Richard Hamilton has a deep thigh bruise and some “lingering left groin issues” that will continue to keep him out of the lineup for the Chicago Bulls, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The team plans to hold Hamilton out till he’s fully healthy since he missed eight games after playing on Jan. 4. He played Sunday against the Miami Heat and then skipped Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards.

“It’s frustrating, but I have to get healthy,” Hamilton said, according to the Trib.

The paper points out that forward Luol Deng, who has a torn ligament in his left wrist, may return to action before Hamilton since doctors are telling him he can’t make the injury worse and it is now simply about managing the pain.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Deng will return soon, possibly as early as Thursday against the New York Knicks.

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It can’t be easy to be a fan of the Washington Wizards. The team finished dead last in the Southeast Division for the last three seasons. This year, the team took a while to win its first game and is now 4-17 on the season. Only the dismal play of the 3-18 Charlotte Bobcats are keeping the Wizards out of last place in the division at this point.

Now word comes from the Washington Post that the team has lost the services of 6-11 Andray Blatche for the next three to five weeks due to a strained calf muscle in his left leg.

The 25-year-old Blatche, who was drafted in the second round of the 2005 draft right out of high school, is averaging 10.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. His NBA career had a slight bump at its start when he missed his first training camp with the Wizards due to being shot during a carjacking.

“There is a lot of bleeding in there, which leads to inflammation,” said Wizards interim coach Randy Wittman Monday, the Washington Post reports.

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The Boston Celtics took down the Washington Wizards Sunday 100-94, but Ray Allen jammed his left ankle in the second quarter and is uncertain for Monday’s game against the Orlando Magic, according to the Boston Globe.

Allen’s injury came after he collided with the Wizards 6-11, 235=pound rookie forward Jan Vesely, and he had to helped off the court. “Right now there’s pain in the back of the ankle,” Allen said, according to the Globe. “If I had my druthers, I would have tried to come back out on the floor and try to work through it. It feels better, but we’ll see by [Monday]. It was the way [Vesely] was setting screens. He was stepping out and extending and every time I tried to go around it, his foot was in the way, so it just seemed like a train wreck waiting to happen.”

The 36-year-0ld Allen, A 10-time All-Star, is averaging 14.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game this season.

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It is looking less and less likely that the Orlando Magic are going to trade center Dwight Howard before the March 15 trade deadline if things keep going the way they are.

The All-Star game is in Orlando on Feb. 26 and it seems like it would be a pretty bad PR move for the team to send Howard packing before then. Plus, the Magic lead the Southeast Division with a 10-3 record, good for third best in the Eastern Conference. Why mess with success?

The word has been that Howard, who can become a free agent this summer, has requested a trade from the team and had a short list of teams that he’d be interested in joining. A report from SheridanHoops.com Tuesday had him adding the Los Angeles Clippers to that list, but Howard “dismissed” the idea, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The destinations on the list are still just the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and New Jersey Nets, Magic General Manager Otis Smith said Tuesday, the Sentinel reports. Howard’s agent has not been given permission to talk to any team other than those three, Smith added, according to the paper.

Howard is averaging 19.8 points, 14.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.

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The Washington Wizards enter Tuesday night’s game against the 3-5 Toronto Raptors without a win in eight attempts this season and word keeps coming that coach Flip Saunders will be sent packing soon enough.

Sources to the Washington Post have it, though, that Saunders isn’t going anywhere even though he has “led” the Wizards to a 49-123 record in his time with the team. He has another year on his four-year, $18 million contract after this one.

“There is a lot of noise right now and lots of angst,” team owner Ted Leonsis wrote on his blog Monday. “I have found the best thing to do in times of stress and turmoil is to do research; be analytical; NOT emotional; and try to find ways to improve. ... Obviously no one is happy with the progress we are making as a team; it is important that we be measured and smart in how we move forward.”

When Saunders was hired, he had Caron Butler, Gilbert Arenas, and Antawn Jamison on his squad, the Post reminds fans. Since it was discovered that Arenas brought guns into the locker room, a whole lot has changed for the team and Saunders.

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The Washington Wizards lost their eighth straight game Sunday to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 92-73. The team suffered the loss without the help of 32-year-old forward Rashard Lewis, a two-time All-Star.

CSN Washington reports that Lewis “got into an argument with Wizards’ assistant coach Sam Cassell” before the game and “decided he didn’t want to play.”

The team has it that Lewis, who is averaging nine points and four rebounds per game, was out with a sore right knee.

Meanwhile, Andray Blatche raised some eyebrows Sunday when he told reporters that players aren’t really listening to head coach Flip Saunders: “Guys want to do it their way, and it’s not working,” he said, according to USA Today. “Guys need to go home and really focus and think and take into consideration what Flip is saying.” That’s not a good sign for Saunders.

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Center Ronny Turiaf got traded from the New York Knicks back in December as the team made room for Tyson Chandler to join and help New York create its own Big Three. That addition hasn’t paid off fully for the Knicks just yet as they’ve gone 2-3.

Turiaf, however, has gotten himself into much worse territory. He’s now playing for the league’s only winless team, the Washington Wizards, and also will now be out for some time after breaking his left hand during Monday’s loss to the Boston Celtics, according to the Washington Post.

The paper notes that Turiaf broke the same hand last summer while playing with the French national team and is expected to be out of action for five to six weeks.

This will mean more playing time for JaVale McGee, who had 16 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots against the Celts Monday, and Kevin Seraphin.

The 6-10 Turiaf was averaging 1.5 points, three rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game this season.

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The New York Post reports that Anthony said he had “arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and an elbow procedure” to help his “chronic bursitis” back in May. But the Knicks never announced the medical attention, the Post reports. Anthony told the paper that it was the first time he’s ever had surgery. He didn’t get back on the court till August.

His team, Team Melo, which also includes Chris Paul and LeBron James on the roster, lost, by the way, 131-122, to Team Philly, whose “Big 3″ are Hakim Warrick, Tyreke Evans, and Louis Williams.

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However, the Washington Post reports that the two-time scoring leader Durant will wait till Oct. 1 before making a decision on whether he’s headed out of the country to play ball or not. “Once we really know the season is not going to start at regular time, that’s when you make the decision,” he said, according to the Post. “I guess when October hits, it’s really going to get real for me. I don’t want to do it too early and be locked into something, knowing we’re going to play. I’m going to keep my options open.”

Durant noted that his agent has spoken with Besiktas: “He’s going to call (in) the next few days, keep me in [the loop],” he said, according to the paper. “Right now, I’m just trying to get better hooping and we’ll see what happens.”

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NBA Players Association vice president Maurice Evans, a free agent small forward who spent last season with the Washington Wizards, is having discussions with two different European teams, Spain’s Real Madrid and Turkey’s Anadolu Efes, Hoopsworld reports.

Players under contract need a letter from FIBA, basketball’s international governing body, to go play for another team. Since Evans is a free agent, he doesn’t need that. But he might want to be ready to jump on a plane at any given moment in case negotiations heat up and his vice presidential skills are needed.

Evans averaged 6.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.6 assists per game last season.

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