In an article he released yesterday, Dwain Price of the Star-Telegram cited that two point guards who interest the Mavericks include Jarrett Jack and the Grizzlies' Jerryd Bayless. The source also said that after the Clippers released Vinny Del Negro, the feeling in Mavs camp is that Chris Paul would likely stay in Los Angeles considering he'd be given significant control over the next coaching hire. With that being said, Dwight Howard continues to be the team's top priority. Here are few more miscellaneous notes from around the league:

• Though the future of Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins still remains uncertain, the impending free agent coach says that he's not worried about an extension or heading elsewhere and is currently focused on the playoffs, "I have a job...I'm happy with where we are and excited about what we're doing. That's my only concern. Everything else is irrelevant" (Teresa M. Walker of NBA.com). 
• Erik Spoelstra was pleased about James Jones' decision to not opt out at the end of this year and thus return to the Heat next season, says Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Sulia link). Spoelstra: "It's great news...J.J. is a Miami Heat guy. (He and Udonis Haslem), they're special. All of our guys are special in this organization, but they're Miami-bred guys. They're Miami true and blue."
• Ken Berger of CBS Sports tweeted that Jeff Hornacek interviewed with the Bobcats today and that Steve Clifford is headed for his next interview with the Suns, respectively. 
• If there's any coach that isn't confident about his team making significant improvements next season, it's definitely not Wizards head coach Randy Wittman, who told CSN Washington: "It doesn't matter with the No. 3 pick. If we could stay healthy and come together as we did last year, have a full season right from the start, we should put ourselves in that (playoff) position...It doesn't matter if we pick eighth, third or 30th" (J. Michael of CSN Washington).
• Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside sheds some light on Mike Singletary (not to be confused with the current NFL assistant coach), who has been making waves for his standout play overseas. The 6'6 swingman, who recently won the NBDL title with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, has been playing for Barako Bull Energy Cola - a PBA team currently participating in a tournament in Dubai. With his solid production in the D-League (10.1 PPG and 4.9 RPG along with 41% shooting from long range in 49 games) and his experience with competitive international play, Schlosser thinks that the next step would involve an NBA summer league invite and is curious to see what kind of opportunities Singletary could find heading up to the start of NBA training camp in the fall. 

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel weighed in on a variety of topics about the Heat's roster and trade prospects on Sunday. Here are the highlights:

• In a new mailbag column, Winderman acknowledges that the Heat need big-man help, but suggests they wait on buyout candidates rather than settle for someone currently on the free-agent market. He lists Milwaukee's Samuel Dalembert as a possible buyout candidate.
• Winderman considers the Spurs' DeJuan Blair to be a viable trade candidate, and another reason why the Heat should be patient.
• Winderman gives an update on the legal situation of Chris Andersen, the former Nuggets big man who has been linked to the Heat in recent weeks.
• In a separate column, Winderman discusses the impact veteran bigs Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony have had on the Heat since being given bigger roles in the rotation.

At 10-3, the defending champion Miami Heat own the best record in the Eastern Conference. Here are the latest notes and rumors surrounding the team on Sunday afternoon:

• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wonders whether the Heat will pick up the $4MM option on guard Mario Chalmers' contract for next season.
• Winderman also notes that Mike Miller is likely to be waived at some point using the amnesty clause.
• Winderman writes that the Heat's decision to use Ray Allen as a sixth man is paying off for the team.
• Signed for the veteran's minimum, it was unknown what kind of contribution Rashard Lewis would make to the Heat, but Winderman says that he has been a valuable part of Miami's rotation thus far.
• Jeff Zillgett of USA Today notes that Udonis Haslem is the first undrafted player ever to lead his team in rebounding this season.

It has been a busy day and night for the Lakers on this early-September Friday, which is certainly nothing new considering the influx of material since they landed Dwight Howard.  Today they signed their second round pick, finalized their offseason coaching staff overhaul and their GM, Mitch Kupchak, spoke with SI.com's Sam Amick about all things Lakers.  In addition to the earlier stories, Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles gives his take on three of the small, but meaningful issues facing the team. 

But there are 29 other teams in the NBA, so let us round up some of the odds and ends from around the Association here tonight:

• Chauncey Billups is way ahead of schedule in his recovery from a left Achilles injury, writes Helene Elliot of the L.A. Times.  Billups hasn't set a target return date yet, but said, "When my body feels right, that's when I'll be back.  That being said, I'm far ahead of schedule.  It's not even like I had a summer. I've been on the whole time, doing rehabbing and other work every day. I'm looking forward to getting back to playing and being with the guys and resuming my normal life as a player."
• Tommy Beer of HoopsWorld, via USA Today, writes that with the moves that the Knicks made - getting older and wiser - the team should be better equipped to compete and that the window to win is now.  One interested tidbit from Beer - there are only five active NBA players over the age of 38 and the Knicks acquired three of them this offseason in Marcus Camby, Jason Kidd and Kurt Thomas.
• Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News evaluates the chances of the Mavericks ending up with Kevin Martin and/or Josh Smith next summer, both of whom are free agents.  After striking out this summer in free agency, the Mavericks should be in position to try again in a year with a similar level of financial flexibility.
• Dei Lynam of CSN Philly is doing a player by player breakdown of the revamped 76ers roster, and today she tackles swingman Thaddeus Young.  The small forward position is much less crowded in Philadelphia after the departure of Andre Iguodala, and Young has made it an offseason goal to slide into that position as a starter. 
• Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside says that while the D-League has been increasingly effective as an NBA farm system, there is additional room for growth.  He uses Andre Drummond as an example of a guy who would never be a D-League candidate, but for his development's sake, should be.
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel addresses a few questions about the world champion Heat, including his thoughts on what roles of Rashard Lewis and Udonis Haslem may play on the Miami bench.
• The NBA coaching carousel continues as the Warriors have reportedly hired Bob Beyer as an assistant coach, who spent the last five years in Orlando on Stan Van Gundy's staff, says Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area.  Beyer will replace Wes Unseld Jr., who joined Jacque Vaughn's staff in Orlando.

In his latest NBA AM piece for HoopsWorld, Steve Kyler examines a few players that may not be a part of their respective teams' long-term plans. Let's round up the highlights from Kyler's piece....

• According to Kyler, 2012/13 is "likely [Pau] Gasol's last season with the Lakers," and some people even believe he'll be dealt by the trade deadline if Dwight Howard is healthy and dominant. However, it's more likely that the team commits to the current roster for the full season and re-evaluates things next July. Given the $19MM+ Gasol is owed in 2013/14, along with the CBA's more punitive luxury tax penalties, the odds Pau remains with the team until the end of his contract are "astronomically small," says Kyler.
• The Grizzlies shopped Zach Randolph around the time of the draft, but didn't find a suitor with serious interest. Of the Memphis players with big, long-term deals, Randolph is probably the one the team is most open to moving, says Kyler.
• Bulls sources maintained this summer that amnestying Carlos Boozer has "never been a real consideration," but the team figures to revisit that issue in future offseasons.
• Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem are both future amnesty candidates for the Heat, though Miller could end up eventually retiring for medical reasons.
• If one or more of the Thunder's big-man projects (Cole Aldrich, Hasheem Thabeet, Daniel Orton) shows promise and consistency this season, Oklahoma City could be faced with a decision on Kendrick Perkins. His contract and health questions may make him a trade or amnesty candidate, particularly if the team locks up James Harden to a big contract.

The Heat enter the 2012/13 season as the team to beat given their status as reigning NBA champions, but will face numerous improved squads on a nightly basis. From the Sixers' deeper frontcourt to a reloaded Nets team, Miami faces an uphill battle as it looks to take home another ring. Here's the latest from around the Eastern Conference...

• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Heat should be able to count on Udonis Haslem as the team's backup center even after having a disappointing season last year. The big man's struggles most likely stemmed from his continued recovery from a previous foot injury. Beyond Haslem, the Heat have few options to provide depth to their frontcourt and may have to add pieces during the season like they did last year. 
• Dwyane Wade spoke with Winderman about how the Heat's style of play evolved over the course of the season to best fit the players they had on their roster and their respective skill-set. "You never know what player is going to start off and be playing a certain way and you switch things up a little bit," Wade said. "But we have that luxury, because we have not only three marquee players, but we have a lot of other players on our team that's very capable, highly capable, and very good."
• Sixers head coach Doug Collins says that he sees himself continuing to coach in Philadelphia for four or five years, writes Marc Narducci of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He also wants to make it clear that he's not campaigning for Coach K's former spot as the head coach of USA Basketball. "It's a tremendous honor that somebody would even throw my name out there," Collins said. "It's four years down the road and I understand in this business you hope you are an active coach at the time."

Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com (via Twitter) points out that the Bulls are specifically $758,642 below the luxury tax apron and that the league minimum salary for sophomore players is $762,195. This definitely factors into the situation of Malcolm Thomas, who put on a standout performance as a member of their summer league roster and more importantly is entering his second year in the league. Deeks still doesn't think that Chicago is willing pay the tax, adding that the team isn't in any rush to make moves that would incidentally put them over the apron. Here are more of tonight's links from around the NBA...

• Matt Moore of CBS Sports gives the Bobcats a grade of "C" for their work this offseason. 
• Earl K. Sneed of NBA.com talks about the plenty of backcourt options that the Mavericks have for the upcoming season. 
• Australia's David Andersen hopes that Wednesday's game against Team USA is enough to make an impression as he hopes for an opportunity to return to the NBA, writes Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. The 6'11 forward/center played in Italy last year and was a member of the Hornets during the 2010-11 season. Andersen says he will continue to play in Europe if he doesn't receive an offer from an NBA team. 
• Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops examines the top 20 remaining free agents and groups them by position. 
• Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that the Jazz are expected to re-engage in talks with free agent Josh Howard soon. 
• Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN LA clarifies that although the Lakers are interested in Jodie Meeks, the shooting guard isn't quite open to signing for the veteran's minimum. Also, Kamenetzky notes that while the team has placed a priority on adding a backcourt or wing player, they won't use their mini-mid level exception to overpay for a player they feel isn't worth that much. Earlier today, Brian joined his brother Andy to discuss some names in free agency that are worth considering, including Carlos Delfino, Tracy McGrady, and Terrence Williams in addition to Meeks. 

• According to Ian Whittell of ESPN Chicago, Luol Deng has made it clear that he does not plan to have surgery to repair injured ligaments in his left wrist before he reports toBulls training camp. 
• In a brief Q&A with fans, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel said that Heat forward Udonis Haslem may see a decrease in playing time but will still play quality minutes, unrestricted free agent Carlos Delfino is not on Miami's radar and will probably end up returning to Milwaukee, and that there weren't many other options in filling out the roster other than offering a minimum salary to Dexter Pittman.  
• Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld looks at the Hawks as a dark horse candidate to land Dwight Howard. Kennedy mentions that aside from Dwight being an Atlanta native, the team currently has enough cap space to offer a maximum contract next summer and two of Howard's closest friends, Josh Smith and Anthony Morrow, are members of the team. On another note, Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld briefly caught up with Arron Afflalo to talk about his workouts this summer and the expectations for the Nuggets next season.    
• When asked if this was this year's Olympic Games are the last that he'll be participating in, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant replied, "This is it" (ESPN's Marc Stein tweets).
• HoopsHype cites two sources who say that the Timberwolves' 2012 second round pick Robbie Hummel (58th overall) is close to an agreement to play for Obradoiro of the Spanish ACB league.

Udonis Haslem will sit out Game 6 of the Heat/Pacers series tonight, serving a one-game suspension for his flagrant foul in Game 5. But Haslem and agent Henry Thomas intend to appeal the suspension nonetheless, hoping to regain the $35K the Heat forward will lose.

"We'll file an appeal to the union," Thomas told Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida. "This is a guy who has been in the league for nine years and he doesn't have the reputation of being a dirty player. He's a hard-nosed player. But he's not dirty, and he doesn't want this to follow him around. … He's disappointed (with the suspension). He feels he tried to make a play on the ball."

As Haslem waits for his appeal to be heard, here are a few more Thursday notes from around the NBA:

• If Dwight Howard is available this summer, the Rockets are one team who might be willing to trade for him without assurances he'd re-sign, according to Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld. I wrote earlier today that acquiring a star will be the Rockets' primary goal this offseason, and even coming off back surgery, Howard would certainly qualify.
• The Wizards have yet to make a decision on coach Randy Wittman, but sources suggest to Michael Lee of the Washington Post that Wittman is a good bet to return to Washington.
• Appearing on Colin Cowherd's radio show, Jerry West weighed in on the state of the Lakers, and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com has the details.
• One NBA GM told Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider link) that Dion Waiters might be the player besides Anthony Davis with the most superstar potential in this year's draft class.
• Members of the Pistons' staff were upset that Greg Monroe wasn't named to this summer's U.S. Select Team, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
• Tom Ziller of SBNation.com explains why it will be difficult for the Mavericks to trade Lamar Odom next month.