By Compiled from Times wires
Published August 20, 2003
INDIANAPOLIS - The Pacers say they are nearing a deal to re-sign free agent Reggie Miller, keeping him with the team he has played for his entire 16-year career.
"We're close," Pacers president Larry Bird said Tuesday. "Reggie wants to come back. We want him here. He's not like he was 10 years ago, but he still has a lot left."
A message left Tuesday with Miller's agent, Arn Tellem, was not immediately returned.
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh, who oversees the team's contract negotiations, said he hoped a deal would be completed this week.
Miller, who earned $12-million last season, is the Pacers' career scoring leader but is coming off an injury-plagued season that limited his productivity.
The 37-year-old Miller bruised his right ankle bone during an exhibition game before the World Championships last summer. He had surgery on May 19 and is expected to completely recover.
The injury bothered him all season and he averaged only 12.6 points. He had the worst playoff series of his career, averaging 9.2 points on 28 percent shooting in a six-game loss to Boston.
BRYANT CASE: A polling firm has started interviewing Eagle, Colo. residents about the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, research legal experts say could be used by the defense to ask a judge to move the trial.
Sheriff Joseph Hoy, whose office investigated the case, was among those interviewed, his spokeswoman said.
Paul Talmey of Talmey-Drake Research & Strategy Inc. confirmed that his firm was conducting a survey in Eagle County, but he wouldn't say who he is working for or whether the poll is connected to the case.
HEAT: Dwyane Wade, the fifth overall pick in the draft, signed.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard averaged 21.5 points last season at Marquette and is expected to contribute immediately to a Heat offense that was the second-worst in the league last season.
According to the rookie pay scale, Wade's deal is worth more than $7-million over three years.
Wade led Marquette to its first Final Four appearance since 1977 last season before entering the draft as a junior.
NETS: Sen. Jon Corzine and real estate developer Charles Kushner are involved in discussions to buy the team in an effort to prevent it from moving to New York, according to published reports. Corzine and Kushner have been talking to Nets owners and reviewing the team's financial records and could present a bid as early as next week, the New York Times reported.
In other news, New Jersey re-signed shooting guard Lucious Harris, who is coming off the best scoring season of his 10-year career. Harris averaged 10.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists last season, when the Nets reached their second straight NBA finals.
WIZARDS: Forward Kwame Brown, the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft, faces a charge of driving under the influence after being stopped while weaving along a highway in Brunswick, Ga., according to a police report.
Brown's blood-alcohol content was almost twice the legal limit, and he smelled of alcohol and appeared unsteady on his feet during sobriety tests about 3 a.m. Friday, Glynn County police officer Robert Sasser said in a report obtained by the Florida Times-Union.
Brown, 21, was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence, having an open container of alcohol and failure to maintain a lane of travel, according to the report.
HOUSTON 52, SEATTLE 47: Sheryl Swoopes scored 15 of her 17 in the second half and the host Comets clinched their seventh straight playoff berth and moved within a game of Western Conference leader Los Angeles.
CLEVELAND 69, CONNECTICUT 52: Penny Taylor scored 20 to lead the host Rockers to the win in the makeup of a game postponed by last week's blackout. The Rockers moved into third place in the Eastern Conference, a game ahead of Connecticut (15-16), which is tied for fourth with New York.
