US PresswireThe New Jersey Nets had a busy Thursday. They announced in the morning that center Brook Lopez would be out indefinitely with a fractured right foot. In the evening, the team announced that it had traded a draft pick to the Utah Jazz for 6-11 center Mehmet Okur.

And somewhere in there the team came to terms with veteran guard DeShawn Stevenson, according to ESPN. The word is that Stevenson will sign his one-year, $2.5 million deal Friday.

"He gives us a guy that has proven he likes to play defense and challenges guys defensively," Nets GM Billy King said, according to the site. "Veteran presence that's played the game and understands it. So from that standpoint, he's won a championship, so he knows what they had to put in to win it."

Stevenson averaged 5.3 points per game during the regular season for the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. He had a stellar game in Game 4 of the Finals against the Miami Heat when he scored 11 points and then again delivered in Game 6 with three 3-pointers

US PresswireThe Miami Marlins have already added Heath Bell, Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes this offseason. The word from ESPN is that the team is now considering signing free- agent lefty Joe Saunders.

The Arizona Diamondbacks non-tendered Saunders two weeks ago and made the 12-game winner a free agent. He also had a 3.69 ERA, lost 13 games, and struck out 108 in 212 innings pitched.

MLB.com, however, does not make a Saunders-Marlins matchup sound probable, reporting that the team "may eventually seek" Saunders and "is not ideally looking to have two soft tossing lefties in their rotation," referring to Buehrle.

As one National League source tells the Miami Herald, though, "Anytime you hear a pitcher's name, you can safely say the Marlins are in."

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US PresswireAs of now, Nick Swisher is scheduled to be one of the starting three outfielders for the New York Yankees when the season kicks off. But a few other teams would like to see him pull on their jerseys on opening day.

Fox Sports reports that the Cleveland Indians are one of several clubs that have called the Yanks about trying to make a deal for the 31-year-old who has hit 185 homers since joining the big leagues with the Oakland Athletics back in 2004.

The Yankees, though, aren't likely to trade Swisher, who is set to make $10.25 million next season, Fox notes, because the team doesn't have a major-league ready outfield prospect right now.

The Indians, club officials tell Fox, are pursuing every hitter on the market who is not named Prince Fielder.

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US PresswireThings haven't exactly gone the way Kevin Kolb likely envisioned them. The quarterback got himself traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Arizona Cardinals so he could be a starter  and his new team has gone 3-6 in the games that he's appeared in. Now he has a concussion that is keeping out of the lineup and the word from ESPN is that second-year QB John Skelton will be taking his place again Saturday when the Cards take on the Cincinnati Bengals.

Skelton got the start last weekend against the Cleveland Browns even though Kolb "had increased his participation in practice." He has delivered in the team's last two games, both victories, going 47 for 74 for 595 yards and four touchdown passes.

For the season, Skelton has thrown 1,345 yards and eight touchdowns in the six games he's appeared in. Kolb, meanwhile, has thrown for 1,955 yards and nine touchdowns in the nine games he's appeared in.

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US PresswireMickael Pietrus played 38 games for the Phoenix Suns last season after being dealt from the Orlando Magic, averaging 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game while in Arizona.

The Suns have waived the 29-year-old and he'll be a free agent Saturday evening if no team selects him. New England Cable News reports that the $5.5 million Pietrus is owed next season will likely keep any team from doing that.

NECN also notes that Pietrus, whom the Suns had tried to trade to the Toronto Raptors before that deal fell through to a medical concern that is no longer an issue, is  "leaning 'heavily'" toward signing with the Boston Celtics once he becomes a free agent.

"Without Jeff Green, they really don't have an athletic wing player," said an NBA scout, according to NECN. "Sasha [Pavlovic] has some athleticism, but he's not in the same class as Pietrus. And Marquis [Daniels], he's a solid player, but you wouldn't consider him as an athletic wing guy."

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US PresswireChuck Hayes has had a rough couple of weeks. He signed a four-year, $21.3 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, but then it was voided when it was discovered in his physical that he had a heart irregularity. At that point, it wasn't looking good for him to sign on anywhere.

So Hayes went to the Cleveland Clinic for almost an hour of further evaluation, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, and then was told that he was OK to play pro basketball again and that there isn't a problem with his heart.

Wojnarowski reports that Hayes, who grew up near Sacramento, is now signing on again with the Kings, but still must pass his physical with the team.

"I'm ecstatic inside," Hayes told Wojnarowski. "It's a big relief. I have no worries at all. I have a healthy heart. My heart's fine. The doctors just say it's too big. It's too big means I have a big heart. I'm a big guy. That's all it is."

The new deal is worth $1.1 million more than his previous contract, Wojnarowski reports.

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US PresswireThe Houston Rockets have signed Samuel Dalembert to a two-year, $13.7 million deal. The Sacramento Kings had upped their efforts to re-sign Dalembert after voiding the contract of Chuck Hayes, according to the Sacramento Bee.

"We tried to re-engage with them and see if we could try to get to something that I hoped worked for both of our interests going forward," Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said, according to the Bee.

But it was too late. Dalembert signed on with the Rockets, leaving the Kings short-handed with only a few days left before the season gets underway.

ESPN reports, though, that the Golden State Warriors are looking to fill their own hole at center with 24-year-old Ukrainian free-agent center Kyrylo Fesenko. However, the Warriors are not alone. The Miami Heat, a team that caught a lot of heat during last season for not having a strong enough center, are also trying to snag Fesenko, ESPN reports.

The 7-1, 280-pound Fesenko has spent the last four seasons with the

US PresswireThe Golden State Warriors were potentially watching their season go down the drain before it even got started when point guard Stephen Curry was helped off the court Tuesday with yet another ankle injury.

His MRI results Wednesday brought good news, though, the Oakland Tribune reports: "Tests revealed Curry didn't sustain any ligament damage" and "the repairs made in his offseason surgery are still intact."

It remains unclear when Curry will take to the court again, but his team is scheduled to appear in one of the league's three Christmas Day matchups. The Warriors will face off against the revamped and re-energized Los Angeles Clippers.

"Hoping for the Christmas Miracle," Curry said, the Tribune reports.

The 23-year-old Curry averaged 18.6 points, 5.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game last season.

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