As we look forward to what could be the final game of the 2012/13 season tonight, let's check in on a few odds and ends from around the NBA....

• Hawks GM Danny Ferry was noncommittal when asked by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution if the team planned to extend qualifying offers to Jeff Teague and Ivan Johnson. I'd be pretty surprised if Teague didn't receive a qualifying offer, considering he's unlikely to accept the one-year offer and it could always be rescinded if Atlanta needed to clear cap space.
• In addition to Dario Saric, Norvel Pelle, and the 14 international prospects we identified in yesterday's post, Viktor Gaddefors and Joshua Simmons also withdrew from the 2013 draft, the NBA announced today.
• Warriors head coach Mark Jackson tells Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link) that he and the team haven't had any recent talks about a contract extension, and he's fine with that.
• Although the Mavericks were recently named as a potential suitor for Monta Ellis, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com thinks the veteran guard is "far from a perfect fit" for the Mavs.
• The Bulls could go in a number of different directions on draft night, but the most likely outcome will see the club drafting a big man, says Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.
• They may not have reached a trade agreement with the Celtics, but the Clippers still figure to be very active this offseason, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com.

It's tough when you dominate at your college, but fail to see any interest from the professional ranks. That's what Santa Clara's all-time leading scorer, Kevin Foster, is facing as he prepares to possibly be snubbed later this month in the draft.

Foster told the San Jose Mercury News' Curtis Pashelka "it would be a dream come true" to play for the Warriors, who are so close to his adopted hometown. Foster participated in a predraft workout with six other hopefuls including five guards this morning.

Even after workouts with the Rockets and Bucks, Foster said the Warriors are his "preference" because of their locale, but followed that up by saying, "I just want to get drafted somewhere." Here are some more notes surrounding the upcoming draft. 

• Former Temple guard, Khalif Wyatt, worked out for the Sixers today, writes Keith Pompey at the Philadelphia Inquirer. But what wasn't reported was that Wyatt was joined by Shane Larkin, DeShaun Thomas and Glen Rice Jr. in the unannounced workout.
• Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com notes that Wyatt spent six weeks at Impact Basketball in Las Vegas, eating better and getting stronger while dropping from 223 lbs. to 210 on his 6'4" frame.
• Keith Schlosser of SB Nation's Ridiculous Upside breaks down the intriguing prospects at the NBA's only 2012 National D-League Tryout next Saturday.  
• The Jazz had a big day of workouts highlighted by Gonzaga University center Kelly Olynyk, writes the Salt Lake Tribune's Bill Oram, but it's his connection to Hall of Famer John Stockton, who is also a Gonzaga alum, that made the workout so enjoyable.
• The Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm said the Jazz also worked out three other likely first round selections today: Gorgui Dieng, Rudy Gobert, and Jamaal Franklin (Twitter).
• About Franklin, SB Nation's Mountain West Connection profiled the San Diego State shooting guard.
• Oram said the Jazz will work out Will Clyburn, Robert Covington, Troy Daniels, Rodney McGruder, E.J. Singler and Adonis Thomas tomorrow (Twitter).
• Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic said the Suns worked out Steven Adams, Lorenzo Brown, Myck Kabongo, Mike Muscala, Alex Oriakhi and Brandon Paul today (Twitter)
• Nerlens Noel was featured in a courtside report video by Monumental Network.
• The Knicks will work out Archie Goodwin, Jordan Henriquez, Trent Lockett, Dejan Musli, Stan Okoye and Josiah Turner on Monday, reports ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley (Twitter).
• Sportando.net reports Janis Timma will work out with five NBA teams before the draft and then head to the Las Vegas. After the draft, he may play in the NBA's summer league.  
• Charles F. Gardner of the Journal-Sentinel profiled 6'6" Providence prospect, Ricky Ledo, who is receiving interest from NBA teams after workouts despite being deemed ineligible to play as a freshman for the Friars.

There's a lot still swirling about the Clippers-Celtics deal, with Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPN.com, and many others tweeting about a possible deal every few minutes. We'll certainly have more for you a little later, but before we do so, let's delve into the upcoming draft, as we're less than two weeks away from the big night:

• Maryland center Alex Len will be visiting the Cavaliers next week, according to his agent, writes Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. His visit will come after UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett comes on Monday, and Kentucky big man Nerlens Noel visits on Tuesday.
• Noel also told Alex Kennedy, writing for the USA Today, that there are "no excuses" if his knee doesn't work out. According to the Wizards' Twitter feed, Noel said he's gained weight since the combine and is up to 218 lbs(Twitter link), so hopefully it doesn't affect the knee.
• Mark Giannato of the Washington Post writes that despite the small chance Noel lands with the Wizards with the third pick, Noel believes "anything can happen," so he's ready for the unexpected despite the fact he's the favorite to be selected number one overall.
• Former Lousiville guard Peyton Siva, worked out for the Warriors today, reports Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News. Siva was excited at the prospect of playing for former Rick Pitino disciple Mark Jackson, with Siva saying that playing for the Warriors would be "wonderful." 
• The Bucks continued to look at shooting guards, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ricky Ledo working out for the squad today, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Sam Amico of Fox Sports says Ledo may be working his way into the late-first round (Twitter).

On the heels of a pair of unsurprising option decisions - Brandon Rush and Marvin Williams will return to the Warriors and Jazz, respectively - we received word that Andre Iguodala will opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent. Iguodala's decision isn't a huge surprise either, but it certainly makes this year's class of free agents even more interesting.

In addition to the Nuggets, Wojnarowski listed six other teams expected to pursue Iguodala, while Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group tweets that the Warriors are interested in well. Golden State would have a much tougher path to landing Iggy than teams with cap space, but a sign-and-trade is within the realm of possibility.

Here are a few more Friday odds and ends from around the NBA:

• An Eastern Conference executive tells Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Twitter link) that the Cavaliers and Bobcats have both been "ultra-aggressive" in seeking out trades.
• We heard yesterday that the Nuggets hoped to bring Brian Shaw in for an interview next week, but according to a tweet from Chris Broussard of ESPN.com, it sounds like Denver was able to schedule a meeting with Shaw for today. Lionel Hollins' interview is still set for tomorrow, as planned.
• Discussing his team's upcoming offseason, Pistons GM Joe Dumars says many teams facing possible tax penalties next season are already making trade calls in an effort to reduce or avoid a tax bill (link via David Mayo of MLive.com).
• Agent Tony Dutt tells Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times that his client, Jordan Farmar, wants to return to the NBA "for sure." Farmar signed a three-year contract in Turkey last summer, but has the chance to opt out of the deal after each season.
• In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Kevin Pelton follows up on the story that Chris Paul and Dwight Howard are interested in playing together by ranking a handful of possible destinations from least likely (Lakers) to most likely (Hawks).

Brandon Rush has officially exercised his 2013/14 player option to remain with the Warriors, agent Mark Bartelstein confirms to Hoops Rumors. According to RealGM.com's transactions log, Rush made the decision official earlier this week.

Rush's 2012/13 season came to a premature end when the 27-year-old tore his ACL during the season's opening week. While a successful year in Golden State may have resulted in Rush opting out this summer, it's no surprise that he'd elect the security of another year at $4MM coming off such a serious injury.

In his last full season ('11/12), Rush posted career-highs in PPG (9.8), FG% (.501), PER (15.2), and a handful of other categories. Assuming he's healthy by the fall, Rush will give Golden State another deadly outside shooter to go along with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson -- for his career, the Kansas product has shot 41.3% from three-point range.

As I wrote when I previewed the Warriors' offseason, Rush's decision to opt in means that the team will have $69MM+ committed to 10 players for next season. That will make it tricky for the club to bring back free agents such as Jarrett Jack or Carl Landry without going well into tax territory.

When Pistons general manager Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson's expiring contract in 2008, the cap space it later created was ultimately used on the free agent signings of Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon during the summer of 2009. At the time, Villanueva agreed to an offer worth $35MM over five seasons, while Gordon signed on for $55MM over five seasons. Unfortunately, Villanueva's scoring averages and minutes dipped every season since then, whereas Gordon struggled to consistently regain the form that had made him an enticing commodity in Chicago and was later traded to Charlotte. Now set to be equipped with significant cap room this offseason, Dumars implied that he'll be very conscientious about what he'll do with the flexibility: 

"What we don’t want to do is use all of it for the sake of it. You want to use it wisely" (Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News relayed the quote via tweet). 

Here's more from around the Association: 

• Vincent Ellis of the Detroit Free Press hears that the Knicks and Lakers have expressed interest in Pistons free agent point guard Will Bynum (Twitter link). 
• Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York reports that Marcus Camby has no plans of retiring and is currently preparing to return next season with a bigger role in the Knicks' rotation. 
• While the Celtics ponder over whether or not to pick up the last year of Paul Pierce's deal or buy him out for $5MM, Sean Deveney of the Sporting News heard from one Eastern Conference GM that people in Pierce's camp are readying themselves for free agency. Hoopsworld's Eric Pincus has heard rumblings that if the veteran forward is let out of his contract with Boston, he'd have interest in joining the Clippers (Twitter link). 
• Warriors center Festus Ezeli underwent successful surgery yesterday to reinforce the MCL and PCL in his right knee, as per the team's official website. The timetable for recovery is expected to be a minimum of six to nine months. With Ezeli out, Andrew Bogut plagued by injuries, and Andris Biedrins seemingly lost in the fold, Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area tweets that Golden State is clearly in the market for a big man. 
• Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.net tweets that former 2011 second round pick Davis Bertans (whose draft rights are currently owned by the Spurs) suffered a torn ACL but should be able to return later this year. The 6'10 forward is in the second of a three-and-a-half year deal with KK Partizan of the Serbian League. 

Despite his limited role in Oklahoma City, Ronnie Brewer sounded open about a possible return to the Thunder: "I'm still very young and still have a lot of basketball left in me so if it's here or somewhere else I'll continue to play basketball. This is a great organization and (has) great players, great coaches, great fans. So hopefully I can continue to play here” (Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman reports). Here are more of tonight's miscellaneous notes:

• Though George Karl's coaching style may fit well with GM Sam Hinkie's focus on analytics, Grantland's Zach Lowe says that one name to look out for with regard to the 76ers' head coaching vacancy is Chris Finch, who is currently an assistant to Kevin McHale with the Rockets and the head coach of Great Britain's national team. Lowe gets the sense that Hinkie is looking to build a strong relationship with a first-time NBA coach, and Finch - who also served as a coach for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers - was reportedly able to develop a good working relationship with Houston team brass while handling his responsibilities in the NBDL.  
• As far as the Nets' coaching search goes, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News cites a source who says that Brooklyn is seeking a "fresh face," which may indicate that Brian Shaw is ahead of Lionel Hollins on their wish list. 
• When it comes to Kris Humphries and the Nets, Roderick Boone of Newsday tweets that both parties would welcome a trade. 
• Shane Larkin looked very impressive in his workout with the Jazz today, according to Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune writes that center prospect Jason Washburn made an impression during his visit with Utah as well. 
• Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee says that one name to look out for as a possible assistant coach for Michael Malone's staff is Roy Rogers, who worked as an assistant for Lawrence Frank on the Pistons last season and is credited for playing a vital role in Andre Drummond's development. 
• Marcus Thompson II of Mercury News notes that Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes of the Warriors will participate in Team USA's minicamp in July. 
• Sean Deveney of the Sporting News opines that the era of retread coaches in the NBA is over.
• Gene Wang of The Washington Post briefly profiles Khalif Wyatt following the 6'4" guard's workout with the Wizards earlier today. 

You could make a convincing argument that no head coaching candidate has a higher stock than Brian Shaw right now. The Pacers assistant has been linked in one way or another to all four teams currently without a head coach, and his agent Jerome Stanley tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link) that several teams have contacted Indiana about interviewing his client. While no interviews have been formally scheduled yet, Shaw intends to explore all the opportunities available to him, according to his agent (Twitter links).

Let's round up a few more odds and ends from around the Association....

• According to veteran NBA reporter Peter Vecsey (via Twitter), Larry Bird is meeting with Kings ownership today. Bird has been mentioned as a possible Sacramento target for the position of head of basketball operations.
• Stephen Curry tells Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer that he can't picture himself playing for any team besides the Warriors.
• New Raptors head of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is making a "hard push" to bring Bucks assistant GM Jeff Weltman to Toronto as part of his team in the front office, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).
• Ray Allen remains undecided on his $3.23MM player option for next season, but will address it after the Finals, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
• Manu Ginobili hopes to see fellow Argentine Pablo Prigioni continue to play in the NBA next season, rather than returning overseas, as he tells Marc Berman of the New York Post. "I think the last time he talked to the media (on Argentine radio) he was intending to get back in the (NBA)," Ginobili said. "If he wants to, he’ll be here."

JUNE 5TH: Jefferson has officially exercised his 2013/14 option, according to RealGM's transactions log. Although we've heard plenty of reports on players who will pick up or turn down options, Jefferson becomes just the fourth player to make his decision official so far this offseason. Aaron Gray, Linas Kleiza, and Charlie Villanueva have also exercised their respective player options.

MAY 29TH: Richard Jefferson will exercise his player option for 2013/14, opting into the final year of his contract, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The decision, which comes as no surprise, comes about a month in advance of the June 30th deadline, with agent Todd Eley of Stratosphere Sports suggesting it may already be official.

"Richard has exercised his option to include the 2013/14 season in his current contract," according to Eley.

The option will pay Jefferson $11,046,000 next season, which is an exponentially higher annual salary than he'd find on the open market. The veteran forward is coming off the worst season of his 12-year NBA career, having averaged just 3.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and a 10.3 PER in 10.1 minutes per game. All of those marks were career-lows for the 32-year-old.

With Jefferson and Andris Biedrins both under contract for 2013/14, the Warriors will be paying more than $20MM to a duo that didn't play or produce much last season. Neither player is eligible to be amnestied, but both deals will be expiring, and will come off the club's books in the summer of '14.

Guaranteed Contracts

• Andrew Bogut ($14,000,000)
• David Lee ($13,878,000)
• Stephen Curry ($9,887,642)
• Harrison Barnes ($2,923,920)
• Klay Thompson ($2,317,920)
• Festus Ezeli ($1,066,920)
• Draymond Green ($875,500)

Options

• Richard Jefferson ($11,046,000, Player)¹
• Andris Biedrins ($9,000,000, ETO)¹
• Carl Landry ($4,000,000, Player)
• Brandon Rush ($4,000,000, Player)

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

• Dwayne Jones ($1,106,942)²
• Scott Machado ($788,872)²
• Kent Bazemore ($788,872; guaranteed for $25,000)³

Free Agents / Cap Holds

• Jarrett Jack ($8,100,000)

Draft Picks

• None

Cap Outlook

• Guaranteed Salary: $44,974,902
• Options: $28,046,000
• Non-Guaranteed Salary: $2,659,686
• Cap Holds: $8,100,000
• Total: $83,780,588

Of all the pleasant surprises in the NBA's 2012/13 season, the emergence of the Warriors may have been the most entertaining. While some pundits predicted Golden State would earn a low-seeded playoff spot in the West, few - if any - had the team advancing to the second round and giving the Finals-bound Spurs a run for their money before eventually being eliminated.

As this year's results show, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Warriors. Three-point king Stephen Curry has already been locked up to a four-year extension for significantly less money than the Warriors would have paid had they waited until this summer to negotiate a new deal. Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes will both earn less than $3MM apiece in 2013/14 and remain under contract through 2015 and 2016, respectively. Draymond Green is one of the league's best players on a six-digit salary, in line for a salary worth just $876K next season.

Of course, with just a fraction of team salary committed to many of Golden State's young core pieces, the club isn't exactly maximizing the rest of its money. If they're healthy to begin next season, Andrew Bogut and David Lee figure to be in the Warriors' starting frontcourt, and will make nearly $28MM between them. Both players are solid, albeit much more productive on one end of the court than the other (Bogut on defense and Lee on offense). But Bogut missed significant time in the regular season with injuries, while Lee missed a good chunk of the postseason, and the team didn't necessarily suffer in their absence.

Bogut and Lee may be on big contracts, but you could make the case that neither player is necessarily overpaid. The same can't be said of Richard Jefferson or Andris Biedrins, who will make more than $20MM between them in 2013/14, a year after they scored a total of 200 points in 109 combined games -- good for an average of 1.8 PPG. Both players are finally in the last year of their respective contracts, but their presence could seriously hinder the team's ability to make other roster moves.

Consider that Biedrins would have been amnesty-eligible had the Warriors not amnestied Charlie Bell's $4MM salary in an effort to land DeAndre Jordan two years ago. Additionally, Jefferson came over in exchange for Stephen Jackson in the deal that also netted Golden State the first-round pick that turned into Festus Ezeli. Ezeli is a nice young prospect, but I wonder if the Warriors would still do that move, knowing that they could have had an extra $11MM in cap flexibility when Jackson's deal expired this summer (a year before Jefferson's).

Without Jefferson and Biedrins on their books, the Warriors likely would have had the room to comfortably bring back unrestricted free agent point guard Jarrett Jack and power forward Carl Landry, who will likely decline his $4MM player option. Instead, both players' futures are up in the air. Assuming Brandon Rush exercises his own $4MM player option, the Warriors will have $69MM+ committed to 10 players. With the tax line projected to be at $71.6MM, it will be virtually impossible for Golden State to avoid the tax unless the team can shed salary in a trade or fills out its roster with minimum-salary players.

If the team is comfortable going into the tax, re-signing Jack and/or Landry should be doable. Both players, Jack in particular, may be in line for modest raises based on their performance this past year, but I don't think their prices will be exorbitant. If Golden State is willing to push payroll up to the $80MM range and pay the necessary taxes this year, knowing significant money will be coming off the books in the summer of 2014, the team could bring back all of its important pieces for next year. Taking into account further growth from guys like Curry, Barnes, Thompson, and Green, a return to health for the sharpshooting Rush, and the possibility of using the taxpayer MLE to bring in one more veteran, and the Warriors could be a force to be reckoned with again in the West, even with $20MM+ in dead money committed to a pair of players on the end of the bench.

If the Warriors are averse to becoming a taxpayer even for one season, there are plenty of alternative options at their disposal. They'd almost certainly be able to find a taker for Jefferson's or Biedrins' contract if they attached a player like Thompson or Barnes to the offer. But given how well the team's young core played together down the stretch in 2012/13, you'd hope such a scenario could be avoided, and that ownership is willing to pay the price this year for the team's past cap mismanagement, knowing that it doesn't have to be a long-term problem.

Additional notes:

• When considering whether the Warriors will pay the tax, it's worth noting that the team made a pair of deadline deals to get under the threshold this past season. I don't think that necessarily reflects a permanent philosophy though -- it allowed the team to receive the benefits that non-taxpayers do, and if there's a risk of being exposed to the repeater tax down the line, not being a taxpayer this past season could be huge.
• If it seems like I didn't spend much time talking about potential outside targets for the Warriors, that's because I don't expect that to be a major part of the team's plan. Golden State has no picks in the draft and has 14 players either under contract or with some form of option for next season, so significant turnover is extremely unlikely.

Cap footnotes:

1. While the team hasn't made any official announcements, it has already been reported that both Jefferson and Biedrins will opt in for 2013/14, so we can essentially consider their salaries guaranteed. Doing so would increase the team's guaranteed salaries to $65,020,902.
2. Jones' and Machado's contracts are currently fully non-guaranteed. If they aren't waived on or before August 1st, their salaries will become fully guaranteed.
3. Bazemore's contract is currently guaranteed for $25K, but has no full-guarantee date, so the team won't have to make a decision on him until next January.

Storytellers Contracts and Sham Sports were used in the creation of this post.