GM Dennis Lindsey showed public support for the Jazz head coach. Brad Rock of the Deseret News examines the situation a step further, noting that Utah had finished off the season winning nine of their remaining 12 games in addition to Corbin's ability to do so with much of the roster's status up in the air for next season and beyond. Here's more of what we've heard out of Salt Lake City tonight:

• Marvin Williams tells Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune that he hasn’t thought about his 2013-14 player option, but made sure to mention that he loves playing for the Jazz, coach Corbin, his teammates, and the city (Twitter links)  
• DeMarre Carroll has made it known that he wants to return to Utah next season, writes Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune. 
• Luhm also notes that the team could take a closer look at point guard Jerel McNeal - a repeat 10-day contract signee late in the season - with Mo Williams, Jamaal Tinsley, and Earl Watson set to become free agents.
• Kurt Kragthorpe, another Tribune columnist, wrote that should both Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap leave via free agency this summer, the former would be missed more.  

The Utah Jazz did not move Paul Millsap before the February 21 trade deadline, but Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reports that they discussed deals for the forward with the Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Clippers, neither of which ended up coming to fruition.

Kennedy tweets that the Jazz and Pacers discussed a trade that would have sent Millsap and Alec Burks to Indiana for Danny Granger and Lance Stephenson. In a separate tweet, Kennedy reports that the Jazz and Clippers discussed a trade of Millsap and DeMarre Carroll for Eric Bledsoe and Lamar Odom.

Millsap, 27, is averaging 15.2 PPG and 7.4 RPG this season. He will be an unrestricted free agent in July.

There are only six games in the NBA tonight, but four of the five Northwest Division teams are in action, including a clash between the Nuggets and Jazz in a matchup that would be a first-round pairing if the playoffs began today. The division's other teams in action tonight are on the road, with the Trail Blazers facing a stiff test against the Heat while the Nuggets take on the Raptors. While we wait to see how those games turn out, here's what's happening off the court around the Northwest:

• Jazz forward DeMarre Carroll will be a free agent this summer, but he feels he's found his niche in Utah, as Jared Zwerling of ESPN The Magazine details.
• Blazers GM Neil Olshey sat down with broadcaster Mike Barrett for a one-on-one that's up on the team's website (video link), and Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge provides a transcript. Olshey said he coveted Nicolas Batum when he held the Clippers GM job, and revealed that owner Paul Allen never wavered in his commitment to match the offer sheet Batum signed with the Timberwolves this summer.
• Rival executives tell Grantland's Zach Lowe that the Nuggets are "projecting calm" in advance of the trade deadline. The team seems fairly satisfied with its young core and doesn't want to add much or any payroll, so major moves are unlikely. That's in line with coach George Karl's recent comments indicating there's only a slight chance the team makes a deadline trade. Still, the most common prediction from executives around the league about Denver's playoff chances this year is that they'll go out in the second round.
• The Wolves love Nikola Pekovic and don't want to trade him, so the smart money is on the club making a smaller move, perhaps one that includes Luke Ridnour, writes Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld.

Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors contributed to this post.

The Grizzlies staked their claim to a place among the NBA's elite teams this week with wins over the Heat, Thunder and previously unbeaten Knicks. That has the USA Today, and no doubt others, wondering if Memphis is the best team in the league. It's probably premature to anoint them as such after just eight games, but with Zach Randolph looking fully healthy again, they're certainly a squad worth keeping an eye on. Here's the latest on a few teams trying to catch up to them in the Western Conference standings.

• Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game offers a contrasting take on the notion that James Harden only had an hour to decide on the Thunder's extension offer, writing that both Harden and his agent, Rob Pelinka, had been aware for four months that Oklahoma City was not going to give Harden the max (Sulia link).
• Zach Harper of CBSSports.com details the woes of the 2-7 Kings, but Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee hears the team isn't planning on making any major moves and intends to hold on to Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmer Fredette for the time being (Twitter link).
• Jazz forward DeMarre Carroll, who's on an expiring contract and hadn't seen meaningful minutes for two weeks, told his agent, "I didn't work this hard to be out of the rotation," as Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune documents. His work paid off last night, when he went 6 for 6 and put up 17 points and five rebounds in close to 23 minutes.
• New Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said his faith in his offensive system was reinforced by the time he spent coaching Jeremy Lin with the Knicks, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

While the Thunder's 108-101 win over the Nuggets in Oklahoma City was the only Northwest game action tonight, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty going on within the division.  Here are some other things happening in the Northwest:

• Blazers coach Terry Stotts said that the team's final roster decisions will not be made until next week, tweets Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge.  The Blazers haven't made any cuts of late, and their roster still stands at 21.  They need to get to 15 by October 31. 
• David Harkins of the Winnipeg Sun writes that Andrei Kirilenko has begun to get comfortable in Minnesota, and the 6'9" Russian is extremely excited for the upcoming Timberwolves' season.  
• DeMarre Carroll and his improved jump shot are vying for a spot in the Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin's regular rotation, says Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune.  "Last year, Utah gave me a chance and I took advantage of my opportunity," Carroll said.  "This year, coach has me in the rotation and I want to keep giving him faith that he can put me in the game — at any time of the game."
• The play of Enes Kanter has been a pleasant surprise for the Jazz this preseason, and at least some of it can be attributed to the mentorship of fellow big man Al Jefferson, writes Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.  Oram adds that with Jefferson set to be a free agent after the season, Kanter's development will be a major factor in what the team decides to do.
• After a successful rookie season, it is apparent that Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried has the tools and attitude to become one of the NBA's best rebounders, writes Benjamin Hockman of the Denver Post.  Faried averaged 7.7 rebounds in only 22.5 minutes per game, but figures to get increased playing time this season.  In seven playoff games, he averaged 10.0 rebounds in 27.4 minutes.

The Northwest Division promises to be one of the most competitive in the league during the 2012/13 season. The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking to defend their Western Conference championship; the Denver Nuggets added Andre Iguodala to an already deep team; and the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves made key offseason changes that should have them in the playoff hunt. Here is the latest chatter from up north on Tuesday afternoon:

• Mike Sorensen of the Desert News writes that second-year center Enes Kanter is impressing Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin in training camp.
• Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune has a feature on Jazz second-round pick Kevin Murphy, who is fighting for a roster spot with the team.
• Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune examines the improved shooting stroke of DeMarre Carroll this offseason.
• Iguodala has taken on a leadership role in his first training camp as a Nugget, writes Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.
• The Oregonian's Joe Freeman reports (via Twitter) that Blazers coach Terry Stotts will limit all of his players to one half of action during Portland's preseason opener on Wednesday.

• Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor is moving into a new role with Utah as a top executive within the organization and will no longer serve as GM, writes Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune. O'Connor will oversee the process of hiring his replacement, which has already begun, as the 2012/13 season quickly draws closer. Troy Weaver of the Thunder and Cavs assistant GM David Griffin were both tied to the job but will remain with their respective organizations, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).
• Jazz small forward DeMarre Carroll welcomes the challenge of competing with the glut of forwards currently on the Utah roster, tweets Smith. Head coach Tyrone Corbin told Carroll that starting positions are up for grabs heading into the season as the former Missouri star plans to stake his claim to one of the spots. Carroll, 26, averaged 4.5 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 24 contests with the Nuggets and Jazz.
• Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com takes an optimistic view of the Suns as they move forward without Steve Nash. While the organization may have lost its backbone from nearly the past decade, the team isn't in shambles as they enter the season sans Nash for the first time since 2003, which Howard-Cooper considers to be a good thing. "Eventually there was going to have to be closure," coach Alvin Gentry said. "The organization decided to do it right now, so it's just a matter of us taking that transition and moving into another phase of Suns basketball."

8:48pm: The Jazz will pick up its option on Tinsley, Smith confirms (Twitter link).

7:33pm: Smith tweets that the Jazz will pick up Tinsley's option, while Kennedy says via Twitter that the situation is now uncertain despite the team having told Tinsley earlier today that they would decline the option. The two sides will speak tonight, according to Kennedy.

7:29pm: The Jazz will retain forward DeMarre Carroll, tweets Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune, while HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy tweets that the Jazz will turn down its $1.35MM option on point guard Jamaal Tinsley. Smith refers to the Carroll move as the team picking up an option, but Carroll's contract was actually non-guaranteed for next season. In any case, the Jazz will have Carroll at the minimum $885,120 for 2012/13.

The decision to let go of Tinsley comes on the heels of an agreement to acquire Mo Williams via trade, as Kennedy notes. The team also has Earl Watson, another point guard, under contract for next season. Tinsley averaged 3.7 points and 3.3 assists per game with a 10.9 PER last season as a backup to Devin Harris. Carroll put up 4.8 PPG and 2.5 RPG with a 10.1 PER for the Jazz after he was signed at midseason.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks will sit down with the team in the next few days to discuss his return, as we heard earlier. Though a dozen Thunder players already have guaranteed contracts for next season, re-signing the coach isn't the only item on GM Sam Presti's offseason agenda. There are possible extensions to negotiate with James Harden and Serge Ibaka, and the team must decide what it wants to do with backup center Nazr Mohammed, who fell out of the rotation in the playoffs and is now an unrestricted free agent. Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor has plenty of work to do as well, and we have news about both teams.

• Harden dropped a hint that he may be willing to give the Thunder a discount, saying he values team success above the ability to make money elsewhere, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. “This is something special here,” he said. “A dynasty is being built here. So we’re winning, we’re having fun and we’re brothers. The other stuff, you can’t buy it.”  
• Mohammed wants to come back, but acknowledged it may be time for the Thunder to give 2010 11th overall pick Cole Aldrich more minutes, as Mayberry notes (Twitter links).
• O'Connor confirmed that the Jazz have an option on DeMarre Carroll for next season, instead of a non-guaranteed deal, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. The team is still deciding whether to pick it up, and Jones said it's believed that they must decide on the option by June 30th.
• The deadline for the Jazz to pick up Jamaal Tinsley's $1.35MM option is also June 30th, and the chances Tinsley will be back may hinge on whether the Jazz take a point guard in the draft, Jones says in the same piece.

Following the team's four-game sweep at the hands of the Spurs, members of the Jazz have been conducting exit interviews with local media. Already we've heard that Raja Bell doesn't expect to return to Utah next season. Here are a few other highlights from today's session, courtesy of Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune (all links via Twitter):

• General manager Kevin O'Connor has no plans to "blow up" the roster, but will attempt to make improvements and additions. The GM also says the team is open to bringing back Josh Howard and Jamaal Tinsley.
• Coach Tyrone Corbin says the Jazz may add key pieces during the offseason, but he's prepared to move forward with a roster similar to this year's.
• Al Jefferson isn't looking ahead to his contract situation, but would like to finish his career in Utah if possible.
• Jefferson says Corbin has done a good job communicating with the team, but not all of his teammates agree. According to C.J. Miles, communication between the staff and players was much better under Jerry Sloan, and Miles never knew what was expected of him this season.
• Miles is a free agent this summer and it sounds like he'll be signing elsewhere. He says he wanted things to work in Utah, but that the team didn't treat him right. The 25-year-old added that the team was put off by Jefferson saying before Game Four that he couldn't see anyone beating the Spurs.
• Devin Harris acknowledged that communication between Corbin and the team was an issue at times, but says he thinks the coach is figuring it out and will improve.
• After his strong second half, Harris is "excited" to enter a contract year.
• DeMarre Carroll appears very likely to return to the Jazz next season.