It’s a big summer for free agents of all sorts in the NBA and even though Chicago Bulls veterans Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich are under contract, the pair may be part of the mix this offseason as the Bulls attempt to bring in some big-name talent to revive the franchise, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Bulls will have $20 million to $22 million to spend on free agents this summer and the team’s apparent hope is to get a sign-and-trade deal done with another team in exchange for Hinrich and/or Deng and still have $16.57 million left over to offer a maximum contract to any of the biggest fish out there

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Bulls’ Deng and Hinrich headed to trading block?

Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown has made it pretty clear publicly that he doesn’t want to coach anywhere else but for new team owner Michael Jordan so the Philadelphia 76ers are apparently moving on in the team’s search for a new coach to former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, according to the Philadelphia Daily News. Officials from the Sixers will supposedly meet up with Johnson after the weekend

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76ers interviewing Avery Johnson for coaching job

The Dallas Mavericks got tossed to the side again in the postseason, suffering a four-games-to-two ouster by the San Antonio Spurs .

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Nowitzki considering leaving Mavericks?

If Dwyane Wade decides to re-sign with the Miami Heat , then Michael Beasley could end up getting traded this summer , according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The team isn’t high on Beasley right now, anyway, and benched the youngster for the second half of the team’s final game against the Boston Celtics in its first-round playoff loss. Beasley has one more $5 million year left on his contract and the team has the option of signing him for another year after that, but you can bet coach Erik Spoelstra wouldn’t mind not having to deal with the headache of Beasley again next season

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Beasley out of Miami if Wade stays?

Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson has led his team to slow, steady improvement over the last five years, but if his team loses one more game, his career in Atlanta may be over , according to FanHouse. The Hawks apparently are thinking they should be ready to make a real run at the NBA championships and now the team could get eliminated with one more loss to the Milwaukee Bucks . Woodson’s team blew a nine-point lead with just four minutes to play last night.

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Hawks coach Woodson contract extension getting squashed?

Larry Brown can say all he wants about only wanting to coach under Michael Jordan’s ownership rule of the Charlotte Bobcats , but the Philadelphia 76ers seem bound and determined to try and contact him this summer to see if he wants to take over the reins in Philly again, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. There had been rumors that Philly wanted Brown for the front office and that he might consider such a thing but the Inquirer is reporting that the coaching position is definitely where the folks in Philly would like Brown to fit in. Brown, 69, just got to watch his team get ousted from its first visit to the playoffs ever in a sweep by the Orlando Magic .

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76ers going after Brown to coach, not be GM

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss has let the world know that he doesn’t feel like paying coach Phil Jackson $12 million next season. Jeanie Buss, the daughter of Jerry, who also happens to be a vice president for the Lakers and Jackson’s longtime girlfriend, says Jackson isn’t planning to end his coaching career , according to ESPN. Jeanie Buss says the 64-year-old Jackson will be coaching "somewhere" next season and that he isn’t mentally ready to leave coaching

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Jackson not coaching Lakers next year?

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard got fined $15,000 by the NBA last November for unkind words about NBA refs on his blog, DwightHoward.com.

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NBA fining Orlando’s Howard again?

It’s going to be one wild summer in the NBA since seven billion of the league’s players are going to become unrestricted free agents. In case you’ve been under a rock for the last year and haven’t heard, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and possibly Amar’e Stoudemire if he opts out of his current deal (which he is now expected to do) will be the most coveted players on that list.

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Wade leaning toward staying in Miami?

The excellent rookie season of Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans will apparently get a little bit better tomorrow when he will receive the Rookie of the Year award, according to sources of the Sacramento Bee. Evans finished off the season with an average of 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game, making him the fourth rookie in league history after Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and the Cleveland Cavaliers ‘ LeBron James to average at least 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Not too shabby company

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Kings’ Evans getting Rookie of the Year

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (notes) has said that he’ll be playing in the world championships this summer in Turkey for Team USA but the word coming from the Orlando Sentinel is that Howard has other plans this summer. He apparently is planning to try to get out of his commitment to go to Turkey so he can be in a movie and reality-TV show. On the show, Howard would be a judge in a program that is trying to find the best basketball players off the street

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Magic’s Howard ditching worlds for reality show?

Carmelo Anthony (notes) said he wasn’t pointing fingers at any of his Denver Nuggets teammates and that "as a unit" the team need to win its postseason series against the Utah Jazz , which its now losing three games to one. But he hasn’t won himself fans in his own locker room with other things he said to the Denver Post last night: "I’m trying to do everything I can in my power to beat the Jazz But, at the end of the day, I need some help. ..

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Nuggets’ Anthony disses teammates

The Philadelphia 76ers have a coaching hole to fill and Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown will apparently get a call from the team to discus it, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Brown, who coached before in Philly and said earlier this season that he wasn’t returning, will at least be contacted by the team, according to the paper’s multiple sources

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Sixers contacting Larry Brown?

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson can claim to be all Zen about everything and write books like "Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior," but even this guy gets himself into trouble sometimes with NBA Commissioner David Stern. And it sounds like Stern wishes he had given Jackson a little more punishment over the years

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Stern ready to suspend Phil Jackson?

Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko (notes) has recently had blood drained from his injured left calf and introduced platelet-rich plasma into his bloodstream but he’s now saying that there is a possibility that he could appear in the team’s first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets that is tied at one game apiece. It won’t be for Friday’s game, but Kirilenko says it could possibly happen later in the series , according to Deseret News. Kirilenko missed 15 of the team’s final 17 games of the season so even if he comes back, it won’t be at full steam

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Jazz’s Kirilenko returning in first round?

Mike Dunleavy may have resigned as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers in early February and then gotten fired as the team’s general manager about a month later, but he still wants his paycheck. And you would, too, if you got paid what he does. The team has apparently cut off payments to Dunleavy and he has filed for arbitration to get what feels he’s due, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Former Clippers coach Dunleavy wants his money

The Phoenix Suns mauled the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 119-90 last night to even their first-round playoff series. It seems the Blazers could really use the services of the injured Brandon Roy (notes) , who averaged 21.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 47 assists per game during the regular season

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Blazers’ Roy returning for first-round games?