Jason Quick of the Oregonian looks at the friendly rivalry between the Trail Blazers' Nicolas Batum and the Nuggets' Danilo Gallinari that has stemmed from their days as young Euroleague stars hoping to make it into the NBA. Most notably, Quick mentions that Batum's salary negotiations this past summer were influenced by the type of deals that Gallinari, Marvin Williams, and Arron Afflalo had received with their respective teams. With that aside, here are a few more rumblings from around the Association tonight:
- Derrick Rose took part in the non-contact portion of Bulls practice today, although coach Tom Thibodeau has not yet placed a timetable on the superstar's return (Seth Gruen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports).
- Despite a strong start to the season, the Warriors' upcoming stretch against teams that have a notable inside presence will help determine if their interior defensive struggles against the Kings were either minor or a sign of a major problem, writes Marcus Thompson II of MercuryNews.com.
- Rookie Royce White is "hopeful" that he'll play for the Rockets again sometime this season (Mark Berman of Fox 26 tweets).
- 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson confirms earlier speculation via a team source that Timberwolves guard Malcolm Lee will be sidelined for the rest of the year (Twitter link).
- Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune tweeted that Chris Douglas-Roberts is another top option available for the Timberwolves in addition to Michael Redd.
- In his Nuggets Mailbag, Benjamin Hochman of The Denver Post discusses why he thinks Gallinari has shown the capability of being a clutch All-Star type of player, why Carmelo Anthony isn't necessarily the clear-cut MVP right now, and the Nuggets' decision to commit to a long-term deal with Ty Lawson.
- Once touted a possible NBA first-round pick, University of Texas sophomore guard Myck Kabongo has been suspended by the NCAA for providing inaccurate information about receiving improper benefits during an investigation (Pat Forde and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports report).
- In another unfortunate setback for the Timberwolves, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reports that guard Malcolm Lee could require season-ending surgery.
- Celtics Talk on CSNNE.com wonders if Jason Terry's shot attempts will substantially decrease once Avery Bradley returns from injury.
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