I need to start waking up early to get ready for this monster, so each weekday morning, BDL will look at the morning papers/blogs to kill some time. We'll see how long this lasts.

Dave D'Alessandro, The Star-Ledger: "A YouTube video of Devin Harris getting schooled by London streetballer Stuart Tanner has gone viral (three million hits), but the Nets point handled it with his usual good humor. 'When I first went out there, they told me one of the Special Olympic kids wanted to play me one-on-one,' Harris said. 'They got me pretty good.'"

Howard Beck, New York Times: "D'Antoni initially had Jared Jeffries penciled in as his starting center, until Jeffries broke his leg on the third day of camp. [Zach] Randolph is now on track to start alongside David Lee when the Knicks open the season Oct. 29 against Miami. It is not an ideal defensive pairing, but they can more than compensate on offense. [...] They are thriving without a single play being called for them, which is critical because D'Antoni prefers not to call a lot of plays. 'If he brings his mind-set, he’ll average 20 to 25 points without being the focal point,' D'Antoni said, drawing a parallel to Shawn Marion, the former Suns forward, who scored in bunches. 'We don't call plays, in the sense of 'O.K., let's get Zach on the box.' We just don't do that. Now, if he has energy and he's screening and rolling and everybody's unselfish, he'll end up with the ball on the box with a little bit of an advantage. And to me, that's where he'll just kill them.'"

Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer: "... [Adam] Morrison has limited trade value. He missed all last season with a serious knee injury and, although he's playing on the knee now in the preseason, everyone will consider him damaged goods to some extent until they see that knee hold up for long stretches. Still, if you can recoup a first-round draft pick for Morrison — and I mean anywhere in the first round, not just a lottery pick — I'd take it. If you can get a good big man to help the Bobcats with their rebounding problems, I'd take it. But if you're just giving him away, I wouldn't take that. He's not that bad. He's just not that good, either."

Beyond The Arc: "Boo to Ron Artest for ruining what would have been a spectacular Rudy Gay moment. Leaking out for a fast break, Rudy ran down a long pass, catching it near the baseline, beneath the basket, and lept up for a 360 spin to get himself back to the rim. Gay seemed about the hammer it home when Artest gave him a hard foul to break up the play."

AP: "The Pacers are content to let Eddie Jones go his own way. After balking at the chance to join Indiana following last week’s trade with Dallas, the 36-year-old Jones said he didn’t want to play this season. The Pacers granted his wish Wednesday. Team officials and Jones’ agent agreed to free Jones from coming to Indiana in exchange for additional room under the NBA’s salary cap. ‘Eddie Jones will not join the Pacers, but the franchise will recoup the ability to sign another player as a result of an agreement reached today,’ the team said in a statement released Wednesday night. ‘The Pacers worked with agent Leon Rose and reached an agreement that lowers the salary-cap figure for the one season remaining on Jones’ contract.’"

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "The Miami Heat received a double dose of good news on its injury front at today's practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. Point guard Chris Quinn, who had missed the past two exhibitions after spraining his left ankle in the preseason opener, was back running the offense during the intense three-hour session. Center Jamaal Magloire was informed that the fractured middle finger in his left hand had reset in place during the week it has been in a cast and would not require surgery. That has Magloire on a timetable to return in six to eight weeks, instead of the far longer estimate had surgery been required."

Sekou Smith, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Flip Murray has been the picture of efficiency for the Hawks during the preseason. There has been little wasted energy, effort or emotion from the crafty veteran the Hawks acquired this summer through free agency. Murray has blended in so well his new teammates that it seems like he has been around here for years. But after watching him work during his first 11 minutes of action in Wednesday’s 102-100 preseason loss to Phoenix, it’s should be clear to anyone paying attention that the Hawks haven’t had a reserve guard such as Murray in quite some time. He was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor in the first half, including a 3-for-3 showing from beyond the 3-point line, for 15 points."

Clips Nation: "Sweet merciful crap! What is going on here? It's just pre-season. And the fact that Chris Kaman is now 3 for 18 for 10 points to go with 10 turnovers in the three games is potentially disastrous. But all that 'It's just pre-season' stuff aside, can we all agree that depth is looking like less and less of a problem? The Clippers overcame a 17 point deficit, and erased 10 of it in the fourth quarter with the three rookies on the court. Eric Gordon isn't going to make 5 threes in the fourth quarter of many games this season.  He's not going to score 21 points in a quarter many times. But the very fact that he CAN — whether in pre-season or not — has got me, frankly, a little giddy. Did you see where he was shooting from? There were so many arcs drawn on the UoP court, I guess he wanted to make sure there was no doubt, so he just pulled up from three steps beyond the last one. The dude has got a stroke, doesn't he?"

Mike Ganter, Toronto Sun: "There may yet be some competition for jobs in this seemingly never-ending Raptors pre-season. Up for grabs, it now appears, are the backup minutes to point guard Jose Calderon. Those minutes initially appeared destined to find their way to Will Solomon, the former Memphis Grizzlies player who has spent the past six years honing his craft in the European leagues. And that may still wind up being the case, but rather suddenly Croatian rookie Roko Ukic is getting some consideration there as well."

Elliott Teaford, LA Daily News: "It's not difficult to figure out what the Lakers need to improve to take the next step this season and become NBA champions. At least, not in the mind of veteran guard Derek Fisher. ‘We have to defend a whole lot better,’ Fisher said. ‘We want a team that when we have to get stops to finish a game or finish a quarter, we get them. We just weren't able to lock teams down. I can't remember a lot of games where we were down eight or 10 points and kept them from scoring the rest of the game and stole the game at the end. It was more like we were close and then we went on an offensive spurt where we were able to win the game.’"

George M. Thomas, Akron Beacon Journal: "Sasha Pavlovic, who'll also be battling for that two-guard spot that Brown said remains a wide-open competition, was on the floor for a full workout Wednesday. ‘This is my first practice, but I feel pretty good,'’ he said. ‘[My ankle is] just a bit sore and when I warm up, it feels pretty good.’ Whether he plays depends on how he feels this morning. Pavlovic knows that the injury might have hurt his chances for the starting job, but he maintains a positive attitude. ‘I just don't want to think about it. I just try to think positive,’ he said. ‘That's what happens. I came back in great shape, I twisted an ankle. It's a little step back for me, but I'm going to fight back.’"

Brian Schmitz, Orlando Sentinel: "Orlando Magic small forward Hedo Turkoglu says that playing overseas is "a possibility" for him, but he has far more pressing matters at home than his contract status. He's anticipating the arrival of an even bigger deal. Turkoglu and his wife, Banu, found out that they are expecting a girl, the couple's first child, sometime in February or March. 'A girl. It's great,' Turkoglu said Wednesday. So there's a lot on Turk's agenda as he also faces the likelihood of becoming a free agent at season's end. He has a player's option, but can return for the sixth, and final, year on his contract."

Ross Siler, The Salt Lake Tribune: "Not that any reminder was needed, but Deron Williams and C.J. Miles took it upon themselves in Wednesday night's 120-119 overtime preseason loss to show the Jazz's point guard position remains in good hands. You read that right: With Brevin Knight and Ronnie Price both nursing injuries, Miles played point guard for 13 1/2 minutes, including the end of regulation and overtime, against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Williams finished with 22 points, eight assists and five steals, while Miles helped the Jazz force overtime and nearly come away with a victory. It was the first time he had played point guard in a game since high school. ‘It's still a little fast to me, like seeing everything. I had a couple turnovers, a couple of them I probably should have kept,’ Miles said. ‘I think it was a good experience for me, in a game like that.’"