Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News says that Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak will likely know by tomorrow about whether or not the NBA will approve their Disabled Player Exception for the injured Jordan Hill (Twitter link). With the roster currently at 14, an exception worth $1.78MM would be a very valuable asset for a team that would have otherwise only have a veteran's minimum deal or a small, pro-rated portion of their mini mid-level exception to offer free agents at this point during the season. You'll find the rest of tonight's miscellaneous links from around the NBA here:
- Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge says the team currently has no needs and will wait and see what transpires over the next few weeks to get a better feel if a move has to be made or not (Adi Joseph of USA Today reports).
- Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman, who recently returned from an 11-game absence for family reasons, sounded like he wanted the team to keep Chris Johnson (LSU) and Mickael Gelabale for the rest of the season, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
- Grizzlies guard Chris Johnson, whose 10-day contract is set to expire on Friday night, is making a strong case to be brought back for another deal, writes Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. GM Chris Wallace described Johnson as a "seamless fit" so far.
- Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald doesn't think the Heat are the best fit for Greg Oden, citing that if healthy, the former number one overall pick could find more playing time and a better comfort level elsewhere. Even if the team uses its taxpayer mid-level exception to land Oden this summer, Goodman thinks that the luxury tax impact might not be worth the investment either.
- When asked directly about the possibility of playing for the Cavaliers, Oden replied: "I'm worried about the knee. That's it," later saying that it was too early for him to be thinking of a destination. Oden added that he wants to take his rehab slow, and that while he could possibly play today if he wanted to, he wants to avoid the risk of having the same setbackthat he had in Portland (Doug Lesmerises and Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer report).
- An earlier report from the Associated Press said that Cleveland has been doing their due diligence on the former Ohio State Buckeye in the meantime, also mentioning that Oden is currently aiming a return for next year after taking this one off.
- Keith Schlosser of Knicks Journal ponders about how much longer the Knicks should wait for Rasheed Wallace to become healthy as opposed to finding someone who can make frequent contributions right away.
- After hitting his head during practice on Monday, Chris Kaman was evaluated today and ruled out of tonight's game against the Trail Blazers due to concussion symptoms. The Mavericks center will be sidelined indefinitely until he passes the requisite tests, writes Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW.
- Matt Moore of CBS Sports takes a comprehensive look into the defensive mindset of Nuggets swingman Andre Iguodala.
- With the league's highest collection of former lottery picks continuing to develop on their roster, the Jazz appear headed for a bright future ahead of them, writes Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News.
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