Welcome to our morning look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT).
Jan Vesely’s hip better and the Washington rookie is expected to make his NBA debut Friday vs. the Knicks.
Maybe that will help, because the Wizards are sucking the fun out of basketball right now.
The hopes of Knicks fans are dashed — Iman Shumpert will NOT start on Friday, Mike D’Antoni told reporters at shootaround.
Deron Williams is expected to return to the Nets Friday night.
Nicolas Batum and the Trail Blazers are going to sit down next week and talk contract extension.
Over-switiching is one of the problems with the Knicks defense. Just one of them.
Jerry West thinks Pat Riley and the Heat will win “numerous” titles.
Hawks hero Ivan Johnson has a really amazing back story.
Norris who? If you didn’t catch it, Mario Chalmers had 29 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Heat on Thursday. And he was big in the third overtime.
Tracy McGrady had a great fourth quarter against the Heat but reports after the game said his knee stiffened. He is now questionable for Friday.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has flown to Los Angeles to get a second opinion on his knee.
Andrew Bogut likely to miss a couple more games from the Bucks for personal reasons. No, this is not related to his own health.
Shane Battier wants credit for being able to create jump balls.
DeMarcus Cousins is struggling to get his shots around the rim to go in this season. Expect that to change. (Plus this is an interesting statistical discussion by Kevin Pelton.)
Westphal is out, Keith Smart is in, but there are still a whole lot of questions in Sacramento.
How Paul Westphal’s tenure in Sacramento felt a lot like his time in Seattle.
Donte Green has temporarily left the Kings due to a death in the family.
Really interesting interview with coach Paul Silas talking all things Bobcats.
Heat owner Micky Arison lost $1.3 billion dollars last year according to Forbes. So, technically, you and I made more money than Arison last year.
Michael Redd is still at least 10 days away from suiting up for the Suns.
Mike Miller should return to the Heat during their next road trip.
Devin Ebanks is frustrated that his minutes are dropping with the Lakers. Hey, Mike Brown is looking for any combination and player that works — the minutes are there for the taking if you play better.
Luther Head has signed a deal to play in the D-League.
Adam Morrison is about to sign with Besiktas in Turkey.
The Bulls have restructured their business side of the operation.