The latest news and notes from around the Northwest Division on Wednesday evening:

• Kevin Durant tells Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman that he feels the Thunder have played well in adjusting to James Harden's absence.
• Abby Chin of CSNNW.com writes that Blazers coach Terry Stotts is trying to instill confidence in the team's bench, which has underperformed this season.
• Timberwolves center Greg Stiemsma reflects on his rookie season in Boston as they prepare to play the Celtics.

• There is no timetable for Clippers guard/forward Grant Hill's return to action (he has been out after suffering a bone bruise in his right knee on October 14th), although an MRI on Friday revealed that his condition hadn't worsened (Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports).
• Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune mentions that Timberwolves guard Alexey Shved is starting to become more comfortable playing in the NBA: "It's so different here from Europe, it takes time...I feel pretty good. Now I'm starting to know what I can do."
• Eric Patten of NBA.com makes note of DeAndre Jordan's development and it has been an important cog in the Clippers' offense. 
• Greg Stiemsma credits Al Jefferson and Kevin Garnett as two players who have helped with his development as an NBA player, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. 
• Although Timberwolves guard Brandon Roy was removed from the lineup tonight because of knee soreness, coach Rick Adelman says that he won't be overly concerned for now and hopes that it's just a minor setback (Scott Powers of ESPN Chicago reports).  
• Former Warriors lottery-pick Patrick O'Bryant is headed abroad, as Sportando.net reports that he has been officially signed by Tiburones de Vargas of the National Basketball League of Venezuela.

• Zach Harper of CBS Sports looks at how the Pacers' early struggles correlate with Roy Hibbert's shooting slump.
• Despite the uncertainty of how he'd fare after being away from the NBA for two years, Rasheed Wallace has already played a pivotal role in the Knicks locker room with his veteran leadership and experience, writes Newsday's Al Iannazone (Insider link).
• Roderick Boone of Newsday talks about Nets veteran Jerry Stackhouse and his confidence in still being able to contribute on the court. 
• Patrick Ewing is still waiting for the right coaching opportunity and hopes that one day it will be with the Knicks (Christian Red, Michael O'Keeffe, and George Hehn of the NY Daily News report).

• Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK describes how Kevin Martin is fitting in with the Thunder as he looks to transition from being the main guy in Houston to the sixth man in Oklahoma City. 
• Tim Bontemps of the New York Post reports that Nets guard Keith Bogans suited up for tonight's game against the Raptors after being out with an injury since February. 
• The following three links are all courtesy of the Los Angeles Times: Firstly, Broderick Turner discusses Vinny Del Negro's task of finding minutes for all five of his rotation big men at the power forward and center positions, adding that doing so through the Clippers' first two games was easier because of foul trouble. Secondly, Ben Bolch reflects on current Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey's tenure with the Clippers, his departure, and the ties that Olshey still feels with some of their players. Lastly, Eric Pincus says that today's day off for the Lakers was needed, considering that Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and Jordan Hill are all trying to play through injuries. Metta World Peace agreed, saying that the team had already gone through seven or eight straight days on their feet and that it had "hurt them a bit." 
• Ray Richardson of the Pioneer Press writes about how Nikola Pekovic and his physical play during Timberwolves' practices have played a vital role in the development of Greg Stiemsma. 
• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune talks about how veteran additions Brandon Roy and Andrei Kirilenko have fared in Minnesota so far. 

• RealGM's Jarrod Rudolph examines the close friendship between Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, both of whom were members of the Sonics during Lewis' rookie season, pointing out that fifteen years the later, the two look to win a title together and hopefully prolong their careers by playing for the Heat. 
• Brian Travis of Hornets.com explains the consistency and experience that Jason Smith brings to the team as New Orleans' longest tenured player. 

In one of only two games on Sunday's preseason schedule, undrafted Spurs rookie Wesley Witherspoon was inserted into the starting lineup and scored a team-high 17 points in a win over Houston. Witherspoon, a camp invitee, is still a long shot to earn a roster spot, but if Sunday's game was his last with the Spurs, at least he went out in style, writes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.

Here are a few more notes out of the Western Conference:

• Mike Brown, who coached Antawn Jamison in Cleveland in 2009/10, was one of the main reasons Jamison decided to sign with the Lakers, according to Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News.
• Jazz CEO Greg Miller spoke to Jody Genessy of the Desert News about the Jazz's roster changes and the team's expectations for the 2012/13 season.
• Marcin Gortat heads into this season looking to prove that he can be productive without Steve Nash, as Michael Schwartz of Valley of the Suns writes.
• After signing the first guaranteed contract of his NBA career this summer, Greg Stiemsma is feeling secure with the Timberwolves and isn't looking over his shoulder, says Joan Niesen of FOX Sports North.
• Coach Rick Carlisle isn't expecting just one player to step up and replace Jason Terry as the Mavericks' No. 2 scorer now that Terry is playing in Boston, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

2:10pm: Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweets that Stiemsma's deal with the Wolves includes a non-guaranteed second year. It will be worth the $2.575MM room exception, says Zgoda (Twitter link).

AUGUST 2ND, 1:35pm: Stiemsma has officially signed with the Timberwolves, according to the team's official PR Twitter feed.

JULY 24TH, 8:00am: The Celtics have withdrawn their qualifying offer to Stiemsma, making him an unrestricted free agent, according to Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. This clears the way for the Timberwolves to sign the big man outright.

JULY 22ND, 4:26pm: The deal is for one year and about $3MM, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.

3:59pm: The Timberwolves and Greg Stiemsma have agreed to terms on a contract, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reports (Twitter link). The deal will be for an amount greater than the $1.957MM biannual exception the Celtics were limited to giving him, Zgoda tweets, and comes after Stiemsma's agent Mike Naiditch set today as the deadline for Minnesota to sign Stiemsma at a rate cheaper than he could get elsewhere. Stiemsma reportedly received a significant offer from another team. A report earlier in the week suggested the Wolves would offer him a deal close to $3MM a year.

Though the Celtics were said to be likely to rescind his qualifying offer as of last night, they haven't done so, meaning he's technically still a restricted free agent. Since the Celtics, who are over the cap, only have non-Bird rights on Stiemsma and can't exceed the value of the biannual exception to keep him, they'll be unable to match the Wolves' offer.

Stiemsma averaged 2.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks as a first-year minimum-salary player for the Celtics last season. He went undrafted out of Wisconsin in 2008 and played in the D-League before getting his shot in Boston.

It's been a busy day for the Timberwolves, who finalized their deal with Alexey Shved, and agreed to a three-team deal that appears to clear the way for an agreement with Andrei Kirilenko. They're also likely to put the finishing touches on contracts for Brandon Roy and Greg Stiemsma by next week, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). Wednesday was active for the Trail Blazers, too, as we heard they've narrowed their list of head coaching candidates. We've got more on both Northwest Division teams right here:

• Suns coach Alvin Gentry did some campaigning for assistant Elston Turner, a finalist for the Blazers head coaching job, complimenting his work with young players and his acumen both offensively and defensively, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. "After watching that kid (Damian) Lillard run the screen-and-roll, what better guy to have around than a guy who coached Steve Nash?'' Gentry said (All four Twitter links).
• Gentry also had high praise for Lillard, the sixth overall pick by the Blazers in last month's draft, saying, "That kid is going to be great,'' as Quick tweets.
• Greg Stiemsma reflected on his time in Boston, telling the Boston Herald he would have liked to return, but felt compelled to get the best financial deal for he and his family. The Celtics didn't have the cap space or exceptions needed to come close to the $3MM offer he agreed to with the Wolves.

JULY 25th, 5:09pm: The Lakers have officially announced the signing, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (Twitter link).

JULY 20th, 7:59pm: Power forward Jordan Hill has reached an agreement to re-sign with the Lakers on a two-year deal worth nearly $8MM, his agent Kevin Bradbury tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Bradbury said Thursday the Timberwolves were "right there" with the Lakers in the competition for Hill's services, but apparently the Lakers won out, helped by their status as a title contender.

"Jordan was excited about the fact that Steve Nash decided to join the Lakers and the prospect of winning a championship in LA," Bradbury said to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). 

Wednesday, a report by Ramona Shelburne and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com suggested the Lakers would turn their attention to re-signing Hill and extending the contract of Andrew Bynum if they were to back off trade talks for Dwight Howard, but it's unclear exactly what bringing back Hill means for a Howard-to-L.A. deal.

The Lakers are limited to paying Hill no more than $3,632,527 for 2012/13, believed to be the value of the team option in his previous contract. The Rockets declined that option long before a midseason trade that sent him to the Lakers. Teams are prohibited from re-signing players to contracts that would give the player a higher salary in a season than what he would have earned if his option had not been declined. Bradbury told David Aldridge of TNT that Hill turned down larger offers to return to the Lakers (Twitter link).

Hill averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds a game with a 15.8 PER last season with the Rockets and Lakers, coming to L.A. in a midseason trade. He appeared in only seven regular season games for the Lakers, but played in all 12 playoff games, leading all postseason performers in offensive rebounding percentage. 

The Wolves, who've missed out on other targets like Nicolas Batum and Courtney Lee of late, seem poised to shift their focus to Celtics restricted free agent Greg Stiemsma, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.

Greg Stiemsma and agent Mike Naiditch have been patiently awaiting an offer from the Timberwolves while the team deals with other priorities, but that's about to change, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Naiditch said Stiemsma's willing to give the Wolves a discount, but suggested that won't be the case unless an offer is made today (Twitter link).

Stiemsma would like to play near his native Wisconsin, as Zgoda notes, and with the Bucks never a serious contender for him, Minnesota represents his closest option (Twitter link). Last night Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com reported that an unidentified team has made a significant offer, noting that it's not the Wolves. It's not the Celtics, either, since they're limited to offering the biannual exception of $1.957MM and appear likely to withdraw their qualifying offer, making Stiemsma an unrestricted free agent. 

Stiemsma seems likely to sign for more than $2MM per year, and could fit into a team's $3MM mini mid-level exception or the $2.5MM room exception. A team with cap room could sign him, too, of course. He could wind up with the Cavs, who might be after frontcourt help following the loss of free agent Antawn Jamison and their unsuccessful amnesty waiver claim of Luis Scola, but that's just my speculation.  If the Wolves don't sign him, Zgoda suggests Ronny Turiaf might be next in line for the team (Twitter link). 

9:57pm: Forsberg says the team making the offer is not the Timberwolves, though he doesn't identify which team it is.

9:17pm: The Celtics have been outbid for Greg Stiemsma and are likely to withdraw their qualifying offer for the 6'11" big man, making him an unrestricted free agent, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com hears that a team has made an offer to Stiemsma that exceeds the $1.054MM qualifying offer from the Celtics, and Zgoda hears the same via Stiemsma's agent (Twitter links). 

I'd guess the team making the offer to Stiemsma is the Timberwolves, since a report earlier this week from A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com indicated Minnesota was prepared to offer him an annual salary of nearly $3MM. That would be about $1MM more than the Celtics could offer with their biannual exception. Boston, which has only had Stiemsma under contract for a year, has non-Bird rights on Stiemsma, allowing for a 120% raise or the amount of his qualifying offer, whichever is greater -- and in Stiemsma's case, the qualifying offer is greater. The biannual exception amount of $1.957MM would be the most the Celtics could pay him, but it appears that still won't be enough to bring Stiemsma back.

Stiemsma and agent Mike Naiditch have expressed a willingness to be patient while the Wolves work on other priorities, but with Nicolas Batum, Courtney Lee and Jordan Hill eluding the team's grasp, it appears Stiemsma is finally the priority atop Wolves GM David Kahn's desk. Stiemsma was a revelation for the Celtics last season after spending most of his career overseas and in the D-League after going undrafted out of the University of Wisconsin in 2008. The 13.9 minutes per game he saw in 55 contests for the Celtics were more than he averaged in any of his four collegiate seasons, He put up 2.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a night in the regular season before an aching left foot limited his playing time and effectiveness in the playoffs.

A couple more notable names came off the free agent market this morning, when Kris Humphries landed a two-year deal from the Nets and Grant Hill agreed to sign with the Clippers. While a number of solid rotation players are still available, the market is rapidly thinning for teams in search of starters. As clubs continue to jockey to sign the remaining available players, we'll track many of today's free agent rumors right here:

• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune lists who the Timberwolves will target with nearly $14MM in cap space if they lose out on Nicolas Batum, specifically highlighting Courtney Lee, Jordan Hill, and Greg Stiemsma.
• Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times says that despite the delay on an official decision regarding Brandon Rush's future, the Warriors are still likely to retain him. 

Earlier updates:

• Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com clarifies that Spurs guard Patty Mills re-signed with San Antonio for the value of his qualifying offer of about $1.08MM with a $1.13MM player option for 2013-14 (Twitter link). 
• Jason Quick of The Oregonian says that the Trail Blazers could target free agent point guard A.J. Price (Twitter link), also mentioning that Price's agent, Jeff Schwartz, declined to comment. 
• The Cavaliers, Rockets, Timberwolves, Hornets, 76ers, Suns, Trail Blazers, Kings, and Raptors are all eligible to make a bid on recently amnestied Andray Blatche (Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets). Mannix also says (via Twitter) that although doesn't expect a team to bid, Blatche will draw interest as an unrestricted free agent.
• Mike Trudell of KCAL-9 in Los Angeles tweets that owner Jim Buss has reiterated GM Mitch Kupchak's comments that the team would like to re-sign Jordan Hill. 
• John Reid of the Times Picayune writes that the Hornets are interested in Ryan Hollins. 
• The Clippers' agreement with Hill likely takes them out of the running for Marco Belinelli, but Belinelli is still drawing interest, says Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. Pincus names the Bulls, Magic, Warriors, and Knicks as potential suitors.
• Mavericks VP of basketball operations Donnie Nelson says the Mavs are still interested in bringing back Delonte West, who has "other options on the table he's going through." Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News has the details.
• Raja Bell, who is attempting to work out a trade or buyout from the Jazz, hasn't heard from the Heat, but has drawn interest from six other teams, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
• Anthony Randolph has "more than piqued" the Nuggets' curiousity, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
• Nuggets coach George Karl has a standing offer out to unrestricted free agent Anthony Carter to become an assistant coach under Karl whenever his playing career is over, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Sulia link). However, Carter still believes he can help a team as a third point guard and hopes to play for a couple more years, according to Tomasson.
• Despite rumors of overseas interest, Sonny Weems continues to seek an NBA contract, agent Roger Montgomery tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando (via Twitter).
• The Nets' next move might be signing Nazr Mohammed or Ryan Hollins as a backup center, tweets TNT's David Aldridge.
• The Clippers are also looking to add a big, and are eyeing Hollins and Darko Milicic, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
• In a piece for ESPN Deportes, Andres Nocioni confirms he'll continue playing for Caja Laboral in Spain next season rather than returning to the NBA (hat tip to Sportando for the translation).