A few items making news:

* Danny Ainge, Boston's president of B.O. (that's basketball operations, not body odor), admitted the Celtics are interested in Phoenix free agent Grant Hill. The Celtics just agreed to a contract with Rasheed Wallace, who's 34-years old. Hill is 36. Kevin Garnett is 33 and coming off major knee surgery, and Ray Allen will be 34 at the end of this month. Apparently, Ainge is trying to relive his playing days, when he pushed the wheelchairs for senior stars Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson and Robert Parish back in the 1980s.

* Then again, those '80s teams were pretty darn good, and this one could be too -- provided Garnett and Wallace don't have Jell-O brand gelatin for knees. Wallace looked old, slow and uninterested in the playoffs against Cleveland. Perhaps playing for a contender will suddenly give him some renewed spunk.

* Detroit president Joe Dumars may have lost Wallace, but his biggest concern is finding a coach. Last week, Dumars announced he was giving himself a deadline of today (July 7) to make a hire. Well, that isn‘t happening. Instead, he'll have to wait to hear from Avery Johnson, who would be a wonderful choice -- although you'd have to question Johnson's sanity considering he'd be giving up an $8 million buyout from his old job with Dallas.

* Dumars' other candidates are said to be Cleveland assistant John Kuester and Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau. They're nice coaches, but why fire one former assistant (Michael Curry) to hire another? If Johnson doesn't work out, Dumars should take a long look at  experienced guys such as Sam Mitchell, Mike Fratello or Maurice Cheeks. And can anyone tell me what's become of Paul Silas?

* Andy Miller, the agent for unrestricted free agent Andre Miller (Philadelphia), told the Oregonian that he thinks Andre would be a good fit with Portland. And man, ain‘t that the truth? Seriously, could you imagine all those young studs -- Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and hopefully, a productive Greg Oden -- with a distributor like Miller running the point?

* Personally, I'd prefer to see Miller back with the 76ers. They've made the playoffs for two straight seasons, and seem to be a player away from getting to the next round. That player could be Elton Brand, assuming he ever gets healthy. Plus, you could just see how much Miller's presence helped develop some of Philly's younger guys, particularly Thaddeus Young. Miller would do the same for first-round pick Jrue Holiday, who also plays the point.

* That said, the Millers and the Sixers are reportedly far apart on agreeing to a new contract.

* Milwaukee lottery pick Brandon Jennings had to sit out the Bucks' first summer league practice while awaiting clearance from FIBA, the governing body of European basketball. Jennings spent last season playing for Lottomatica Roma in Italy. He is expected to be a go in time for the start of the Las Vegas summer league later this week.

* The 19-year old Jennings has already developed a reputation for being a fun-loving, self-promoting type who's not afraid to share his opinion. That has not gone unnoticed by Bucks summer coach Kelvin Sampson. "I say this with all due respect, (but) that kid has a very high opinion of himself," Sampson told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

* Dominic James, a guard out of Marquette who was once considered The Next Derek Fisher, is also on the Bucks' summer roster.

* There has been talk of a possible trade involving Utah and Detroit, in which the Jazz would send forward Carlos Boozer to the Pistons for guard Richard Hamilton. This would make sense, considering it's hard to envision Hamilton coexisting on the court with Ben Gordon any better than he did with Allen Iverson. And wouldn't you just love to see a Deron Williams-Hamilton backcourt in Utah?

* Finally, more than a few Internet rumors have implied Trevor Ariza will back out of his verbal commitment with Houston and instead sign with Cleveland. Our sources have said that will not be the case -- that Ariza will indeed sign with the Rockets.

* As for the Shawn Marion-to-Dallas sign-and-trade (with Toronto for Jerry Stackhouse), there seems to be some validity to it, and it could take place as soon as Wednesday (the first day trades can be made). Marion is a great guy, but he's 31 and showed signs of eroding skills last season with Miami and Toronto. Still, if all you're giving up is Stackhouse's expiring contract, you make that trade any day of the week and four times on Friday.

Sam Amico is the editor of Pro Basketball News. He can be reached at amico@probasketballnews.com.