The five most interesting stories, rumors and notes in the NBA:





1. Aiming high:

Blazers point guard Damian Lillard will almost certainly win the Rookie of the Year award for this season. So what does he do for an encore?

Last week,

. He didn't hem or haw, and answered with his usual matter-of-fact confidence.

"I want to be an All-Star next season," Lillard said. "I want to help our team make the playoffs next season. That's pretty much it. I want our team to compete at a higher level next season."

The playoff part will depend greatly on what general manager Neil Olshey can do to improve the roster through the draft, trades or free agency, so we'll have to see where this team is in July. But let's deal with this question: Can Lillard really become an All-Star in his second season?

There's local precedent as the Blazers' previous Rookie of the Year winners all made the All-Star Game. Geoff Petrie (1970-71 Rookie of the Year) and Sidney Wicks (1971-72) both were All-Stars as rookies, and Petrie went on to make the '74 All-Star Game and Wicks for the next three seasons after his rookie year.

Brandon Roy (2006-07 rookie) made the All-Star Game in his second season, starting his three-year run.

Lillard, however, faces stiff, stiff competition to make the Western Conference team for the 2014 All-Star Game. A quick look at the backcourts in the West playoffs shows just how stiff the competition is at guard.

The Denver-Golden State series has been a showcase for two outstanding point guards who are on the cusp of All-Star status. The Warriors' Stephen Curry probably should have made it this season, and after setting the NBA record for most three-pointers in a season, should have a headstart in his All-Star case for next season. Curry put on quite a show last night, getting 30 points and 13 assists in the

.

The Nuggets' Ty Lawson is emerging as the star of the supposedly star-less Nuggets. Lawson isn't quite a complete package, but no one in the league is faster.

The Houston-Oklahoma City series gives us two guards who made this year's All-Star Game and look like perennials for the game -- the Thunder's Russell Westbrook and Rockets' James Harden.

The Clippers-Memphis series has Chris Paul, who usually gets voted in as a starter by fans. He's a free agent after the season, and there always the chance he signs with an Eastern Conference team, but as NBA.com's Jeff Caplan wrote,

.

Finally, the Lakers-San Antonio series has two of this year's All-Star guards, Kobe Bryant and Tony Parker. The Spurs' Parker continues to play at a high level, but Bryant just had surgery to fix his Achilles' tendon. The L.A. Times' Eric Pincus reports that

.

Bryant's recovery time has be given as six to nine months. If it's six, he could be ready in time for training camp. If it's nine, he could be out until January, and unless he's voted in by fans (and we know they're not above that; see Yao Ming), he would miss the All-Star for the first time since 1997, when he was a rookie (not counting 1999, of course, when the All-Star Game was canceled because of the lockout).

Each All-Star Game side has room for two starting guards, two reserve guards, plus two non-position-specific spots that could go to guards. Even if Bryant is out, Lillard has Curry, Lawson, Westbrook, Harden, Paul and Parker to beat out, not to mention other guards such as Memphis' Mike Conley, Minnesota's Ricky Rubio who could rise to All-Star levels.

Lillard has thrived when he has a chip on his shoulder -- not recruited by big schools, seen a mid-major question mark, etc. Maybe this glut of great guards in the West could be the next one.

2. Unneeded bulletin-board material:

Dwyane Wade has more than enough reason to be excited for Game 3 of the Heat-Bucks series Thursday. To start with, it's in Milwaukee, where he played college basketball for Marquette. Wade, of course, has played countless NBA games at the Bradley Center, but he has never played a playoff game there.

The

last night and have a chance to close out a sweep before they even return to Miami.

That seems more than enough motivation, which might be why Wade was happy to just shrug off what could have served as bulletin-board motivation from Bucks guard Monta Ellis. In December,

, just without the wins and championships, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Charles Gardner reports.

Sure, wins and championships -- nobody uses those as measuring sticks in sports.

Wade said he "chuckled in a sense" when he heard about Ellis' claim. Wade has outscored Ellis 37-29 in the series, including 21-7 last night, and is chuckling all the way to the second round and beyond.

In five seasons as Cleveland coach, Mike Brown compiled a 272-138 record and won the 2009-10 NBA Coach of the Year award.

3. The return:

The Cavaliers are expected to hold a news conference today to announce that

almost three years after they fired him. It's a rare thing in the NBA for a team to rehire an old coach -- no one expects the Blazers to bring back Maurice Cheeks, Mike Dunleavy or Nate McMillan, after all.

Brown has a great record with the Cavs, including winning more than 60 games in his final two seasons. Still, the news came as a surprise in some ways as the Cavaliers are believed to want to take a shot at LeBron James after next season, when James can opt out of the final two years of his contract with Miami. The Cavaliers fired Brown just before James became a free agent in 2010, the move seen as a way to try to appease James.

Before Miami's win over Milwaukee last night, James gave the rehiring of Brown a thumbs up.

"I'm happy for him," said James, who won two MVP awards while playing for Brown. "Very happy for him. I think he's a really good coach, very defensive-minded coach. It'll be good for those young guys that they have."

For now, Brown inherits a roster led by All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who is probably better than any player James played with in his time in Cleveland.

There is one interesting side note in all this that involves Portland. Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, in a column in which he says

, writes this:

4. Getting defensive:

In the last few days, multiple reports have said Memphis center Marc Gasol will be given the Defensive Player of the Year award today, and whaddaya know,

.

It seems appropriate that a player from the Grizzlies, who led the league in points-against at 89.3, should get the award, but Gasol is an interesting pick. He does not rank in the top 10 in the league in either blocked shots or rebounding, two of the usual measures of defensive prowess for centers.

The Memphis Flyer's Chris Herrington writes that

among media, who vote on the award. Gasol ranked No. 5 (and No. 2 among players who averaged 30 minutes) in defensive rating at 95.4. The number measures the points a player's team allows per 100 possession when he is on the court.

It will be interesting to see if Gasol makes any of the all-defensive teams, which are voted on by coaches. Last season, the Knicks' Tyson Chandler won the Defensive Player of the Year award but only made second-team all-defensive.

Gasol's win agitated at least one player. Oklahoma City's

against the fact that his teammate, Serge Ibaka (who led the league in blocks), didn't win it, writing, "That is terrible," and, "Too many politics."

5. Neutral or not?

During the ongoing Sacramento-Seattle tug-of-war for the Kings, commissioner David Stern has portrayed himself as a virtual Sweden -- neutrally watching the proceedings while the owners make the decision.

The Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voison

, writing, "There is no chance – none – that he is only providing background noise while the league's enormous legal staff examines the two cities, two potential ownership groups, and two proposed arenas in preparation for a long-awaited resolution."

Voison reveals a potentially telling detail -- that Kings employees have been instructed to prepare marketing and ticket plans for next season, and that key personnel who have been exploring other jobs have been urged to "sit tight."

Who knows what it all means, other than more evidence of how tough a call it will be for owners.

-- Mike Tokito