According to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld, the general consensus around the league is that Ray Allen will join the Heat next year (Twitter link). Since the team will be about $2MM above the tax apron, the most that Miami would be able to offer would be the mini-mid level exception of $3MM. Here's more of tonight's miscellaneous links, including Tyreke Evans, Baron Davis, and the Bulls…
9:21pm: According to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun, the asking price reported by ESPN is a little steep in comparison to what his sources have told him. Wolstat writes that the Raptors are willing to deal the No. 8 pick, but that they aren't willing to package a young talent like Ed Davis in it.
Jonas Valanciunas, the fifth overall pick in last year's draft, has begun negotiating a release agreement with his current team in Lithuania, according to NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper. The agreement will ultimately consist of a $2.4MM buyout that Valanciunas will have to pay his team, Lietuvos Rytas. By league rules, the Raptors are allowed to contribute as much as $550K of the total buyout.
At the time he was drafted, Valanciunas was a seven-foot, 19-year-old prospect at center, with major questions regarding when he'd be allowed to come overseas and play in the NBA. It forced most teams to balk at the notion of drafting him, but Raptor GM Bryan Colangelo didn't hesitate.
“I have no doubt that is the right pick or was the right pick for us…despite the pressure of picking a so-called sexy pick or someone that might be a more-popular pick, we made the pick that we felt was the best decision, long term and short term, for the franchise because it fit right into this building process that we’re going through right now.”
The Raptors have a 3.5% chance at receiving the number one overall pick in tomorrow night's lottery, and a 12.3% chance at selecting in the top three. Should they get lucky, the team's roster will be filled with youth, and manageable cap space.
Let's round up a few Thursday afternoon updates out of the Atlantic….
- Raptors vice president and assistant GM Maurizio Gherardini tells Aris Barkas of Europhoops.net that Toronto still intends to bring Jonas Valanciunas to North America for next season. Between last year's fifth overall pick and potentially another top-five pick in this year's draft, the Raptors appear poised to add a ton of tantalizing young talent to their roster.
- John Calipari said yesterday that he has no interest in an NBA coaching job, but Frank Isola of the New York Daily News argues that Calipari couldn't possibly say anything else at this point. Isola hears that the Knicks are still targeting the Kentucky coach for next season.
- The Knicks' current coach, Mike Woodson, would "absolutely" like to continue coaching the team next season, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes.
- Last night's game may have been a preview of the Nets' future if Deron Williams doesn't re-sign, says Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger.
- As Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes, it's no lock that the Nets will lose their lottery pick in May.
The Sixers, who once looked as though they might run away with the Atlantic Division title, shouldn't look behind them now. The Celtics have gone 10-3 since starting 5-9, and entered the night three and a half games back. The Knicks, infused with Jeremy Lin's mojo, have won five straight and are six games back. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is just 3-3 in its last six games. Here's what's going on as the race tightens:
- Behind the smiles surrounding the Sixers' fast start is the worry about getting worthwhile returns from the second overall pick in the 2010 draft. Evan Turner's minutes have been in decline. Coach Doug Collins says it's a result of other wing players performing well, and not a slump on Turner's part, reports Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News. Turner believes he's on the wrong end of supply and demand, saying, "There's a recession, baby. We're like the stock market with playing time."
- Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun details how Raptors coach Dwane Casey almost signed Lin for the Mavericks a couple of years ago when Casey, a former Dallas assistant, was running a summer league team.
- The fifth pick in the 2011 draft, Raptors pick Jonas Valanciunas, just scored some new hardware, notes Wolstat in the same report. He's FIBA Europe's Young Player of the Year, joining Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez and Jan Vesely, all of whom won the award in the past. Valanciunas recently met with Raptors GM Brian Colangelo for the first time since last summer as the two move closer to a deal to bring the 6-foot-11 center to Toronto next year.
Let's round up a few Thursday morning items out of the Atlantic division….
- Keith Bogans is at a loss trying to explain why he was out of work so long, says Fred Kerber of the New York Post. The newest Net told Colin Stephenson of the Star-Ledger that he's been "sitting at home for a month and a half, going crazy." Bogans, who signed with New Jersey yesterday, will received a guaranteed pro-rated portion of the veteran's minimum.
- Mickael Pietrus talked last night about his decision to sign with the Celtics, and Ben Rohrbach has the quotes at WEEI.com: "To be honest with you, the reason I came to the Celtics is because of coach Rivers and KG…. [Kevin Garnett] makes everybody play hard. I was like, that’s going to be a good fit for me to play with the man."
- Raptors GM Brian Colangelo put in some face time with top draft pick Jonas Valanciunas for the first time since last summer, as Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun writes. Following the visit, Colangelo said everyone "is certainly on the same page."
- There are strong indications that Mike D'Antoni will keep his job past Super Bowl Sunday, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. There's some hope that a healthier and rejuvenated Knicks squad can still turn things around.