Suicide lines: Rose on the Bulls; Brown heading out of town?

Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your apple fritter.

John Jackson, Chicago Sun-Times: "When he was asked about the possibility of the Bulls signing Tracy McGrady(notes) a week ago in Las Vegas, Derrick Rose(notes) was enthusiastically behind it and said McGrady could help the team. But on Thursday, after it became apparent Bulls management has little interest in McGrady, Rose took a different approach -- especially when he was asked if he was disappointed in the decision. 'No, not really,' Rose said after conducting a basketball camp at Joy of the Game in Deerfield. 'Like I said before anything, I'm cool with the team I have right now. I think we have good youth on the team. We should be all right. If [McGrady] comes or if he doesn't, we should be able to compete out there. That's up to the Bulls.' Rose didn't hide his disappointment when asked about the decision of new coach Tom Thibodeau not to retain long-time Bulls assistant Pete Myers, who apparently will remain with the organization in a front office role. 'It hurts a little bit, but he should be somewhere around,' Rose said. 'Pete is a guy, if it wasn't for him, I don't know where I'd be in this league. He's always there and brings a lot to the organization.'"

Dave McMenamin, ESPN: "Exactly four weeks after the NBA super summer free-agency frenzy commenced, Shannon Brown(notes) has had three places emerge as his most probable destinations next season: Hollywood, Broadway or the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Brown has to decide between taking less money and a smaller role with the championship-contending Los Angeles Lakers, the team that turned his career around when it acquired him a season and a half ago, or a bigger pay day and possible starting position on the New York Knicks or Cleveland Cavaliers, two teams in transition mode after the acquisition of Amare Stoudemire and the exit of LeBron James(notes), respectively. CBSSports.com reported Thursday the Knicks have extended a formal offer to Brown. New York has shown interest in Brown throughout the summer, according to a source close to the situation who also said Brown's representative has been in discussions with both Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni about how the guard would fit into D'Antoni's system. Discussions remain 'ongoing,' according to the source."

Samuel Goldsmith, New York Daily News: "Times are still tough for Eddy Curry(notes). A Chicago judge has issued an arrest warrant for the troubled New York Knicks center for the second time since June. The judge signed the warrant Monday after learning the ballplayer hasn't paid nearly $200,000 of a $660,000 settlement for sex with an underage girl, court officials said Thursday. The payout stems from a 2001 case in which Curry, then 18, was sued for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. He agreed to the settlement in 2007. The arrears led a judge to issue an arrest warrant in June. That was revoked after Curry agreed to sign a new agreement and pay the balance. But Curry, 27, still hasn't paid up, so he's in trouble again."

Paul Coro, Arizona Republic: "The race to fill the Suns' general-manager job is closer to this week's starting line than a finish line. The process began anew this week, with Lon Babby, the Suns' president of basketball operations, starting work on his new job's top priority before setting foot in his office next week. To that end, Babby responded to a Yahoo.com report that said Cleveland Assistant General Manager Lance Blanks is a front-runner to land the job that others have declined, saying there is no leading candidate and there have been no job offers. 'It's not a horse race,' Babby said. 'There are no frontrunners. We're going to have a thorough and systematic process, and it'll be at the end of that process that we'll move to evaluations. I've committed to myself and the candidates that I wouldn't move forward to a decision until I've completed the interviews. Therefore, there can't be a frontrunner.' Blanks has been Cleveland's assistant GM for five years and was the No. 3 man in basketball operations until GM Danny Ferry's contract was not renewed last month, moving Chris Grant into the job. Blanks came with Ferry from San Antonio's front office. Blanks was the Spurs' director of scouting after starting in the organization in 2000 as a scout."

Mike Monroe, San Antonio Express-News: "With an opportunity to make guaranteed money for two seasons with the Italian League's defending champion, Spurs swingman Malik Hairston(notes) asked the team to release him from the final, non-guaranteed season of his contract. Having signed free-agent swingman Gary Neal(notes) to a three-year contract last week, the Spurs on Thursday complied with the request. 'We valued Malik and had invested a lot in him, but this is an excellent opportunity for him and we were happy to honor his request,' said Spurs general manager R.C. Buford. Hairston must clear NBA waivers before he can sign a two-year deal with Montepaschi Siena, winner of the past four Italian League titles. Acquired on draft night 2008 in a swap of second-round picks with the Phoenix Suns - the Spurs sent the draft rights to point guard Goran Dragic(notes) to Phoenix - Hairston appeared in 62 Spurs games over the past two seasons. He split most of his time between the Spurs, where he averaged 2.4 points a game, and the club's NBA Development League team in Austin, where he averaged 24.9 points. 'We've enjoyed having Malik in our organization,' Buford said. 'He is a hard worker, a talented basketball player and an outstanding young man.'"

Sacramento Bee: "Otis Hughley, DeMarcus Cousins'(notes) high school coach and a prominent figure in Alabama prep basketball circles, has been hired as a Kings assistant. He replaces Bryan Gates, who left after one season for a promotion with the New Orleans Hornets. Hughley, 46, led Mobile's LeFlore High School to six consecutive 6A regional tournament appearances and the 2007 state championship. He has also been a college assistant at Wright State, Liberty and Southern."

Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post: "For all the grooming he does with his players, Nuggets coach George Karl takes as much pride in coaching coaches, notably his young assistants, of which he has a stable. On Thursday, one of his favorite pupils, Jamahl Mosley, said he's leaving to take a job as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mosley said he wouldn't have had the opportunity for advancement without the tutelage of Karl and Tim Grgurich, the Denver assistant who mentors young coaches and players alike. 'With my loyalty to the Nuggets and George and Grg,' Mosley said, 'I definitely wouldn't have touched this job if I didn't think it was a chance for me to take everything they gave me and see if everything they taught could be used.' Mosley, 31, played at CU from 1997-2001 and spent the past five seasons with the Nuggets as an assistant and an advance scout. It isn't known whether Denver will replace Mosley with someone outside the organization or promote from within. Mosley joins Paul Pressey, Chris Jent and Joe Prunty as the main assistants under new Cavs coach Byron Scott."

Ken Sugiura, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "It was not easy to keep Lorenzen Wright(notes) down. Pete Babcock saw Wright, the former Hawk found dead Wednesday in a wooded area in Memphis, on some of his lowest days as a professional. In 2008-2009, the last year of his career, Wright was a bench player for the Cleveland Cavaliers who played little on the rare occasions he dressed out. 'Even when he was in street clothes on the bench and I happened to be there at the game, he was still upbeat and positive,' said Babcock, the former Hawks general manager who now scouts for Cleveland. Wright provided similar memories to many who encountered him in a 13-year NBA career and a life that ended violently after 34 years. On Thursday, Memphis police confirmed that Wright was a homicide victim killed by gunshot wound. He was found nine days after he had gone missing. 'The news as to how he died, it's killing us all, to say the least,' Hawks spokesman Arthur Triche said."