The drunken driver who killed Timberwolves' swingman Malik Sealy in 2000 was sentenced to another eight years in prison on a separate drunken driving charge and a probation violation, the Associated Press are reporting.

Souksangouane Phengsene was charged with first-degree driving while impaired. He surprised prosecutors by pleading guilty at a hearing that was just supposed to be an arraignment, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.

Four ties among teams that finished the 2007-08 NBA regular season with identical records were broken today through random drawings to help determine the order of selection for the 2008 NBA Draft, which will be held on Thursday, June 26 at The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The drawings were conducted live on NBA TV earlier today in New York City by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.  

The results of the drawings:

- Minnesota (22-60) won a tiebreaker with Memphis
- New York (23-59) won a tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Clippers
- Phoenix (55-27) won a tiebreaker with Houston
- San Antonio (56-26) won a tiebreaker with New Orleans

Minnesota Head Coach Randy Wittman believes that his "grace period" with the team is over, according to the Pioneer Press.

He felt the goal for the team this season was to evaluate the young players on the roster and prepare for the future, which appears to be next season.

"You're moving now in a direction where you're not evaluating anymore," Wittman said Thursday. "I had to coach a little bit this year in living through some things that normally you're not going to accept on the floor because you're trying to figure out who these people are and what they can do. You very seldom come into a situation where we had as many people that we really needed to take a look at."

Detroit beat Minnesota 115-103 on Tuesday night to secure the league's second best record, the Associated Press is reporting. The Pistons will now have home court through to the Eastern Conference Finals, should they meet Boston in the third round.

"That's nice to have, but I don't think it is critical," Coach Flip Saunders said. "With the 2-3-2 format, I don't know how much it even means."

Derrick Rose reportedly would be the Minnesota Timberwolves' choice if they win the NBA lottery in May, according to Charley Waters of the Pioneer Press.

Rose has yet to make his decision about the draft.

Things may not be all that bright and sunny in Minnesota, but Ryan Gomes seems adamant about returning to the Wolves past this season, according to HoopsWorld.

"I like this team," Ryan Gomes said recently. "It's a nice, young team, and we've been making strides the past two months. It'll be good to have a bunch of us here to see how this thing can play out two or three years from now."

"I'm just trying to leave a good impression and go out there and play each game like it's my last," he added. "In this league, you never know if it's guaranteed for you to be here or how many years you think you should be here. You have to go out there and play every day because you never know if you'll get another opportunity again."