Gasol To Sign Extension, Bryant Next?

It may soon be extinct, another dusty exhibit in basketball history, next to the peach basket, the two-handed set shot and John Stockton’s short shorts. Three teams — the Celtics, the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers — have dropped the morning shoot-around. The Knicks now hold them only for road games. - NY Times

“Shoot-arounds seem to be very tedious and nonenthusiastic situations,” Nuggets Coach George Karl told The Denver Post last week, when he announced the elimination of shoot-arounds. Yet 24 teams still religiously gather between 10 and 11 a.m. on game days. - NY Times

The Mavericks contend the referees in charge -- Ken Mauer, Brian Forte and John Goble -- did not have the license to review a flagrant foul on Houston's Aaron Brooks in overtime that led to a technical foul being assessed to the Mavericks' Erick Dampier. - ESPN.com

"We will definitely protest," Cuban said, "because we felt there were multiple misapplications of the rules." - ESPN.com

The Mavericks are upset with three specific plays: a clear-path foul called on Jason Terry, the out of bounds play with 0.4 seconds left that appeared to have occurred with one full second to play in regulation, and the flagrant-1 foul on Aaron Brooks in overtime. - Dallas News

Lakers forward Pau Gasol has agreed in principle to an extension that would keep him under contract through 2013-14, and Kobe Bryant has had ever-improving discussions on a contract extension that would keep him with the Lakers for the same period. - LA Times

Gasol’s current contract expires after a $17.8 million salary next season, and both sides are naturally elated with their partnership — particularly how Gasol can have a consistently major impact on games while managing to defer in basic ways to team leader Kobe Bryant. Gasol, 29, will tack on another three seasons with an extension, with exactly how much of a raise he gets from that $17,823,000 to be determined by the next collective bargaining agreement. - Orange County Register

Bryant, 31, is expected to stay right there with Gasol, whenever Bryant signs his extension also to go beyond his $24.8 million salary next season. “I love that guy,” Bryant said of Gasol on Friday, adding: “It’s crazy to think about, but he’s still underrated.” - Orange County Register

Two NBA sources said today that it’s no coincidence that talk of a possible Warriors interest in trading Anthony Randolph came up as Duffy apparently made it known that the Randolph Camp is seriously thinking about his extension possibilities when he becomes eligible after next season. He won’t be 22 until that summer, by the way. - San Jose Mercury News Blog

Nate Robinson's agent continues to reach out to Donnie Walsh in an attempt to free his client from Mike D'Antoni's doghouse. Walsh confirmed Friday that Aaron Goodwin contacted him earlier this week to discuss the status of the fifth-year guard, who was benched for his eighth straight game Friday night as the Knicks (5-3 during that stretch) beat the Clippers, 95-91. - NY Daily News

But Walsh insists that neither Goodwin (who didn’t return calls Friday) nor Robinson has asked for a trade to find playing time he’s not getting in New York. If a trade request is made, Walsh said he’d "talk to them, but I’m not going to say I will trade anybody. - Bergen Record

“Pop is great at understanding a situation and what you need,” Spurs captain Tim Duncan said. “We didn't need any more pressure. We didn't need to learn any more about a team we'd already played a bunch of times. - My SA Spurs
Tonight against Indiana, Popovich will take aim at his 700th NBA victory, an achievement that would cement his place in rare basketball company. Only 15 coaches have preceded him beyond the velvet ropes of the 700 club. Only two — Hall of Famers Red Auerbach and Jerry Sloan — got there with one team. - My SA Spurs

After having a tooth and a fragment of a second one extracted from his elbow area, Dirk Nowitzki is questionable for Sunday's game against Cleveland. - Dallas News

Golden State Warriors center Mikki Moore underwent successful surgery today to remove bone spurs in his right ankle, the team announced. The surgery was performed by Dr. David Porter in Indianapolis, IN. - Real GM

The Raptors themselves are the second-worst scoring defense in the NBA, but nothing could touch the Nets for criminal indifference at the defensive end in the first half, which ended with the amazing score of Toronto 70, Nets 33. - NJ.com

“Pitiful. Horrible. Horrible effort. Awful. Everything about it,” Chris Douglas-Roberts said. “From the beginning, there were no signs. I didn’t take anything positive from this.” NJ.com

Coach Doc Rivers’s advice to his players on technical fouls is not to draw them late in the game. But Rivers might have to modify that guideline with Rasheed Wallace, who picked up two technicals and was ejected midway through the second quarter of a 98-97 loss to Philadelphia last night. - Boston.com

Wallace was on the Celtics’ bench when a timeout was called with 5:35 remaining in the half. Official Leroy Richardson was near the center circle when he issued a “T’’ to Wallace, who continued to express himself. Official Bill Kennedy was standing on the baseline near the Celtics’ bench and, as the timeout ended, slapped the second “T’’ on Wallace, who then attempted to approach the referees and was held back by associate head coach Tom Thibodeau. - Boston Globe

A week after undergoing surgery on his left wrist, Marquis Daniels went in yesterday for an evaluation and to have stitches removed from his hand. He learned that the best-case scenario is a return to the court just before the All-Star break. - Boston.com

There is a moment in just about every game when Wizards Coach Flip Saunders watches one of his players take a contested jumper or a long jumper early in the shot clock and he either slaps the scorers table, claps his hands angrily, or turns to the sideline with a shoulder shrug that says, "What was that?" Sometimes, he'll just shout, "Bad shot!" - Washington Post

They rank 25th in the NBA in points in the paint with 37.5 per game, but they also are one of the worst three-point shooting teams 32.3 percent, despite taking nearly 17 per game. Saunders said the Wizards will need to run more plays within the offense. "I think we're going to have to start reining them [in]," he said. "Now that we're 20 games in, I say it's almost like at sometimes you become an addict, like," 'I got to take this shot, no matter what.' That's got to stop." - Washington Post

Carmelo Anthony actually leads the league in two categories — points and technicals. The Nuggets forward is technically tied for tops in technicals with seven. And that's seven in 26 games, a frighteningly swift pace, considering that if a NBA player gets 16 in the regular season, he is suspended for a game. Often, Melo's technicals will come when the star is frustrated about a non-call on a layup attempt. - Denver Post

One of the first people to seek out Bryant after he hit that shot in Milwaukee was Artest, his former nemesis. If I were Lee, I'd do a documentary on him. In another time, another world, Artest would've found himself with the defensive assignment on that last inbounds play, trying to keep Kobe from beating him. "We're on the same team now," Artest said. - CBS Sports

The gist of the question was how Kobe and Artest would be able to co-exist. "Kobe averages 30 and is a great offensive player," Artest said "Then you have defense. So on defense, now I have my supporting cast. ... I'm one of the best defenders to ever play basketball, so I'm still the first option on defense." - CBS Sports

The unit trailed 13-8 before the first substitution came midway through the opening quarter. "It's tough," said Hawes, who had seven points, three rebounds, three assists and one block in 20 minutes. "It's not easy going back and forth (from starting to the bench) and being in that situation, but it's part of growing up. It's part of what makes pros pros, and you just have to deal with it." - Sacramento Bee

Bender played like he had been waiting for this day for a long time as he lifted the Knicks with his energy and finished with nine points, two rebounds and a block in Friday’s 95-91 come-from-behind win over the L.A. Clippers at the Garden. A day after wearing an NBA uniform for the first time since suiting up for the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 5, 2005, he played 14 minutes in three short stints off the bench. - NBA.com

Cavs superstar LeBron James doesn't use Twitter and doesn't plan to, either. "I don't get involved in it. . . . I never got into social networking," James said. "I don't need to tell people I'm in the locker room telling me I'm getting ready for the game. They should know that." - Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sixers guard Allen Iverson, who is battling an arthritic left knee that had to be drained twice this week, could be out of the lineup until the Sixers start a West coast trip in Utah on Dec. 26. - Philadelphia Daily News

Thorn, the man who drafted Michael Jordan in Chicago, took over as Nets team president and turned them from laughingstock to NBA Finals participant with the trade for Jason Kidd. And after the team was taken apart for financial reasons, Thorn helped rebuild it and made it a viable playoff contender. Those are the things he wants to be remembered for, not as the architect of the team that forged the worst start in NBA history. - New York Post

That is one reason Thorn, who is in the last year of his contract, hopes to return in his present capacity when Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov officially takes control of the team. "Yeah, I'd like to. I'd hate to end up on this kind of note," Thorn said last night. - New York Post

Geoff Petrie's future in Sacramento seems more certain these days, as the Kings basketball president and his bosses recently said they plan to negotiate an extension in the coming weeks. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Petrie's deal likely will be for two more years. - Sacramento Bee

Representatives from the NBA and the players' association plan to use All-Star weekend Feb. 12-14 as the first opportunity to meet face-to-face and actually exchange proposals on a new collective bargaining agreement, NBPA president Derek Fisher said Friday. - CBS Sports


NBA commissioner David Stern recently told Sports Illustrated that he thought eventually a woman would play in the NBA. Shelden Williams, husband to Candace Parker, arguably the best women’s basketball player, said “it’s not something that could happen,’’ pointing to the differences in size, strength, and game play. He also said that Parker didn’t argue. - Boston Globe