NBA free agents: Sixers to sign Elton Brand, Warriors will get Corey Maggette

Kyle Hightower

Just before the clock passed midnight this morning to begin the free-agents signing, a trio of the NBA's most prized free agents all found new homes.

L.A. Clippers teammates Corey Maggette and Elton Brand have been on several clubs' wish list over the past two weeks and in the end both wound up in different conferences. After opting out of the final year of his deal with the Clippers, Fox Sports reported late Tuesday that Maggette would officially accept a five-year $50 million deal but stay in-state with Golden State.

Meanwhile, according to theLos Angelese Times, Brand will travel east for a five-year $80 million offering from Philadelphia.

Maggette reportedly drew attention from Boston, San Antonio, Detroit, Utah and Orlando. Golden State apparently offered more money and a longer term than most of Maggette's suitors, who mostly couched their offers at the mid-level salary-cap exception.

NBA free agents: Sixers to sign Elton Brand, Warriors will get Corey Maggette....

Beasley, Rose set for first meeting as professionals

MIAMI — Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley will be forever linked. That's an inevitability for players who get chosen No. 1 and No. 2 in an NBA draft.

So on some level, it's fitting their first pro game - one that won't have fans, won't count in standings and will likely be long forgotten in a few days - will pit them against one another. Rose's Chicago Bulls face Beasley's Miami Heat on Monday, one of three games that will open the Orlando summer league's weeklong schedule.

For a meaningless matchup, there's an abundance of big-game hype.

And it almost seems like neither 19-year-old can truly understand why.

"I didn't even know we're playing Miami first," Rose said. "I'm not going to be checking him."

"If you want to make it a Mike Beasley and Derrick Rose show, go ahead," Beasley said. "But that's not how it's going to be."

Fair enough.

Beasley, Rose set for first meeting as professionals....

Sonics are Oklahoma City-bound

By GREG JOHNS AND ANGELA GALLOWAY

Nothing can stop Clay Bennett from taking his basketball franchise to Oklahoma City next season.

Not unhappy Sonics fans, who never did have a voice in this matter. Not Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who stepped aside with Wednesday's stunning final-hour settlement of the city's legal battle with Bennett.

Not even former Sonics owner Howard Schultz, who still has his own lawsuit pending against Bennett and his partners even in the wake of the city's $45 million settlement that leaves Seattle with the Sonics' name and history, but no team for the immediate future.

Sonics are Oklahoma City-bound....

Baron Davis leaving Warriors for Clippers

By Geoff Lepper
Bay Area News Group

In 14 months, the Warriors have gone from being the toast of the league to just another NBA club in search of an identity.

Point guard Baron Davis - the heart and soul of a squad that in May 2007 became the first No. 8 playoff seed to knock off a No. 1 in a seven-game series - agreed in principle to a five-year contract worth a reported $65 million with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Davis will leave the Warriors after 3 1/2 seasons in which he helped return them to relevance and led that stunning playoff victory over the Dallas Mavericks but was unable to push Golden State into the Western Conference's upper echelon.

"It's tough, but you have to do what's best," Davis said Tuesday evening at a San Francisco screening of "Made in America," a documentary he produced about gang life in Los Angeles. "You just have to do what's fair. I'm happy with where I'm going."

Baron Davis leaving Warriors for Clippers....

NBA hires Army Maj. Gen. Johnson to oversee refs

The Associated Press

NEW YORK: The NBA hired Army Maj. Gen. Ronald L. Johnson on Tuesday as senior vice president of referee operations, a newly created position to help strengthen the league's officiating programs following the Tim Donaghy scandal.

The move splits executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson's role into two positions, a plan commissioner David Stern announced last fall. Johnson will oversee all aspects of officiating, while Jackson will continue to handle all other domestic and international basketball matters.

Johnson recently retired after 32 years of service as a combat engineer. He was commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region division, from 2003-04, responsible for overseeing $18 billion of reconstruction in Iraq.

NBA hires Army Maj. Gen. Johnson to oversee refs....

Wizards lock up Antwan Jamison

By Herald wire services

Two-time All-Star forward Antawn Jamison re-signed with the Washington Wizards yesterday, agreeing to a four-year, $50 million deal.

“I just signed. We got it out of the way,” Jamison told The Associated Press.

The contract clears the way for the team to focus on its other major free agent: three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas. Arenas has said he would not return unless the team also re-signed Jamison.

“He said he’d take less money if they got me, and they got him,” Jamison said. “So I think everything will get worked out with Gilbert.”

Wizards lock up Antwan Jamison....

Artest stays; Davis opts out

By BEE NEWS SERVICES

Ron Artest will remain in Sacramento, but Baron Davis may be history in Oakland.

Artest remained with the Kings on Monday, when the deadline passed for the small forward to opt out of the final season of his contract and take his skills to free agency.

Davis, meanwhile, elected to become a free agent, opting out of the final year of his contract with the Warriors in a surprise move.

The Warriors didn't expect Davis to opt out of the $17.8 million deal in the final year of a six-year contract, despite little progress in the parties' long-term negotiation, but club spokesman Raymond Ridder said they received a letter from Davis' agent, Todd Ramasar, late Monday indicating his intention.

Artest stays; Davis opts out....