DeAndre Liggins was the 53rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and remains in the limbo of the lockout without a guaranteed contract.

"We're looking at trying to go overseas possibly," said Liggins of himself and his agent, Henry Thomas. "He's working on that now."

Liggins said he would like a contract that would allow him to return when the NBA lockout ends.

Liggins was asked what would motivate him to play overseas.

"Everything," Liggins said. "For the money, staying in shape, compete. That's everything."

Dwight Howard has begun training with Hakeem Olajuwon for the second consecutive summer.

Asked on Twitter whether he's working on his outside touch, Howard responded that he is working on becoming "more complete" as a player.

When a follower asked what Howard meant, Howard answered: "shooting more" and "freethrows above 75."

Howard credits his time last summer with Olajuwon for a more diverse set of moves and more confidence.

Dwight Howard was asked whether he’d consider joining the Heat when he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.

“Never,” Howard said.

Howard stopped short of committing to any specific action with the Magic.

"At this point, I don't know what I'm going to do,” Howard said. “I'm just enjoying life and taking advantage of being young and being able to travel and do the things that I've always wanted to do."

The Magic shot more three-pointers than any other NBA team this season.

“We think it helps our center and we think it helps our point guard in penetrating if we can spread the floor out,”Van Gundy said at the Coaching U Live event at UCF on Thursday. “The numbers think that’s a better shot than the mid-range. And the other reason is, that’s who we have.”

Van Gundy went on to say, in general terms, that the Magic haven’t possessed perimeter players adept at penetrating and scoring at the rim. More than 80 percent of the shots taken by Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu are classified as jump-shots.

“Especially from an offensive standpoint, this is a personnel driven league,” Van Gundy continued. “You do with what you have. We get it from our media all the time and our fans. We’ll have those nights, 2-for-23 from three. They say you gotta drive the ball more. Who? Who? That’s my question. Who? Who’s going to drive the ball? That’s not who we have. If I had a different team, there are a lot of guys in the league that I wouldn’t shoot threes with. We have who we have and we’re going to build our system around it.”

According to a source close to the NBA's league-wide audit, three teams -- the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic -- will be paying close to $20 million each as part of the league's luxury tax this season.

All three had player salaries well over the $70 million threshold. The Mavericks and Lakers, two of the most successful franchises over the last decade, have traditionally had high payrolls, while the Magic have been adding salary in an attempt to keep Dwight Howard in Orlando.

The traditionally free-spending New York Knicks are a notable absence from the list. Despite adding Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire in the last year, they won't be paying the luxury tax for the first time in over a decade. 

When the Orlando Magic pulled off a pair of blockbuster trades with the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards in December, Dwight Howard was napping. No one on the Magic asked his opinion. No one asked if he was OK with the trades.

Howard found out when the rest of us did: once the trades were completed.

Turns out, Howard had a problem with that.

“I wanted to be more part of the process a little more,” Howard said in a radio interview with 790 The Zone in Atlanta. “I had to step out on the court and I wanted to make sure that the people I played with wanted to go out and play hard every night. My only issue was the fact that I didn’t really have a chance to be involved, but I think with the guys that we brought in we still have an excellent chance of winning, but we all have to be on the same page.”

Dwight Howard said he would consider playing in China or Europe if the NBA lockout doesn’t end.

“I’m not at liberty to talk about it,” Howard said, “but there’s a huge possibility about me going to China or me going overseas to play basketball.

“If I decide to go overseas, the main thing is for me to continue to get better, not to do the things that I normally do, but do better at the things I’m not good at,” Howard said. “So I can use that talent to go overseas, working on my skills and staying in great shape.”

Gilbert Arenas sent out some interesting tweets on Thursday night, implying that the Wizards leaked the story about him bringing guns into the locker room.

Arenas tweeted “everybody knows about my troubles last yr…the only reason you do know about it is becuz my money making days were up.”

He continued, “as long as ur making sumbody lots of money they will let u do what ever u want…when ur time is up they will expose u to the world.”

He also added “if u ever hear about anything in a locker rm is becuz sumbody in high power wants it to get out.”

With training camp less than a year away and no guarantee of games before then, Jerry Colangelo is ready to start finding out who wants to play on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

USA Basketball's chairman said he plans to start contacting candidates "soon, within the next month" to gauge their interest in going to London.

"Just to make contact with all of the people on our list, give them a whole picture of what is coming," Colangelo told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "Basically to get a read from them as to what their interests and intentions are in advance."

Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and the rest of the 2008 gold medalists all committed to returning to the program through 2012, but Colangelo realizes that "circumstances have changed for some of the players who were on the Olympic team."

Jason Richardson ended the 2010-11 season with the Orlando Magic, finishing off a six-year, $70 million contract.

“I don’t have a job,” Richardson said. “I’ve taken care of my money and it won’t be a problem for me financially. I would guess that it won’t be a problem for 85 to 90 percent of the players. But you’re seeing some players going overseas for a lot less money. They just want to play.”

Once the lockout ends, free agency begins and Richardson is one of the top shooting guards on the market. He split the 2010-11 season between the Magic and Phoenix Suns, averaging 15.6 points and 4.1 rebounds, making 189 3-pointers.

Money, however, may not be the deciding factor in Richardson’s next destination.

“I want to go to a great place for my family,” Richardson said. “I’ve been blessed by God to play in the NBA for a lot of money. I’d like to go someplace that has a chance to win a championship.”