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The Bulls have a big week ahead, being featured players in just about every rumored scenario regarding a cadre of players (their own and otherwise). A few independent reports (via TSB) have made the whole run-up to the Thursday deadline more interesting for Chicago: both Peter (groan) Vescey of the New York Post and the Chicago Sun-Times report John Paxson will resign as Bulls GM after the deadline.

However, Mike McGraw of the Arlington Heights Daily Herald has a source denying the rumor. And Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf put out a statement basically calling Vescey a liar. So here we are.

The first of a gaggle of serious, serious questions regarding the future of the Golden State Warriors has apparently been answered: coach Don Nelson will in fact stick around for one more season, reports Santa Rosa Press Democrat Lowell Cohn (via GSoM).

Nelson told Cohn he agreed to return to the Warriors two weeks ago. (The Warriors picked up Nellie's $5 million option for 2008-09 during the middle of the season; Nelson, however, said he needed to think about it. He has been in Maui since.) Considering how detailed the day-to-day reporting on last summer's Nellie-GSW stand-off had been, it's a minor miracle the team managed to keep this quiet ... without any indication they actually wanted to keep mum, save the lack of a press announcement.

Nellie is the media's best friend in the Bay Area. His personality is a boon for everyone in the journalism business; he's sort-of a rock star in radio and TV appearances. (Example: Cohn's column reveals Nellie often plays poker on Maui with Willie Nelson, Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson. !)

So how did this stay unknown? Did no one call him until Cohn did? Did folks know and keep quiet, just so Nelson wouldn't have to leave Maui early to come back and do the whole press conference thing? (Cohn says Nellie's now back on the mainland for draft prep.)

Or is something more sinister -- possibly waiting for Baron Davis to make a decision on opting out -- at play? Peter Vescey was one scribe who insisted beef between Boom and Nelson, though P.V. had Golden State losing Nellie to save Davis. Apparently, that's not happening.

There's a report this morning -- backed up by an NBA TV talking head last night -- saying Rick Carlisle has been chosen as the next coach of the Dallas Mavericks. We'd accept this as fact if the source weren't Peter Vescey, who in the past week has retracted a column and errantly reported Derrick Coleman needs a heart transplant.

Vescey reports in the New York Post that Carlisle has interviewed with the Knicks on Wednesday, but has since wowed Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson down in Big D. Vescey parroted the same report on NBA TV's postgame festivities last night (via HoopsHype). ESPN.com's Marc Stein (the most plugged-in national reporter when it comes to Dallas) offers Carlisle only as a favorite in the job hunt, one of five candidates Cuban will consider. The Dallas Morning News, for its part, have nothing on the potential hire.

My only concern for the Mavs here: You need some creativity on offense, right? You need a coach who will, at the very least, turn the reins over to Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki and let the points fly, yes? Carlisle spent four seasons in Indiana; here are the Pacers' ranks in leaguewide offensive efficiency each of those seasons, chronologically: 9th, 18th, 21st, 30th. Yep, worst offense in the league in 2006-07. What did Jim O'Brien do with basically the same roster in 2007-08? 19th in the league.

Carlisle can coach defense, and he's not likely to grate on Kidd like Avery Johnson did. But this sure as heck doesn't seem like your typical magical elixir.

Allllllllllll abooooooooard! The Peter Vescey Magical Mystery Ride of Antagonistic Association Articles will be leaving in 15 minutes. Fif-teeen minutes everyone! Get cha tickets now!

In case you didn't pick up on the fact, Peter Vescey has written another article for the New York Post in which he purports to uncover some grand schema that has eluded the general public for several years. In fact, in this article, cleverly entitled "Shaq, Riley: 2 of an Unkind", Vescey attributes all of the misdoings in Miami towards Stan Van Gundy to be all the fault of one Shaquille O'Neal. He does this based on an anonymous reporting source that covers the Orlando Magic.

An hour or so after Dwight Howard's transfixing jamboree victory, I had an impromptu conversation with an on-line reporter who regularly covers the Magic as we walked out of the arena en route to our hotel bus. He maintained Van Gundy's exit had nothing to do with Riley and everything to do with Shaq, who didn't appreciate being jerked in and out, especially in the pivotal minutes of tight games.

'Shaq often disrespected Stan,' the reporter disclosed. 'Sometimes it was done playfully. More likely it was meant contemptuously.'

Given D-Ho's current situation in Orlando, which has led to confrontation from SVG, it's not all that shocking that Shaq and Stan might not have gotten along perfectly. But at the same time, if you're willing to believe for a minute that Pat Riley really did the only thing available to him -- stepping in front of the diesel bus and willing to take one for the team by coaching them (*cough* to a championship *cough*) -- then you're more naive open to discussion than I am.

I mean, say what you will about Riley's greatness, and there's a lot to say, but don't forget that he takes trips to NCAA tournaments during the NBA stretch run, he rolls out every time his back hurts and generally treats the Miami head coaching job as one of convenience, simply because he owns the keys to who gets to drive.

Shoals at The Sporting Blog routed to the world this morning a (rare) fun Peter Vescey passage concerning Rafer Alston's mother, one in which I would be remiss in failing to pass on. Background: Jeff Van Gundy made a ludicrous statement about the efficacy of Alston 10 days ago on TV, Vescey cracked a joke about it. Geraldine Alston called Vescey around midnight to... discuss the matter.

"My husband and I just now got to read your column on line when we came home," Geraldine allowed. "While I don't agree with your assessment, I do respect your right to voice an opinion.

"Having said that, do me a favor; please e-mail your picture. We're making a print out of the column and we'd like to burn it and your picture together in effigy."

I am assuming Vescey did not rush to his computer to help out. With conciliatory spirit (and plenty of annoying Vescey moments) in mind, let's help Mrs. Alston out after the jump.

There's so much junk floating around Jason Kidd and the possibility that he heads to the Mavericks (or elsewhere, I suppose) that is almost hard to tell what's real anymore. Which probably explains why there are plenty of people that think the Nets are doing their best to artificially drive up his value in the trade market, since it seems that there are not too many serious trade possibilities for the second all time leader in triple doubles.

But Peter Vescey, in today's New York Post, threw an interesting (albeit anonymously sourced, of course) and large twist in the storyline thus far. He states the obvious -- that the Mavs are the team most interested in acquiring Kidd -- and does the standard due diligence on the unlikely Portland-Dallas-New Jersey trade. Then he gets sort of crazy, or at least alleges that Mark Cuban would do something sort of crazy.

Aside from Dallas being a legitimate championship contender as currently comprised (a prerequisite), a source close to agent Jeff Schwartz claims Mark Cuban would be willing to give Kidd the one-year, $20 million extension (for 2009-2010) he was unable to get from the Nets New Jersey Nets.

Now, he uses the word "claims", which is good, because there can't be anyway this is true. Cubes is a little eccentric, sure, but he's at least a good businessman, and he knows that bringing in Kidd is for now, not later. Giving up Devin Harris (who one would assume is a central figure in any sort of Kidd trade negotiations) means mortgaging the future to try and win now, whereas sinking another 20 million dollars into an elderly point guard as he rides off into the sunset is basically giving your team two years before you throw in the towel.

Peter Vescey of the New York Post thinks Sonics star Rashard Lewis screwed up his opt-out clause, which might negate his chance for a big payday this summer.

Vescey's sources say Lewis had two opportunities to submit his opt-out to the Sonics -- within five days of the team's final game, or between June 1 and June 5. Published reports cited the paperwork being submitted in late May. Hence, the problem.

I won't pretend to know anything about contract law and the language in Shard's deal. On the surface it seems odd Lewis wouldn't be allowed to opt out at any point between the first moment he can do it under the agreement and the last moment -- having two distinct and short windows looks weird. But again, what the hell do I know?

Seattle's in a tricky spot if Vescey's accurate: Lewis would probably push for a four-year extension this summer at near-max money, which I'm not sure the rebuilding Sonics want to do -- especially with Kevin Durant in the pipeline. I can't imagine Lewis would be in a position to force a trade, or if he would even want to. He's rather beloved in the Emerald City, and a trade to most destinations would require Seattle to take contracts back. And it's not as if Shard will starve -- he's due more than $20 million the next two seasons. But it's a sticky situation all around... unless, of course, Vescey's wrong. Which he is sometimes.