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ESPN's Chad Ford writes today that Washington would most likely select Nerlens Noel if it gets the No. 1 pick in tonight's NBA draft lottery.Along those lines, Ford believes the Wizards would take Otto Porter with the No. 2 pick, and Anthony Bennett if it lands pick No. 3.

More than likely, though, the Wiz will have either pick No. 8 or 9 -- barring the slim chances (right around 4 percent) that they move into the top 3 or that two or more other teams slotted 4-14 move up into the top 3. What players, then, would they target at pick 8 or 9? Lets take a look.

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Memphis coach Lionel Hollins is in the final year of his contract, and as the Grizzlies are one of four teams left standing in the playoffs the rumors continue to swirl about his future. Will it be with the Grizzlies, or another team like Brooklyn or Phoenix that's been linked to him over the past couple weeks?

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UPDATE: Toronto's interest in Denver's vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri is real. Very real. Here's the latest on the Raptors' efforts to woo the Nuggets' highly regarded executive north of the border.

Yesterday, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Raptors' ownership was preparing a major financial offer for Ujiri, and today ESPN's Marc Stein offers further details regarding the type of monetary figures rumored to be in play.

"Early estimates suggest that the Toronto Raptors would be willing to offer Masai Ujiri an annual salary in excess of $2 million to leave the Denver Nuggets' front office," Stein writes. "The Nuggets, I'm told, nonetheless remain positive that they'll be able to hang on to Ujiri -- just named the NBA's Executive of the Year for the 2012-13 season -- while knowing they'll obviously have to raise his reported salary of $500,000 to keep him from wanting to leave."

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San Antonio's smothering defense on Zach Randolph worked to perfection in Game 1 as the Spurs clogged the middle and dared the Grizzlies to fire away from the perimeter. One player on Memphis who took advantage, though, was reserve forward Quincy Pondexter.

Will Pondexter's team-high 17 points, which included 5 three-pointers, help him move into the starting lineup tonight? There's reason to believe it could.

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As long as Eric Gordon is in New Orleans, trade talk could very well follow him. It's no secret that Gordon was unhappy when the team matched Phoenix's offer last summer, ensuring that Gordon would be back in a New Orleans uniform. Today, one report shoots down the the latest trade whispers that involved Gordon heading to Boston for Avery Bradley.

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It isn't as though Memphis doesn't know how to come from behind to win a series. They did it against the Los Angeles Clippers, though Blake Griffin's injury certainly made it easier for the Grizzlies to do so.

But the San Antonio Spurs are a different animal. One with three future Hall of Fame players and a one future Hall of Fame coach. History shows that falling behind 0-2 against the Spurs would give the Grizzlies little better than a 6 percent chance to win the series.

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Stan Van Gundy, via the rumor mill, has been linked with the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers, however that can end now as he plans to sit out the 2013-14 NBA season.

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Dwight Howard is set to hit the free agent market on July 1 and it is far from a lock that he will re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers despite being eligible to sign a five-year, $118 million deal.

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It took Kenyon Martin most of the season to find a team willing to give him a contract and he's hoping the New York Knicks offer him another deal.

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Carmelo Anthony is signed for two more years, but he can join the 2014 class of free agents if he invokes the early termination option in his contract next year. Anthony was asked about that possibility on Monday when he met with the New York press, but he didn't want to discuss it.

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The Atlanta Hawks are interviewing candidates for their head coach position and there is a chance it could drag on until the Indiana Pacers are eliminated from the the playoffs. Well, that is speculation from Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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The Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat play Game 1 of their highly anticipated series on Wednesday and Paul George says he's looking forward to his match up against LeBron James.

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Backup point guard Brian Roberts is signed through next season, but his 2013-14 salary currently is not guaranteed. He played really well for the New Orleans Pelicans this season, but he may not return due to who the team chooses with their lottery pick.

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The Houston Chronicle reports forward Chandler Parsons has dumped agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports and is now represented by Dan Fegan of Relativity Sports.

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