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[Rondo9]

Derrick Rose open to this season

Derrick Rose isn't ready to give up on the idea of playing this season just yet.

Rose left open the possibility that he would return when asked if he wouldn't play this season.

"Oh no," Rose said Sunday before the Chicago Bulls' shootaround. "I'm keeping it open."

With just six regular-season games remaining, there has been lots of speculation on whether the Bulls and Rose would be better served to shut down the former MVP for the rest of the season.

Rose has said repeatedly that he will be the one who makes the ultimate decision.

"I'm not trying to think about that right now," Rose said. "I'm just trying to get better. I'm just trying to help my teammates, give them confidence to go out there and play hard, and just be a great teammate.

"I'll play whenever I'm ready to play. Who knows when I'm ready to? Right now, all I can do is just cheer on my teammates."

As for any minutes restrictions, Rose doesn't sound concerned about that as he continues his rehab. He is getting closer to the one-year anniversary of tearing his ACL last April 28.

"I wouldn't mind [playing limited minutes] at all," he said. "Of course I want to play more, but it's not that big. I'm going to play whenever I'm ready. I don't care if it's 15 or 40 [minutes]. I just love the game too much. I'm just waiting, just praying about it and hopefully I'll be out there soon."

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story...o-bulls-season

[Rondo9]

Dwyane Wade might sit until playoffs

MIAMI -- Dwyane Wade won't rule out missing the rest of the regular season to recover from a right knee injury, but the Miami Heat star said Sunday he hopes to return before the playoffs.

Wade has missed six of the Heat's past eight games and is still dealing with soreness and swelling in the knee, which he has aggravated twice since initially injuring it a month ago.

"The most important thing is to be healthy," Wade said Sunday, addressing the media for the first time since he last played March 29. "So when I feel it, then I'll get back on the court. Obviously, I want to play. But I have to make sure that I'm right. You have to get healthy."

Wade is one of several key players for the defending NBA champions who have missed games recently as the team tries to balance rest and recovery before the April 20 start of the playoffs. LeBron James sat out three games before he returned Saturday from a hamstring injury to score 27 points in a blowout win against Philadelphia.

"[My hamstring] was a little sore this morning, which I knew it would be," James said Sunday. "But I feel better today than I did a week ago. So I'm making progress."

Chris Bosh, who missed Saturday's game, is recovering from a hyperextended right knee and said Sunday he wasn't sure when he might try to return.

Wade, James and Bosh were among Miami's players, coaches and front-office staff members who attended Sunday's annual Heat Family Festival. The carnival-style event held outside of AmericanAirlines Arena raised more than $503,000 for local charities affiliated with the Heat.

While the injuries James and Bosh have been dealing with have been considered minor, there seems to be more concern around the team regarding Wade's situation.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday that all three of his marquee players will be considered day to day for the rest of the regular season. But Spoelstra confirmed that Wade has been held back by consistent swelling in his knee.

Wade initially banged knees with a defender during a March 6 game against Orlando and aggravated the injury when he collided with another player two weeks later against Boston. Wade played through the discomfort a few more games before he sat out a back-to-back set against Charlotte and Orlando on March 24-25.

Wade returned for the March 27 loss in Chicago, which ended the Heat's 27-game winning streak, and also played two nights later in New Orleans. But he had a setback in each of those games, first spraining his right ankle when he stepped on Bulls forward Taj Gibson's foot and then took more hits and falls during the game against the Hornets.

"His body will tell us when we'll play him," Spoelstra said of Wade on Saturday. "He got hit right on top of his knee twice. He was able to resolve it, then get past it. But in the New Orleans game, he got beat up and was on the floor."

Wade seemed to downplay the severity of the swelling and the bruise on Sunday, but alluded to areas around the knee that have been the focus of his recent treatment sessions.

Because the Heat have clinched the No. 1 seed in the East and are closing in on securing the best overall record in the league, the team's approach is that it's best to be cautious down the stretch and get players healthy now.

"We took care of business so we were able to say, 'We have these injuries, so let's take care of it now and be smart,'" Wade said. "I would love to be playing right now. As a player, if you get a couple of days off you, you want to get back to it. But I'm just trying to be smart with my doctors. When I feel like I can get back on the floor, then I will."

Wade has averaged 21.3 points, five rebounds and five assists in 66 games this season. This is the second straight season he has dealt with a knee injury heading into the playoffs.

Wade played through soreness in his left knee late last season and had it drained during the second round of the playoffs. He ultimately had surgery on the left knee last summer after the Heat beat Oklahoma City in the Finals.

With six games remaining on the Heat's regular-season schedule, Wade said he's hopeful he can get back on the court as early as this week. Miami plays Milwaukee on Tuesday, travels to Washington on Wednesday and hosts Boston on Friday.

"Obviously, the biggest thing is to get your wind back and get your legs back under you," Wade said. "But I've been around the block a few times. It'll be a little adjustment, but I'm not overly concerned about it. I do want to get back on the court before the playoffs to get a rhythm. Hopefully, sometime this week I can step back on the court."

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miam...t-nba-playoffs

[Rondo9]

D'Antoni: Lakers need Kobe on floor

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni knows the risk of playing Kobe Bryant as many minutes as he has during the past four games. He also knows the risks of not using the Lakers' best player as much as possible as the team frantically tries to make the playoffs.

"We're playing a little bit with fire," D'Antoni said of Bryant, who has played 46 minutes a game the past four games. "We wouldn't like to but we put ourselves in the position we have to.

"We're short-handed right now and we're playing it very tight. Normally this wouldn't happen but we put ourselves in a hole and Kobe is our best bet going forward to win games. He said he's going to retire after a year so we're going to get our money's worth for two years. I don't know what to tell you."

Bryant played all but 40 seconds of the Lakers' 109-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. He finished with 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, but shot just 6-for-19 from the field.

He's made just one of his last 21 3-point attempts.

"If he says he feels great and his legs aren't bothering him then I have to take his word for it," D'Antoni said. "If he says 'I'm tired but I want to play through it,' then that's different. But he says he feels great."

Bryant admitted he was tired after Friday's win against the Memphis Grizzlies. He even asked out of the game in the second half.

Sunday though, he said he felt good.

"I feel fine. I get plenty of rest, so I feel fine," Bryant said. "After the last game, I was pretty tired. But I was able to get plenty of rest from the last game until now."

Bryant said he slept most of Saturday. His only activity was playing "Just Dance 4" with his two daughters.

He's been playing such heavy minutes for several reasons. He's got a painful bone bruise in his right foot that tends to stiffen up when he comes out of the game.

Then there's the matter of the Lakers' desperate playoff push. They came into Sunday's game having won three in a row, but still only leading Utah by half a game for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Bryant had previously guaranteed the Lakers would make the playoffs.

"I don't see it as that big of a deal," he said. "We have some tough games ahead. But we go out there and do what we do."

D'Antoni said Sunday he felt the Lakers needed to win all five of their remaining games in order to ensure they'd make the playoffs. That was an opinion, not a fact. But with the Jazz holding the tiebreaker -- meaning the Lakers need to finish a game ahead of them -- it might not be far from the truth.

"The bottom line, we need to win five straight," D'Antoni said. "We've got ourselves to where we need to win five in a row and we get in the playoffs and that's what we want to do."

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...ur-money-worth

[Rondo9]

Joakim Noah has minor setback

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Monday that All-Star center Joakim Noah suffered "a little bit of a setback" after returning from an eight-game layoff because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

"We'll see where he is," Thibodeau said when asked about Noah's availability for Tuesday's game against the Toronto Raptors at the United Center. "I don't know, we'll see."

Racked with multiple injuries, the Bulls have just six games remaining before the playoffs start. Noah and Marco Belinelli (abdominal strain) returned to action Sunday night against the Detroit Pistons, but their presence didn't make much of a difference in a 99-85 defeat. Thibodeau eased Noah back by giving him just over 21 minutes.

If Noah misses multiple games down the stretch, it cuts into his ability to round into form for the playoffs. The Bulls entered action Monday fifth in the East, a game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks.

"We don't want anyone to play who is injured," Thibodeau said. "At this time of the year, there are a lot of guys that are hurting that will play, but if a guy is injured we don't want him out there."

After Sunday's game Noah said he felt good. Thibodeau said the setback surfaced Monday morning.

Before his return, Noah used a number of remedies to help with his foot pain, including an injection of platelet-rich plasma (an enriched blood plasma) that is known for its healing properties.

As of Sunday night, Noah had every intention of participating in the playoffs.

"I haven't played in a while, so I think the more I play, the more I'll get into a rhythm and the better I'll feel out there," Noah told reporters in Detroit. "It's something that's going to linger on, so I'll just have to keep getting all the treatments and fight through it."

Belinelli said he was fine a day after he returned but admitted that his discomfort likely will persist through the season. The Bulls have already been without Derrick Rose, who is rehabbing from May 12 ACL surgery.

Rip Hamilton (lower-back strain) and Taj Gibson (sprained MCL) are also sidelined, not to mention Luol Deng, who missed Sunday's game with a sore hip.

With so many injuries, Thibodeau was unsure about a starting lineup for Tuesday against Toronto.

"Ideally you'd like to know who you have each and every game. but that's not the case, so whatever the case is, we'll deal with it and find a group to get it done," Thibodeau said.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story...-minor-setback

[Rondo9]

Ron Burkle drops out of Kings bid

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Billionaire Ron Burkle will not be part of Sacramento's bid to keep the Kings after all.

Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson said Monday that a conflict of interest forced Burkle to back out. Instead, Johnson said the Southern California businessman and co-owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins will focus on the development around a proposed new downtown arena -- and not the arena itself.

Burkle is part-owner of Relativity Sports, which manages some NBA players' careers. Johnson said the conflict surfaced during a meeting with NBA commissioner David Stern and league owners in New York last week and "it won't slow us up."

Burkle had been expected to lead the development of a Sacramento arena. He also planned to join other wealthy investors trying to block a bid from a group that is hoping to buy and move the Kings to Seattle next season.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/91...bid-keep-kings

[Rondo9]

Metta World Peace: I'll be in lineup

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace said he will start Tuesday night when the Lakers play the New Orleans Hornets, just 12 days after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee that was supposed to sideline him at least six weeks.

World Peace participated in a three-on-three scrimmage at practice Monday, and Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said there was a 90 percent chance World Peace would play Tuesday.

"He's good," D'Antoni said. "It's probably a game-time decision, but he looks good. He's raring to go. The medical staff will make a decision tomorrow. It's unbelievable. He's different. ... I've never seen this before."

World Peace began running last week and shot around with the team Saturday and before Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. He said he was ready to play last Tuesday when the Lakers played the Dallas Mavericks but hadn't been cleared yet by team doctors.

"It's not how sure I'm playing tomorrow night," World Peace said. "It's how sure I was playing three days ago. I was ready to play."

World Peace injured his knee late in the first half of the Lakers' 109-103 loss to the Golden State Warriors on March 25. After the injury he tweeted, "First ever knee injury. Recovery time hopefully is a week and a half." He would later delete the tweet but be right about the recovery time.

"Right after surgery, they were amazed how the swelling didn't even exist off of meniscus surgery," World Peace said. "You can play, but the swelling is what keeps you from playing, so when I didn't have any swelling that's why I was pushing to play. I wanted to play three games ago. It was good teamwork with the doctors and training staff. We have to make a push and make a championship run."

While World Peace likely will be back in the starting lineup Tuesday, Lakers guard Steve Nash is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game because of a hip injury.

D'Antoni had hoped Nash would be back by Tuesday but is now looking at Friday when the Lakers host the Warriors.

"He's going through some stuff," D'Antoni said. "He's not ready yet."

Nash experienced discomfort in his right hip after the Lakers' loss to the Warriors on March 25 and has since been dealing with the strained hip and a strained right hamstring.

Nash was able to play in the Lakers' game against Minnesota on March 27 but then missed most of the second half against Milwaukee, played just two minutes against Sacramento and sat out the entire game against Dallas last week. He has not played since then.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...s-knee-surgery

[Rondo9]

Kevin Love to have knee surgery

MINNEAPOLIS -- A season that never really started for Kevin Love is now officially over.

Love will have arthroscopic surgery to remove a buildup of scar tissue in his left knee, the Timberwolves announced on Monday night. The Wolves called it a minor procedure and said Love was expected to be out four to six weeks while recovering.

The Timberwolves and Love were hoping the star forward could return from surgery on his broken right hand in time to play five or six games, but this development ended those hopes.

"I think he feels very poorly about this year," Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn said in a conference call on Monday night.

"It's been, frankly, a lost season for him. He's already said that, at least in part, to me. He's very hopeful he has a huge offseason. He very much feels he wants to make amends for what happened this year."

Or what didn't happen.

Love was coming off a breakout season in 2011-12 and fresh off playing a critical role in helping the United States to the gold medal in London when he showed up for training camp.

He also was starting the first season of a big new contract extension and planned on getting the Timberwolves to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

But he broke his right hand just before the regular season and missed almost the entire first month of the season. Love returned from that injury ahead of schedule, but struggled mightily to find his shooting stroke.

Then, just 18 games into his comeback, he broke his hand again. Love needed surgery this time to repair it, and the Wolves were hopeful he was going to get back on the court before the season ended.

Kahn said that he started feeling some minor discomfort in his knee while he was playing in December, but neither he nor the team felt it was serious enough to get an MRI.

After breaking his hand a second time, Love started ramping up his workouts in preparation to get back. But the knee only got sorer, and so the decision was made on Monday to have surgery.

"I think it wasn't one day or one event," Kahn said. "As time went on and as he began ramping up his workouts with the intent of playing this season, the knee started hurting more. It got to the point where we felt the best course of action was to address it now. It was affecting the way he runs."

Love averaged 18.3 points and 14 rebounds this season.

The scar tissue was also giving him some discomfort in his hip. Having the surgery now is driven in part by Love's desire to have a full offseason to come back stronger next year, Kahn said.

When he does come back, Love will have to mend fences with many Timberwolves fans who were angered by some critical comments he made about the organization shortly after he returned to the court from his first hand injury.

When he didn't immediately resume the All-Star form he had exhibited the previous two seasons, some fans turned on the popular star, and his injury-filled season has only seemed to increase the frustration.

Love certainly hasn't been the only one hurt on the Wolves this season.

Ricky Rubio didn't return from his torn ACL until the middle of December and not until the middle of February did he start playing like the dynamic point guard he was before being injured.

Nikola Pekovic, Andrei Kirilenko and Chase Budinger also missed significant amounts of time with various injuries and Brandon Roy's chronic knee issues have kept him off the court most of the season as well.

Love will likely have surgery on Wednesday in New York and is expected to be back up to full speed by early June.

"It's been one heck of a season," Kahn said. "He just feels very badly about it, which is understandable."

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/91...c-knee-surgery

[Урош94]

Adelman could retire at the end of the season

His wife has serious problems

The strong sense from some people around the league who know Rick Adelman is that he will retire this summer... with two years left on his contract as Timberwolves coach.

Adelman told me March 21 that he will think about walking away unless doctors can diagnose and successfully treat a health issue with his wife. He does not want to start 2013-14 with that unresolved and face the possibility of another leave of absence.

But at least some who know him take it a step further and say retirement is not only a real option, it is likely. One person who has talked with Adelman said that unless the family gets some very good news about Mary Kay, it would be a big surprise if Rick returned.

When we talked a few weeks ago, Adelman would not estimate the chances of his return or retirement. He said that would not be fair while asking players to block out surrounding issues and fully invest on a strong finish to a letdown season in Minnesota.

Извор

[Rondo9]

Gerald Wallace injured vs. Celtics

Brooklyn Nets small forward Gerald Wallace suffered a left heel contusion in the second quarter of Wednesday night's game against the Boston Celtics and had to be carried off the court and into the locker room by teammates Brook Lopez and Reggie Evans.

The Nets announced at halftime that Wallace would not return. He left the locker room after the game in a walking boot and is day to day, according to Newsday.

Wallace suffered the injury when he tripped over Celtics forward Chris Wilcox while trying to guard Jordan Crawford.

In 15 minutes, Wallace scored two points on 1-of-3 shooting. He also grabbed two rebounds, dished out two assists and had two turnovers.

Wallace, struggling with his confidence shooting the ball, did not record a field goal in his previous two games.

Over the past 17 games, he is just 3 of 35 from 3-point range.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/stor...boston-celtics

[Rondo9]

Steve Nash frustrated with season

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Steve Nash was back at the Rose Garden on Wednesday, the site of the collision that broke his left leg in the Los Angeles Lakers' second game of the season, sidelining him for nearly two months.

Only this time around, he was dealing with a right hip and hamstring injury that kept him out of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers and caused him to miss all or part of the Lakers' past six games before it.

Seeing Nash make his way to the training room for treatment before the game rather than head to the court for a crucial matchup as the Lakers fight for a playoff spot begged the question: Has this been the most frustrating season of his career?

"Right up there, if not the most frustrating," said Nash, a 17-year veteran. "I've played a long time, so I can't remember all those years, but it's frustrating. Maybe it's because of the freshness, but it feels the most frustrating for sure."

Nash, who hurt his hip March 25 at Golden State and has suffered discomfort in his hamstring stemming from the injury ever since, said he is improving but added, "There's still a question for Friday."

The Lakers host the Warriors on Friday in a game that will be crucial, both for the Lakers' playoff hopes and Golden State's playoff seeding.

"It's definitely getting better every day," Nash said. "It's definitely getting better but I'm not free to do everything yet, but I'm getting closer."

Nash recently switched to a stronger medication in hopes of alleviating the pain in his hamstring, a source close to the point guard told ESPNLosAngeles.com.

"It feels like when you go to use it, it grabs," Nash said of his hamstring. "You let up because you feel like you're going to tear it."

Even if Nash is able to play in the Lakers' final three games, he already has missed more games this season (29) than he has in any other previous season since being drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 1996. The most games he missed previously was 26 in 1999-2000 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.

"For me, I always just try to keep my head down and keep pushing and fight and try to get better to help the team," Nash said. "I feel like that allowed me to come out of the seven weeks (following the left leg injury) and play after two practices, which is not easy, but it was because of the hard work.

"When things weren't going well with the team, I just tried to work and try to get better and we got a little better there through February and March and now I'm back struggling and just fighting to get better again."

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni, who also coached Nash in Phoenix, can sense how trying this season has been for the future Hall of Famer.

"I'm sure there's a whole locker room full of frustration," said D'Antoni, who added Nash would "try to shoot" for Friday but the team would wait for him to get back to 100 percent.

"We should be a lot better than we are and he's been injured more than probably his whole career. It happens, but he'll keep working. He'll be back pretty soon. Hopefully, we get in the playoffs and have a good run and he can turn that frustration into something good."

Nash is averaging his least assists per game (6.7) since 1999-2000 with Dallas, when he averaged 4.9 as a part-time starter.

"In Phoenix, when we had it going, I don't know if there's many point guards in the history of the game that played that level as good as he played for a couple of years where he didn't make any mistakes and (he is) one of the best shooters, if not the best shooter, in all-time history, so it's hard to duplicate that," D'Antoni said. "As you get older, obviously, you have to have certain things go your way and you're not going to be able to be the MVP two times in a row like he was, but his level is still very high. We just got to get everything right, get him going again."

Nash knows a lot must go right between now and the end of the playoffs for the Lakers to even scratch the surface of what was expected of them this season.

"If no one expected anything coming into the season, then you might have said, 'Tough luck, tough year,' " Nash said. "But, couple that with the fact that this isn't what we drew up makes it very difficult."

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...-season-career

[Rondo9]

Michael Carter-Williams opts for draft

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Four days after Syracuse lost in the national semifinals of the NCAA tournament, star point guard Michael Carter-Williams has decided to enter the NBA draft.

"I want to thank coach (Jim) Boeheim and all the coaches for the amazing experience I've had playing basketball at Syracuse," Carter-Williams said in a statement Wednesday. "I also want to thank my current and past teammates because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be able to chase my lifelong dreams.

"In addition, the fans, who have been unbelievable from the moment I got here, I'll always be a proud member of the Syracuse program."

The 6-foot-6 Carter-Williams started all 40 games for the Orange this season. He finished fifth nationally in assist average (7.3) and fourth in steals (2.78) among Division I players, and also averaged 11.9 points in a team-best 35.2 minutes.

His star rose greatly in the postseason as he led Syracuse on a scintillating run after an end-of-year skid. In free fall with four losses in five games to close the regular season, the Orange beat Seton Hall, Pittsburgh and Georgetown in the Big East tournament before falling to eventual national champion Louisville in the title game at Madison Square Garden.

In the NCAA tournament, Carter-Williams scored a career-high 24 points in an upset of top-seeded Indiana in the semifinals of the East Regional, just days after his family home had been ravaged by a fire. Two days later, in the regional final, he had 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals with just one turnover in a victory over Marquette and was named the most outstanding player of the regional.

"He's coming off a tremendous season and we appreciate all he's done for Syracuse basketball," Boeheim said. "We wish Michael the best of luck as he pursues a pro career."

Carter-Williams, of Hamilton, Mass., is being projected as a lottery pick. The deadline for underclassmen to declare is April 28.

In his lone year as a starter, Carter-Williams broke the school record for steals in a season with 111 and finished with 292 assists, the second-highest total in Syracuse history behind only Sherman Douglas's record of 326 in 1988-89. Carter-Williams also recorded nine double-doubles.

Syracuse, which finished 30-10, ended the season with a 61-56 loss to Michigan on Saturday. Carter-Williams fouled out with 1:14 left, giving a big tug on his jersey while walking to the bench after a 1-for-6 shooting night that included just two assists with five turnovers.

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2013/sto...ring-nba-draft

[Rondo9]

Maloofs give investors deadline

The Maloof family has set a Friday deadline for Sacramento investors seeking to buy the Kings, the Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday.

According to the report, the Maloofs have given investors until 5 p.m. PT Friday to submit a written, binding "back-up" offer that matches the deal the family has in place to sell the franchise to a group in Seattle, sources close to the deal told the newspaper.

Sacramento is trying to block a bid from a group that has a deal with the Maloof family to buy the Kings and move the franchise to Seattle next season. NBA owners are vetting both offers.

The source told the newspaper that if the Maloofs receive a matching offer by Friday, they will consider it as a serious back-up proposal should the NBA veto their tentative deal with the Seattle group.

The Friday deadline may be a last-gasp effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento. If the offer doesn't arrive or match the Seattle bid, the Maloofs have said they would end talks with the Sacramento group, the newspaper reported.

The source also described Sacramento's initial offer to buy the Kings a few weeks ago as 'not even close' to the reported bid from Seattle of $341 million made in January.

But after presentations from both sides in New York last week, NBA commissioner David Stern said the difference between the two offers no longer is an issue.

On Tuesday, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson announced a new investor to help fill the role vacated by billionaire Ron Burkle in the city's bid to keep the Kings.

Johnson said Sacramento developer Mark Friedman joined the group. The announcement came a day after Burkle backed out because of a conflict of interest stemming from his ownership stake in Relativity Sports, which manages some NBA players' careers.

Friedman said he will help build the planned arena in downtown Sacramento. He also said he had been in contact with the mayor since January and the timing of Burkle's decision had nothing to with his emergence.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/91...eadline-report

[Rondo9]

Source: James Singleton to Knicks

NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks have come to an agreement with free agent James Singleton, according to a league source.

Singleton, a 6-foot-8 forward, has played parts of five seasons in the NBA, most recently with the Washington Wizards in 2011-12.

He played the 2012-13 season in China with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers, averaging 15.1 points and 11 rebounds in 21 games.

The Knicks will need to cut a player on their 15-man roster once their agreement with Singleton, 33, becomes official. The New York Daily News first reported the Knicks were close to a deal with Singleton on Wednesday.

Singleton should help offset injuries to the Knicks' front line. Tyson Chandler (bulging disk in neck) and Kenyon Martin (left ankle sprain) will miss at least the next two games because of their injuries.

Marcus Camby is doubtful for Thursday's game against Chicago because of plantar fascia in his left foot. So the Knicks need help on the front line as soon as possible.

Singelton was not on an NBA roster after March 1, so he will be eligible for the postseason.

It is unclear at this point who the Knicks will cut once they add Singleton.

Big men Kurt Thomas (stress reaction/right foot) and Rasheed Wallace (left foot fracture) are recovering from injuries and are natural candidates to be released.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson said recently he hoped both veteran big men could return at some point during the playoffs. The Daily News reported the Knicks plan to release Thomas, who will have right foot surgery next week.

The team would not comment on the addition of Singleton.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/stor...cording-source

[Rondo9]

Carmelo: Patience with Derrick Rose

CHICAGO -- Carmelo Anthony on Thursday implored the media and fans to have patience with Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose in his return from knee surgery, and the New York Knicks forward thinks Rose should sit out the rest of the season.

"I wish y'all would stop rushing Derrick back," said Anthony, whose Knicks, winners of 13 straight, play the Bulls on Thursday night. "Please. He shouldn't come back until he's about 110 percent ready. I don't think he should come back if he's not ready to go out there and play. If he can't compete at a high level, then what's a couple more months going to do? What's two more months going to do? I don't think he should come back, and that's just my opinion.

"I really don't know where he's at with his rehab and stuff like that, but I feel bad for him because I know he's got to deal with that every day, he's got to deal with that question. And nobody really knows on the outside what he's really going through, what his body is going through. So until he's 100 percent right, I would hope he would sit out."

A source told ESPNChicago.com in early March that Rose has been medically cleared to play but needs to regain his confidence in his left leg before he will return. With five games left in the regular season, time is running out for Rose, but he has said he wouldn't rule out returning for the playoffs.

"There's no drop-dead date. That's the thing," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Thursday. "Whenever he's ready, he's ready. We made that clear. That's where it stands.''

Thibodeau understands the attention that the timetable for a Rose return receives but maintains the Bulls will be patient with the process.

"Look, this was not unexpected. A player like Derrick there's going to be a lot of attention on, and rightfully so," Thibodeau said. "This guy has done an incredible job with his career, with this franchise, and we understand how important it is. But it would be just as important for any other player. When a guy has an injury like that, you have to be smart about it, you have to be patient, and you have to do what you think is right.''

The Knicks know firsthand how tough it can be to lose a player to an ACL injury considering swingman Iman Shumpert tore his ACL on April 28, the same day Rose did. While Knicks coach Mike Woodson knows the circumstances are different, he can also empathize what the Bulls are going through with Rose.

"[The Bulls] are dealing with their own injuries and their own problems that they've had this year, too. I don't know the severity of Derrick's injury. I know he had the ACL [tear], now how severe it was, I don't know. But I'm sure when he's ready to play he'll come back and play."

Woodson said it has been difficult for Shumpert to get into a rhythm since returning on Jan. 17.

"He's getting there," Woodson said. "I thought the other night he was fantastic. He's had his ups and downs, but I think as the games go by and he continues to play more, he'll be back to his old self. I just need him to be more nastier on the defensive end. That's where he made his statement last year, I thought."

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story...-chicago-bulls

[Rondo9]

Mark Cuban: Mavs will recover

DALLAS -- This is unfamiliar, uncomfortable territory for Mark Cuban.

It's the first full season of his ownership tenure in which the Dallas Mavericks are finished before the playoffs. He hopes it will be the last such season.

"I've always said there is one winner and 29 other teams tied for last," Cuban said via email Thursday morning, hours after the Mavs were officially eliminated, ending a 12-year playoff streak. "Our goal is to win championships, so it's disappointing to not win. But we will come back and get better next year."

This will be a big summer for the Mavs, as Dirk Nowitzki has said dozens of times as Dallas' dozen-year playoff streak neared its end.

So was last summer, but the Mavericks had to settle for essentially constructing a temporary supporting cast of players on expiring contracts or willing to sign one-year deals. That definitely wasn't the plan when Cuban made the difficult post-lockout decision to let Tyson Chandler and other key championship pieces depart Dallas via free agency.

The ideal situation would be adding a superstar who could take the burden off soon-to-be-35-year-old Nowitzki. When the Mavs opted to create significant salary-cap space for the first time in the Cuban era, they did so with the belief that Chris Paul, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams would all be on the market last summer.

Paul and Howard never became available, as they were traded to the two Los Angeles teams. They'll be free agents this summer, but the odds of their leaving L.A. are roughly equivalent to the Mavs' odds of winning the draft lottery. The Mavs had their shot at Williams, but Cuban opted to go to L.A. to film a reality show instead of participating in the face-to-face recruiting pitch, later saying the Mavs were better off without Williams anyway.

So the search for a major talent upgrade will continue this summer.

"Trust me, we want to do that," Cuban said Wednesday evening, referring to giving Nowitzki a legitimate co-star. "If you've got the guy who's going to say, 'You know what, I'm going to come to the Mavericks no matter what,' let me know."

The only promise Cuban can make about this summer: "We're going to be opportunistic and do the best we can."

With all the expiring contracts on the roster, the Mavs are positioned to be major players in free agency again. That cap space and Cuban's willingness to take on significant salaries in what he deems to be the right circumstances -- the proposed deadline deal that would have delivered Paul Pierce to Dallas being an example -- also make the Mavs potentially attractive trade partners, especially for financially motivated franchises that fear the looming luxury-tax spikes.

The Mavs have built-in future financial flexibility with the contracts of Nowitzki, Shawn Marion and Vince Carter scheduled to come off the books in the summer of 2014. Nowitzki has said that he intends to sign for two or three more years, indicating that he'll accept significantly less than the nearly $23 million he'll make next season.

The Mavs' mission this summer: Make major steps in the rebuilding process, putting together pieces of a roster that will give Nowitzki a chance to contend for another championship and the Mavs to be positioned for post-Dirk success.

"We maximized for the first generation of Dirk's golden years to win a championship," Cuban said. "So we'll do our best for his second generation of golden years and then the next generation and the next generation until he runs out of golden years.

"That's what we're trying to do. Hypothetically speaking, if Dirk wasn't hurt and we're in the hunt for a fifth or sixth seed, you're asking me different questions: 'Hey, you guys put together a decent squad, what do you have to do to take it to the next level?' That's the way it goes."

You are what your record says you are, Cuban admits. The Mavs are not a playoff team for the first time since 2000, when a certain outspoken season-ticket holder bought a franchise then considered an NBA laughingstock in the middle of the season.

It's been an amazing ride for the Mavs since then, but they crashed this season, coming off a first-round sweep that served as a weak title defense. Can Cuban & Co. get the franchise back on track in the coming months?

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/...ssing-playoffs