Avery To Coach the Hornets?

The source said Johnson would be a perfect fit in New Orleans, capable of generating community support. Johnson is friends with Saints Coach Sean Payton. Johnson prepped at St. Augustine and starred at Southern University before spending 16 seasons in the NBA as a point guard. He helped lead the San Antonio Spurs win an NBA championship in 1999. - New Orleans Times Picayune

The Lakers were 38-12 during the regular season when both Bynum and Gasol played. "He looked great," Bynum's replacement in the starting lineup, Lamar Odom, said about the 7-footer. "He had exactly what he needed in time off. He wasn't limping or anything. He was running well out there. He should be alright." Added Derek Fisher: "If it's based on how he looked today, [Bynum's] ready. - ESPN

The 2010 NBA Playoffs begin Saturday, April 17. This year's post-season should be incredible, because there's a huge amount of legit competitors to win the NBA championship. Overall, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic are the league's top contenders to take the title. The Lakers were considered more of a lock to win the title early in the season than they are now. These days, Kobe Bryant is playing with a few injuries and not quite as dominant as he used to be. - InsideHoops

Dwyane Wade reiterated how happy he is in Miami, where he won the 2005-06 championship. The Heat open the first round of the playoffs Saturday in Boston. "Chicago is my home city, and I love Chicago," Wade said. "But my heart is here in Miami. "All the cards are in Miami, and it's their game to lose, more than anything. I appreciate that organizations want me to be a part of them, but right now Miami is in the driver's seat." - ESPN

Starting Magic SF Matt Barnes and the franchise have met about his contract situation, but nothing was resolved. "Yeah, we talked to them," Barnes said told the Sentinel. "We're going to wait until the season's over." Barnes said Thursday that his agent, Aaron Goodwin, met with the team about extending his contract or awarding him with a new deal. Goodwin confirmed the talks, saying that Barnes "would like to stay there and that they would love to keep him. Nothing more until the end of the season." - Orlando Sentinel

What does he want? He wants to win. "Yeah, that's what it comes down at the end of the day," says Chris Bosh, 26. "I just want to win basketball games. I want to play in the postseason. I want to advance. I've been playing seven years. It's time to start thinking about stuff like that for me, because I don't know how many years I have left. "OK, I know I'm still a young player, but I remember when I got drafted guys were 25, 26, and now they're on their last deals. I want to win basketball games." - Ottawa Citizen

Officially, the Spurs are calling injured guard George Hill's availability for Game 1 of Sunday's first-round series against Dallas a game-time decision. Unofficially, one of Hill's fellow guards issued his own injury report Friday. “He's going to play,” Tony Parker said. “He needs to play. I'm not worried about that. George is a tough guy.” Hill, who missed four games earlier this month with a strained tendon in his right ankle, reinjured it in Wednesday's season finale at Dallas by landing on a cameraman beneath the basket after a layup. - San Antonio Express-News

Embattled Eddy Curry told The Post he hopes the Knicks waive him if he is not in their plans for next season. The Knicks' star-crossed center, who has played 10 games in two seasons, said he would not take less money to go away. "I'm not taking a buyout, so that's not happening," Curry told The Post. "Definitely not. They can try to trade me if they wanted to. I hope it doesn't come to that." - NY Post

Bucks general manager John Hammonds said the Bucks fully intend on trying to keep John Salmons, who has emerged as the Bucks' go-to guy since he was acquired from Chicago on Feb. 18. If Salmons doesn't exercise his players option clause for $5.8 millino next season, he could become an unrestrictred free agent on July. 1. Hammond has acknowledged the possibility of extending Salmons' contract. Asked if he was considering accepting an extension from the Bucks, Salmons said, "I won't comment on that. My focus is on the playoffs. That is what I'm focusing on now.'' - Journal Times

And despite having three first-round draft picks, including a late lottery selection, Griz general manager Chris Wallace made clear where Rudy Gay stands on their to-do list. "Rudy is our No. 1 priority," Wallace said. "Our intent is to keep Rudy in a Grizzlies uniform." Gay just completed his fourth NBA season by averaging nearly 20 points and six rebounds on 47-percent shooting. He improved. The Grizzlies' record improved, too, but it was another losing campaign at 40-42, and the Griz have averaged just 27 wins in Gay's brief career. - Memphis Commercial Appeal

The league informed teams at the annual Board of Governors meeting Friday that the projected 2010-11 salary cap will be $56.1 million. That's $2-3 million higher than teams were told to project previously. That means when teams can begin negotiating with the greatest free-agent class in NBA history on July 1, the Bulls will be working with $20-22 million of salary-cap space. - Chicago Tribune



With the NBA projecting a much more robust salary cap for next season than initially expected, the Players Association plans to investigate whether the league engaged in collusion, a source close to the union told Yahoo! Sports on Friday afternoon. After the NBA released a memo last July that warned teams the salary cap for the 2010-11 season could drop as far as $50.6 million, the union countered the projection could be a mechanism to scare teams from signing free agents. - Yahoo

The biggest reasons the Nuggets' window of opportunity is shrinking are expiring contracts and a potential lockout in 2011, if players and owners can't reach a new collective bargaining agreement before then. "Management, they're always going to want to try to keep their core guys together," Nuggets acting coach Adrian Dantley said. "If they do that, you have a chance to come back every year." The questions Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke and the powers that be will have to ask themselves are: What is the Nuggets' core, and what will they pay to keep that group together? Will that core have to be redefined? - Denver Post

Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Friday and will miss one or two weeks. Roy has already been ruled out of Portland's first-round series against the Phoenix Suns, which starts Sunday. But with the recovery timeline, the Blazers left open the possibility of his return should Portland advance. The three-time All-Star leads the Blazers with 21.5 points per game. He injured his knee last weekend in the first half of a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. - AP

What was it about Paul Westphal's season that made picking up his option for 2011-12 something to do this month? Kings president Geoff Petrie: "I feel he brought the right kind of leadership, direction and maturity that we needed for having a young team, and he established a new identity to a certain extent. He was honest with his players, and he kept the team competitive, even in the losses. And there was improvement. There's still a long way to go, but we improved in wins, and we improved in a lot of areas from a year ago statistically. Not enough, but it's going in the right direction." - Sacramento Bee

Never in his 15-year career has Garnett exerted so much effort and received so little in return, a cruel irony that resonated with him during the short walk from the locker room to the podium where, he knew, the same old question awaited: “Did you guys play hard enough tonight?’’ “I hate that,’’ said Garnett, spitting out the words. “I’m working off the charts and still people question our effort. It bothers me. It pushes me to find ways to go harder. “But they tell me, ‘Sometimes you have to pull back,’ so I’m trying to learn that. It’s a battle for me.’’ - Boston Globe

Phil Jackson wasn’t angry, but he was obviously annoyed that he’d been docked $35,000 by the NBA for his comments wondering about Kevin Durant’s high free-throw total. “I wasn’t aware that the rules have changed, but they tell me that last year they stopped letting coaches spin,” Jackson said after the Lakers’ practice Friday to prepare for their playoff series with Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. “You have to be very honest and straightforward and never have any spin with what you say.” - OC Register Blog

"Ever since KG said something, everybody’s been questioning how I get to the line,” Durant said, referring to Boston forward Kevin Garnett, who claimed after losing to the Thunder he thought he was playing, "Michael (expletive) Jordan.” "If you watch our games, you wouldn’t question it. The NBA should put us on national TV more, I guess.” When asked whether Jackson’s comment fired him up more, Durant, "Yeah, it does.” "Because it’s taking away from what I do,” Durant said. "That’s a part of my game, getting to the free-throw line and being aggressive." - Oklahoman

Bucks center Andrew Bogut met with the media after Friday’s practice and discussed his recent season-ending hand and wrist injuries. Bogut, who suffered extensive damage after crashing to the floor after a dunk attempt in a game against the Phoenix Suns on April 3 at the Bradley Center, won’t be picking up a basketball anytime soon. “It’s going to be a long summer rehabbing,’’ Bogut said. “It’ll be a three-to-four month rehab.’’ - Journal Times

Moving the Indiana Pacers from Conseco Fieldhouse to another city would impose serious financial hardship on the franchise, according to one interpretation of the team’s 10-year-old deal with the city. The Pacers are asking for $15 million annually—or $150 million over the last 10 years of the lease deal for Conseco Fieldhouse—to operate the 18,165-seat venue. The Pacers began asking for the money almost two years ago, but city officials—dealing with their own fiscal crisis—have been slow to comply. - IBJ

In related news, Colangelo confirmed that Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans and Jeff Green will be invited to the Team USA master roster this summer, taking it from 27 to 30 players. There will be a Las Vegas mini-camp in July, before Team USA decides who to take to the World Championships in Turkey in August-September. - San Jose Mercury News Blog