LAS VEGAS – The prospects of an NBA superstar making a leap of faith and fortune to the burgeoning European basketball market isn't close, but it no longer seems such an outrageous possibility. As models for the perfect pioneer go, Jason Kidd does believe that his talents at 35 years old are suited to the Euro game, where size, strength and smarts are a tonic for declining speed and explosiveness.

Yes, Kidd is relentlessly committed to chasing an NBA title with Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. Still, nothing is forever for him at 35. When delivered a premise about the possibility of someday following the Atlanta Hawks' Josh Childress to Europe, Kidd confessed that no longer is it possible to consider your future in a context limited to the NBA.

"In the next four or five years, could I end up playing over there?" Kidd wondered. "Hey, why wouldn't I play in Italy or somewhere (else)? That might be a great experience.

"It's a legitimate option now with Childress going over there."

LAS VEGAS – The elders of USA Basketball had come to believe that Chris Paul was still too much of a follower, too wrapped in worship of LeBron James to be taken seriously as the point guard for the Americans. No one ever told this to his face two years ago, but word reached Paul. His nature is to be forever respectful, but privately he seethed over the suggestion.

“I didn’t buy that,” Paul says now.

Looking back, officials probably did Paul a favor on his way out of the summer of 2006, when the United States crumbled to a bronze medal at the World Championships. USA Basketball officials gave him something of an unspoken homework assignment to bring back to the New Orleans Hornets. For Paul, he was obsessed with never giving them a reason to doubt him again.

Between the issues of leadership and those of a 6-foot guard who had struggled with the physicality of international basketball, the breakout star of the NBA season had something of a jagged journey to reach the final U.S. roster

LAS VEGAS – Unless the Chicago Bulls can reach an agreement for a contract extension with restricted free agent Luol Deng before he departs to join the Great Britain national team in two weeks, he will end talks and tell management that he plans to leave the organization as a free agent next summer, a source close to Deng told Yahoo! Sports.

Deng is determined to come to terms on a long-term contract, but he has set an Aug. 4 deadline to reach an agreement. Once Deng, 23, leaves the country for the European Championship qualifying tournament, he will sign a one-year qualifying offer for $4.5 million and become an unrestricted free agent in 2009.

The message to the Bulls promises to be implicit: Unless the two sides come to terms soon, Deng will never again negotiate with them. He will not let the uncertainty over his future hang over another basketball season, and unless a sign-and-trade is worked out, Deng will play out his final season in 2008-09 and sign elsewhere next summer.

When

LAS VEGAS – In a potentially stunning move that reflects the growing challenge Europe’s basketball leagues pose to the NBA, Atlanta Hawks free-agent forward Josh Childress is strongly considering a three-year, $20 million offer from Greek powerhouse Olympiakos, several league sources said Sunday night.

Childress flew to Greece late Sunday and is scheduled to meet with Olympiakos officials on Monday. Childress, 25, is so flustered with the Hawks’ refusal to make a sign-and-trade deal to another team, one source familiar with his thinking believes there’s “better than a 50-50 chance” he’ll sign with Olympiakos. The team also will cover the Greek taxes for Childress, making the offer even more lucrative.

“Unless he just gets there and doesn’t like it at all, I think he’s going to go,” one league source said.

Childress is a restricted free agent, but the Hawks would have no matching rights with a FIBA contract. Olympiakos’ offer also would allow Childress the opportunity to return to the

Free-agent forward Eduardo Najera will sign a four-year, $12 million contract with the New Jersey Nets, a league source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

Najera’s agreement comes one day after the Nets reached agreement with free-agent swingman Jarvis Hayes on a two-year, $4 million deal.

Najera and Hayes are both represented by Dan Fegan, who has a strong relationship with Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe. They got together on several players, including Kenyon Martin and Nene, when Vandeweghe helped run the Denver Nuggets. Fegan also represents new Net Yi Jianlian.

Najera, who turned 32 on Friday, is an eight-year veteran who spent the past 3½ seasons in Denver. The physical forward also developed into a three-point threat last season, making 36.1 percent of his attempts.

As the Nets begin rebuilding with a core of young players, Najera and Hayes should help strengthen the team’s bench. The Nets valued Hayes’ scoring potential and athleticism.

Hayes, 26, played for the Detroit Pistons

Free agent forward Jarvis Hayes plans to sign a two-year contract with the New Jersey Nets, a league source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

Hayes met with New Jersey management in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday and left confident that he’ll sign for the bi-annual exception that would pay him $4 million over two seasons. Once the San Antonio Spurs agreed to terms with Roger Mason Jr., on Wednesday, the Nets became a logical destination for Hayes, who is leaving the Detroit Pistons.

Hayes’ agent, Dan Fegan, has a strong relationship with new Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe. They got together on several players, including Kenyon Martin and Nene, with the Nuggets. Fegan also represents new Net Yi Jianlian. The Nets had a meeting later on Thursday night with another Fegan client, Denver free agent forward Eduardo Najera.

The Nets could use part of their mid-level exception to sign Najera, who is believed to be seeking a three-year contract.

As the Nets begin rebuilding with a core of young

Once Mike Dunleavy pushed past David Falk and reached out to Elton Brand, appealed to his star’s sensibilities and sentimentality for his Clippers’ home, the belief was that the most cunning and cutthroat agent of them all decided to treat this end-around as an act of treason.

Negotiations had stalled, management had grown uneasy, fearful of Falk’s influence and the Clips coach brought the franchise’s case directly to Brand. After all these years, the most famous agent of all was back in the game, back on the big stage, back with basketball waiting on his next move.

“From that point on,” one NBA GM said, “Falk was going to do everything he could to screw the Clippers.”

Along the way, too, everyone else could see what was happening here: The Bald Eagle was emboldened again. Falk was empowered. He was alive again, and the Clippers were done. As it turned out, he didn’t just screw the Clippers. Falk drilled them.

This was the ultimate retro week, with the promise of basketball’s

In a dramatic ending to a whirlwind courtship, Elton Brand is on the brink of spurning the Los Angeles Clippers and signing a five-year, $80 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, a source familiar with the negotiations said.

Brand can’t officially sign with 76ers until 12:01 EST on Wednesday, but Sixers officials are privately telling peers around that league that Brand has convinced them he’s coming to play in Philadelphia.

The Los Angeles Times first reported Brand had made a verbal commitment to sign on Tuesday night.

As Yahoo! Sports reported Tuesday afternoon, Brand had been swayed the 76ers’ way on Tuesday and dismissed a late push by the Clippers to return to his Eastern roots. After angering Brand by refusing to raise its initial offer upon his opt-out last week, Philadelphia GM Ed Stefanski deftly created more cap space to accommodate the Sixers’ offer.

Now, Brand, one of the league’s elite power forwards, joins Sam Dalembert and Andre Iguodala to give Philadelphia a