The draft is today's primary focus, but once the 60th pick has been made, all eyes will turn to free agency, which begins Sunday. So, there will be plenty of news on that front as well. Zach Lowe of SI.com ranks the top 10 free agent point guards, and Deron Williams, No. 1 on that list, let it be known via Twitter that he played golf today with Jason Kidd, No. 8 in Lowe's ranking. Whether that means the two will be signing together with the Nets, the Mavs, or they won't be signing at all is open to interpretation, of course. Here's more from around the league:
- Sources close to the Dwight Howard situation in Orlando characterize the relationship between D12 and the Magic as "irreparable," according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. While new GM Rob Hennigan would like to salvage the relationship, the damage may already be done, says Kennedy, who predicts Howard will be traded.
- Jorge Garbajosa has decided to retire, ending his basketball playing careeer, according to a report from Marca.com (translation via Sportando). Garbajosa spent most of his career overseas, but spent two season with the Raptors from 2006 to 2008.
- Charles Barkley spoke on the Waddle & Silvy Show in Chicago about wanting the challenge of a general manager position, and said he thinks he couldn't be any worse than some others who have received GM opportunities (link via USA Today).
- Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel thinks the Heat might prefer to see Ronny Turiaf turn down his player option so they can go in another direction.
- Ron Johnson, the NBA's senior vice president of referee operations brought aboard following the Tim Donaghy scandal, is stepping down, tweets Tom Ziller of SBNation.
Chuck Myron also contributed to this post.
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