Mickael Pietrus played 38 games for the Phoenix Suns last season after being dealt from the Orlando Magic, averaging 7.5 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game while in Arizona.

The Suns have waived the 29-year-old and he’ll be a free agent Saturday evening if no team selects him. New England Cable News reports that the $5.5 million Pietrus is owed next season will likely keep any team from doing that.

NECN also notes that Pietrus, who the Suns had tried to trade to the Toronto Raptors before that deal fell through to a medical concern that is no longer an issue, is “leaning ‘heavily’” toward signing with the Boston Celtics once he becomes a free agent.

“Without Jeff Green, they really don’t have an athletic wing player,” said an NBA scout, according to NECN. “Sasha (Pavlovic) has some athleticism, but he’s not in the same class as Pietrus. And Marquis (Daniels), he’s a solid player, but you wouldn’t consider him as an athletic wing guy.”

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The Portland Trail Blazers had to take to the court Wednesday night for its final preseason tune-up without the services of 6-11 center Marcus Camby after “tweaking his left knee during warm-ups,” according to the Associated Press. Portland won the game in its waning seconds when Michael Beasley sunk two free throws to make the score 85-84.

Camby will take a trip into the MRI tube Thursday, the AP reports, That’s the same knee, by the way, that Camby had surgery on back in January to patch up a partial tear of the meniscus.

“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it,” Camby said, according to the Oregonian. “We’ll know more (today), but I don’t think it’s anything. If it was Monday (during the season opener), I would be out there.”

The 37-year-old, two-time All-Star, who was drafted by the Toronto Raptors second overall way back in 1996 (behind Allen Iverson), averaged 4.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per games last seaso

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The 34-year-old eight-time All-Star joined the Suns in December of last year along with Marcin Gortat, and Mickael Pietrus (along with $3 million and a first-round draft pick) as part of a trade with the Orlando Magic that had Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark headed to Florida. He averaged 14 points, 3.8 rebounds, and two assists per game last year.

The fifth overall pick in the 1998 draft by the Golden State Warriors, Carter was then traded to the Toronto Raptors, where he earned the rookie of the year.

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Some of the current candidates are “expecting an answer this week,” the paper reports.

The paper suggests that the battle to be the coach of the NBA’s worst team is down to 47-year-old New Jersey Nets assistant coach Sam Mitchell, who won Coach of the Year during his 2004-2008 run with the Toronto Raptors; 71-year-old Don Nelson, who holds the NBA record for most victories by a head coach with 1,335; and 67-year-old Bernie Bickerstaff, who is an assistant with the Portland Trail Blazers but has been the head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, Denver Nuggets, Washington Bullets/Wizards, and Charlotte Bobcats.

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Mitchell is expected to be interviewed Friday and Brown next week, the paper reports.

Mitchell was actually one of the original players for the Timberwolves back in 1989. He stayed till 1992 and then returned there in 1995 after a stint with the Indiana Pacers. Mitchell went on to coach the Toronto Raptors from 2004-2008 and won the NBA Coach of the Year in 2007.

The team has previously interviewed Terry Porter, Mike Woodson, Bernie Bickerstaff, and Don Nelson face-to-face as well as Rick Adelman on the phone, the paper reports.

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The 6-6 24-year-old native of Arkansas is headed to Europe and “is expected to sign a one-year deal to play with Lithuania’s BC Zalgiris in the coming days,” according to the Toronto Star.

This past season, Weems averaged 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game for the Raptors.

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The Toronto Raptors would like the 54-year-old to become the team’s next head coach, ESPN reports, but it’s getting some competition from the Detroit Pistons.

Casey could be hired as soon as next week in Toronto, the site reports, if he doesn’t go for the Detroit opening.

The Toronto Sun points out that the Raptors would like to have a new head coach before the draft kicks off Thursday, June 23.

Lawrence Frank is also a contender in both Toronto and Detroit. He has interviewed in both cities while Casey has only visited with the Raptors so far, the Sun notes.

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SLAM Online spoke with Barbosa’s brother and advisor, Artur Barbosa, who said he has had "conversations with Flamengo as well as other clubs in Brazil."

"It would be irresponsible to not consider the Brazilian option," Artur said, according to SLAM. "We are from Brazil and we see that the Brazilian economy is booming. There is a lot of money being invested in Brazil these days."

Barbosa is expected to receive contract offers from Brazilian clubs in the next 7-10 days, the site notes.

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One is Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey and the other is Boston Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank. The sources also tell the paper that Raptors president and GM Bryan Colangelo wants to have his new coach in place before the June 23 draft but that he can’t fully interview Casey till the Mavs finish up the team’s current run at a championship against the Miami Heat.

Casey, 54, once coached the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 53-69 record. Meanwhile, the 41-year-old Frank has a 225-241 record as head coach of the New Jersey Nets and took them to the playoffs three times.

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The New York Daily News reports that "the team of Scott O’Neil, Glen Grunwald and Mark Warkentien … are the front-runners to run the basketball operation."

The paper notes that Grunwald is the former GM of the Toronto Raptors and "an Isiah Thomas disciple." He is currently serving as the interim GM for the team.

A source tells the paper that Grunwald’s "responsibilities would be to handle the day-to-day functions on the basketball side along with Warkentien," who once served as GM of the Denver Nuggets.

Meanwhile, Allan Houston will continue to work in the front office "with the plan being for (owner Jim) Dolan’s all-time favorite Knick to eventually run the club at some point," the Daily News notes.

Until then, though, the paper reports that it "would appear" that Isiah Thomas "will continue to serve as an unofficial adviser to Dolan," who "feels that Thomas is a valuable asset when it comes to recruiting high-profile free agents." Dolan, sources told the paper, "blamed Walsh for the Knicks’ failure" to snag LeBron James last summer.

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