Doug Collins won't return as the Sixers' head coach next season, owner Josh Harris confirmed today, according to Michael Preston, the team's director of public relations (Twitter link). According to TNT's David Aldridge (Twitter link), Harris made it clear at the press conference that he wanted Collins to stay, and that it was the coach's decision to step down.

For Collins, it was his fourth head coaching stint that lasted three seasons or less. He also previously spent three years coaching the Pistons, three years coaching the Bulls, and two years coaching the Wizards. During his time in Philadelphia, he led the team to a 110-120 record, and a pair of playoff berths.

According to Harris, Collins will stay on as an advisor to the team (Twitter link via Jason Wolf of USA Today). However, stepping down will allow Collins to spend more time with his grandkids and help his son Chris, who will be the head coach at Northwestern, tweets Aldridge. Collins told reporters, including Aldridge that he decided back around Christmas that he would likely step down at season's end. Collins approached GM Tony DiLeo and president Rod Thorn about two months ago to try to determine an exit strategy (Twitter links).

DiLeo will remain in his role with the Sixers, and will work with ownership in selecting a new coach for the club, Harris confirmed (Twitter link via Aldridge). Collins said today that he'd like the team to consider assistant Michael Curry for the position (Twitter link via Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com). Back in February, we heard that Curry would be viewed as a legitimate long-term candidate if and when Collins stepped down.

TUESDAY, 7:12pm: According to ESPN's Marc Stein, a press release was issued earlier today from the office of John Langel, Collins' agent, that a deal was done to make Collins a "special consultant" with the Sixers.  Shortly after, however, another release was issued stating that the original was wrong (Twitter links).  This is curious to say the least, though it likely indicates that the two sides are discussing of some type of a buyout.

SUNDAY, 10:49pm: An amicable agreement is being pursued by both sides with possibilities ranging from a buyout to Collins staying on in a front office role, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.

SUNDAY, 9:17pm: Sixers coach Doug Collins has informed ownership that he will resign at season's end, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.  The 62-year-old has one year left on a four-year deal, but has told management he won't return in that role.  Collins' possible return to the franchise in another capacity, possibly something in the front office, hasn't been ruled out, according to a source.

Despite talk about his job security, ownership wanted him to return for the final season of a his deal that would've paid him $4.5MM, but Collins informed owner Josh Harris of his decision in recent days.

There could soon be space for Collins in the front office as president Rod Thorn is likely to move into a consultant's role at season's end and GM Tony DiLeo could be let go or have an ultimate decision-maker hired to preside over him.

The Sixers are 33-47, good for ninth place in the Eastern Conference.  It has been a trying year for Collins and the 76ers who were supposed to have Andrew Bynum in the middle and a real shot at challenging the elite teams in the East this season.  However, knee injuries sidelined the All-Star for the entire season, leaving the club with nothing to show for parting with Andre Iguodala, Nik Vucevic, and Moe Harkless.

A few Monday odds and ends from around the Association:

• North Carolina junior Reggie Bullock is "leaning strongly" toward going pro, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Bullock, who is ranked 35th on Jonathan Givony's big board at DraftExpress.com, is expected to finalize his decision today, according to Wojnarowski.
• The Nuggets team that beat the Trail Blazers in Denver last night may serve as a blueprint for the Blazers' rebuilding process, writes Joe Freeman of the Oregonian.
• Bulls big man Joakim Noah will be represented by Bill Duffy and BDA Management going forward, the agency announced today on its website. As our agency database shows, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo, and Goran Dragic are among BDA's other NBA clients.
• In other agency news, Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal reports that Jay-Z Roc Nation Sports won't work with any other agencies besides CAA. Roc Nation will hire established agents for multiple sports and will have its own employees, including Jay-Z, certified, Mullen adds (Twitter links).
• Dirk Nowitzki scored the 25,000th point of his NBA career last night, and intends to "be around" long enough to make a run at 30,000, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.
• Although it seems as if Doug Collins will coach his last games for the Sixers this week, many of his players would like to see him back next season, as Lang Greene of HoopsWorld details.

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. 

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban takes the blame for his team's subpar season, saying he failed to construct an adequate roster and promising he'll be more attentive this summer, observes Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. "I'm not making any predictions," the owner said. "All I'm saying is we're not going to do a traditional rebuild. That's (why) we got all this cap room, so we wouldn't. We're going to be opportunistic." 

Cuban also made headlines this evening for his desire to keep Vince Carter for years to come, but there are plenty of other newsmakers tonight:

• Contradicting a report from earlier this week, John Finger of CSNPhilly.com writes that Sixers management wants to keep Doug Collins for as long as he has a desire to coach. 
• Collins will still receive his $4.5MM salary for next season if the Sixers fire him, but he won't get the money if he quits, notes Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News.
• Stephen Jackson's discontent, which was apparently at the root of his release from the Spurs, didn't stem from the lack of a contract extension, but simply a desire for more playing time, according to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News.
• Lakers assistant coach Eddie Jordan is nearing a deal to become the next head coach at Rutgers, tweets Chick Hernandez of CSNWashington.com. Jordan is willing to take the job even if it means he'd have to leave the Lakers right away, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times.
• Mike Woodson has interest in Kurt Thomas rejoining the Knicks as an assistant coach next season, as Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal notes via Twitter.
• North Carolina announced sophomore swingman P.J. Hairston is returning to school, tweets Andy Katz of ESPN.com. Hairston is No. 40 on Chad Ford's list of prospects for ESPN.com, while Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com has Hairston at No. 14 on his 2014 mock draft.
• Before he gets into the latest edition of his mock draft, Chris Mannix of SI.com discusses Louisville's Russ Smith, whom coach Rick Pitino now says is "50-50" to go pro after it seemed earlier that he would enter the draft. At least one scout who spoke to Mannix thinks Smith would go undrafted in June.

Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors contributed to this post.

Marc Stein's final ESPN.com Weekend Dime of the season doubles as his awards ballot, and he has LeBron James winning MVP, of course. More intriguing are his selections in some of the tighter races: George Karl for Coach of the Year, Kevin Martin for Sixth Man of the Year, Tim Duncan for Defensive Player of the Year and Jrue Holiday for Most Improved Player. Stein also has plenty of news from around the league, as we round up: 

• Before the season, the Hawks offered Josh Smith a three-year extension for the maximum amount, which would have been about $45MM, but Smith made it clear he wanted to hit free agency. That's no surprise, since an extension would have meant a smaller annual salary than he can sign for as a free agent, per collective bargaining agreement rules. The Hawks, wary of letting Smith walk, aggressively pursued trades, according to Stein, but wound up keeping him when an offer from the Bucks wasn't to their liking.
• Bucks GM John Hammond is publicly heaping praise on coach Jim Boylan, but Stein hears Boylan has little to no shot of retaining the job, based on the team's late-season slump.
• Doug Collins may join the Sixers front office or simply become an adviser to the team if he decides to step away from coaching.
• Justin Holiday's deal with the Sixers includes a team option for next season, and it appears the deal is partially guaranteed for $50K, becoming fully guaranteed if he's not waived by August 15th.
• The Nets also have a team option on Kris Joseph's deal for 2013/14.
• A source insists to Stein that the Jazz will retain Tyrone Corbin for the final year of his contract next season, regardless of whether the team makes the playoffs.
• Jermaine O'Neal, 34, is leaning strongly toward playing again next season. He signed a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Suns last summer. 

5:52pm: Sixers spokesman Mike Preston offered a no-comment on the situation, but in so doing, implied Ford's story may have been off-base. Moore tweets Preston's statement: "We will not comment on a column loaded with innuendo and speculation." 

THURSDAY, 3:49pm: Tom Moore of PhillyBurbs.com spoke to Collins' agent, John Langel, who says whether or not Collins returns to the Sixers next season will be up to the head coach.

"The relationship with Doug, me and Sixers management has been terrific," Langel said. "What they told me beyond this season and as recently as today and yesterday is how long Doug stays here is Doug’s decision."

Langel also denied that Ford's report originated from Collins' camp. It's worth noting that although Collins' agent downplayed rumors of tension between the coach and the team, his comments don't necessarily contradict what Ford reported.

WEDNESDAY, 10:25pm: Members of the Sixers front office hope coach Doug Collins resigns after the season, and the team has no plans to extend his contract past 2013/14, sources tell Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer. A source tells Ford he thinks Collins will indeed walk away once the season is over. Ford doesn't specify which executives would prefer Collins to move on, but writes that some members of the organization want a coach who's less demanding not only on players, but with management as well.

The Sixers fell to 31-47 with tonight's loss to the Hawks, a disappointment after playoff appearances in Collins' first two seasons as coach, including last year's push to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Philadelphia seemed poised to climb further up the ladder when they traded for Andrew Bynum in the summer, but the former Lakers center has missed the entire season with problems in both knees.

Part of the reason the team doesn't plan to fire Collins is because it fears a backlash from fans who might side with the coach and stop buying tickets, according to Ford. The decision on whether Collins will return next season is in the coach's hands, just as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote this weekend. The 62-year-old Collins has, at various points this season, given the impression he's ready to leave, and a plurality of Hoops Rumors readers believed in February that Collins would step aside at the end of this season.

If Collins steps down, assistant Michael Curry could be next in line, as Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game wrote earlier this year. Collins could resurface with the Bulls, as Ford suggests, or as an assistant coach with Team USA, a position in which Collins has expressed interest.

Depth at guard and the resurgence of Jeff Green have helped the Celtics remain relevant in the wake of Rajon Rondo's injury, as HoopsWorld's Stephen Brotherston details. Brotherston ponders the chances of a Heat-Celtics clash in the first round, and believes the Celtics would relish another playoff series with Miami. I'm inclined to believe Doc Rivers, who told reporters yesterday, including Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com, that he's not trying to match up with the Heat."Listen, I’m not that dumb," Rivers said. "I’m not the brightest guy but come on. Really, you would love to avoid anyone (like Miami)."

While we wait to find out Boston's first-round opponent, there's plenty of other news from the C's and their Atlantic Division rivals: 

• Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com spoke to a pair of agents, an NBA executive and a longtime scout who agree that there's uncertainty surrounding this summer's market price for Knicks sixth man J.R. Smith. The soon-to-be free agent's inconsistent play and reputation as a frequent partier could hold down his value, but a strong postseason performance could help him, Zwerling writes.
• The playoffs will determine the fate of Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who believes the team won't hesitate to go after marquee names like Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy.
• The Sixers have already picked up their team option on coach Doug Collins for next season, and all indications are that the decision on whether he'll return will be left to the coach himself, Stein reports in the same piece.
• Petraglia wonders whether midseason pickup Shavlik Randolph — a veteran of four total playoff minutes — could be a postseason factor for the Celtics.
• Celtics guard Jordan Crawford clearly has little love lost for his former team. The ex-Wizard twice said, "I don't recall playing for Washington," to reporters Saturday. Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe provides detail.

With 22 NBA teams in action on Friday night, let's round up all of the odds and ends from around the league here:

• Sam Amico of Fox Sports points out, via Twitter, that Sixers coach Doug Collins has never coached longer than three years in his coaching career, which includes stops in Detroit, Chicago and Washington.  This is relevant, of course, because Collins in currently in his third year in Philly and the wreckage of the Andrew Bynum disaster has many wondering if he will return next season.  
• Flip Saunders is drawing interest from the University of Minnesota as well as the Timberwolves, tweets NBC's Ric Bucher.  The return to the Gophers, Saunders' alma mater, would be as the team's head coach while the Wolves are interested in securing their former coach to replace current general manager David Kahn.  While Bucher says that current Wolves owner Glen Taylor is tight with Saunders, he thinks that Saunders would rather coach, even in college, than enter an NBA front office.  
• The addition of Kenyon Martin has been the last of a series of successful moves by Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald, over the past few years, that have resulted in the team closing in on its first division title in 19 years, writes Moke Hamilton of Sheridan Hoops.  
• Brandon Jennings, a restricted free agent come summer, should hope to ink a new deal more commensurate with his potential than his performance, writes Sean Deveney of Sporting News.  Jennings, who was recently benched, has had his moments over his four-year career and seemed to be nearing a breakout last year when he averaged 19.1 points.  
• The Los Angeles D-Fenders have acquired former UCLA Bruin Reeves Nelson, tweets Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times.  Nelson hooked on with the Lakers and Houston in the preseason, but was waived by both teams prior to the season. 

Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld took to Twitter tonight to offer thoughts on various questions about the NBA. Here are some of the highlights: 

• He thinks that Dwight Howard will remain with the Lakers beyond this summer. 
• The Lakers could possibly deal Pau Gasol in the offseason for smaller pieces, similar to what the Grizzlies did with Rudy Gay. 
• On the subject of Monta Ellis opting in, Kyler notes that there could be a lucrative market for him in free agency this summer too. 
• Doug Collins' coaching days in Philadelphia would seem to be numbered by now. 
• Gilbert Arenas or Tracy McGrady probably won't sign anywhere this season, for the same reasons why they haven't been able to get anything done since the beginning of the year. He also doubts that Allen Iverson will get another opportunity in the NBA. 
• It wouldn't be surprise if the Trail Blazers targeted Josh Smith, but re-tooling the bench appears to be the bigger need.
• Jerry Sloan would have to be in the right situation to consider returning, but it isn't likely that he'll find it.