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Sunday, February 21

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Last update: 5:44 pm ET

Mark Heisler: HOLD THAT HOMECOMING. Source says NBA has told other teams it won't let Z go back to Cavs. May be woofing with no rule against it, maybe not. Twitter.com

Mark Heisler: HOMECOMING II: Wizards haven't even bought out Zydrunas Ilgauskas yet but everyone knows it's coming and NBA officials read papers. Twitter.com

Chris Mannix: If the NBA bans Z from going back to the Cavs, the union is going to throw a fit. Unless they show evidence Z and Cavs had prearranged. Twitter.com

Adrian Wojnarowski: More Rudoy: "Zee does not want to go to Washington and knows there are plenty of good teams that want to sign him...He will take his time." Twitter.com

Adrian Wojnarowski: Agent for Ilgauskas, Herb Rudoy, tells Y! he's talked with WIz on Z buyout over weekend and "I'm hopeful to have it done Monday or Tuesday." Twitter.com

Adrian Wojnarowski: Rudoy insists no pre-arranged deal to return Z to Cavs (of course) and NBA hasn't called or emailed to probe him on any such accusation. Twitter.com

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

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. The fact such critical business is taking so long to finalize amps speculation Kobe has a perfectly good motive for stalling. New York Post

More likely, common sense dictates, Kobe is declining to commit until Phil Jackson's coaching status next season is resolved. Are we experiencing a related ricochet romance moment? Flashback to Jackson's last two seasons with the Bulls when (Jerry) Crumbs Krause had Tim Floyd waiting in the wings. Jordan made it clear: "If Phil doesn't coach, I don't play." New York Post

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

What will be your thought process this summer? Dwyane Wade: I’m not there, yet. I’m not in the summer, yet. I’m not thinking about what I want to do. I’ve said since Day One, I’m in Miami. This is where I want to be. I want to do everything I can to make this a winning program. If you do that I’m satisfied. Oklahoman

Are you concerned the Heat don’t have enough pieces around you? Dwyane Wade: (Laughing) Yeah, we need to add pieces. There ain’t no question about that. We’re not one of the top teams in the league. You want to have an opportunity every year to compete for championships. We haven’t had the opportunity since ’06, so I want to get back there while I’m in my prime, before my prime leaves me in four or five years. Oklahoman

Bosh, the top big man in the free-agent pool, is considered the Bulls' primary target. New York Daily News

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. New York Daily News

The question is where? And whether it'll be in New York once the Knicks go out and spend their roughly $35 million worth of free-agent money this summer. McGrady's rights will have to be renounced in order for the Knicks to clear that cap space, but he says he is willing to stick around at a fraction of his former worth if the Knicks are able to bring in two maximum-salary players in free agency. "Money will not be an issue," McGrady said, implying that he would sign for the veteran's minimum this summer if the Knicks are forced to fill out their roster with minimum-salaried players. ESPN.com

Of course, that all assumes the Knicks will try to bring two max-level players aboard -- an idea that team president Donnie Walsh says is a misassumption. "I've seen that written 100 times, and nobody writes it when I say that's not necessarily the plan," Walsh complained. "It's always one name." ESPN.com

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

Milicic still does have a good spin move, only it comes from his agent, Marc Cornstein. "I wouldn't read too much into his comments," Cornstein said. "He's (in Minnesota) now, that's what's important. I feel like this could end up positively for both sides." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Adrian Wojnarowski: OKC is planning to sign Antonio Anderson of D-League's Rio Grande -- 15 ppg and 6 assists --- to 10 day contract, league source says. Twitter.com

Eli Savoie: Antonio Anderson will meet the Thunder back in Oklahoma City after they play in Minnesota tomorrow night. Twitter.com

The Houston Rockets waived forward Brian Cook Saturday and signed guard Garrett Temple to another 10-day contract. Cook, in his seventh year in the NBA, appeared in just 15 games for the Rockets this season at an average of three minutes per contest. He has career averages of 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 349 games with the Lakers, Magic and Rockets. TSN

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While the Knicks were scrambling to get rid of Jared Jeffries' contract, which was the key to picking up enough cap space for two "maximum-salary" players, their brass was livid when it learned that the Cavaliers had stolen Antawn Jamison from the Wizards. The feeling inside the Two Penn Plaza offices is that Washington president Ernie Grunfeld stuck it to his old team by giving James the missing piece to the Cavs' championship puzzle. Winning it all is seen as the best way for Cleveland to keep its franchise player. "It was as if the Wizards said, "You want Antawn Jamison? Well, here he is, take him,'" said one Knick executive. "They handed him over, just like the Timberwolves gave Kevin Garnett to the Celtics." New York Daily News

If James wants to go to a bigger market and join what would be a strong supporting cast, in Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich and Joakim Noah, he could go to the Bulls. Like the Clippers, the Bulls engineered a deal to get them far enough under the salary cap to give them a "max-salary" slot. They were so intent on clearing cap space, they were willing to give Hinrich away. But in the end, they swung the deal with the Bucks that removed John Salmons from their cap and gave them the necessary space to make a run at James. New York Daily News

What is your response to being unable to land either Amare Stoudemire or Carlos Boozer before the deadline, when there were intense talks regarding both? Dwyane Wade: Well, that's not true, as far as the intense talks on both, at all. But it's here nor there. Half the NBA teams made moves this year, unprecedented actually. Most of the time, there's so much rumor, conjecture, hypothetical deals that, in the past, maybe one or two deals might get done. But we're in a different time now. We're in a whole different era of change. Most of the deals that were done were [luxury] tax [avoiding] deals or cap deals. There was a lot of good talent just given away because of the opportunity that people see next year. We already did our work to get the cap space that we need for next [season]. Miami Herald

How did forward Michael Beasley factor into the trade discussions, and what's your view of his Heat future. Dwyane Wade: We took him off the [trade] board. He wasn't on the board. That's it. I'm not saying that there wouldn't have been a deal [if Beasley was available]. I mean, you throw some names at me and that could change overnight. In this particular situation, we feel like Michael is going to be a core component for years to come. He's got too much of an upside. You see how he's growing each and every day. I see him two or three years from now as a 25 [points] and 10 [rebounds] guy every single night. Miami Herald

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

Ellis, who is the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA at 26.2 points per game, didn’t sound too concerned either way when asked about the team deciding to hang onto him. He returned to the lineup Friday night against the Utah Jazz after missing three games because of a sprained left knee. “I don’t care about that,” Ellis said after Friday’s shootaround. “I play basketball. Whatever decision they make upstairs is on them. I never looked at it. I heard about it, but I never worried about it.” CSN Bay Area

Young said that McGuire was happy about returning to his home state of California and having an opportunity to get more minutes with the Kings. "But he was a little down. He's somebody that everybody had a bond with here. Me and Dray. It's kind of hard to see him leave," Young said. "It's hard, but it's something you got to get used to. I'm learning more and more that it's a business. Anything happens in the NBA." Washington Post

After the team’s noon practice, Nelson took rookie Stephen Curry, second-year shooting guard Anthony Morrow, D-League signee Anthony Tolliver and a couple coaches to Smitty’s -- a downtown Oakland bar -- for some quality time and shuffleboard. When Nelson was asked about his “bonding session” with the players the following day, he seemed a little taken aback. “You’re not supposed to know about that,” Nelson said. CSN Bay Area

When Nelson was told that both Morrow and Curry posted about the day’s activities on Twitter, he was a little more forthcoming. “Actually, I was out of money and I needed some cash so I took the young guys out and shot a little shuffleboard with them in the afternoon,” Nelson said. “And took their money.” CSN Bay Area

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. Williams used the All-Star break to fly there and see them. The trip was complicated by the winter storm that hit the East Coast before All-Star Weekend that stranded him in New Orleans. So instead of leaving from Boston, he literally went the other direction and flew to Russia via Los Angeles. He had to go to a store to buy clothes, which he just stuffed in a carry on. Cleveland Plain Dealer

Chris Sheridan: One other pregame note from Thunder-Knicks. OKC forward Serge Ibaka wants a spot in 2011 dunk contest. Says he can dunk from behind FT line. Twitter.com

McGrady gave the Knicks all he had Saturday night while scoring 26 points in his debut for New York, but what he didn't have was the energy for an extra five minutes. And with McGrady sitting in favor of fellow newcomer Sergio Rodriguez for all but the final 32.6 seconds of overtime, the Knicks came up short in a 121-118 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. "I didn't have any legs at all, and I felt like why should I be out there if I'm hurting my team?" McGrady explained. "It wasn't the right thing to do. I didn't want to be a hero in my first game back." ESPN.com

Call it Carmelo's "Podoloff moment." When journalists vote for the NBA MVP — which is named for the NBA's first commissioner, Maurice Podoloff — there likely will be one image of Denver's Carmelo Anthony in the voters' minds, like a Heisman candidate returning a kick and flashing the Heisman pose. For Melo, there he was on national television Thursday, swishing the game-winning overtime jumper . . . over LeBron James. One MVP candidate besting another MVP candidate. "You want to go against the best on the biggest stage," said James, the reigning MVP, after Anthony's shot won Denver the game at Cleveland. "We both did what we had to do to put our teams in position to win the game — he just made one more play. It was a great shot. If I had gotten any closer (with my defense), I was going to foul him." Denver Post

"With the MVP — everything comes from winning," Wizards forward Mike Miller said. "And it's how much you make your teammates better around you — and then the numbers come after that. You look at Denver, they're one of the best teams in the West, and the West is loaded. He averages 30 a game; he's a tough cover for everybody. And every MVP candidate is going to be double-teamed every night, so if you can still do those things, it is special." Denver Post

Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant said he's fine with the nickname Durantula, which ESPN has began using on a regular basis. "I guess that's what everybody has started calling me," Durant said. "It's different. You've never really heard it before. Dwyane Wade said he liked it. I'll stick with it if those guys like it. If not, we might have to change it." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Utah point guard Deron Williams isn't a big fan. "I'm not rolling with that. Durantula? Seriously?" Williams asked, hollering at Durant during an All-Star weekend media session. Memphis Commercial Appeal

When told that Rambis was critical of him for not "playing hard through his frustration" in Friday night's loss to Chicago, Love seemed to meet Rambis halfway on the comment. "It's a good thing when I get upset when things don't go right for me," Love said. "I just can't let it affect my game, but last night it did. It's not a reoccurring thing. It was just one of those nights for me." St. Paul Pioneer Press

In the aftermath of the Spurs' discouraging 106-94 loss to the 76ers on Friday night, coach Gregg Popovich acknowledged what everybody present in the Wachovia Center could see. Tony Parker is not right, physically. “He's got some problems,” Popovich said. The latest is a sore left hip flexor that first cropped up in a Feb. 8 loss at the Lakers, and didn't dissipate during the All-Star break. Lacking his trademark explosion — and the jump shot that had carried him to 28 points two nights earlier in Indiana — Parker scored just two points against Philadelphia. San Antonio Express-News

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. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Brewer will miss at least three weeks. "It's not as bad as the one Allen Iverson had," Heisley said, referring to the similar injury that kept Iverson out a month in training camp. "But I promise you one thing. We're not bringing him back until he's ready. Just like we did with Allen. I have a responsibility to my players. I feel that way. I don't want to endanger his career. It is a serious injury. But I think he'll be back earlier rather than later like we first thought." Brewer, in a phone conversation just a few minutes ago, sounded amazingly upbeat. "You have to stay positive and stay focused," Brewer said. "I'll work hard in rehab and hope for the best. This is a small bump in the road. I'm going to try to get back as soon as I can and contribute to this team." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Chris Mannix: New Knick JR Giddens told me he needs about two weeks to heal from knee surgery before he's ready to play. Twitter.com

Nash sat out of practice Saturday which Gentry said consisted mainly of offensive review and shooting, things that Steve didn't need to be involved in. The hope is that an extra day of rest and treatment will get him right. Nash is expected to play on Sunday but if he doesn't Gentry will use a combination of Dragic and Grant Hill running the point. The smart thing to do might be for Nash to take Sunday's game off as well. The Suns should be able to handle the Kings at home without him and that would give Steve three full days of rest before the Thunder game on Tuesday. But we all know Steve. He's going to play if he thinks he can help the team. "It's difficult to miss games right now with the West being so tight so I'm just going to try to hang in there and do what I can to prepare to play and do what I can to contribute," Nash said. "I'm here to do whatever I can. As long as I'm not hurting the team I'll do what I can to contribute. Hopefully, I will get some relief from some of these areas that are bothering me." Bright Side of the Sun

Thompson, following the worst offensive game of his college career, told CF.C on Saturday that he is no longer considering the possibility of making himself eligible for the NBA draft this summer. “I’ll be here for sure,” Thompson said after scoring a career-low two points in the Cougars win over USC at Friel Court. “I just don’t think I’m ready yet physically. “Hopefully one day, whether that’s next year or (after) my senior year, I’ll have a chance to play at that level.” Scout.com

Jonathan Givony: Surprised not to see a single NBA scout in building (in Belgrade). I know the hotels in Bilbao are a lot nicer and all, but all the NBA prospects are here. Twitter.com

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. "I've not been contacted by anybody," Krzyzewski said. "The guy's Russian, right? You think he'd hire a Polish guy? No one's contacted me. If they do, I think 'nyet' would be easy for me to say." Cleveland Plain Dealer

It is an interesting theory, however. With Duke going without a national title for nearly 10 years, Krzyzewski past his 60th birthday and with the confidence of just having lead a group of pros to the gold medal in Beijing, he may have to think hard if Prokhorov comes in with a massive offer. Some have suggested Krzyzewski might reach eight figures per year, territory only Phil Jackson currently touches. Cleveland Plain Dealer

George Karl kept his secret close. Only a couple of confidants knew in January and February that the Nuggets coach had a form of throat cancer. But think back — Karl went 15-5 from Dec. 30, the day his doctor discovered the lump, to last Tuesday, the day Karl began his treatment and announced to his team and the media his privately haunting truth. He won the NBA's Western Conference coach of the month in January, and looking back, even an award can't do justice to what he accomplished. "He gets the utmost respect from me for that," Nuggets guard J.R. Smith said. "If somebody told me that I had cancer, I don't know how I'd react. Basketball definitely wouldn't be on my mind. I commend him for it. He's a great coach and we all love and care about him, and we all hope for the best." Denver Post

Asked if there were times Karl wanted to tell players what he was going through, in order to put basketball complaints in perspective, Karl said: "I feel that way sometimes. I don't think there's any question that we take our lifestyle and think it's awful and think it's tough and think it's mean. It isn't. We live a dream. And we should be very thankful for that. I don't know how you wake players up to that realization." Denver Post

Houston coach Rick Adelman recently joked that he was jumping into the trade rumor business and said he was going to start recruiting LeBron James to come to Houston. "I tweeted him," said Adelman, who does not use Twitter. "He hasn't tweeted me back." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Michael Jordan has a week to exercise his right of first refusal and submit a bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats from Robert Johnson. 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. New York Daily News

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. New York Daily News

On the other hand, Checketts isn't sure how forcefully he would pursue one of the teams now available -- or others in similar distress. "There's nothing out there right now we would have a lot of interest in because some of those situations are going to be very difficult turnarounds," he explained. "I don't know if I'm getting old or what. But for us to get involved, I think, it would have to be a franchise with some hope for the future and a city we have some affinity for." Salt Lake Tribune

"The Pistons are beloved in Detroit," Checketts said. "But it has been hit so hard by the [bad] economy -- so much so that it would make owning the franchise pretty difficult." Salt Lake Tribune

Matt Bonner, the Spurs' noted sandwich expert, spent his afternoon conducting a taste test of Philadelphia's two most renowned purveyors of cheesesteak — Geno's Steaks and Pat's King of Steaks, which happen to be across the street from each other. “Geno's is the best, I think,” Bonner said. For a more thorough analysis, Bonner says, “you'll have to read my blog.” San Antonio Express-News

Ben Q. Rock: Looks like Mike Pietrus has switched from Nike to Peak. Twitter.com

Shaquille O'Neal: The first lady is talkin about childhood obesity on cnn, not only is she a great speaker, she is a gorgeous woman, what a speech, thank you. Twitter.com

Atlanta Spirit co-owner Steve Belkin has until Thursday to pay $2 million or he risks losing his stake in the partnership, Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Court documents say. Belkin has agreed to post the money, his attorney said. The eight-man group -- which owns the Hawks, Thrashers and Philips Arena operating rights -- have been fighting in court since 2005 over how much seven of the partners should pay Belkin to buy out his 30 percent stake in the group. Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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