Marc SteinofESPN.com reportsthat both the Charlotte Bobcats and Los Angeles Lakers may have had interest in Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan this summer if he hadn't agreed to an extension... --------------------- For all the justifiable skepticism about the Bobcats' willingness to engage Portland in a bidding war for McMillan, they were expected to factor into McMillan's thinking, given his ties to the area as a North Carolina native as well as to Bobcats team president Fred Whitfield. So let's just say that the removal of Charlotte as a potential landing spot couldn't have hurt the Blazers' ability to secure McMillan's signature this week on a new two-year extension. Yet there's also a belief in coaching circles that the Blazers began to press McMillan on accepting an extension because of their far stronger fear that the Lakers were going to pursue him as a potential replacement for Phil Jackson, who continues to insist that this season is his farewell to coaching. --------------------- McMillan signed a two-year extension with the Blazersearlier this week. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter