Zydrunas Ilgauskas returned to Cleveland on Friday night in anticipation of working out a buyout agreement before March 1. A person with knowledge of the negotiations said an agreement won't be reached until some time next week. Ilgauskas received a trade kicker worth $600,000 in the Antawn Jamison deal. But he has made it clear that his "heart is in Cleveland" and he has no desire to play in Washington. - Washington Post Blog
Until Kobe Bryant officially signs a Lakers' extension -- in the works almost as long as the construction of the Second Avenue subway -- I'm guessing he'd be another rising free agent the Knicks may be interested pursuing this summer to team up with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh. Entitled to opt out of next season's $24,806,250 salary, Kobe has repeatedly professed he's not going anywhere, scoffing at the often-broached notion he'd consider abandoning the Lakers' liner. Still, potentially as long as his sacred services remain in play, who knows what mischief lurks in the heart of this man. - NY Post
Milicic has routinely repeated what he told The Commercial Appeal during his stint with the Grizzlies: He wants to return to Europe after his contract ends this season. "He could well determine he does want to return to Europe," Kahn said. "But I'm hopeful he can at least give it one more shot. Even if he does end up returning to Europe, I'd hope he'd want to end his NBA career on the right note. In our situation, he will no doubt play. No doubt." - Memphis Commercial Appeal
NBA commissioner David Stern recently blurted out confirmation that the Charlotte Bobcats should be sold in the next 60 days. There seems to be no mourning over the fact that Bobcats majority owner Bob Johnson will soon be out of the league. The perception is that Johnson didn't run the team well and continuously complained that the league saddled him with a bad market. - Memphis Commercial Appeal
Although Bobcats coach Larry Brown went public and said that Jordan is going to make a bid, he has yet to do so. "On this kind of stuff, Michael is more hot air than substance," said a league executive who is familiar with the sale. Former Rockets president George Postolos is the only other prospective buyer. If Postolos ends up buying the team, Jordan is done as the team's top basketball executive. Not that it will come as a surprise. He's still way more interested in playing golf and hitting the casinos than he is putting in the hours to run a team. - NY Daily News
Does Miami have an edge since it can pay more with a maximum deal? Dwyane Wade: "Speculation is speculation. When it’s time to deal with the money side, we’ll get into it. I’m not worried about it. I don’t play this game just for the money or I would have re-signed already. To me it’s about making sure I put myself in position to win. Hopefully I can do that in Miami." - Oklahoman
Of the top free agents for 2010, Atlanta's Joe Johnson is the one considered the most likely to find a new team. The Hawks have heard the rumblings and already made it known that Johnson will get a first-year salary of around $17 million in a new multi-year "maximum" salary deal. He's making $15 million now. - NY Daily News
The estate of the late Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson has picked a bad time to try to unload the team. The Pistons are having an awful season, attendance is down and the local economy is in the toilet. Instead of looking at getting somewhere near $400 million for the team, the Davidson family can hope for is something in the low $300 million range at best. - NY Daily News
Even if the Wizards did just hand over Antawn Jamison to the Cavs, they did a good job getting cap space for this summer after they also shipped Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavs. When it came to trade talks, all was quiet on the Gilbert Arenas front, as you would expect. Arenas' gun play was stupid, but, in a crazy way, he did more for the Wizards' future than anyone by finally forcing the team to face the facts and start rebuilding. - NY Daily News
The buyers, of course, were the teams willing to take on players with additional years on their contracts. The Cavaliers, who traded for Antawn Jamison, fit this role. By making that deal, the Cavs added roughly $4 million to their payroll this season because they took on the contract of Sebastian Telfair and will have to pay luxury tax on that salary. It could get more expensive if Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose contract was virtually a wash with Jamison's, ends up with the team. Next season with Jamison and Telfair, who has a player option, the trade added more than $15 million to the payroll. Perhaps more depending on the luxury tax. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Shelden Williams was fined for missing the Celtics' first practice after the All-Star break after not showing up in Sacramento in time. But no one blamed him and his coach actually endorsed him being late. That's because Williams was on an international mission to spend a little time with his wife, women's basketball star Candace Parker, and their newborn daughter. Parker is playing professionally right now in Ekaterinburg, Russia, which is a two-hour drive west of Moscow. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who is just days away from completing his purchase of the New Jersey Nets, reportedly is thinking big when it comes to a new coach. Reports came out within the last week that Prokhorov is interested in trying to hire Mike Krzyzewski away from Duke with a massive salary, in part because he could draw free agents to New Jersey. Krzyzewski, who has turned down NBA jobs in the past and just coached his 1,000th game at Duke, said he wasn't planning on going anywhere. And did so in Russian. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Other franchises for sale include the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons, where long-time owners Abe Pollin and Bill Davidson have died and their families don't want the headaches of ownership. In Charlotte, owner Robert Johnson is selling and former superstar Michael Jordan is trying to put together a group to buy the Bobcats. Other teams battling sagging attendance, arena issues and/or lingering lack of success on the court that could spark an ownership change include Memphis, Milwaukee and Golden State. - Salt Lake Tribune
According to separate league sources, the Warriors rejected a proposed deal with Memphis that would have sent Monta Ellis to the Grizzlies for O.J. Mayo and 7-foot-3 rookie center Hasheem Thabeet. Another player, Hamed Haddadi, may or may not have been included in the deal. The Warriors allowed Thursday’s trading deadline to pass without making a move. General manager Larry Riley said there wasn’t anything out there he “was comfortable enough with.” - CSN Bay Area
rel=”nofollow”>Brought in to infuse the Spurs' offense with more firepower, Richard Jefferson has been mostly disappointing, averaging 12.1 points and 3.7 rebounds. Against Philadelphia on Friday, he had eight points and five fouls. “I'm frustrated and have been for a while,” Jefferson admitted. Jefferson isn't the only one. To a man, the Spurs have been confounded by their hit-or-miss season, which hit low ebb in Philadelphia. The Spurs (31-22) head into today's game at Detroit looking to salvage a 5-3 record on their annual rodeo trip. - San Antonio Express-News
Russell Westbrook destroyed Chris Duhon and Sergio Rodriguez all night. His strength and quickness was embarrassingly better than both Knicks players. Neither could stop him from getting to the rim and his athleticism allowed him to crash the boards with ease. The end result was a near triple-double and a head-turning performance in front of the country’s largest media market. Don’t be surprised if the pub on Westbrook begins to pick up another notch after Saturday’s showing. - Oklahoman Blog
Grizzlies swingman Ronnie Brewer will miss at least three weeks with a partially torn right hamstring. Brewer, who was injured Friday during the Grizzlies' 100-87 double overtime loss to Miami, had his condition confirmed this morning after a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam. Brewer did not travel this afternoon with the team to New Jersey where the Griz will face the Nets Sunday evening. The Grizzlies are officially saying that Brewer will be out indefinitely and a timetable for his return will be set in a week. - rel=”nofollow”>Memphis Commercial Appeal
One side effect of Thursday's trade of Theo Ratliff — Ian Mahinmi can put away the sportcoat for a while. With only 12 players on the traveling squad — 13th man Malik Hairston is on Development League assignment with Austin — Mahinmi is guaranteed to be uniform for the time being. “It's better than sitting behind the bench,” Mahinmi said. Mahinmi, who had appeared in just six games before entering Friday's contest in garbage time, will be awarded Ratliff's minutes, which weren't many. - San Antonio Express News
Until Kobe Bryant officially signs a Lakers' extension -- in the works almost as long as the construction of the Second Avenue subway -- I'm guessing he'd be another rising free agent the Knicks may be interested pursuing this summer to team up with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh. Entitled to opt out of next season's $24,806,250 salary, Kobe has repeatedly professed he's not going anywhere, scoffing at the often-broached notion he'd consider abandoning the Lakers' liner. Still, potentially as long as his sacred services remain in play, who knows what mischief lurks in the heart of this man. - NY Post
Milicic has routinely repeated what he told The Commercial Appeal during his stint with the Grizzlies: He wants to return to Europe after his contract ends this season. "He could well determine he does want to return to Europe," Kahn said. "But I'm hopeful he can at least give it one more shot. Even if he does end up returning to Europe, I'd hope he'd want to end his NBA career on the right note. In our situation, he will no doubt play. No doubt." - Memphis Commercial Appeal
NBA commissioner David Stern recently blurted out confirmation that the Charlotte Bobcats should be sold in the next 60 days. There seems to be no mourning over the fact that Bobcats majority owner Bob Johnson will soon be out of the league. The perception is that Johnson didn't run the team well and continuously complained that the league saddled him with a bad market. - Memphis Commercial Appeal
Although Bobcats coach Larry Brown went public and said that Jordan is going to make a bid, he has yet to do so. "On this kind of stuff, Michael is more hot air than substance," said a league executive who is familiar with the sale. Former Rockets president George Postolos is the only other prospective buyer. If Postolos ends up buying the team, Jordan is done as the team's top basketball executive. Not that it will come as a surprise. He's still way more interested in playing golf and hitting the casinos than he is putting in the hours to run a team. - NY Daily News
Does Miami have an edge since it can pay more with a maximum deal? Dwyane Wade: "Speculation is speculation. When it’s time to deal with the money side, we’ll get into it. I’m not worried about it. I don’t play this game just for the money or I would have re-signed already. To me it’s about making sure I put myself in position to win. Hopefully I can do that in Miami." - Oklahoman
Of the top free agents for 2010, Atlanta's Joe Johnson is the one considered the most likely to find a new team. The Hawks have heard the rumblings and already made it known that Johnson will get a first-year salary of around $17 million in a new multi-year "maximum" salary deal. He's making $15 million now. - NY Daily News
The estate of the late Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson has picked a bad time to try to unload the team. The Pistons are having an awful season, attendance is down and the local economy is in the toilet. Instead of looking at getting somewhere near $400 million for the team, the Davidson family can hope for is something in the low $300 million range at best. - NY Daily News
Even if the Wizards did just hand over Antawn Jamison to the Cavs, they did a good job getting cap space for this summer after they also shipped Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to the Mavs. When it came to trade talks, all was quiet on the Gilbert Arenas front, as you would expect. Arenas' gun play was stupid, but, in a crazy way, he did more for the Wizards' future than anyone by finally forcing the team to face the facts and start rebuilding. - NY Daily News
The buyers, of course, were the teams willing to take on players with additional years on their contracts. The Cavaliers, who traded for Antawn Jamison, fit this role. By making that deal, the Cavs added roughly $4 million to their payroll this season because they took on the contract of Sebastian Telfair and will have to pay luxury tax on that salary. It could get more expensive if Zydrunas Ilgauskas, whose contract was virtually a wash with Jamison's, ends up with the team. Next season with Jamison and Telfair, who has a player option, the trade added more than $15 million to the payroll. Perhaps more depending on the luxury tax. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Shelden Williams was fined for missing the Celtics' first practice after the All-Star break after not showing up in Sacramento in time. But no one blamed him and his coach actually endorsed him being late. That's because Williams was on an international mission to spend a little time with his wife, women's basketball star Candace Parker, and their newborn daughter. Parker is playing professionally right now in Ekaterinburg, Russia, which is a two-hour drive west of Moscow. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who is just days away from completing his purchase of the New Jersey Nets, reportedly is thinking big when it comes to a new coach. Reports came out within the last week that Prokhorov is interested in trying to hire Mike Krzyzewski away from Duke with a massive salary, in part because he could draw free agents to New Jersey. Krzyzewski, who has turned down NBA jobs in the past and just coached his 1,000th game at Duke, said he wasn't planning on going anywhere. And did so in Russian. - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Other franchises for sale include the Washington Wizards and the Detroit Pistons, where long-time owners Abe Pollin and Bill Davidson have died and their families don't want the headaches of ownership. In Charlotte, owner Robert Johnson is selling and former superstar Michael Jordan is trying to put together a group to buy the Bobcats. Other teams battling sagging attendance, arena issues and/or lingering lack of success on the court that could spark an ownership change include Memphis, Milwaukee and Golden State. - Salt Lake Tribune
According to separate league sources, the Warriors rejected a proposed deal with Memphis that would have sent Monta Ellis to the Grizzlies for O.J. Mayo and 7-foot-3 rookie center Hasheem Thabeet. Another player, Hamed Haddadi, may or may not have been included in the deal. The Warriors allowed Thursday’s trading deadline to pass without making a move. General manager Larry Riley said there wasn’t anything out there he “was comfortable enough with.” - CSN Bay Area
rel=”nofollow”>Brought in to infuse the Spurs' offense with more firepower, Richard Jefferson has been mostly disappointing, averaging 12.1 points and 3.7 rebounds. Against Philadelphia on Friday, he had eight points and five fouls. “I'm frustrated and have been for a while,” Jefferson admitted. Jefferson isn't the only one. To a man, the Spurs have been confounded by their hit-or-miss season, which hit low ebb in Philadelphia. The Spurs (31-22) head into today's game at Detroit looking to salvage a 5-3 record on their annual rodeo trip. - San Antonio Express-News
Russell Westbrook destroyed Chris Duhon and Sergio Rodriguez all night. His strength and quickness was embarrassingly better than both Knicks players. Neither could stop him from getting to the rim and his athleticism allowed him to crash the boards with ease. The end result was a near triple-double and a head-turning performance in front of the country’s largest media market. Don’t be surprised if the pub on Westbrook begins to pick up another notch after Saturday’s showing. - Oklahoman Blog
Grizzlies swingman Ronnie Brewer will miss at least three weeks with a partially torn right hamstring. Brewer, who was injured Friday during the Grizzlies' 100-87 double overtime loss to Miami, had his condition confirmed this morning after a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam. Brewer did not travel this afternoon with the team to New Jersey where the Griz will face the Nets Sunday evening. The Grizzlies are officially saying that Brewer will be out indefinitely and a timetable for his return will be set in a week. - rel=”nofollow”>Memphis Commercial Appeal
One side effect of Thursday's trade of Theo Ratliff — Ian Mahinmi can put away the sportcoat for a while. With only 12 players on the traveling squad — 13th man Malik Hairston is on Development League assignment with Austin — Mahinmi is guaranteed to be uniform for the time being. “It's better than sitting behind the bench,” Mahinmi said. Mahinmi, who had appeared in just six games before entering Friday's contest in garbage time, will be awarded Ratliff's minutes, which weren't many. - San Antonio Express News
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