It's Friday afternoon, which means, even on Thanksgiving weekend, Marc Stein has published his Weekend Dime on ESPN.com. Let's dive right into the highlights from this week's column….
- Stein asked executives from five teams about Andrew Bynum's health issues and how they'd affect his contract offers next summer. One GM, noting that the NBA is a "desperate league," pointed to max offers this past offseason for Eric Gordon and Brook Lopez and said Bynum should still land a maximum-salary contract, even considering his knee problems. Other execs weren't so sure though, with one suggesting Bynum could count on "maybe a one- or two-year (max offer). You won't be able to get insurance coverage on his knees."
- While some pundits panned the Knicks this summer for adding so many aging veteran players, Carmelo Anthony wasn't among the critics. In Carmelo's view, players like Marcus Camby, Rasheed Wallace, and Kurt Thomas are helping him improve. "I have no complaints," Anthony said. "What our front office did this offseason, acquiring those guys we did, I have no complaints about that."
- China's Foshan Dralions aggressively pursued Eddy Curry after he was waived by the Mavericks, but Curry turned them down in hopes of landing an NBA roster spot.
- Israeli point guard Gal Mekel, who drew offseason interest from the Jazz, is playing in Israel this season, but hopes to earn a spot on an NBA team next season with a strong summer league performance.
- Andrei Kirilenko tells Stein that while there was a possibility he remained in Russia for more than one season, he only returned there because of the NBA lockout, and his plan always involved returning to the NBA.