Guard Beno Udrih signed with the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, potentially filling a hole in the club’s lineup while Mike Bibby is out with a thumb injury. Udrih, who won two NBA championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs, was waived Monday by the Minnesota Timberwolves after they acquired him in a trade with San Antonio earlier in the day.
Al Jefferson could have waited until next summer to sign a contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In fact, that was what his agent advised him to do, hoping that a big season and his status as a restricted free agent would have brought the 22-year-old power forward the highest contract allowable under league rules.
Kobe Bryant won’t be joining the Chicago Bulls anytime soon. General manager John Paxson basically squashed the notion that the Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar will wind up in Chicago, saying the teams were never on the verge of a deal and talks were over for now. “There’s not a deal done,” he said Thursday.
Practice had long since ended Thursday, and Charlotte Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor was still on the court, playing a competitive, rotating one-on-one competition with three teammates. The first draft pick in franchise history was laughing and joking as sweat soaked through his jersey. There was little evidence that just hours earlier Okafor had turned down a contract offer from the Bobcats, meaning…
Shannon Brown missed all five shots, made two turnovers and didn’t score in six minutes of Cleveland’s 92-74 season-opening loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. After the game, he got swatted — by the Cavaliers. The club decided not to pick up its contract option for 2008-09 on Brown, a former first-round draft pick from Michigan State whose rookie season was slowed by injuries.
