There are only four games on the NBA slate tonight, but Western Conference teams provided plenty of excitement off the court. The Pelicans waived Lance Thomas and Arinze Onuaku so they could bring aboard veterans Louis Amundson and Josh Childress. The Jazz went the opposite direction, dumping vet Jamaal Tinsley as they eye a younger replacement. The Timberwolves are reportedly shopping a pair of players while the Lakers are considering a point guard search. We have more on a couple of those story lines as we check the latest from the West:
- Pelicans coach Monty Williams says the team has been thinking about making today’s roster moves for the past few weeks, but Jimmy Smith of The Times-Picayune chastises GM Dell Demps for acting out of apparent desperation to win immediately.
- The latest plan for the Warriors‘ new San Francisco arena is reduced in scale, but it’s still likely to face an uphill battle against local political opponents, as John Coté of the San Francisco Chronicle details.
- For all the excitement surrounding the new ownership, GM and coach in Sacramento, the Kings are just 1-5 to start the season, and coach Michael Malone acknowledges the team’s losing habits will be tough to shake, observes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee.
- It’s unclear whether Diante Garrett has a job with the Jazz virtually sewn up or if he’ll have to be especially impressive when he auditions, but we might have our answer soon, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets that Garrett’s workout is set for Wednesday.