Fishing For Rubio: Several days ago there were reports from Spain suggesting that Ricky Rubio was nearing a two-year deal with powerhouse Real Madrid. However since those reports things have gone silent. Timberwolves' president David Kahn who just returned from Spain told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix recently that he doubted seriously that Rubio was closing in on a deal.

Sources near Rubio's camp have said for weeks to be careful about the Spanish media's reporting of Rubio as he is the hottest news going right now, and that the slightest hint of him staying in Spain is huge news.

Those same sources continue to classify the interest from Euroleague teams as a real threat, saying those teams are working hard to get in front of Ricky's family to try and sway him away from the NBA.

The latest news is that David Kahn's meeting with DKV Joventut was cordial and both sides had an open dialogue about Ricky's value to both teams, nothing was agreed upon, the Wolves offered to help in any way possible to expedite Ricky's release but their hands are tied with what they can offer.

There is continued belief that Joventut's best option may be to sell Rubio's contract outright and that would present an entirely new wrinkle for both sides as it would not yield Rubio the millions other teams are offering, and he'd still be tied to the enormous contract buyout for two more years.

Mavs Nab Gooden: The Dallas Mavericks reached terms with forward Drew Gooden on a one-year, $5 million deal ($4.5 million is guaranteed). The Gooden signing is a solid move for the Mavericks who gain some much needed size and offense in the front court and are not tied to Gooden long-term.

The Mavericks may end up losing center Ryan Hollins, who has been talking with the Indiana Pacers about a deal, however the Pacers' recent signing of Solomon Jones to a two-year deal at the NBA minimum might derail those plans.

The Mavericks still have roughly $800,000 of their median exception to use on additional players. The Mavericks have been linked recently to the Celtics free agent forward Leon Powe and the remaining dollars the Mavericks possess could go in his direction if Powe passes on the Cavaliers, who are also talking with him.

The Mavericks roster stands at 15 contracts.

Flip Murray Headed To Philadelphia? The 76ers have been talking to reserve caliber guards for the past two weeks, most recently making an offer to C.J. Watson that was turned away.

Word today is they may be closing in on an agreement with Ronald "Flip" Murray, who is considering a two-year deal with the 76ers.

The 76ers are also talking with Ty Lue, Jason Hart, Carlos Arroyo, Bobby Jackson, Juan Dixon, Brevin Knight and Luther Head.

David Lee and Lil' Nate: With the free agent market drying up the consensus around the Knicks is that they may not lose restricted free agents David Lee and Nate Robinson as once expected - in fact, both players seem to be warming up to the idea of one-year deals with the Knicks and becoming unrestricted free agents next year. Reports from the region suggest that Robinson may have reached terms on a one-year, $5 million deal, while David Lee is rumored to have a $7.5 million offer on the table.

Lee's camp is still pushing for long-term security and with so many teams interested in a sign-and-trade deals Lee's camp is holding out that a bigger longer deal can be obtained.

At the end of the day it's looking more and more likely that both players take one-year offers and stay in New York than actually finding the deals they seek elsewhere, especially not as restricted free agents.

Big Baby To New Jersey? Justin Poulin of Celtics Stuff Live, a weekly Celtics' TV show on Comcast in Boston, is suggesting that a sign-and-trade deal involving forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis may be in the works.

The rumored deal would send Davis to the New Jersey Nets in a deal that would return forward Yi Jianlian, who is slated to earn just over $3 million this season.

The Nets do hold a Traded Player Exception from the Vince Carter trade and could absorb any Base-Year Compensation differences. Boston president Danny Ainge has been a long-time admirer of Yi, while the Nets have been the heaviest suitor for Big Baby over the past two weeks. Sources near either team could not confirm the deal.

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"Frankly, I've tried to tell everybody that I don't think we're at the top of Iverson's list, but no one wants to listen. All it is, we're basically opening up cap room for us."

Heisley did not rule out Warrick returning to the Grizzlies, saying his club would be open to matching offers he received.

"We may ultimately sign him again, but I'm not sure we liked the idea of signing him to a one-year contract," Heisley said. "So I think that what we're doing is, in effect, saying, 'If you can get an offer from somebody else, go get it.'"

"I felt like I kind of knew him already," McMillan said to Jason Quick of The Oregonian. "Because in a sense, we were similar as players, as far as not being great scorers or shooters, but we made our teams better because of our feel for the game and our I.Q."

"We wanted to raise our I.Q., and we do with this," McMillan said. "He just has a feel for the game. He will be a guy who will know the sets, put players in their spots."

"The big thing is that we were able to raise our basketball IQ without giving up guys," McMillan said. "It's almost like we got Miller for Sergio (Rodriguez). And now, this is an opportunity for Bayless to be tutored by (Miller)."