Deng Signs Extension With Bulls - Chicago Bulls

Derrick Rose was the No. 1 overall pick in last month's NBA draft, but Luol Deng still ranks as the Chicago Bulls' cornerstone player. That status was slammed home Wednesday when Bulls general manager John Paxson told ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago that Deng and the Bulls, after more than a year of slow-moving negotiations, completed a new contract that will keep the restricted free agent in Chicago.

With Deng committed to leaving for England by week's end to join Great Britain's national team -- and insisting to the Bulls that he would not negotiate with them further without a deal by Friday -- sources said that the sides have verbally agreed on a new six-year pact worth a guaranteed $71 million. Various media outlets are reporting that the deal could be worth as much as $80 million.

"Today is a great feeling," Deng told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "I've always said I am very lucky, very blessed to have had the right people around me. I've always tried to be positive through all the hard times, to try and be positive about what I've been given and to work hard and be smart.

"As for the money and how to celebrate, I don't know what to do. ... I did manage a nice dinner and, I have to admit, the food tasted a little better than it has done for some time. The last few weeks, when I was eating my chicken and pasta, my mind was somewhere else. I wasn't getting the right taste."

Given his modest background growing up in the Sudan and Egypt before moving to London, Deng stressed to the Bulls that he was not bluffing when he vowed to play next season on a one-year qualifying offer worth about $4.5 million for the right to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2009.

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Okafur, Bobcats Agree To 6 Year, 72 Million Dollar Contract - Charlotte Bobcats

The Charlotte Bobcats have agreed in principle on a six-year contract worth at least $72 million with restricted free agent Emeka Okafor.

General manager Rod Higgins confirmed the agreement Tuesday to local reporters, saying that he expects the contract to be completed "in the next few days" after an ESPN.com report said the sides had made significant progress in the past week and were on the verge of a deal.
The agreement with Okafor by far represents Charlotte's biggest expenditure on one player as the club readies for its fifth season. Okafor turned down a five-year deal with a similar $12 million annual average before last season, preferring to wait for restricted free agency.

"It was very important for us to get a deal done," Higgins told The Associated Press. "He creates a sense of security around the basket for us. He's a guy that I think his skills are still developing in a lot of ways. Having Larry [Brown] as our head coach now, Emeka will benefit having a great coach to teach him."

Okafor was the Bobcats' first-ever draft choice with the No. 2 overall pick in 2004 and was widely viewed around the league as a prime sign-and-trade candidate, on the premise that the Bobcats wouldn't spend to keep him. Charlotte raised questions about its own interest in retaining the 25-year-old Okafor by making what sources say was a five-year contract offer starting at the $5.6 million midlevel exception to veteran center DeSagana Diop early in free agency.

But Diop elected to take a similar deal from the Dallas Mavericks, while the Bobcats -- most notably new coach Brown -- kept publicly proclaiming their intention to resist any sign-and-trade interest in Okafor and eventually come to terms with their most accomplished interior force defensively.

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Jazz match offer for CJ Miles - Utah Jazz

C.J. Miles will stay in Utah after the Jazz matched the deal offered by Oklahoma City to the restricted free agent. On July 18, Oklahoma City offered a four-year deal worth about $15 million to Miles, who will be entering his fourth NBA season. Under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, the Jazz had a week to match that offer and said Friday they would do so.

The 6-foot-6 guard was the 34th player chosen in the 2005 draft, selected by Utah out of Skyline High School in Dallas. In three seasons, the 21-year old Miles has played in 120 games, averaging 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists. He also appeared in eight playoff games for the Jazz.

Last season, he averaged a career-high 5.0 points and 11.5 minutes per game in 60 appearances. Miles said in a conference call that the Jazz "are not going to promise me I'm going to play just because I signed the contract. That's not been discussed. It's been discussed that if I come in and work and show that I should play, then I will play, and that's what I plan to do."

Miles would have been the first free agent signed by the franchise formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics since it moved to Oklahoma City earlier this month. He would have joined a young lineup that includes returning rookie of the year Kevin Durant and likely would have contended for a starting spot.

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Jazz acquire Knight - Utah Jazz

he Utah Jazz announced today that the team has acquired veteran point guard Brevin Knight from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for guard Jason Hart.

Originally selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round (16th overall pick) of the 1997 NBA Draft, Knight (5-10, 170, Stanford) has appeared in 655 career regular season games (423 starts) over 11 NBA seasons with Cleveland, Atlanta, Memphis, Phoenix, Washington, Milwaukee, Charlotte and the Clippers, owning career averages of 7.9 points, 6.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.77 steals per game. He appeared in 74 games (39 starts) this past season with the Clippers, averaging 4.6 points, 4.4 assists and 1.35 steals in 22.6 minutes. Knight ranked second in the NBA in assists-per-turnover (4.62), and third in steals per turnover (2.87).

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Ex-Hawk Childress signs with Greek club team - Atlanta Hawks

Former Atlanta Hawks swingman Josh Childress is leaving the NBA for Europe.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on its Web site that Childress, a restricted free agent, has signed a three-year contract with Olympiakos of Greece.
Yahoo.com reported on Monday that Childress, who averaged 11.8 points and 4.9 rebounds last season, had an offer on the table from Olympiakos for more than $20 million over three years. But Hawks general manager Rick Sund told the AJC on Monday that the four-year pro was just exploring his options.

The newspaper reported Monday the Hawks had a deal on the table worth nearly $36 million, with a first-year salary in excess of the mid-level exception of $5.6 million. While the Hawks could match any offer from another NBA team for Childress, they do not have the ability to match an offer from a European team.
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Olympic basketball: Williams, Paul compete for minutes -

Every chance they get, Deron Williams and Chris Paul try to downplay the rivalry between them. They talk about how they have been good friends since college, long before they were taken with subsequent picks in the 2005 NBA Draft, and how they enjoy hanging out together off the court.

They even sat next to one another for interviews after Team USA practice here. But just when the dueling point guards might have started to get their message across, along comes another opportunity to pit one against the other - the Beijing Olympics. Both players are expected to play back-up roles behind veteran starter Jason Kidd when the Americans aim for a redemptive gold medal in China next month, and nobody is quite sure just how the workload will be divided.

"I don't know," Williams said. "You'll have to ask Coach K that. He's the one who controls the minutes. We're just doing what's asked of us."

It's another intriguing twist in what already has grown into a career-long debate between which player is better - the cool and bullish destroyer from Illinois whom the Jazz picked at No. 3 of the draft, or the seemingly undersized yet dazzling flash from Wake Forest who slipped to No. 4 to the New Orleans Hornets.

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Nets Grab Free-Agent Keyon Dooling - New Jersey Nets

The retooling of the Nets continues. The Nets are close to finalizing a deal with the Orlando Magic for free agent Keyon Dooling. The teams have agreed on a trade and are awaiting league approval, team sources said Sunday.

The Nets will receive Dooling, a 28-year-old combo guard, in exchange for cash considerations and the $3.3 million trade exception they got in the Jason Kidd deal with Dallas back in February, sources said. Though the Nets now have 16 players under contract - one more than the league maximum - they will not send any players to Orlando. Though sources said the trade is all but complete, team president Rod Thorn remained cautious yesterday.

"It's not done until you do it through the league," Thorn said.
Dooling has been the object of the Nets' affection for years. When the trade is finalized, Dooling will back up point guard Devin Harris and shooting guard Vince Carter. Dooling averaged 8.1 points and 1.8 assists for the Magic last season.

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