Hooped Up

The Grizzlies are in the beginning stages of a process to fill their head coach and general manager vacancies, and the team is scheduled to interview two experienced candidates this week, according to an NBA source.

Former New York Knicks coach Larry Brown will meet with Grizzlies majority Michael Heisley today to discuss replacing interim head coach Tony Barone Sr. Former Denver Nuggets boss Kiki Vandeweghe will soon follow Brown to talk to Heisley about replacing team president Jerry West, who announced his intention to leave the organization July 1.

Heisley is expected to meet with three executives and three coaches — one who remains unnamed — early on in the process.

Memphis Commercial-Appeal

Dwight Howard was sick on Monday and it clearly affected his play during Orlando’s Game 2 loss in Detroit. Howard was vomiting late Monday afternoon and was given some medication by the team.

Howard’s agent Aaron Goodwin said Howard soon will sign a $40 million deal with adidas and stands to make more than $80 million by signing a contract with the Magic this offseason. “It’s a $120 million summer for Dwight,” Goodwin said.

Orlando Sentinel

In your face girl, who’s your daddy…No really who is your daddy, I’d like to take you out on a date.

Super Ouch!

Washington Wizards forward Caron Butler had the cast removed from his broken right hand Monday and was told to avoid contact for a week to 10 days.

Even before Butler’s cast was replaced by a splint, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan ruled out having the All-Star back for the team’s first-round playoff series against Cleveland.

“He is not in our plans, right now — not as a player,” Jordan said after practice Monday. “If we get deeper in the playoffs, possibly, but not in the first round.”

Asked whether there’s any chance Butler could face the Cavaliers, Jordan said: “To me? No. Not to me.”

ESPN

San Antonio guard Manu Ginobili will not play for Argentina during Olympic qualifying, but does plan to be part of the national team when it defends its championship at the Beijing Games in 2008.

Ginobili posted on his Web site Monday that the Spurs had requested he skip the Americas qualifying tournament in Las Vegas from Aug. 22-Sept. 2, and he hoped Argentine fans would understand his decision.

He said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave “rather understandable arguments.” Ginobili, who is in the middle of a six-year deal with the Spurs, noted he’s been playing nearly 10 years during NBA offseasons for Argentina, and needed a break.

“This [Olympic qualifier] did not allow me sufficient time to rest,” the 29-year-old Ginobili wrote.

“I hope you understand my decision. This wasn’t easy … but I believe it’s the right decision in the long run.

ESPN

New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul had a screw inserted in his left foot Monday and will likely be unable to participate in camp with the U.S. basketball team this summer, his agent said.

Paul was to have a follow-up visit with doctors on Tuesday after having the screw inserted in his fifth metatarsal, said Lance Young, Paul’s agent.

ESPN

The Blazers can’t negotiate or talk about free agents until July 1, but indications are they will pursue Seattle small forward Rashard Lewis and Denver point guard Steve Blake.

Oregon Live

While Cleveland, behind a combined 50 points by LeBron James and Larry Hughes, handily defeated Washington, speculation was injured Wizards forward Caron Butler could be planning a Willis Reed-esque return to the Washington lineup, possibly as early as Saturday’s Game 3.

Butler has been out of the lineup since April 1 when he broke the second metacarpal in his right hand bending his index finger back against a backboard while challenging a shot by Milwaukee’s Ruben Patterson and is still wearing a cast to protect the injured hand.

Butler’s injury became more catostrophic when the Wizards lost point guard Gilbert Arenas a week later, leaving forward Antawn Jamison as Washington¹s sole remaining All-Star-caliber player.

Sports Illustrated