Hassell coming along slowly

Trenton Hassell was running sprints with the low-minute players at the end of today’s practice. He’s gone from competing for the starting spot in preseason to not getting off the bench Thursday.

“We’re just trying to find the right group for him to play with, find the right situation,” Avery Johnson said. “Trenton, before this season ends, he’s going to have a major impact on our season because of the way he can defend.

“He’s another man that’s strong in character, attitude is there, he wants to play now, but he just needs to go with it. He’s probably going to play tomorrow against [Memphis guard] Rudy Gay and he’s going to have to play that type of defense that we brought him in for against him and be effective on the offensive end.”