Southeast Notes: Lewis, Heat, Howard
Let's take a look around the Southeast Division as the Louisville Cardinals knocked off the NBA lottery pick-laden Florida Gators to punch their ticket to the Big Easy for the Final Four.
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post checks in with Rashard Lewis, who is dealing with two injured knees and hasn't played since the All-Star break. He said Lewis was part of a proposed deal that would have sent him and Javale McGee to the Hornets for Chris Kaman, Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry, but the Wizards chose to make last week's three-team deal with Clippers and Nuggets instead. Lewis is making one of the highest salaries in the league at $21.1MM this season. He's guaranteed only $13.7MM next year, and while the Wizards said in December they wouldn't use the amnesty clause on him, you have to wonder whether they'll rethink that decision.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel finds it interesting the Bulls are letting point guard Mike James dangle until April when the Heat could use a veteran at his position (Twitter link).
- While Dwight Howard's status with the Magic has become a bit clearer for the immediate future, Brian Schmitz considers what the long term holds for the Orlando big man heading into next season.
Wizards Still Shopping McGee, Blatche
Wizards president is still pursuing trades and a source with knowledge of the situation tells Michael Lee of the Washington Post that the Wizards may strike a pre-deadline deal.
A league source tells Lee that Washington's demands for McGee are "reasonable," as the Wizards are seeking an NBA starter. However, the Wizards are having problems matching McGee's modest $2.5MM salary in any deal without involving players like Rashard Lewis and Andray Blatche who understandably aren't drawing much interest.
Teams have been reluctant to even listen to pitches involving Blatche, says Lee. The Wizards tried to engage the Pistons on Blatche in recent weeks, but were quickly rebuffed.
Odds & Ends: Rondo, Lewis, Heat, Varejao
The Celtics look to catch the 76ers in the Atlantic standings, and the Bobcats aim for their first winning streak of the season in tonight's slate of games. But before the evening action gets underway, let's round up the latest odds and ends from around the NBA:
- One general manager tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that there's no way Celtics GM Danny Ainge will get equal value in a trade for Rajon Rondo: "There’s a perception that if Doc Rivers, who’s such a player’s coach, has had a hard time with him, my coach is going to have a worse time with him."
- Because he reached certain incentives, Wizards forward Rashard Lewis is now owed a guaranteed $13.7MM (of $22.7MM) next season, tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post.
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel discusses Anthony Carter, Chris Andersen, and other potential targets for the Heat in today's mailbag.
- In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, John Hollinger presents some under-the-radar trade candidates that he'd target, including Robin Lopez, Austin Daye, and Jordan Farmar.
- The lack of production the Cavaliers have received in Anderson Varejao's place while he's been injured shows why the team has been unwilling to trade him, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
- In addition to sharing some Jamal Crawford rumors, Chad Ford of ESPN.com addressed a number of other trade topics in his latest chat.
- The Nets have no interest in a reunion with John Calipari, as had been suggested, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
- Jerome Jordan will rejoin the Knicks after last week's D-League assignment, tweets Duane Rankin of the Erie Times-News.
Odds & Ends: Wizards, Adelman, Irving
Notes from around the league on Monday night:
- Washington's rebuilding efforts must begin with buying out Rashard Lewis and using the amnesty clause on Andray Blatche, writes Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com. Blatche will be out three to five weeks with a strained calf muscle, coach Randy Wittman reported. The Wizards announced they're recalling center Hamady Ndiaye from the Iowa Energy, the team's D-League affiliate.
- Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman, formerly with the Rockets, says there was a lack of communication between himself and Houston owner Leslie Alexander, reports Jonathan Feigan of the Houston Chronicle.
- Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio analyzes the progress of top-pick Kyrie Irving.
- Ben Rohrbach of WEEI's Celtics Blog says Boston's struggles this season can't be pinned on the team's bench play.
- The injury-depleted Nets may be primed to make a move. They figure to have only 10 players available for Tuesday's game with Indiana, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
- Teams in need of depth on the wing won't be able to turn to Sonny Weems. His Lithuanian team told Sportando they won't be letting him out of his contract before the team's season is over.