2:52pm: Here are a few more updates out of Chicago:

• In a series of tweets, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune lists a number of the prospects the Timberwolves have talked to or will talk to in Chicago. Among those we hadn't already heard about: Alex Len, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tim Hardaway Jr., Ricky Ledo, Archie Goodwin, Reggie Bullock, and Vander Blue.
• The Trail Blazers will meet with Caldwell-Pope today, according to Jason Quick of the Oregonian (via Twitter). Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com adds (via Twitter) that the Blazers met with Ledo yesterday.
• Ryan Kelly has met with the Mavericks, Celtics, and Clippers, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
• Dennis Schroeder will work out for the Bucks, Jazz, and Rockets, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via Twitter).
• Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio tweets that there's some speculation at the combine that this could finally be the year the No. 1 pick is traded.

11:44am: It took us multiple posts yesterday to round up all the tidbits trickling out of Chicago, where the NBA is holding its draft combine this week. We'll see if today is as busy, but in the meantime, here are the latest updates on the 2013 draft:

• Some NBA executives believe that it's possible Shabazz Muhammad falls out of the top 10 and perhaps even the lottery on draft night, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
• In an Insider-only piece, ESPN.com's Chad Ford passes along the official measurements on the players in Chicago, and provides a few thoughts on the results.
• Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link) hears from an NBA source that the Warriors believe they can acquire either a first- or second-round pick in this year's draft, if they so choose. Kawakami adds in a second tweet that a pick would mostly just cost money, but I'm skeptical that the Warriors could pick up a first-rounder without giving up anything of value, or that they'd even want to add a rookie-scale salary, given their proximity to the tax.
• Alex Len met with the Bobcats last night and will meet with the Cavaliers today, according to tweets from Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer and Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon-Journal. David Mayo of MLive.com tweets that Len has nothing set up with the Pistons and "wasn't too enthused" when asked about them -- perhaps that would change if Detroit jumped into the top three in next week's lottery.
• The Pistons will meet with Rudy Gobert today, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
• Steven Adams interviewed with the Magic last night, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). Chad Ford heard that Adams was the big winner on the first day of the combine, with "GM after GM" impressed by his showing.
• Kelly Olynyk has met with the Bucks, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
• Myck Kabongo met with the Knicks and Trail Blazers earlier in the week, says Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. Mason Plumlee also expects to meet with the Blazers, tweets Jason Quick of the Oregonian.

Clippers owner Donald Sterling will meet with incumbent head coach Vinny Del Negro this weekend to discuss the coach's fate with the organization, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. According to Haynes, a decision is anticipated shortly after the meeting.

Del Negro's Clippers went up 2-0 in the first round of the Western Conference Quarterfinals before being defeated four straight times by the Grizzlies, who eliminated L.A. from the playoffs. The disappointing end to the season, along with Chris Paul's impending free agency, led many observers to conclude that a new hire was coming. As recently as ten days ago, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported that Del Negro's dismissal appeared "inevitable" and named a few potential candidates for the position.

However, a report earlier this week from Stein and Ramona Shelburne indicated that there's still a "level of interest within the organization" in giving Del Negro an extension. Sterling is believed to be one of Del Negro's biggest supporters, perhaps in part due to his inexpensive price tag. But reports have suggested that the decision will be an organizational one, with Paul and Blake Griffin receiving some input as well.

• Hoopsworld's Alex Kennedy tweets that international prospect Mouhammadou Jaiteh will forego Eurocamp and will work out for NBA teams instead, possibly as early as a group workout with Minnesota. 
• The Oregonian's Jason Quick reports that the Trail Blazers met with James Southerland yesterday.

2:47pm: More afternoon combine updates from Chicago:

• Ben McLemore has already interviewed with the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Pelicans, according to SI.com's Chris Mannix (via Twitter). McLemore expects to meet with the Bobcats, Magic, and Pistons tonight, according to various reports (all Twitter links).
• Victor Oladipo will also meet with the Pistons tonight, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
• Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (via Twitter) adds Otto Porter to the list of prospects interviewed by the Timberwolves, but says the T-Wolves won't get a chance to meet with Oladipo, who was on the team's wish list.
• Jamaal Franklin tells Jason Quick of the Oregonian that when he met with the Trail Blazers yesterday, the whole meeting consisted of a psychological test (Twitter link).
• Andre Roberson met with the Magic yesterday, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter).
• Shams Charania of RealGM.com has a list of the 12 prospects the Bulls plan to work out on Monday (Twitter link).
• Jeff Withey is "extremely excited" to be meeting with the Sixers, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

1:35pm: We covered the Thursday morning updates from Chicago's predraft camp earlier today, but with so many tidbits surfacing throughout the day, we're starting an afternoon post to round up the latest notes:

• ESPN.com's Chad Ford hears that two international prospects have received first-round guarantees: Dennis Schroeder and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Twitter link).
• Michael Carter-Williams has met with several teams, including the Trail Blazers, Bobcats, Pistons, Timberwolves, and Thunder, according to various reports (all links go to Twitter). Carter-Williams is hearing he could be drafted anywhere between third and 15th overall, tweets Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
• We heard this morning that the Celtics had spoken to Cody Zeller and Glen Rice Jr. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe adds a few more names to the list of Boston interviewees (via Twitter): Mason Plumlee, Rudy Gobert, and Victor Oladipo.
• C.J. McCollum won't meet with the Trail Blazers this week, according to Jason Quick of the Oregonian (Twitter link). However, he will meet with the Pistons tomorrow, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (via Twitter), and has already interviewed with the Magic, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel (via Twitter). SI.com's Chris Mannix (Twitter link) adds the Thunder, Nuggets, and Cavaliers to the list of teams who have spoekn to McCollum, who has 15 total interviews scheduled.
• Robbins notes in a separate tweet that the Magic also met with Myck Kabongo.
• Isaiah Canaan will meet with the Wizards on Friday, tweets J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
• Canaan, Andre Roberson, and Grant Jerrett all met with the Pistons last night, tweets Langlois.
• Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (via Twitter) that the Bucks met with Shane Larkin yesterday and will work him out later this month.
• Erik Murphy has interviews lined up with the Grizzlies, Clippers, and possibly the Pacers, tweets Robbins.
• Seth Curry will meet today with the Lakers, Rockets, and Knicks, tweets Bonnell.

10:58am: Although the decision on Del Negro will be an organizational one, Paul and Blake Griffin will be consulted, a source tells Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com, who stresses that the decision won't be made "blindly" (Twitter link).

8:16am: While it has been widely assumed that the Clippers will seek a new head coach following their first-round exit, the team hasn't ruled out the possibiity of bringing back Vinny Del Negro, according to Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The ESPN duo reports that there's a "level of interest within the organization" in giving Del Negro a contract extension rather than pursuing a replacement.

The final call on Del Negro's future will be made by owner Donald Sterling, who is considered the coach's biggest supporter in the organization, according to Stein and Shelburne. For now, team officials continue the weigh their options, with no decision reached yet. Del Negro, for his part, has reportedly drawn interest from one other team for a head coaching opening, but has only explored a return to the Clippers so far.

According to ESPN.com, resolution on Del Negro's future was expected to happen within a week of the Clippers' elimination, but it has dragged beyond that because Sterling likes to take his time with major decisions. Stein and Shelburne hear from sources that the longer it takes the club to announce a decision, the likelier it is that Del Negro will be back.

The Clippers' decision on Del Negro is a significant one, since it could have an effect on another decision this summer: Chris Paul's free agency. As Stein and Shelburne note, in recent years, Sterling has leaned toward hiring coaches and front office execs willing to sign short-term, inexpensive contracts, but I wonder if continuing along that path would be sending the wrong signals to CP3.

All eyes will be on Clippers guard Chris Paul this summer and while the All-Star has been treated like royalty in L.A. and arguably has been given more pull than any other player in the league when it comes to personnel decisions, it's possible that CP3 will head elsewhere as he looks to win his first NBA title.  Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld ran down the Clippers' biggest competition and identified the Mavericks, Hawks, Rockets, and Nuggets as the top threats to pull him away from La La Land.  Here's tonight's look around the Association as the Clippers gear up for a very interesting summer..

• In today's mailbag, a reader asked Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sentinel if Norris Cole is essentially playing his way out of Miami.  The Heat guard is under contract for next season with a club option for 2014/15, but his play could convince Miami that they can safely let Mario Chalmers go rather than exercise his $4MM option for next year.  Alternatively, they could also exercise the option on the KU product and flip him elsewhere.
• Chris Wilcox is a free agent for a second consecutive season, but he says that he would like to return to the Celtics, writes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.  “I would love to come back and be a part of this, because I just feel like I didn’t. . . . I wasn’t me, you know what I mean? So I want to come back healthy. I want to come back and be healthy right from the start of training camp," Wilcox said.
• The Nuggets' Quincy Miller recently had his contract for next season partially guaranteed at $150K, according to Sham Sports.  Miller, who could earn up to $789K next year, had a clause in his deal that gave him a partial guarantee if he was not waived in the week following Denver's elimination from the playoffs.

Metta World Peace hasn't offered any public hints about whether he plans to exercise his early-termination option for next season, but Salary Cap FAQ author Larry Coon hears he intends to play out his contract with the Lakers. World Peace is due $7,727,280 in the final season of his five-year deal, and Coon would be "shocked" if he turned that down.

The news isn't unexpected, since World Peace might have trouble making half as much next season if he were to hit the open market. He could probably wrangle more guaranteed money as part of a long-term deal, but at 33 years old, few teams would be willing to give him a contract that stretched out for too long.

World Peace has shown durability and, this year, a remarkable capacity to recover from a late-season knee injury, but his on-court efficiency hasn't been the same since he signed with the Lakers four years ago. His career PER had been 16.5 during his first 10 seasons in the league, but his PER with L.A. is just 11.8. His number this year was slightly higher, at 12.5, as World Peace was tasked with more minutes and shots amid an injury-hit season for his Lakers teammates.

In his blog post, Coon counts World Peace among the Lakers' commitments for next season and ponders whether the team could sign both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul, as Grantland's Bill Simmons suggested. Such a move would require the team to amnesty Kobe Bryant and trade Pau Gasol to the Rockets, and there's no reasonable scenario that would allow the Lakers to offer max contracts to both Howard and Paul, as Coon deduces.

Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News doesn't hide his distaste for advanced metrics in his latest dispatch, and he thinks the Nets should wait to hire a new coach until the Grizzlies make their decision on Lionel Hollins official. If Memphis management determines Hollins, whose contract is up at season's end, doesn't fit with the team's new emphasis on statistics, the Nets should pounce on the coaching free agent, Lawrence writes. Given that Hollins said yesterday that the Grizzlies want him back, however, I'd be surprised if he's changing addresses this summer. Here's more from Lawrence on the Grizzlies and the rest of the NBA:

• Chris Paul prefers to re-sign with the Clippers this summer, but he wants them to hire an African American as coach, Lawrence hears, suggesting Nate McMillan for the job that Vinny Del Negro still holds.
• If Rick Adelman steps down as Timberwolves coach, newly installed president of basketball operations Flip Saunders would come down to the bench to replace him.
• Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer probably won't be taking another team's head coaching job this summer because San Antonio has already anointed him as Gregg Popovich's successor, according to Lawrence. When Tim Duncan retires, Popovich will, too, leaving the coaching duties to Budenholzer.
• There are members of the Grizzlies organization who still aren't sold on the Rudy Gay deal, and they believe the team would have more easily overcome the Clippers in the first round if Gay were still in Memphis.

According to Grantland's Bill Simmons, who finishes off his three-part trade value column, there's "increasing buzz" that the Lakers would amnesty Kobe Bryant if they were guaranteed to sign both Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. That appears a longshot on multiple counts, since the Clippers seem all but assured of re-signing Paul, while the Lakers have insisted they're not considering the amnesty move on Kobe. Even if the Lakers take Kobe's $30MM+ salary for next season off their books, it would still be difficult for the team to fit a max contract for Paul under the cap. Regardless, the offseason figures to be full of intrigue in L.A., as always. Here's the latest from the City of Angels and other Western Conference locales:

• HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram identifies the five teams most likely to lure Josh Smith away from the Hawks, with the Mavericks at the top of the list. If the Hawks want to pursue a sign-and-trade, however, that would probably eliminate Dallas from the equation, Ingram figures.
• In the same NBA PM piece, Ingram points to recent comments from GM Donnie Nelson and sizes up the Mavs' chances of landing Paul.
• George Karl tells Marcos Pineiro of Marca.com that he's had conversations about someday coaching in Europe, since doing so may give him the opportunity to coach with his son, Coby Karl (translation via HoopsHype). 
• Charley Rosen of HoopsHype identifies the ideal coaching fit for each of the six teams with a current opening. Rosen, a longtime confidant of Pistons adviser Phil Jackson, wouldn't be surprised to see Brian Shaw wind up in Detroit, even though Rosen believes Stan Van Gundy is best suited for that job.
• Los Angeles is a destination for many, but the idea of coaching either the Clippers or Lakers doesn't appeal to Van Gundy, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler hears (Twitter link).
• The Jazz will host six second-round draft prospects for workouts tomorrow, as Jody Genessy of The Deseret News details.

Guaranteed Contracts

• Blake Griffin ($16,402,500)¹
• DeAndre Jordan ($10,986,550)
• Caron Butler ($8,000,000)
• Jamal Crawford ($5,225,000)
• Eric Bledsoe ($2,626,473)

Options

• None

Non-Guaranteed Contracts

• Grant Hill ($2,045,065; guaranteed for $500,000)
• Willie Green ($1,399,507)
• DaJuan Summers ($947,907)²
• Maalik Wayns ($788,872)²

Free Agents / Cap Holds

• Chris Paul ($18,668,431)
• Lamar Odom ($12,300,000)
• Chauncey Billups ($7,600,000)
• No. 25 pick ($957,500)
• Matt Barnes ($884,293)
• Ryan Hollins ($884,293)
• Ronny Turiaf ($884,293)
• (Bobby Simmons - $884,293)

Draft Picks

• 1st Round (25th overall)

Cap Outlook

• Guaranteed Salary: $43,740,523¹
• Options: $0
• Non-Guaranteed Salary: $4,681,351
• Cap Holds: $43,063,103
• Total: $91,484,977¹

Like the Nets a year ago, the Clippers head into the offseason with their future hinging on a decision from their franchise point guard. Unlike the Nets, who still needed to make a flurry of moves to fill out their starting lineup even after Deron Williams agreed to re-sign for the five-year max, the Clips have a solid core already in place, including a franchise player (Blake Griffin) whose own five-year extension kicks in this summer.

That's not to say Chris Paul's decision doesn't represent a crucial moment for the franchise -- it does. But if Paul were to leave town in search of greener pastures, it wouldn't necessarily be back to the drawing board for the Clippers, who are coming off the first Pacific Division title in team history.

Fortunately for the Clips, all signs all season have pointed toward Paul re-signing in Los Angeles for five years and $107.34MM. Assuming the team remains confident it will have Paul back next season, that means it will be free to move down the offseason to-do list, addressing a number of additional issues that arise with CP3's return.

For one: Vinny Del Negro's days in L.A. appear numbered, and if Paul is going to be commiting to another five years with the team, you have to figure that means he'll have a voice in the search for a new head coach. Alvin Gentry, Michael Malone, and Byron Scott are among the names that have surfaced as potential Del Negro replacements, and according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, Paul "is fond of" all three.

Once the club hires its coach, it can turn its attention to filling out the roster. If Paul re-signs for the max, the team would already be over the cap, having committed $62MM+ to just six players. Acquiring a player via sign-and-trade is a possibility, but the team will have limited space to pull off a sign-and-trade or use its full mid-level exception. Signing a player using that full MLE would ensure the team is hard-capped for all of next season, like the Bulls were this past year, making in-season moves and upgrades a little tricky.

A long-term deal for Paul would also raise questions about Eric Bledsoe's future in Los Angeles. The Clippers' back-up point guard is eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer, and the promise he's shown in his first three seasons will ensure there are teams interested in paying big bucks to lock him up. It's hard to see the Clippers being one of those teams though, with Paul penciled in for most of the playing time at the point in L.A. Although the Clippers won't be forced to make a decision on Bledsoe this summer, the team's leverage in trade talks figures to decline as the 23-year-old's free agency approaches. The Clippers could decide to emulate the Thunder's approach with James Harden, moving Bledsoe well in advance of his free agency in order to maximize his trade value.

Whether the Clippers opt to make their major moves via trade or free agency, there are plenty of holes to fill on a roster that currently only has five players on guaranteed contracts for '13/14. While Jamal Crawford has exhibited an exceptional ability to score off the bench, the Clips could use a more defensive-minded starting two guard -- Tony Allen comes immediately to mind, though there will likely be plenty of contenders courting him this offseason.

The Clippers could also use an upgrade on Caron Butler on the wing, but their more pressing need may be in the frontcourt. DeAndre Jordan's offensive game is limited, and L.A. could benefit tremendously from another productive big man to take some pressure off of Blake Griffin. Lamar Odom, Ryan Hollins, Ronny Turiaf, and the rest of the Clips' options didn't exactly fill that hole this past season.

Kevin Garnett would be an ideal fit for the Clippers, and was frequently linked to L.A. in trade rumors at the deadline, though it's not clear if KG is interested in continuing his career anywhere except Boston. Even if he were willing to waive his no-trade clause, the price would be steep -- I'd imagine the C's would ask for both Jordan and Bledsoe. Paul Millsap's name also surfaced in deadline rumors in relation to the Clippers, but his path to L.A. isn't quite so clear now that he's a free agent. He'll receive more than the mid-level exception, so the Clippers would likely only have a shot at him through a sign-and-trade. Perhaps L.A. could put together a Bledsoe-centric package that would interest the Jazz, given Utah's need for a point guard.

If the Clippers can't land a player like Garnett or Millsap, they could turn their attention to a free agent market that includes a handful of lesser, albeit more obtainable, options. Still, after seeing the Clippers eliminated in the first round this spring, it's clear the team needs at least one more impact player to become a true threat to come out of the West. I'm not sure that impact player will be available for $5MM or less.

Nonetheless, Griffin and Paul have turned the Clippers into a perennial playoff team, and the appeal of Los Angeles will ensure that many free agents gravitate toward the club. It shouldn't be too difficult for the team to put together another solid bench made up of veterans willing to take slight discounts to play for a contender in L.A.

It was a disappointing end to the season in Los Angeles, but with Paul seemingly likely to return, a new head coach expected to take the reins, further development on the way from Griffin and Jordan, and a valuable trade asset (Bledsoe) in hand, there are still plenty of reasons to be excited about the team's future.

Additional notes:

• Besides Paul, the free agent the Clippers should try hardest to re-sign, in my opinion, is Matt Barnes, who was a terrific value for the veteran's minimum. I'm guessing Barnes will receive more lucrative offers this summer, and the Clips don't hold his Bird rights, so the two sides may be destined to go their separate ways, but I imagine L.A. will try to find a way to bring him back.
• It will be interesting to see just how much the team values the "veteran leadership" provided by Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill. Neither player contributed a whole lot on the court in 2012/13, and bringing them back for anything more than the minimum could end up being a misallocation of cap space.
• If the Clippers do try to trade Bledsoe for a veteran, Butler is a decent bet to included in the deal as well. Butler's $8MM cap figure would allow L.A. to take back a significant salary, and his contract will expire at season's end.

Cap footnotes:

1. The exact figure of Griffin's maximum salary has yet to be determined, so these amounts will likely be a little higher than listed.
2. It's not known whether Summers' and/or Wayns' contracts for 2013/14 include a partial guarantee, or whether they're fully non-guaranteed.

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

We saw earlier today that J.B. Bickerstaff was on the Pistons' radar.  On Wednesday, the Rockets assistant will interview for the team's head coaching vacancy, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, adding that Bickerstaff's stock as a head coaching candidate has risen rapidly of late in the eyes of NBA execs.  Phil Jackson, who is serving as a consultant in the Pistons coaching search, quietly flew into Detroit on Monday and was scheduled to meet with team president Joe Dumars on Tuesday, reports Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.  Here are some other news and notes from around the Association:

• We now know that Jackson will not be the Nets next head coach.  While Marc Stein wrote that Mike Dunleavy Sr. is not being considered by Brooklyn, it is worth noting that Stefan Bondy and Frank Isola of the New York Daily News have reported that Dunleavy has emerged as a "real dark horse" in a coaching search that involves higher profile names.  Dunleavy grew up in Brooklyn. 
• Vinny Del Negro is expected to meet with Clippers owner Donald Sterling soon about his uncertain future as the team's head coach, reports Ken Berger of CBS Sports.  All signs point toward Del Negro being dismissed despite an excellent relationship with Sterling.  Berger reports that while Chris Paul is expected to have a say in who replaces Del Negro, his influence may be weaker than most think. 
• Former coach and current NBA analyst Hubie Brown gave his thoughts on the Bobcats' coaching vacancy on Tuesday, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.  Brown's advice; match your coaching targets with your players strengths.  From Brown, "Too many times a coach's style doesn't match the players already under contracts, particularly the top three players.  The style of play is critical in relation to the players on the roster.  If it doesn't match you're just wasting time."
• Brown went on to address the coaching-search misconception that all assistants have close to equal experience, using Tom Thibodeau as a prime example.  "The backgrounds of various assistants are totally different," Brown said.