Earlier tonight we took a look at last year's buyout recipients and how they've fared since. Now let's dive into some of the buyout rumblings from this evening:
- Contrary to what we heard before, Jermaine O'Neal insists he and Celtics GM Danny Ainge never had talks about a buyout, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (Twitter link). O'Neal says he did what he could to get his injured left wrist back in playing shape, Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald reports, but simply couldn't avoid season-ending surgery. One of the procedures he's considering could be career ending, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
- J. Michael Falgoust and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today round up the buyout candidates. There's not much new here, but they do add the Nuggets to the list of teams interested in Josh Powell, which includes the Suns and Celtics.
- Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel shared a few Heat-related items after Miami's 99-95 comeback win over the Suns tonight. Even though Derek Fisher appears headed to the Thunder, he thinks Mike James or Anthony Carter would be better point guard pickups because of their defensive abilities. And, after an inauspicious first career start by Dexter Pittman, the need to sign another center, like Ronny Turiaf, is as pressing as ever.