Former Mavericks head coach Don Nelson is set to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame on September 7th and tells the Associated Press that he is enjoying his retirement more than he ever anticipated. After enduring the grueling and stressful life of an NBA coach for a number of years, Nelson is happy to be in Hawaii, where he has taken up botany, poker, and of course, golf. Could the eccentric offensive guru be lured out of retirement with an attractive coaching opportunity? ''I'd say I'm retired,'' Nelson said. ''I'm done, I'm cooked. It's over.'' Here's more out of the Southwest division..
- The Spurs announced on their website that former player Ime Udoka has been hired as an assistant coach. The forward spent parts of seven seasons in the Association with three seasons in San Antonio. Udoka, 35, was waived by the Nets just prior to the start of the 2011/12 campaign and hooked on with Spanish ACB League team UCAM Murcia.
- Even though the Rockets like 2009 second-round pick Sergio Llull a great deal, they had no plans to bring him over for the 2012/13 season, tweets Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld. We learned earlier today that the combo guard is happy playing with Real Madrid and intends to finish out his contract.
- Rockets rookie forward Donatas Motiejunas believes that he is getting a healthy challenge by practicing against the recently-acquired Omer Asik, writes Jason Friedman of Rockets.com. The Lithuanian knows that he will have to adjust to the pace of the NBA but says that the cultural adjustment is going swimmingly.
- Earlier tonight, we learned that the Rockets waived center Sean Williams rather than guarantee his $916K salary for next season.