The Pacers will aim to become the NBA’s first team to 10 wins this season tonight when they face the reeling Knicks in New York. As we look forward to that contest and a handful of others, let’s check in on the latest out of the Eastern Conference….
- The Pistons laid the groundwork for this summer’s signing of Josh Smith by pursuing the forward back in 2008, when he hit restricted free agency with the Hawks, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Detroit didn’t make an offer at the time, since Atlanta seemed poised to match any offer sheet, but the Pistons maintained their interest over the next several years.
- Thaddeus Young knows he’ll be the subject of trade rumors this season, but the Sixers forward said all the right things to Lang Greene of HoopsWorld in discussing the possibility. “At the end of the day I realize the NBA is a business and things happen for different reasons,” Young said. “If it happens then so be it, but at the end of the day I love being in Philly. It’s like my second home. Right now I’m there.”
- In spite of increasingly frequent “Fire Woodson!” chants at Madison Square Garden, Ian Begley of ESPN New York believes the Knicks‘ Mike Woodson deserves a chance to coach a healthy roster before any decisions are made.
- Pacers consultant and former Knicks president Donnie Walsh says he was “surprised” by his old team’s decision to let GM Glen Grunwald go before the season, according to Justin Tasch of the New York Daily News.