For a short while, it was believed that James would move to New York so he could dominate that city and expand his empire. But the New York Knicks have continued to implode, so there's no real attraction to leaving the comforts of home to attempt to right a quickly sinking ship. What everybody seems to think now is that James will eventually re-sign with the Cavs for a tidal wave of cash. But now comes another option: Move to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers don't have a lot of salary room but they'd love, love, love to team up Kobe Bryant(notes) and LeBron James, according to Bulls.com. The 31-year-old Bryant is going to need someone to pass along the keys to the Laker Mythologymobile. And why not the 24-year-old James? James doesn't seem afraid to take a strong supporting role, which would likely suit Bryant just fine.

But somehow L.A. has to convince Cleveland to do a sign-and-trade deal because there is no other way to fit James under its current salary structure right now. Still, that could mean a talented player for Cleveland instead of the big nothing it will get if James walks next summer.

It's looking like it's not going to hold the big guy up for much longer. He apparently had a "pretty good workout" yesterday. He'll miss his fifth game in a row tonight but he reportedly might be back in action on Friday against his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies.

Coach Phil Jackson isn't saying jack about it, though: "We'll see," he said. "We hope he can get a practice in this week."

In the negotiations, the team apparently addressed the issues and asked him to step it up on the personality front. "They just want to see it grow congruently with what the team's objectives are," said his agent. "They just said we'd like you to be more engaged, take more responsibility as a leader on and off the court. The message was heard and I don't think it's that big of an issue. He's understanding that.''

Iverson has returned to action with the Memphis Grizzlies after recovering from a partial left hamstring tear and did pretty well:11 points in 18 minutes against the Sacramento Kings.

Iverson was disappointed with the number of minutes played, according to FanHouse. "I had no problems (with the hamstring)," Iverson said afterward. "I had a problem with my butt from sitting on that bench so long. That's the only thing I got a problem with."

Some reporters before the game even suggested to Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins that Iverson should be starting, which he seemed to find ridiculous: "He hasn't even been with the team until just a couple of days ago," Hollins said. "He's going to come off the bench. He hasn't played all preseason, hasn't played the three regular-season games (leading up to Sacramento). He only practiced three days in training camp before he got hurt so there's no way I would trot him out there in a starting role."

It looks like it's going to be a long season fro Iverson and the Grizzlies.

According to the paper, a sonogram over the weekend showed a possible tear in his right hamstring. So he got some MRI tests done yesterday, which team docs will look at today. The news of a tear would not be a good thing for the Barcelona-born 7-foot forward/center.

Today is the deadline to sign such deals. Rondo's agent, Bill Duffy, apparently called Celtics president Danny Ainge to let him know that Rondo was happy to just become a restricted free agent next summer and not sign an extension since he and Rondo weren't thrilled with the offers that had come in from Boston. Ainge apparently told him right that they would give Rondo the cash he wanted, which is a different song than the team was singing this summer when Rondo's name was supposedly in trade talks and the team publicly worried about his "maturity."

"As much as we were willing to wait his contract out, the Celtics stepped up to the plate to meet the original request," Duffy said. "This is a really fair contract. We wanted him to be paid like one of the top five point guards around."

The veteran point guard is apparently getting a lot of interest around the NBA and one of the teams is supposedly the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to HoopsWorld.

The Cavs were considered the frontrunners to land the guy who has averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 assists over a 12-year career. But a bunch of new teams have apparently crowded into the scene and Daniels is discussing how many playing minutes he would likely get with each team as well as what his specific role would be.

"I think I should be in that range,'' he told the site. Of course, the Grizzlies haven't offered such a contract up till this point so Gay may lose this game of chicken. Gay's agent apparently told him there was a 50-50 chance that such a deal could be worked out. The agent, Jeff Austin, apparently was supposed to talk to the team last night.

The city is about to sign a deal to have a feasibility study done for a downtown 20,000-seat, $145 million arena to be built and Goodman believes that once that arena is built, the city will get a team, based on conversations Goodman has had with NBA execs. "I believe as soon as we have an arena - this is my belief, I have nothing that is signed in blood, there's no contract - but I believe we'll have a team," he said.

Goodman also said it's possible the city could get a professional hockey team. "I don't know anything about hockey," he said, laughing. "Whatever the market is gonna be, it's gonna be."

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman visited Vegas a few months back and Goodman says he's "high on Las Vegas." Sounds dangerous.

The deadline for contract extensions for everybody who was drafted in 2006 was supposed to be midnight tomorrow night but the league is apparently giving everybody till Monday, according to ESPN.

Apparently that's a standard thing: If the deadline falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it gets moved to the next business day.

Cavs coach Mike Brown didn't do it much in the preseason but he's reportedly experimenting with the idea of having his two seven-footers, Shaquille O'Neal(notes) and Zydrunas Ilguaskas, playing simultaneously. His initial plan is to put them out there together for four minutes and see what happens.

Doesn't sound like a pleasant point in the game to park yourself under the Cavs basket, does it?

Rubio is still saying he wants to play in the NBA someday. Presumably that's what he intended when he declared himself for this year's draft, too, and that didn't seem to work out. The Wolves aren't bothering themselves to picture him in their jersey anytime soon and it appears that the team will try and trade the rights to the guard before next year's NBA draft, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

It isn't expected that the team would get much in return on such a deal since most teams that have any interest in Rubio (read: the New York Knicks) don't want to get involved in any long-term contract negotiations before the free-agent signing period starts next summer when the All-Star buffet opens up for NBA general managers.
St. Paul Pioneer Press

"It could have worked out," said Hamilton. "I just thought the coach we had at the time (didn't) put us in situations where we all could be at our best. When you don't have that, it makes it difficult."

Iverson clearly felt that way. He's saying that if he had been playing under current Pistons coach John Kuester, things could have been a lot different. "It would have been a hundred percent different -- a thousand percent better. I would have known what I was getting into," he said. One of Iverson's main beefs about Curry was that he wasn't straightforward with is players.

Abdul-Jabbar is currently employed by the Los Angeles Lakers but his role as a special assistant to head coach Phil Jackson has apparently decreased this season, according to the Los Angeles Times. Now the Memphis Grizzlies are apparently after him to come work for them. Rumor has it that the Grizzlies asked the Lakers if they could talk to the Hall of Famer and Los Angeles gave Memphis permission. That would explain what he was doing at the Grizzlies' practice on Monday and why he supposedly had dinner with the Memphis big men on Sunday.

Abdul-Jabbar never ceases to surprise.

Duffy and Danny Ainge, the Celtics director of basketball operations, apparently met up in Cleveland where the team made a counterproposal that got things going again for Duffy.

Rondo supposedly wants to be in the top five in terms of payment to point guards which would put him in the company of Chris Paul(notes) ($13.6 million), Deron Williams(notes) ($13.5 million), Steve Nash(notes) ($13.1 million), Chauncey Billups(notes) ($12.1 million), and Baron Davis(notes) ($12.1 million). Obviously, Boston doesn't want to shell out that kind of cash right now.

O'Neal also said that he would make Bosh quit the next time he played him: "It's what I do," he said. So here's his chance. Bosh told reporters that he wasn't still bearing any grudge against O'Neal, but the Sun says the usually relaxed Bosh wasn't behaving that way.

Let the games begin!

Rondo's agent is apparently saying that there isn't much that will change his client's mind to actually sign the extension between now and Saturday night. "We're not going to do an extension right now," he said. "There is a difference between the perception of him in their eyes and our eyes."

Rondo supposedly wants to be in the top five in terms of payment to point guards which would put him in the company of Chris Paul(notes) ($13.6 million), Deron Williams(notes) ($13.5 million), Steve Nash(notes) ($13.1 million), Chauncey Billups(notes) ($12.1 million), and Baron Davis(notes) ($12.1 million). Obviously, Boston doesn't want to shell out that kind of cash right now.

He'll apparently need to get surgery on the thumb so Rasheed Wallace(notes) suddenly finds himself with more playing time. The Celtics, of course, won't say exactly what happened or how long Davis is expected to be out.

The Celts will surely miss the offense of Davis, particularly the playoff version, which averaged 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 14 games last year. Rumor has it the team is considering disciplining Davis in some way.

He apparently said last week, "It is vital that I start to memorize the plays." Um, yeah, that would be good. He went on to say, "I've been used to a certain system for 17 years, so I have to work on that. I still have a few days before we start."

Guess Shaq has been too busy hosting his own reality show to learn his plays. You'd think for $21 million, the Cavs would have a guy who would at least study his playbook more than a week before the season gets underway.

The Hall of Famer says he's ready to take whatever good opportunity comes up. "Every job is not a good job, but I think if a good job came up, I would take it," he said. "But I am not going to leave TNT for no bad job.''

Guess this means the Round Mound of Rebound has finally given up on the dream he once had of becoming governor of Alabama.

Bell is supposedly waiting to hear what a specialist in Chicago says about the hand. Meanwhile, he's wrapping up the hand and practicing layups and three pointers. What ligament tear?

Bell is saying he's split down the middle between the obligation he's made to himself, his family, and his career and the obligation he's made to the team. "Being a competitor and a businessman, I'm kind of split down the middle," he said. "Hopefully this (specialist) comes back, tells me I'm fine to play, and then I don't have to make a decision.''

According to the New York Post, Johnson's book alleges that Thomas went around the league spreading the rumor and trying to find proof that Magic was gay or bisexual after Johnson announced that he had HIV. Magic admits in the book that he went out of his way to blackball Thomas off of the initial Dream Team in 1992 that went on to win the gold medal at the Olympics in Barcelona.

Perhaps Magic felt so bad about that that he recommended Thomas to former Madison Square Garden President Steve Mills to take over the New York Knicks back in 2004. Of course, that ended up being a fiasco for both Thomas and the Knicks.

Thomas tells SI.com that he and Magic used to go dinner along with Herb Williams whenever Johnson came to New York and stopped in at a Knicks game. Those days are over, fellas.

Meanwhile, some residents of Brooklyn, where the team is planning to move, are hoping that the team hits enough legal hurdles in its plans for a new arena and also finds Newark so welcoming that it will bag on its plan. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who only needs to gain approval from other owners in order to take over the team, seems more interested in having a team in New York City's five boroughs than in Newark, though.

Prokhorov apparently met up with a bunch of owners this week and NBA Comissioner David Stern is seeing no reason the basketball-loving fella who is worth $9.5 billion won't be pass muster. Who woldn't want that kind of cash around in these rough financial times?

Okafor has been out with a hurt toe but he's supposedly been cleared to play for some time now and his teammates are getting annoyed that he hasn't gotten back onto the court. After all, the season is coming fast now. One teammate said, "He better practice Sunday or he could lose some guys," one Hornet said.

Head coach Byron Scott is saying that Okafor is telling him he's not ready to go out there just yet. "When you have a guy that says he is not ready, the worst thing you can do is force him to get out there," Scott said.

Well, he better get it together soon or he may be spending a lot of time by himself on road trips when he finally decides to play.

He missed yet another preseason game last night and will miss the final one today against the Denver Nuggets, though he did have a light practice yesterday. "He had some questions about how it felt after a limited practice," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "To alleviate the response that he had, we just thought it was probably best to back off."

Last year, Gasol played in 104 games. Most of his Lakers teammates stayed healthy last year, except for Andrew Bynum(notes), who missed 32 games with a torn knee ligament. Bynum also missed the game last night because of a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder that he suffered while reaching for a rebound against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
That'll only keep him out for a few days but it's looking like the Lakers won't be as lucky on the health front as they were last year.

Hughes is apparently much more comfortable playing a more structured kind of situation than the freewheeling method to the madness that Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni likes to throw out onto the floor. He's saying that he hasn't played enough in the preseason to fully grasp the whole system D'Antoni is employing.

So there is speculation that Hughes will be exiting the Big Apple soon via trade but one can be sure the Knicks won't be adding a contract that goes past this season. The team is hanging everything on being able to sign some big free agents or another (LeBron James(notes)? Dwyane Wade(notes)? Amare' Stoudemire? Chris Bosh(notes)?) next summer that will lift the team back to a much less embarrassing place than it's in now.

Collins spent eight seasons with the Utah Jazz but got jettisoned this off-season since the team already had Kyrylo Fesenko(notes) to fill the same role. He only played 25 minutes this preseason, sinking three baskets and pulling down three rebounds. That was apparently not enough.

The Suns want him because of the injury to the foot of Robin Lopez(notes), which will put him out for about 6-8 weeks.

The deal that's been negotiated apparently will start next year and net Aldridge $65 million over five seasons, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The word is that there are incentives in there that could have him earn another $5 million. Not too shabby for a 24-year-old college dropout during a crummy economy.

Aldridge has apparently verbally agreed to the deal and just has to sign on that dotted line so Blazers fans can start celebrating.

Yahoo! Sports

Well, Rose is apparently coming over to the other side. He reportedly woke up with pain in his injured ankle yesterday morning after running for 20 or 30 minutes on Monday, according to the Chicago Tribune

Del Negro was apparently not amused when reporters asked him if Rose could miss the season. Still, you gotta think the Bulls are happy they didn't pick Michael Beasley(notes).

Two weeks ago, the coach told him he couldn't practice with the rest of the Knicks till he got his weight under control. Now the New York Daily News is reporting that the team has told Curry that he has to hit a certain weight before he can play with the team at all. It isn't apparently looking likely that he'll be in the season opener against the Miami Heat.

Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan supposedly had a hand in the decision to keep Curry away from the rest of the team until he got his conditioning act together.

The two teams went up against each other in a seven-game, first-round playoff series in 2008. According to Horford, Pierce bet him $10,000 that Boston would go right and sweep the Hawks.

"I haven't talked to him [since the series], but I know he owes me money," Horford said, according to WEEI. He says that Marvin Williams(notes) was a witness to the whole thing, which Williams confirmed.

The pair apparently aren't too worried about actually ever getting the cash from Pierce.

The apparent problem is that the team's chemistry is not coming together at all smoothly, according to the Oregonian. Adding in Andre Miller(notes) and Juwan Howard(notes) from free agency and returning Martell Webster(notes) to the roster hasn't proved to go over so well with the other players on the team.

"We just look like we've never seen each other today," Brandon Roy(notes) said. "Guys were making turnovers and looking at each other like, 'Why weren't you there?' I don't know."

Sounds like the early going this season may be rough in Portland.

"I will be playing for sure," Rose said. "You see a lot of things not playing, but it is killing me not to be out there." But coach Vinny Del Negro said basically the opposite:" It is possible he will not be ready for the opener against San Antonio. I hope he practices [Tuesday] but it is really day to day. I don't want to get him out there and have him sore the next day," Del Negro said.

"I think both parties are really trying to get it done now," he told the paper. The two sides have apparently been talking everyday.

Talks on this started back on July 1 so you gotta think they've already discussed every possible contingency and ramification of any kind of deal. Talks supposedly picked up last week as the deadline got closer. Aldridge apparently doesn't want to be a restricted free agent next summer and is looking forward to a lucrative, multiyear deal to stay in Portland.

So Ratner is one ownership vote that the richest man in Russia can count on when team owners meet to say yes or no on the deal. Before then, though, Prokhorov has to go through an extremely thorough background check that NBA Commissioner David Stern says some people classify as "invasive," but he wouldn't, according to the New York Times.

The word is that Prokhorov's background check will be slightly more detailed than the usual ownership transaction since he will be the first non-North American to take controlling interest in any team of the NFL, Major League Baseball, and NBA since Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi took over the Seattle Mariners in 1992.

Prokhorov begins his attempt to woo NBA owners when he meets with the league's advisory and finance committee in Manhattan on Wednesday.

But all that chaos appears to be suddenly over now, according to the Contra Costa Times. He's apparently now starting to even enjoy himself. "I feel he's there now," said coach Don Nelson.

The regular season is nine days away and Jackson is saying that he's going to focus solely on playing basketball. "Sometimes I might say some things that people don't expect because it was on my mind. But I know what's right and wrong," Jackson said. "I know what I need to do to continue to build my reputation in this league as a player and as a man. By keeping my composure, it's going to help me and not take away from me being a great basketball player."

He's even managed to smile and interact with his teammates in the past few days.

Jamison picked up the injury toward the end of the first quarter 109-104 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Something went awry when he tried to foul Cleveland reserve center Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes). (Note to self: Never mess with a 260-pound, 7'3" Lithuanian.)

Last year Jamison sprained a knee in the preseason and missed a few weeks. At least he's getting all of this out of the way before the regular season starts.

He is apparently upset with his teammates that they didn't "get his back" when he picked up five fouls and one technical in nine minutes. "Nobody reacted but me so the team didn't have a reaction," he said. "It was only me standing up for myself. I don't think anybody else stood up for me. But if the shoe was on the other foot, I would have stood up for somebody on my team."

Brilliant move by Jackson. You can be sure Jackson's teammates aren't comnng close to getting his back from here on out.

"There has been movement," Pritchard told the paper. "But I don't want to get the cart before the horse because I want to do this right....I feel like we are moving toward a deal."

The 24-year-old Aldridge says his agent, Arn Tellem, also filled him in on progress this week. "Communication has picked up a lot," Aldridge said.

If they can't reach a deal by midnight on Halloween, Aldridge turns into a restricted free-agent pumpkin next July.

While the team has excused the absence, it will mean that the 6'9" forward will miss two preseason games against the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers. He is supposed to return by Sunday's possible machup against he Los Angeles Lakers or Charlotte Bobcats.

Perhaps something is wrong with father-in-law Andrei Lopatov, who was on the Russian national basketball team for 14 seasons.

His relationship with coach Don Nelson was already strained and now it's gone to a whole new level: "Anytime somebody takes $150,000 from you, your relationship is going to change, regardless of who it is," Jackson said. "If my mom took some money from me, I'd still love her to death, but I'd still be upset about it," Jackson told the San Francisco Chronicle, adding that he needs to listen to Nelson on the court and nowhere else.

Jackson, who has been trying to get himself traded, is also now saying he would consider a buyout from the team if it was "right." (Gee, thanks, Stephen.) And Jackson set himself up for a quick exit by telling his bosses yesterday that he doesn't want to captain the Warriors this season: "I don't want these young guys to try to follow me," he said. "I can't be a role model to guys who make the same amount of money as me."

You can be sure Nelson was happy to not have to ask Jackson to step down as captain and would love to be able to suspend this guy for a few more games.

Last year, Chalmers was the first Heat rookie to ever play all 82 games of the regular season. But now he's got some serious competition for his spot in the lineup and things have kicked up a notch in practice. "There were times we'd have some drills and the intensity was way up,'' coach Erik Spoelstra said after yesterday's workout. Assistant coach Ron Rothstein has noted to Spoelstra that things have been more competitive in the last few days as well.

"You can never have enough bigs in this league but it has to be someone that's going to be able to help the team," Suns coach Alvin Gentry told the paper. "We're not just going to go out and put another guy on our team to say, ‘Now, we've got a big.' If we're going to go get someone, he has to be a guy who can play in our rotation."

Guess they're missing that Shaquille O'Neal(notes) fellow right about now.

The person who will likely pay the price is third-string point guard Dan Dickau(notes).

"I don't know yet," he told the paper. "Maybe I might leave my options open. Hey, what if they trade Kevin (Garnett) and Ray (Allen) and Rasheed (Wallace) away?." The chances of such trades are obviously nonexistent, but Pierce may be waiting to see if a long-term deal appears before next summer from the the Celtics or another team that could bring some financial stability for many years to come.

Head Coach Doc Rivers fully expects Pierece to sign on for next year.

The Nets play at the Prudential Center tonight and there are some who believe that if the team can get enough fans to show up for the preseason game, it'll at least show the biggest wigs on the team that people will come out for games in Newark more than they do at the team's current home, the Izod.

If nothing else, a good turnout could help the Izod become the interim home of the Nets while the Brooklyn arena is built.

Dudley has always been involved with a few charities in Oregon and he's got a family history of government involvement. His grandfather was apparently the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark during the Nixon and Ford years.

Still, Dudley, who was in the NBA from 1987 to 2003, has to be hoping this all goes better than his extremely poor history of foul shooting in the NBA. IN one game, he missed 17 of 18 shots.

Still, you gotta think the 6'11" Dudley will be head and shoulders above his competitors.

Well, word is coming now that Bosh could be traded soon enough to the Golden State Warriors to play out this season before free agency. The Toronto Sun is reporting that four-time All-Star Bosh could be moving to California in exchange for Andris Biedrins(notes) and others.

Of course that doesn't mean Bosh won't be looking elsewhere once next summer rolls around.

Speculation is out there now that Jackson's cursefest was premeditated and that he was hoping it would lead to a suspension, according to the San Jose Mercury News. If that's true, he certainly got his wish. The word is that the Warriors don't want him to ever play for the team again and will go ahead and take a bad trade just to get rid of him.

But the ownership of the Warriors is apparently also paying very close attention this time to Nelson's behavior and it is said that this whole mess could also potentially lead to his dismissal somewhere down the line.