While Charles Barkley continues to be one of the NBA's most outspoken and entertaining TV analysts, Sir Charles has indicated in the past that he'd love a chance to be hired as general manager of the Suns. If Barkley were running another one of his former teams, the Sixers, he'd be facing a big decision this summer, and he'd prepared to let Andrew Bynum walk in free agency, as John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:
- In a Q&A with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Pacers assistant Brian Shaw says his goal is to become a head coach someday. However, Shaw says he's in a "great situation" in Indiana, so he won't pursue a head coaching job that wouldn't be a good fit.
- In a week that featured Carmelo Anthony playing in Denver and Dwight Howard playing in Orlando, Trevor Ariza's first game against his former team, the Hornets, unsurprisingly isn't drawing much attention, and that's fine with him. "I’ve been on a number of teams," the Wizards forward told Michael Lee of the Washington Post. "Treat it like it’s a regular game. Not really worry about me, or individual things, but this is not an individual sport. It’s a team sport. Just stick to our game plan and do what I need to do."
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel details the close relationship between Thunder GM Sam Presti and Rob Hennigan, his Magic counterpart and former employee.
- Sam Smith's latest mailbag at Bulls.com is predictably heavy on Derrick Rose questions and answers.