NBA News

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The Sacramento Kings hired Kenny Natt on Saturday to be an assistant coach, reuniting him with former teammate Reggie Theus.

Natt and Theus were teammates on the Kings in 1984-85, when the club played in Kansas City. Theus was hired last month to be Sacramento's head coach.

Natt was an assistant coach with the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers this past season and had been with Cleveland since June 2004. He previously spent nine seasons with the Utah Jazz.

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The Milwaukee Bucks met with draft pick Yi Jianlian for the first time in Las Vegas at the NBA's Summer League starting there this week.

Yi, Bucks general manager Larry Harris and Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak met for about an hour at a hotel Thursday to get to know the 6-foot-11 power forward and begin lobbying him to sign with the team.

Yi scored 23 points and grabbed four rebounds in 28 minutes of the Chinese National Team's 86-77 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. He had a stretch in the second half where he hit seven straight field goals. The 7-foot, 242-pound Yi had a two-handed dunk over Rudy Gay early in the second quarter, a powerful move to the basket that brought several at the Cox Pavillion to their feet.

"I felt better about today's game," Yi said through an interpreter. "It was a matter of becoming more familiar."

Yi finished with seven fouls -- summer league games allow 10 fouls before disqualification -- and seven turnovers. Still, it was an improvement from earlier in the week when he struggled against the Dallas Mavericks, only scoring 11 points in a loss on Tuesday.

"After a slow start (earlier this week), he is finally starting to show he is a player with great potential," China coach Jonas Kauslaukas said through an interpreter. "I don't want to say that this was his best game, but he played better and stronger."

Yi has not visited Milwaukee. In Dallas, where the Chinese National Team played a series of exhibitions earlier this week, he declined to talk about the draft or even the prospect of playing for the Bucks.

Agent Dan Fegan did not return messages left Friday at his office or cell phone.

Fegan had pushed for the 19-year-old Yi to go to a city with a heavy Asian influence, and Yi's handlers did not allow the Bucks to watch him participate in a predraft workout in Los Angeles.

But Harris said he planned to take the best player available and told Fegan he would not shy away from Yi, even though Milwaukee has only about 1,200 Chinese residents.

In the meantime, Bucks owner and Sen. Herb Kohl has written a letter to Yi, which was delivered by Harris on Thursday, to establish a dialogue with the star.

"We'll see what happens," Kohl said. "We're all in the process of reaching out to try and establish a constructive dialogue with him and his family and representatives."

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Andres Nocioni agreed to a five-year deal to return to the Chicago Bulls, and there is a team option for a sixth year.

"He's glad to be back," George Bass, Nocioni's agent, said Friday. "We've been very aggressively working on it."

The deal officially cannot be signed before July 11. Financial terms were not available, but the Chicago Tribune reported it was for approximately $38 million. Nocioni was a restricted free agent who had drawn the attention of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Nocioni, a 6-foot-7 forward who has been a standout performer for the Argentine national team and also played in Europe, originally was signed by the Bulls as a free agent on Aug. 11, 2004.

He averaged 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds during this past regular season but was limited to 53 games -- 31 starts -- by plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Known for his hustle, aggressive defense and an improved 3-point shot, the 27-year-old Nocioni averaged 8.8 points in 10 playoff games. The Bulls swept the Miami Heat in the first round before being ousted by the Detroit Pistons in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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Kevin Durant took his Seattle SuperSonics debut in stride on the first day of the NBA Summer League on Friday.

Durant led all scorers with 18 points, but he shot just 5-of-17 from the field in the Sonics' 77-66 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

He was scoreless in the first quarter before tallying 13 points in the second quarter, including 11 straight.

"I had good shots," Durant said. "They just weren't falling. In this game, you can't make every shot. I wanted to keep being aggressive, and in the second quarter it started to come for me. Unfortunately, we lost."

Jeff Green, who was taken by the Celtics with the No. 5 pick in the draft before being traded to Seattle, scored seven points -- all in the first quarter.

"This is our first games under our belts as NBA players," Green said. "We had to get our jitters out."

Although they are both listed at 6-feet, 9-inches, the 215-pound Durant started at guard while the 235-pound Green opened at forward. They were in familiar roles, but they both admitted that the pro level had a different feel to it.

Durant said he felt no pressure.

"This is basketball. I'm going to try to get better every day, as a basketball player and as a person. I want to keep being aggressive. It's a lot faster than what I am used to. It's a lot more intense," he said. "I could have shot the ball a lot better, but there's always next game. I'll be more relaxed and I'll shoot it better."

Maurice Ager led the Mavericks with 17 points while Jose Barea scored 14 and Clay Tucker had 12 points. Dallas had a 39-28 lead at intermission.

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Greg Oden's foul troubles followed him to the NBA.

The Portland Trail Blazers center, the first overall pick in last month's draft, picked up three quick fouls in the opening three minutes of his professional debut Friday night in the Las Vegas summer league and fouled out with 10 fouls.

"It's amazing," said Oden smiling. "I usually get thrown out after five."

League rules allow 10 fouls before disqualification.

"It's a different game (in comparison to college). They call it different," Oden said. "There are a lot of things you can't do with hand movements and hand checks."

Portland trailed by double digits for most of the game as Oden was a non-factor in a 74-66 loss to the Boston Celtics. He had six points and two rebounds in 20 minutes.

"I couldn't get into a groove tonight," he said. "There's always a lot of pressure out there because of who you are."

Oden, who battled foul trouble during his only season at Ohio State, had four fouls in the first half and was limited to four points in eight minutes. His woes continued in the third quarter as he picked up three early fouls, including an offensive one for pushing off, in the opening 2:59.

The 7-foot, 250-pounder showed his potential late. He drew sympathy cheers for hitting a jumper with five minutes to play and followed with a monstrous block, but was hardly the force inside Portland expects.

"He's been under the weather the last week or so. This is the summer league and we want guys to come out and play," said Portland coach Nate McMillan. "There were four or fives times when we couldn't get the ball to him in the post."

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The sun smiled on Tony Parker and Eva Longoria's wedding day, breaking through after days of gray Paris skies. Their VIP guests, though, were concealed by big black umbrellas.

Glamour and security went hand-in-hand as the NBA champion and star of "Desperate Housewives" exchanged vows Saturday in a church across from the Louvre Museum.

The Roman Catholic ceremony at the Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois Church -- frequented by French royalty in centuries past -- was stage two in a weekend wedding extravaganza.

First, the mayor of Paris pronounced Parker and Longoria husband and wife in a civil ceremony Friday. Then a priest married them Saturday afternoon. Next up: an exclusive bash at a storied French chateau.

Stars of all stripes -- actors, athletes, musicians -- joined the couple for their nuptials.

Longoria's fellow "Housewives" garnered the most attention from several hundred mostly French fans outside the church, who booed bodyguards for blocking their view.

Teri Hatcher, in a silky blue gown, came with her 9-year-old daughter Emerson Rose. Felicity Huffman, in a beige dress with ruffled v-neck collar, brought husband William H. Macy. Nicolette Sheridan wore a strapless pink gown.

Marcia Cross, who stars in the series as Bree and recently gave birth to twins, was not expected to attend.

Sheryl Crow and the head coach for the San Antonio Spurs, Greg Popovich, were among guests who didn't stay concealed behind the huge black umbrellas bodyguards used to shield them from public view.

Police also erected 10-foot-high wooden panels in front of the church, and the bride and groom kept well out of sight.

After the guests and wedding party left in red buses and a black Rolls Royce, fans stormed the church, grabbing up the white lilies spread out across the large medieval hall.

The Rev. Dominique Schubert told The Associated Press that he formally married the 25-year-old Parker and 32-year-old Longoria in a full Catholic wedding ceremony. He gave no details.

For the civil ceremony, Parker, who was born in Belgium and grew up in France, asked Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe to officiate. Parker's friends translated when Delanoe gave a speech calling the basketball star a model in the fight against racism.

"I married a friend to the woman he loves. It was touching, moving, very warm and at the same time very relaxed," Delanoe said on RTL radio Saturday.

And romantic, he added: "They kiss all the time."

He praised Longoria's choice of dresses and designer -- she wore a pink Chanel mini dress on her way into the town hall, but changed into a white dress in the district mayor's office. French law requires a civil ceremony even when couples marry in a church.

Saturday started gray but the skies cleared by the time the wedding guests arrived at the church. Fans stood through drizzle and shine.

"I love the series and I came out today for the chance to see Eva, the 'American in Paris,"' said Lola Michot, a 16-year-old high school student from the eastern French city of Besancon. She waited outside the church for hours for a glimpse.

Heather Biehl, a 34-year-old English teacher from San Francisco now living in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence, came across the hubbub with her mother and very excited 8-year-old daughter.

"The atmosphere was crazy out here. I thought maybe it was (French President) Nicolas Sarkozy," she said.

The couple and their entourage have given very few details about the wedding, but media reports said they were to follow the religious service with a bash at Vaux-le-Vicomte, a 17th century chateau 35 miles southeast of Paris.

[IQ]

The sun smiled on Tony Parker and Eva Longoria's wedding day, breaking through after days of gray Paris skies. Their VIP guests, though, were concealed by big black umbrellas.

Glamour and security went hand-in-hand as the NBA champion and star of "Desperate Housewives" exchanged vows Saturday in a church across from the Louvre Museum.

The Roman Catholic ceremony at the Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois Church -- frequented by French royalty in centuries past -- was stage two in a weekend wedding extravaganza.

First, the mayor of Paris pronounced Parker and Longoria husband and wife in a civil ceremony Friday. Then a priest married them Saturday afternoon. Next up: an exclusive bash at a storied French chateau.

Stars of all stripes -- actors, athletes, musicians -- joined the couple for their nuptials.

Longoria's fellow "Housewives" garnered the most attention from several hundred mostly French fans outside the church, who booed bodyguards for blocking their view.

Teri Hatcher, in a silky blue gown, came with her 9-year-old daughter Emerson Rose. Felicity Huffman, in a beige dress with ruffled v-neck collar, brought husband William H. Macy. Nicolette Sheridan wore a strapless pink gown.

Marcia Cross, who stars in the series as Bree and recently gave birth to twins, was not expected to attend.

Sheryl Crow and the head coach for the San Antonio Spurs, Greg Popovich, were among guests who didn't stay concealed behind the huge black umbrellas bodyguards used to shield them from public view.

Police also erected 10-foot-high wooden panels in front of the church, and the bride and groom kept well out of sight.

After the guests and wedding party left in red buses and a black Rolls Royce, fans stormed the church, grabbing up the white lilies spread out across the large medieval hall.

The Rev. Dominique Schubert told The Associated Press that he formally married the 25-year-old Parker and 32-year-old Longoria in a full Catholic wedding ceremony. He gave no details.

For the civil ceremony, Parker, who was born in Belgium and grew up in France, asked Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe to officiate. Parker's friends translated when Delanoe gave a speech calling the basketball star a model in the fight against racism.

"I married a friend to the woman he loves. It was touching, moving, very warm and at the same time very relaxed," Delanoe said on RTL radio Saturday.

And romantic, he added: "They kiss all the time."

He praised Longoria's choice of dresses and designer -- she wore a pink Chanel mini dress on her way into the town hall, but changed into a white dress in the district mayor's office. French law requires a civil ceremony even when couples marry in a church.

Saturday started gray but the skies cleared by the time the wedding guests arrived at the church. Fans stood through drizzle and shine.

"I love the series and I came out today for the chance to see Eva, the 'American in Paris,"' said Lola Michot, a 16-year-old high school student from the eastern French city of Besancon. She waited outside the church for hours for a glimpse.

Heather Biehl, a 34-year-old English teacher from San Francisco now living in the southern French city of Aix-en-Provence, came across the hubbub with her mother and very excited 8-year-old daughter.

"The atmosphere was crazy out here. I thought maybe it was (French President) Nicolas Sarkozy," she said.

The couple and their entourage have given very few details about the wedding, but media reports said they were to follow the religious service with a bash at Vaux-le-Vicomte, a 17th century chateau 35 miles southeast of Paris.

to ham baa in khabar haaye evat.

[abadani69]

shoohar kard raftesh peye zendegish dige IQ. man vo tu vo Siamak ham hich kheiri azash nadidim

[IQ]

Maybe next time

[abadani69]

Top pick Greg Oden's second summer league game with the Portland Trail Blazers was better than his first, but still not up to the high profile center's expectations.

Two days after he was disqualified with 10 fouls in 20 minutes, Oden had 13 points, five rebounds and nine fouls Sunday in a 72-68 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Summer league rules allow for 10 personals.

"I felt more comfortable, but we lost so it doesn't matter," Oden said. "I'm all about winning."

Oden picked up his ninth foul with 3 minutes, 23 seconds to play, but didn't foul out. Fouling out twice, with double the amount of fouls at his disposal from this winter at Ohio State, would have been embarrassing, he said.

"The guys tell me it won't be like this during the regular season," said Oden, who scored four points in the final minute. "They are trying out new guys (referees) who are trying to make a good impression."

Oden had six points, three rebounds and three fouls in 14 first half minutes. He picked up his first foul 36 seconds into the game, but appeared more comfortable. He had three fouls in the first 2:59 Friday and spent most of the game on the bench.

The 7-foot, 250-pound Oden had three blocks in the first quarter and took out some frustration with a backboard-rattling dunk that resulted in a technical for hanging on the rim. He finished with four blocks.

"I need to start bringing it to guys and establish how I will play in the regular season," Oden said.

Oden played with more energy and aggression, Portland coach Nate McMillan said. Assistant Monty Williams is coaching the summer team, but McMillan has attended both games.

"What I really want him to do is get his feet wet and have some fun," McMillan said. "These guys are all fighting for jobs and he already has one. He's going to see the best from everybody."

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For Stan Van Gundy, a moment during the Orlando Magic's summer league practices last week simply reaffirmed how much he wanted to be back on the sideline.

His plan during those workouts was to merely observe, letting assistants Steve Clifford, Brendan Malone and Bob Beyer run practices. But as the hours went along, Van Gundy, who hadn't been part of an NBA practice since resigning from the Miami Heat in December 2005, just couldn't stop himself from doing what he does best -- coaching.

"I really did try to sort of sit back and watch practice, but I just kept drifting down to the court more and more," Van Gundy said. "I didn't overstep what those guys were doing, but my voice started to be heard a little more. It's hard to stay away and see things and I'm looking forward to being back."

He's back, sort of, this week, overseeing the Magic's entry in the six-team Pepsi Pro Summer League, which opened Monday at Orlando's practice facility. Van Gundy watched games from a private room above the gym, sipping his omnipresent diet soda while rows of NBA coaches, executives and agents watched from courtside. Van Gundy considered running the summer league team, but eventually delegated the head-coach role to Clifford, part of his newly hired staff.

"I actually wanted to see them work a little bit, because it's some guys that I haven't worked with, guys that I knew but haven't worked with," Van Gundy said. "And then the other thing is when you're in the middle of it coaching, you've got to concentrate on making the whole thing work and I really wanted to concentrate on watching a few guys. You can do that a lot easier if you're not having to worry about how guys are playing the pick-and-roll and stuff."

Van Gundy was hired by the Magic last month, agreeing to a deal after Billy Donovan decided to leave Florida for the job, then changed his mind to return to the two-time defending NCAA champion Gators. So far, Van Gundy's chosen his staff -- Patrick Ewing, who isn't at summer league because of shoulder surgery, is among his four assistants -- and seen the Magic come to terms with marquee free agent Rashard Lewis, who could sign a five-year deal as early as Wednesday.

But it's been a busy time in more than a basketball sense for Van Gundy, too. His family is still in South Florida, where he spent more than a decade as an assistant. He eventually -- and temporarily -- succeeded Pat Riley as coach of the Heat, winning more than 60 percent of his games as head coach and leading them to the 2005 Eastern Conference finals. He's stayed in Miami since resigning, but will formally move to Central Florida in early August.

"Time very well spent," Van Gundy said of his hiatus from coaching, which began with his unexpected decision to resign as coach and become a consultant in the Heat organization on Dec. 12, 2005. "I was with my family more in a year and a half than I had been the rest of the time I'd been in Miami. And I hope, I expect -- although I don't know for sure -- that it'll carry over even though I'm back away again."

He looked rested and relaxed Monday in an untucked shirt and black slacks, shaking hands with former colleagues and seemed genuinely happy to be around the game again -- further convincing him that the time was right to be back in the NBA.

"We haven't lost yet," Van Gundy said. "We have not lost. We're undefeated. It's been great."

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First-round draft pick Sean Williams has signed with the New Jersey Nets.

As the 17th pick, Williams will earn $1,180,500 his rookie year and $1,269,100 his second year. The Nets have options for the third and fourth years.

The 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward played 69 games in three years at Boston College, leading the team in blocks each season. But he had repeated disciplinary problems and was dismissed from the team by coach Al Skinner after playing 15 games this past season.

In those 15 games he averaged 12.1 points and 6.9 rebounds while setting a school record with 75 blocked shots.

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After opting out of his contract and looking for a better deal elsewhere, swingman Devean George is coming back to the Dallas Mavericks.

George has agreed to a roughly $2.4 million, one-year deal that keeps him as a reserve on one of the NBA's top teams and puts him in position for a bigger payday next summer, agent Mark Bartelstein said Monday.

George would've made around $2 million under the deal he signed last summer, but opted out of it last month. Bartelstein spoke with several teams, only to find that the best combination of salary and championship potential came from Dallas.

Part of the lure was that after this season the Mavs will hold George's "Bird rights," which means they can sign him again for a larger salary without certain salary cap implications.

"His goal was to come back," Bartelstein said. "But you want to take a look around and make sure you're not bypassing something that really was significant. It would've taken something major to take him out of Dallas."

The deal can't be finalized before Wednesday, and team officials can't comment before then. However, president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said recently that the club was committed to bringing back its key players -- as demonstrated by the re-signing of Jerry Stackhouse late last week.

George and Stackhouse were part of a strong bench that helped the Mavericks win 67 games, fifth-best in league history, before a stunning first-round playoff loss to Golden State.

George, who turns 30 next month, averaged 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds last season. He played 60 games, starting 17, and averaged 21.4 minutes. Coach Avery Johnson likes having him as a defensive ace, especially against perimeter players. George played his first seven years with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning three titles and reaching the finals a fourth time.

Bartelstein said the early playoff exit with Dallas didn't discourage George. If anything, it made him want to return, especially after seeing Golden State's Baron Davis turn in the kind of offensive performance George was supposed to snuff. The Mavs realized they needed another stopper after being purged by Miami's Dwyane Wade in the 2006 NBA finals.

"He was disappointed because he was hurt, he wasn't himself in the playoffs," Bartelstein said, citing a late-season knee injury. "He wants to contribute more to help the team get to the (championship) level."

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Free agent swingman Morris Peterson was in Salt Lake City, looking forward to meeting with the Utah Jazz.

"I'm going to their facility in the morning to talk with ownership, general manager Kevin O'Connor and people on the coaching staff and in the front office," Peterson said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Sunday night. "Since I have some control as a free agent, I really want to play with a winner, like the Jazz, and with a team that believes in me."

Peterson, who turns 30 next month, said Detroit, New Jersey, Cleveland, New Orleans, Miami and Toronto have expressed an interest in him. He has spent his entire seven-season career with the Raptors.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound Peterson, who can play shooting guard or small forward, has career averages of 12 points along with nearly four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

His production and playing time fell last season -- averaging 8.9 points and 21.4 minutes -- one season after career highs in scoring (16., rebounding (4.6), steals (1.3) and minutes (3 a game.

Peterson produced sporadically during a first-round series against the Nets in the 2007 playoffs. He scored 17 points in Toronto's Game 5 win, then had nine points, eight rebounds, two steals and a block in the next game when the Raptors were eliminated.

After helping Michigan State win the 2000 national championship, Peterson was drafted 21st overall by the Raptors. He averaged 14 points in his second and third NBA season and 12 1/2 in his fourth season.

As a restricted free agent in 2004, the New Orleans Hornets signed Peterson to a $15 million, three-year offer sheet and Toronto retained him by matching the deal.

As an unrestricted free agent, Peterson might get a contract for the midlevel exception that will pay as much as $6 million annually.

"Some of the big free agents like Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Chauncey Billups have done their deals already, so I think it's going to start picking up for a lot of other free agents still out there," Peterson said. "A lot of teams have contracts with their first-round picks done, too, so they can really start focusing on free agency.

"I don't have any other visits set up right now and I've got my basketball camp Tuesday back home in Flint, so I'm ready to find a comfortable fit wherever that may be for the next step in my career.

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In his player biography, Milwaukee Bucks guard Mo Williams says Miami is his favorite NBA city. Heat coach Pat Riley hopes to find out in the coming days if that's the case.

Riley spoke Monday of his weekend recruiting session with the free agent point guard, clearly hopeful that Williams -- who averaged career-bests of 17.3 points and 6.1 assists with the Bucks this past season -- will accept a deal to play alongside 2006 NBA finals MVP Dwyane Wade in the Heat's backcourt for the coming years.

"We had a great conversation," Riley said. "We know what the score is. We're very interested."

The problem, of course, is money. Miami can only offer Williams the mid-level exception, which would mean the most he could earn in a five-year deal with the Heat is about $35 million. The Bucks, however, could offer substantially more, and are already believed to have made an offer in the $40 million range.

"We know what the deal is," Riley said while taking a break from watching the Heat's summer league team play in Orlando. "We know where we are and what we can do and what they can do. It's really up to him. I think he would be great with our team. He's 24 and I think he and Dwyane would be a great backcourt for a long time, but he's got to make a major decision."

Free agents can begin signing contracts Wednesday.

Williams' agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Monday that no decisions had been made about where Williams will play next season. Bartelstein also represents, among others, Heat forward James Posey, another free agent who is weighing a return to Miami along with other offers.

"I'm talking with Mark every day, seeing how things work out," Riley said. "But we know what our priority is and we've got to try to take care of that first."

That priority is point guard, largely because the Heat have concerns about the health of incumbent starter Jason Williams -- who has battled several injuries during his two seasons in Miami and is rehabbing this summer at his home in Central Florida, not far from where summer league is being held. Riley said he hopes to meet with Jason Williams before returning to Miami.

"It doesn't mean that Jason Williams is out-of-sight, out-of-mind," Riley said. "He's working very hard to get healthy. ... But we have to cover ourselves."