Heat guard Mike Miller will meet with doctors soon to determine if his injured back needs surgery that includes a lengthy rehabilitation process, according to the Associated Press. Miller has dealt with a slew of injuries in recent years, including a foot problem that he played through this season.
The Southeast Division came into existence just eight years ago, in 2004, so it's no surprise that the Heat are the division's only NBA champion its inception, winning their second title last night. But Miami isn't the only franchise in the Southeast with an NBA Finals victory in its history. Before Washington's team was the Southeast's Wizards, it was the Central Division's Bullets, winning an NBA title in 1977/78. The Wizards introduced new acquisitions Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza at a press conference today, and they weren't the only Southeast club in the news — let's round up a few more Friday notes out of the division….
All eyes tonight will be on Game 5 of the NBA Finals, as the Thunder look to stave off elimination in Miami, but exactly one week from now, we'll be gearing up for the 2012 draft. The first draft-related trade of the month was finalized yesterday, when the Wizards sent the No. 46 overall pick to the Hornets along with Rashard Lewis as part of a three-player swap. Will we see another deal consummated today? We'll keep track of the day's latest draft news and rumors right here, with the newest items added up top….
- Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com wonders whether Royce White's decision to pull out of his remaining workout has to do with an injury or his fear of flying instead of a promise from the Celtics (Twitter link). Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune pegs White as a candidate to be picked at No. 18 by the Wolves, and lists the second-round hopefuls the team will be working out Friday.
- Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal sizes up Andrew Nicholson and the chances he'll go to the Cavs at pick No. 24.
- Chad Ford of ESPN.com has tweaked his mock draft in the wake of the latest developments (Insider link).
Earlier updates:
The Magic formally introduced new GM Rob Hennigan today, and the former Thunder assistant GM received a thorough vetting from the central Florida media. Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel writes about Hennigan's analytical, "Moneyball" approach and wonders whom he'll hire to coach the team. Fellow Orlando Sentinel writer Mike Bianchi says the 30-year-old Hennigan could age quickly, given the drama surrounding Dwight Howard. John Denton of Magic.com looks at the path Hennigan took to get to his new position, and the tasks that lay ahead. Clearly, Hennigan will be judged first on what he does with Howard, whether that means keeping him or turning him into assets or cap space that can help the team in the future. There's plenty of news concerning Hennigan's opponents in the Southeast Division as well.
Reports continue to suggest that the Trail Blazers are enamored by Damian Lillard, enough to draft him sixth overall. Such a move would mean that one of the players initially viewed as a consensus top-six pick, Andre Drummond, could be available when the Warriors picked seventh overall. According to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News, there could be a very interesting debate among Warriors execs if Drummond was on the board at No. 7. For what it's worth, our mock draft earlier this week had Lillard to Portland at six and Drummond slipping to the Raptors at eight.
Let's round up a few more Warriors-related rumors from Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group….
The latest news and notes from around the NBA on Saturday evening.
HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy has the day's major story so far, about the return of Brandon Roy. While Roy suffers from a degenerative condition in his knees, Kennedy is confident that Roy can not only come back to play in the NBA, but do so at a high level. Kennedy recalls a conversation with Jamal Crawford, who said Roy looked dominant in pickup games against NBA players right before he retired. There will be plenty of suitors for Roy, Kennedy opines, believing he'd fit in as a sixth man with the Heat or the Lakers. There are several rumors on other topics around the league in Kennedy's latest chat transcript, and we'll hit the highlights here.
Within the last week, both Sam Smith of Bulls.com and Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com concocted trade scenarios in which the Bulls acquire Tyreke Evans from the Kings, increasing speculation about such a deal. But Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio hears from multiple sources that there's nothing to the idea, and that it's not something that's being discussed by the two teams. That tidbit comes from Amico's Thursday column, and he's back with another piece today, so let's take a look at the highlights:
NBATV's "The Dream Team" documentary debuted tonight to mostly positive reviews from NBA writers, and hoops fans may want to savor the film and this year's summer Olympics as much as possible. Commissioner David Stern says there's a 50/50 chance that Olympic basketball will be restricted to players age 23 and younger after this year's games, writes Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com. Still, Sheridan believes discussion of such a rule will be tabled until after the 2016 games.
There's plenty going on stateside as well, with a free agent expressing a desire to return to the Knicks and more news on Dwight Howard.
Danny Ferry is considered the frontrunner to eventually replace Rod Thorn in the 76ers' front office, but he's not the only one interested in the position. According to 94WIP's Anthony Gargano (link via CBS Philly), Charles Barkley has interest in becoming the next Sixers GM. Like last month's story that briefly linked Shaquille O'Neal to the Magic's GM opening, I don't expect this one to have legs, but the fact that Barkley expressed interest in a front office job is worth tucking away, at the very least.
Here are a few more Wednesday afternoon odds and ends….
- Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com hears that Dwyane Wade may sit out the Olympics. The Heat star was among those calling earlier this year for Olympians to be paid, but quickly backtracked on those comments.
Earlier updates: