After the Pacers took a 1-0 lead over the Knicks with a win in New York yesterday, the second Eastern Conference Semifinal will get underway tonight, as the Heat play their first game since April 28th. As we look forward to the first game in the Bulls/Heat series, let's round up a few items from out of the Eastern Conference....

• The Hawks are facing a potential roster overhaul this summer, but Louis Williams, one of just three players on a guaranteed contract, says he's looking forward to playing with the other two (Al Horford and John Jenkins) next season. Williams also told Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he'd be glad to help recruit free agents if he's asked.
• Two Hawks free agents, Zaza Pachulia and Kyle Korver, are interested in re-signing with the team, as Vivlamore and Jeff Schultz write in a separate Journal Constitution piece. According to Korver, the Hawks have expressed interest in bringing him back.
• Now that the Rockets are out of the playoffs, assistant Kelvin Sampson figures to receive plenty of phone calls from teams seeking a new head coach. Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Sampson has an interview lined up for Thursday with the Bucks, and that the 76ers and Bobcats have also requested permission to speak to him.
• With the Nets searching for a new head coach, Deron Williams indicated he wouldn't be opposed to playing for ex-Jazz coach Jerry Sloan again, and Sloan says he'd be open to the idea as well, writes Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. "I'm open, I would listen," Sloan said of the Nets. "I haven't did the research on their roster, but I would definitely listen if they called."
• Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show today, the Nets' former coach, P.J. Carlesimo, said he doesn't think a first-round Nets victory would have saved his job. "I think short of winning a championship, it wouldn't have made any difference," Carlesimo said, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. "I mean, [GM] Billy [King] was pretty candid....
  I think anything short of winning a championship wasn't going to change his mind or [ownership's] mind."

Lou Williams is out for the season after tearing a ligament in his right knee, reports Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The Hawks guard suffered the injury last night against the Nets, and an MRI today revealed the tear, which the team specifies is to his ACL. Williams is in the first season of a three-year, $15.675MM deal.

The timing of the news is especially rough for Atlanta, since the NBA's deadline to apply for a disabled player exception just passed this week. Williams had fit in well as a sixth man with the Hawks, averaging 14.1 points per game with a shooting line of .422/.367/.868. His numbers were similar to the ones he put up last year with the Sixers, when he averaged a career-high 14.1 PPG. Williams had avoided major injury to this point in his career, having played in at least 61 games in each of the last six seasons.

Hawks GM Danny Ferry issued his reaction to the news, saying, "We’ll examine every and all option that can be considered and make decisions from there," as Vivlamore tweets. Atlanta has lost seven of its last nine games and sits at 22-17, in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks are over the cap, but can use a pro-rated portion of their $1.957MM bi-annual exception if they wish to sign someone for more than the minimum. 

A night after the first-place Thunder lost to tighten up the Western Conference race, the idle Heat slipped into the top spot in the East by percentage points on Friday when the Knicks fell at home to the Bulls. There's still plenty left to be resolved this season, and with the trade deadline now less than two months away, the level of intrigue is on the way up. Here's more from the Association.  

• In a HoopsWorld video, Alex Kennedy says consensus around the league is that the Cavs will trade Anderson Varejao this season, and with some executives still high on Andrea Bargnani, Kennedy wouldn't be surprised to see a team take a risk to bring him on board.
• O.J. Mayo wasn't caught off guard when the Grizzlies let him walk in free agency, and the two sides didn't have talks about bringing him back this summer, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. "Once you see the writing on the wall, you can’t be dumb to the fact," Mayo said. “I didn’t even go to the exit meeting. I pretty much knew what it was.” 
• Lou Williams had hoped he wouldn't have to come back to Philadelphia with an opposing team, as he did tonight, and wanted to work out a return to the Sixers in free agency last summer, Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com has the details. "I think Philly did a good job of making my decision easy for me," the Hawks guard said. "They made it clear they were going in a different direction and at that time I had to find somewhere else to go, and luckily for me I landed on my feet in my hometown. Both sides moved on. It is what it is, and I am sure they are happy with what they got out of the deal and I am happy to be at home."
• Andrei Kirilenko fit the profile of what the Wolves front office identified as the team's most pressing need this past offseason, but Minnesota still had questions about him, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Kirilenko is answering those doubts, and coach Rick Adelman has been surprised at just how much the 31-year-old defensive ace has helped the team.
• The Suns recalled Kendall Marshall from the D-League today, but the rookie doesn't appear to be any better from the experience, observes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. 

Items out of the Atlantic Division..

• Some have wondered how Amare Stoudemire will fit in with the Knicks' future, but a team source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post that the club brought the Erie Bayhawks to New York specifically to work out with the forward.  That gesture is a sign that the Knicks are committed to Stoudemire long term in the eyes of Berman.  Earlier today, we learned that the Knicks were practically looking to give Stoudemire away for free over the summer.
• Coach Mike Woodson doesn't seem to think that today's report will have an effect on Stoudemire, tweets Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com.  "Amare is a big piece of the New York Knicks and that's why he's still here," said the coach.
• Jim Cavan of the New York Times writes that a lower turnover rate has been a key to the Knicks' success this season.
• The Celtics need a big man who will help give Kevin Garnett and Chris Wilcox help down low, writes Rich Levine of CSNNE.com.  Levine suggests that the C's can package Courtney Lee and Fab Melo for Jason Thompson of the Kings or the Blazers' J.J. Hickson.
• If the Celtics don’t show improvement on the defensive end before the trade deadline, expect team president Danny Ainge to find better complementary pieces for Garnett, writes Dan Guttenplan of WEEI.com.
• Louis Williams reflects on his years with the 76ers as he prepares to face his former team as a member of the Hawks.
• Jason Kidd believes that Deron Williams is struggling with his shooting, which is to blame for his poor recent play, and not Nets coach Avery Johnson.

The sound bites we hear in the first week of NBA training camps often fall into the same few categories: Every player is in great shape, no one is worried about contract situations, and every team expects to be in the playoffs. It makes it all the more difficult to get an interesting quote, but Lang Greene of HoopsWorld managed to get a few out of some Hawks, which he rounded up in today's NBA AM piece. Here are the highlights:

• Lou Williams admits that he was caught off guard when the Sixers decided they didn't want to bring him back: "Just to be honest, I was completely surprised. But I think they were in a position where they were trying to transition to a different style of basketball and that showed with them going with bigger guards and getting Andrew Bynum."
• After playing his college ball at Georgia Tech, playing in Atlanta is something of a homecoming for Anthony Morrow, who says he'd like to remain with the Hawks past this season: "I would love to be here long term. It’s like home for me. I’m familiar with here. It would be great. I’m looking forward to it, when that day comes. So I just want to come out and focus on having a great season."
• According to Kyle Korver, the Bulls' front office was upfront with him toward the end of last season about the fact that major personnel changes were coming in Chicago. Korver, along with most of the rest of the Bulls' "bench mob," including Omer Asik, C.J. Watson, John Lucas III, and Ronnie Brewer, are playing for other teams now, and Korver understands why: "It wasn’t anything about our play. It was strictly a business decision. They were way over the salary cap. Derrick [Rose]’s contract is a big one and it kicked in and you already have a lot of other guys locked in."

The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Saturday night:

• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel writes that the Magic need to move on from Dwight Howard as soon as possible.
• John Manasso of Fox Sports South has quotes from the Hawks' press conference introducing Lou Williams and Devin Harris, and an analysis of the guards' ability to fit together.
• ESPN's Marc Stein tweets that, after a strong performance against the United States, Lithuania's Darius Songaila says he intends to play in the NBA again.

Joel Brigham of HoopsWorld's latest column checks in on Lou Williams' move to the Hawks in the post-Joe Johnson era, Malcolm Thomas' attempt to crack the Bulls training camp roster and a quick check-in on USA Basketball. Here are the highlights...

• Williams didn't want to leave the Sixers, but the team let him walk when it realized Nick Young could be signed to a short-term deal. After trading Johnson to the Nets, the Hawks were in search of a shooting guard and Williams proved to be a strong fit who had grown up in the area. “I’m excited to be home. I’m excited to be an Atlanta Hawk,” Williams said. “This is a good opportunity for me, and I’m blessed to be able to continue my career in my hometown.”
• With his strong rebounding ability and high energy defense, Thomas impressed many people at the Las Vegas Summer League. After spending most of last season in the D-League, Thomas is looking to get an invitation to training camp with the Bulls, who could use a few inexpensive parts to round out their roster, with hopes of making the team. “I just want to play basketball,” Thomas said. “I want to play hard for a team. I want to make a team.”
• Team USA is currently taking on France in the squad's first Olympic action in London. While USA was favored by 25 points, Brigham successfully predicted that the game would be a good test for LeBron James and friends. As of writing, Team USA is up nearly 20 points as the third quarter winds down.

With Elton Brand set to clear waivers later today, we should know in a matter of hours which team has submitted the winning bid for the amnestied Sixer. In the meantime, the 76ers continue to move on, searching for pieces to replace Brand and fill out the rest of their roster. Coach Doug Collins shared a few comments on the team's plans with Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News, so let's check out the highlights (all Twitter links)....

• Before Lou Williams signed with the Hawks, the Sixers offered him "two-, three-, and four-year deals," says Collins.
• The Sixers are looking for another big man, ideally one that could start at center, moving Spencer Hawes to power forward. I can't imagine the 7'1" Hawes will see a ton of time at the four, but we'll see.
• Collins is seeking a big for the starting lineup because he doesn't want to put the pressure of replacing Brand on Lavoy Allen.
• Philadelphia also hopes to add another point guard before the season, though it's not clear whether that would be via free agency or trade -- the Sixers have about $2.9MM in remaining cap space, according to Cooney.

THURSDAY, 5:20pm: GM Danny Ferry announced today that the team has signed Williams to a multi-year contract (via an official press release). 

TUESDAY, 4:04pm: The Hawks have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract with Lou Williams, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Atlanta has trades lined up to send Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams to the Nets and Jazz respectively, but still won't have much free cap space, so I would guess the deal is for the mid-level exception.

Williams was among the league's top candidates for Sixth Man of the Year in 2011/12, leading the 76ers in scoring with 14.9 PPG on .407/.362/.812 shooting in 26.3 MPG. There was some speculation heading into the offseason that he could earn a deal similar to the five-year, $43MM contract Thaddeus Young signed with Philadelphia, but it appears he won't get close to that total salary.

It's been another busy day of NBA free agency, and no team has been busier than the Nets, who've either signed, re-signed, acquired or traded 13 players today, according to the count of New York Times reporter Howard Beck (Twitter link). Many of those moves came as the team finalized earlier deals, like the swap for Joe Johnson, but some of the news was fresh, like the four-year extension for Brook Lopez. It doesn't appear GM Billy King and company are finished, either, as they're reportedly discussing a sign-and-trade deal for Antawn Jamison. We have plenty more on the moves to come here:

• At the bottom of a piece on the Jamison deal, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reports the Nets are aggressively shopping MarShon Brooks.
• Heat president Pat Riley left the door open for free agent Ronny Turiaf to return to the team, saying, "I wouldn't rule it out," according to Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida (Sulia link). 
• The Blazers' primary goal in trades is to find a center, says Jason Quick of The Oregonian (Twitter link). That news came before Portland agreed to sign J.J. Hickson, however.
• The Warriors were close to a sign-and-trade for Lou Williams, and offered him more than the Hawks did, but Williams' desire to play close to where he grew up in Georgia won out, reports Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Williams would essentially have replaced the less expensive Jarrett Jack in the Dorell Wright trade (All four Twitter links).
• The Grizzlies' pursuit of Jerryd Bayless, whom they signed Wednesday, began Tuesday after Ramon Sessions, Randy Foye, Aaron Brooks and Lou Williams all turned down offers from the team, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports (Twitter link).