Milwaukee Bucks: Point guard T.J. Ford isn't fully recovered from spinal surgery
and will miss training camp.
Ford was leading rookies in assists and was ninth overall in the
NBA on Feb. 24 when he landed on his tailbone. He missed the rest
of the season and underwent surgery in May.
"Of course, I would like to be in training camp, but my health
is the most important thing," he said Monday. "I'm not feeling
100 percent yet. I was hoping that I would be ready by now, but I'm
not."
There is no timetable for his return.
"I don't want to risk a chance coming back and getting
re-injured," Ford said. "I don't think I'm facing a situation of
not being able to come back at all. I think at some point I will be
able to play basketball again, but when I'm not sure."
New Jersey Nets: Uncertain of Jason Kidd's future, the Nets signed veteran point guard Travis Best, the team announced Monday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Best spent last season with the Mavericks, averaging 2.8
points and 1.8 assists in 61 games backing up Steve Nash. The
5-foot-11 Best has averaged 7.7 points and 3.6 assists in 632 career
games with Indiana, Chicago, Miami and Dallas.
Kidd, the Nets' All-Star point guard, is expected to be out
until December after undergoing knee surgery.
The Nets, who are in rebuilding mode after reaching the NBA
Finals in 2002 and 2003, sent Kenyon Martin to Denver in a
sign-and-trade, traded Kerry Kittles and released Lucious Harris.
New York Knicks: The Knicks added a perimeter shooter to their lineup, signing veteran forward Tracy Murray.
The 33-year-old Murray, a 12-year veteran, has appeared in 659
career games for Portland, Houston, Toronto, Washington, Denver
and the Lakers, averaging 9.0 points and 2.5 rebounds.
The league leader in 3-point percentage in 1993-94, the 6-foot-7
Murray played in seven games for the Trail Blazers last season,
averaging 1.1 points.
The Knicks also signed 6-11 center Mengke Bateer, 5-10 guard
Andre Barrett and 6-8 forward Brent Wright, all free agents. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Los Angeles Lakers-Miami Heat: Tickets for Shaquille O'Neal's Christmas Day
return against his former Lakers teammates sold out
five minutes after they went on sale.
The Heat visit Staples Center in a nationally televised
game that day.
Slightly more than 1,000 tickets were available for the game,
Lakers spokesman John Black said Monday. About 15,000 to 16,000 of
the 18,997 seats at Staples are for season ticketholders.
Also selling out were the Nov. 26 game against Sacramento and
the Feb. 25 game against Detroit, which beat the Lakers in the NBA
finals last season.
Chicago Bulls: The Bulls waived forward Chris Jefferies.
Jeffries, who has played two seasons in the NBA, appeared
in 19 games with the Bulls last season after being acquired in a
trade from the Toronto Raptors. The six-foot-eight, 230-pound
forward averaged four points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report.