Dwight and Jameer: Both Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson refused to leave the floor last night after the Lakers sealed the deal. They both sat on the Magic bench taking in the Lakers celebration clearly upset, clearly despondent that neither could get the job done against L.A. Nelson said privately that watching the Lakers hoist a trophy on their floor would only serve as motivation for next year and that he felt his young team learned a lot about themselves and about playoff basketball in this series. Both Howard and Nelson said they will take some time away from the game, but both are expected to get working very early this summer.

Kobe Will Get Paid: Kobe Bryant has been careful not to allow contract talks or free agency plans to be part of the discussion this week, defusing rumors at every turn. Lakers sources, however, said they would be "shocked" if Bryant did not use the NBA Championship as a means to secure a new long-term deal and point to the $47.9 million profit the Lakers were projected to have a booked in 2007-2008 as a basis for the argument. The theory explained by the Lakers' source was that paying luxury tax and salaries was ownership's problem, and with them pocketing better than $50 million over the past few seasons the belief is they can come out of pocket a few million to keep the team intact. Don't be surprised if Kobe Bryant opts out and forces the Lakers' hand on re-signing Odom and Ariza as part of his decision. Odom is expected to take a minor pay cut from his current $14.1 million salary, however Trevor Ariza is expected to get a sizable raise.

Hedo Will Have a Ceiling:  Magic president Bob Vander Weide revealed earlier in the week that Finals fever had overtaken the DeVos family and that it was decided among ownership that if the team needed to pay luxury tax to keep the team intact that they would, namely hinting that the tax not being a hindrance to re-signing Hedo Turkoglu. Magic sources, however, said last night that did not mean the Magic would spend "silly money" to keep Turk. The belief is that GM Otis Smith, while having the green light to spend, will not anchor the franchise to Turkoglu at any cost. The Magic still believe Turk's market value is somewhere in the $6 to $7 million per year range and will go through the process with Turk this summer in getting him to a new deal. Should a team get silly with an offer for Turkoglu Orlando could match it, but sources warned Vander Weide's proclamation about paying Luxury Tax did not equal spending foolishly on Turkoglu.

Skip Is Likely Gone:  Unfortunately, Rafer Alston may have played his last game in Orlando. Sources close to the situation said this week's commentary in the press about being benched was not a factor, but that it's believed that Rafer and Jameer Nelson cannot coexist and that Alston's $5.2 million ending contract could be the best chip the Magic have to cash in terms of trade assets. Alston gave hugs and handshakes as he left the building last night, likely his last game in Orlando.

Trevor Has Suitors: The Lakers faithful saw a great series out of Trevor Ariza, who really rose to the challenge both offensively and defensively last night. League sources pointed to Trevor's pending free agency as the biggest problem for the Lakers saying that the Portland Trail Blazers are said to have a lot of interest in Ariza and could be the mechanism to drive up his price tag. Ariza told HOOPSWORLD this week that staying in L.A. was his top priority and that playing with Kobe Bryant meant a lot to him so it will be interesting to see how heavily the Blazers pursue Trevor.

Marcin May Get Mid-Level Offers: At least three NBA teams have made it clear that Magic reserve center Marcin Gortat is "high" on their free agent board. The belief is the Houston Rockets may try and trade into the top of the June 25th NBA draft in order to draft a backup center and if that does not pan out they have Gortat at the top of their board and may be willing to part with a significant chunk of their mid-level exception to get him. The New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings also have eyes for Gortat according to sources. Magic sources said unless someone offers Gortat "starting center money" – a deal upwards of $5 million per year - that Orlando would match the lower offers. If Gortat gets into the $4 to $5 million range the Magic may let him go, although Marcin has been fairly clear that he'd like to stay in Central Florida long-term. Still, the market will dictate his future.

Teague Gets Slammed:  Draft Express' Jonathan Givony has published some notes from a league source in attendance at the New Jersey group workouts, and while the commentary is mixed - one hopeful, Wake Forest's Jeff Teague, is getting slammed fairly hard by teams this past week and the word out of New Jersey is not much better.

"Jeff Teague didn't say a word the entire workout. He was happy to just stand around. He didn't talk to his big men, instructing them, telling them where to go. He looked a bit disinterested. If that's the leadership your point guard is showing, then I don't know. On the other hand he's obviously a phenomenal athlete. He blew by Vasquez at will. He didn't shoot that well, though."

Teague could pull out of the draft today. Sources close to the situation told HOOPSWORLD that unless Teague got word that he would go Top 20, he'd pull out, and after injuring his MCL roughly 10 days ago the best decision for Teague might be to pull out. Teague's buzz is headed in the wrong direction.

Earl Clark On The Rise:  Louisville's Earl Clark seems to have kicked into another gear absolutely blowing executives away in workouts. Clark may be playing himself into Top 10 territory with two teams drafting in the top 12 having Earl as the second option on their board. One Eastern Conference executive openly questioned why Earl was not considered a higher pick prospect after Earl absolutely killed in that team's workout. The surprising news was how well Earl is testing in the psychological testing, as Earl comes off a little scattered at times. It seems if some of the bigger names drop off the board as expected Earl could go much higher than initially projected. He's really making it happen in individual sessions.

Omri Casspi Is A Beast:  Draft Express' Jonathan Givony is also reporting that Omri Casspi is thoroughly dominating everywhere he's been and his stock is really climbing. The San Antonio Spurs are said to covet Casspi and will try to trade into the first round to grab him, but from what league sources are saying he could climb out of the twenties making such a move a bit harder for the Spurs. Draft Express reported that Casspi really worked Austin Daye in New Jersey.

"Austin Daye vs. Omri Casspi turned into a real wrestling match. Casspi just manhandled Daye, really threw him around. It was a bit disappointing to see how little Daye was able to compete from a strength perspective—Casspi is a kind of a skinny guy himself. At one point Casspi cut Daye's lip open--he had to go to hospital for stitches. The Nets should have done a better job of getting someone to call fouls. Casspi was fouling the hell out of Daye. Some of the guys were looking at each other like 'what are we watching here?'

Casspi was impressive, just like he's been everywhere he's gone. He plays hard, competes. He hit tough shots. Step-backs, runners. Then he missed some wide open J's—go figure. He hits the toughest shots, but can't always make the easiest ones. He looked like he could be a great complementary player in a 5-on-5. Definitely an atypical player for a European."

Lawal Pulls Out: Georgia Tech's Gani Lawal did not hear what he had hoped to hear and has decided to return to Georgia Tech and will join super-freshman Derrick Favors for one more season. Lawal did not show well in the recent New Jersey group workout and admitted to HOOPSWORLD yesterday that he learned a lot about his weaknesses and would use next year to improve. Lawal is a skilled post player but has some gaps outside the paint. Lawal will be a top prospect in the 2010 NBA Draft, a class that's not quite as crowded at the four spot.

Ellington Drawing Praise:  Wayne Ellington has been something of a sleeper in this draft class. He is not drawing headlines or a lot of print but every team that has seen him says he is far more skilled than his peer group and he is shooting the ball very well. He is likely still a fringe first rounder, but the buzz on Ellington is pretty solid and two teams in the late part of the first round seem dialed in on him. The problem with late picks is they are subject to the swing of guys dropping on draft night so Ellington is not a lock for the first round but his odds have increased a lot over the past few weeks.

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The Kings ultimately went with Paul Westphal, which according to sources offered to take the job at an even cheaper rate than Rambis. It's believed Westphal will have roughly $700,000 to spend on an assistant staff which would make the Kings coaching staff one of the lowest paid in the league.

There is little doubt that Paul Westphal is an amazingly charismatic guy and will be a solid face for the franchise, but not a single league source believes Westphal makes the Kings better at any point in his contract.

The Kings will be aggressive on draft night, and could be a player in both the first round and the second round. It seems for now that if things are gonna get better in Sacramento it will be because the players come together, not necessarily because of coaching.