Dwane Casey might not be on the most solid of footing with the Raptors, but he's the longest tenured coach in the Atlantic Division, where three of the five clubs will debut first-time NBA bench bosses this season. The expectations on Brad Stevens of the Celtics and Brett Brown of the Sixers could probably accomodate a winning percentage similar to the .385 mark Casey has posted in two seasons with Toronto, but Jason Kidd of the Nets will have to do much better than that right away. Here's the latest out of the Atlantic:
- Free agent center Chris Wilcox would like to return to the Celtics, but that's a longshot with Stevens and his staff in place, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, who passes along the news amid an array of topics in his weekly column. The C's attempted to trade Wilcox at the deadline last season before the veteran center vetoed the move, so it appears the team wasn't too high on him even when former coach Doc Rivers was around.
- Will Blalock has just 14 NBA games on his resume, all of them during the 2006/07 season. Still, he maintains hope of making it back to the Association, and he's been working out at the Celtics facility this summer, Washburn notes.
- D.J. White spent time with the Celtics last season after a stint in China, and he's weighing options that include offers to play in China again, the former Indiana Hoosier told The Associated Press.
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov will dish out $180MM+ in salary and luxury tax for his team, but Brooklyn is still without someone who can hit clutch end-of-game shots, as HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram opines in his NBA AM piece.