The Suns  already are working on improving defensively, even though the draft is four weeks away and free agency is uncertain with a lockout looming.

Until the Suns' roster can be changed, the attempt to improve will come with a coaching addition.

Suns coach Alvin Gentry is interviewing candidates to add an assistant with defensive expertise.

Gentry has talked with San Antonio assistant Don Newman, former Chicago assistant and current scout Pete Myers and Houston assistant Elston Turner, who was a finalist for the Suns' head-coaching job in 2008. Gentry also could talk to Lakers assistant Jim Cleamons and coaches who have been involved in the conference finals, such as Dallas' Dwane Casey, Oklahoma City's Maurice Cheeks and Miami's Bob McAdoo.

After finishing the 2010-11 season with the NBA's fifth-worst defensive-field-goal percentage (47.2), the Suns have placed an off-season priority on improving defensively.

Ten months after LeBron James left the team as a free agent, the Cavaliers took a major step toward rebuilding their franchise by winning the first overall pick in Tuesday's draft lottery.  

Ironically, the ping pong ball that bounced Cleveland's way was attached to the Clippers' selection, which the team acquired in the Baron Davis trade, not their own. The latter pick fell to fourth despite the Cavaliers having the second-best chance at taking one of the top three spots, given that the team owned the league's second-worst record.   

The Wolves, with the NBA's worst record, took the second selection and the Jazz will pick third, by way of the pick Utah acquired from New Jersey in the trade of Deron Williams to the Nets.

Full lottery results are as follows:

1.  Cleveland (via Clippers)

2.  Minnesota

3.  Utah (via Nets)

4.  Cleveland 

5.  Toronto

6.  Washington

7.  Sacramento

8.  Detroit

9.  Charlotte

10.  Milwaukee

11.  Golden State

12.  Utah

13.  Phoenix

14.  Houston

Rick Welts, president and CEO of the Suns, has revealed that he is gay.

Welts hopes to mentor gay people who doubt they can have a career in sports.

“This is one of the last industries where the subject is off limits,” said Mr. Welts, who stands now as a true rarity, a man prominently employed in professional men’s team sports, willing to declare his homosexuality. “Nobody’s comfortable in engaging in a conversation.”

Jalen Rose says Grant Hill has agreed to help support the new charter school in Detroit bearing Rose's name.

The Jalen Rose Leadership Academy is expected to open in September.

Rose says Hill has promised to lend his support and that things are fine between them after Hill criticized Rose in March for comments he made in an ESPN documentary about Michigan's famous Fab Five.

Hill, a former Duke standout, criticized Rose in the New York Times for saying the Blue Devils "only recruited black players that were 'Uncle Toms.'"

Alvin Gentry thinks the Phoenix Suns are on as solid footing as they have been in some time, a stance brought on in part by a improved communication from team executives Lance Banks and Lon Babby.

 "I definitely think there is a plan in place," the Suns' coach said. "I've never felt more confident that there was a plan in place. Lance (Blanks) and Lon (Babby), I have the utmost confidence in those guys.

"We have a chance to be pretty darned good," Gentry said. "The first 20 games last year, we were awful. The next 20, we were as good as anyone in the league. Then we had too much fluctuation.

"But this is the first time we've been able to sit down and talk extensively about the team, where we're going and what we need to add. And I'm very confident, I will say that."

The Pistons are not commenting on the recent comments Grant Hill made about the foot injury and subsequent treatment he received from the Pistons and Orlando Magic medical staffs during the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons.

Robert Teitge, the team's orthopedic surgeon when Hill was a Piston, did not return two phone calls from the Free Press, and Arnie Kander, the team's strength and conditioning coach, was advised not to speak on the matter by current management with the potential sale of the team pending.

"The health of our players is and always has been the No. 1 priority of our organization," said Kevin Grigg, the team's vice president of public relations.