HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

The Writing On The Wall:  Mavericks’ guard Jason Terry got his championship last year with the Dallas Mavericks, and this offseason he hoped he’d get a contract extension that would carry him to the end of his playing career in Dallas.

The problem is the Mavericks have other plans and while Terry is optimistic about this Mavericks team’s chances this year, he understands there will be some decisions to be made this summer when he hits unrestricted free agency.

“My main goal was to come back and retire a Maverick,” Terry said to Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida. “After no extension this past offseason, I figure it may be time for me to move on. But you never know… I would love to (continue) in a Maverick uniform, don’t get me wrong. But we’ll see what happens… They said they want me back. But you can say all you want, you got to show me. Like Jerry Maguire said, ‘Show me the money.’”

Terry said the Mavs didn’t try and make a low dollar offer; they simply didn’t make an offer of any kind.

“They didn’t even lowball me,” Terry said. “They didn’t want to bring anybody back from last year… (Team officials said they’re) clearing the cap as low as we can and this summer we’re going after Dwight Howard, which hasn’t happened, and Deron Williams, which they still have an opportunity.”

Terry said he’s keeping his mind open about where he’ll play next year and admitted last night in Miami that saddling up with the HEAT would be a situation he’d consider.

“Pat Riley is a great guy and what he’s done with the organization is tremendous,” explained Terry.

“No question, they need a veteran shooter, a guy who can score besides LeBron (James) and (Dwyane Wade), and they know they can count on. I’m a guy that’s been in this league 13 years, (averaging) 15 points a night, easy. Off the bench or the starting lineup, it doesn’t matter. So I think I’d be an asset to them.”

Terry is in the final year of his deal with Dallas that will pay him $10.6 million.

Sources close to the situation say Terry is not willing to take a discount to remain in Dallas, although remaining in Dallas would be his first choice; it would simply have to be at a fair market price.

Terry who will turn 35 in September says he wants to play for several more years and then has eyes on becoming a coach.

That’s not a hard thing to envision and given how much Terry has meant to the Mavericks, it would not be surprising to see terry on the sidelines for the Mavs when his playing days are over.

Quite The Homecoming:  Derek Fisher and his new Thunder team took apart the Lakers last night in Los Angeles, and while the return to LA for Fisher who was traded from the Lakers just 15 days ago was bittersweet he has come to peace with the move.

Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant has joked that he plans to recruit Fisher and former Laker Lamar Odom back to the team in the off-season; however Fisher doesn’t see that as likely.

“I think the door was shut pretty hard in terms of how [the trade] happened,” Fisher said to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports. “Obviously, the team felt they needed to move on. I have, as well.”

Fisher admitted he was a little surprised how the Lakers handled the decision to trade him, but understands that’s business in the NBA.

“I’ve always thought there are different ways to handle trades and waiver-type situations where there can be some more communication – not necessarily far in advance, but enough not to have to find out from the mailman or at the post office that you’ve been traded,” Fisher said. “And I’m not saying that’s what happened in this case, but I did wake up and I was traded. That’s the part that shocks you more than anything.”

Fisher was received well by the Lakers fans, and that did not go unnoticed by Fisher who played 13 seasons in the gold and purple.

“The fans here and the people here in the city and this community, regardless of where I play, will always have a very special place in my heart regardless to whether they applaud me or boo me because I’m on the other team,” Fisher said.

Fisher opted out of the player option year in his Laker contract that was traded to Houston leaving some $3.2 million in salary on the table.

The Thunder offered Fisher a $2.3 million deal for the balance of this season, leaving Fisher to be an unrestricted free agent in July.

Fisher will be 38 in August and says he wants to continue playing beyond this year.

Kings Almost Killed It:  The Maloof family almost killed their new arena in Sacramento this week when they refused to front a share of “pre-development costs” according to Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee.

The agreement reached between the city and the Kings during All-Star weekend last month required the Kings to contribute a sizable portion to the project, which the City wanted to include initial “pre-development costs”.

The Kings according to the report balked at the idea of contribution, expressing doubts that the city could actually complete a new building within the time frame agreed to in February.

As the deal appeared ready to implode, the NBA again stepped in and made the contribution on behalf of the Kings.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a released statement that the contribution said to be $200,000 was made in the spirit of the agreement reached last month.

“Following the agreement in principle … the parties have been attempting to reach agreement on funding the pre-development expenses that must be incurred in order for the project to move forward in a timely fashion,”

“Those discussions have stalled, but I have advised Mayor Johnson that the NBA will advance pre-development expenses on behalf of the Kings pending our report to the NBA Board of Governors at its meeting on April 12-13.” – NBA Commissioner David Stern

The city was requesting some $3.26 million from the Kings, $6.5 million from the city and $3.26 million from AEG who will operate the arena to begin work on the project.

The NBA contributed an “initial payment” of $200,000 on the Kings behalf.

The total price tag for the new building is said to be in the $400 million range.

The Kings had pledged to front some $73.25 million in costs, but were materially opposed to fronting “pre-development” costs.

The new proposed Sacramento arena is scheduled to open in 2015.

The Most Watched Knee In History:  Last Sunday Kentucky star and presumptive #1 overall pick Anthony Davis collided with Baylor big man Perry Jones.

Davis collapsed to the floor clutching his knee, while executives in Charlotte, New Orleans and Portland gasped as their prized pick writhed on the floor.

Davis returned to action later in the game and ended up punching his ticket to a Final Four matchup against Louisville tomorrow.

Davis said his knee was  fine, just a little sore after the game, but  admitted yesterday that he’s been getting round the clock treatment and that it’s about “90%”

“My knee is better,” Davis said to reporters. “I got a lot of treatment and rehab for it. I’ll be fine – just keep icing it, keep getting treatment.”

Davis even with what appears to be simply a bruised knee, is still hands down the top draft prospect in June’s NBA Draft.

There is no doubting that extra scrutiny is going to be placed on how Davis moves this weekend, especially given all the problems Portland’s Greg Oden has undergone trying to get his knee right.

A knee injury to the top draft prospect becomes very scary especially for the teams that may have a shot to grab him in the draft.

More Twitter:  Make sure you are following all of our guys on Twitter to insure you are getting the very latest from our team: @stevekylerNBA, @AlexKennedyNBA, @jfleminghoops, @TheRocketGuy, @EricPincus, @joelbrigham, @alexraskinNYC, @SusanBible, @DPageHoopsWorld , @stephenlitel , @stevesraptors, @TommyBeer and @YannisHW.

NBA Chats: There are two NBA chats today starting with Yannis Koutroupis who will drop his weekly chat at 11am EST. Yannis serves as a Senior NBA Writer and the College Basketball Editor for HOOPSWORLD so get your questions in early as Yannis’ chats fill up fast. HOOPSWORLD’s Alex Kennedy will host his his NBA chat at 1:00pm EST. You can always find the next upcoming chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats or if you are looking for a chat that already completed try here: Previous NBA Chats