Derek

Fisher

New York, Miami, Cleveland and Los Angeles are other options for Fisher, while Chicago would also make sense. The Grizzlies already have three point guards under contract (Mike Conley, Damon Stoudamire, Kyle Lowry), but the team would love to have Fisher for his experience and leadership skills. He can also play the off-guard position if necessary.

Fisher has started the last three games, though Speedy Claxton has been healthy for the last two. Fisher missed his first 11 shots Friday, and is just 3-for-31 from the floor over his last 11 quarters plus overtime. This is a battle that should continue until the Warriors start winning some games with one or the other point guards starting.

He had missed six games with a sprained left knee. His return could mean less minutes for starter Speedy Claxton, but that’s ok with him. Claxton has been forced to play around 40 minutes per night in the absence of Fisher and is reportedly very tired.

Fisher had started the last few games in place of Jason Richardson, but he’s back to being Speedy Claxton’s backup. “It’s definitely going to affect (Fisher’s minutes),” coach Mike Montgomery said of Richardson’s return. “We like Derek at (shooting guard), so whether Derek becomes your backup ‘two’ as well as the (backup point guard)... If you get him minutes at the ‘two,’ of course that affects Calbert (Cheaney) and (Mickael) Pietrus. I’m not really concerned about numbers and minutes as I am about quality minutes.”

The Lakers could try to re-sign Fisher, especially if Gary Payton leaves. They may know by Sunday whether Payton will opt out or be back for a second season with the team. Kobe Bryant has until June 30 to officially opt out of his contract, but it’s a given that he will.

Fisher can play either guard spot and should make for a nice sixth man in Utah. He may not have the fantasy value he had backing up injury-prone Baron Davis in Golden St., but he’ll be worth a late-round selection this year. The deal will be finalized when Owens signs a free-agent contract with the Jazz on July 12.

“We’re not marching towards a deal at this time or at any time we can predict,” Derek Fisher said afterwards. No new meetings have been scheduled and it appears that the owners have little interest in negotiating, and that several of them have no qualms with losing the season. There is still some time to work this out, but today’s meeting appears to signal that at least part of the regular season will be lost. In fact, union head Billy Hunter added that he’s now advised the players they may have to sit out half the season before a deal will be reached.

Even if Fisher did send the texts, he’s not going to admit it publicly. Whether he sent the texts or not doesn’t really matter much if the owners don’t submit a new proposal in this crucial week of negotiations. With the Union reportedly shifting away from Billy Hunter and toward Fisher, the veteran point guard is going to have more concerning issues on his plate to address moving forward.

Staff level meetings are set for Wednesday in hopes that more of the big names (Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher, David Stern, etc.) will meet on Thursday as the two sides try to come to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time. Training camps are scheduled to open on or around Oct. 4, so this is a last ditch effort to save the season. If nothing comes of these meetings, January or February is looking more realistic for the hoops season to start.

A meeting should happen on Wednesday or Thursday, according to Broussard, and while they both reportedly want the season to start on time, it still seems like a longshot. Let’s see what happens if they meet this week, but unless the owners soften their stance by a mile, or the players agree to a hard cap, this lockout appears to be a possible season-ending one.