The Pacers have signed forward Danny Granger to a five-year contract extension worth between $60 million and $64 million dollars.

"I think it?s great for Danny and the Pacers," Granger?s agent, Mark Bartelstein said. "I think (president) Larry Bird and (general manager) David Morway and (owner) Herb Simon did a terrific job in being proactive here. There were a lot of long conversations with David, Larry, myself and my associate Aaron Mintz.

"You have a great emerging player. I think the Pacers are trying to rebuild the franchise and I think to let Danny get into restricted free agency when you never know what could happen, I think it was a terrific move on their part to get Danny locked up. It shows how much he means to them."

The extension will begin next season.

Stephon Marbury will be inactive for Friday's game between the Knicks and Sixers in Philadelphia and Mike D'Antoni says that Marbury will remain inactive for the foreseeable future.

"Either he has a big part of the pie or none and [Wednesday] night was none," Mike D'Antoni said. "And he felt it was tough just sitting there like that. So if we were going to go for that decision, then we decided that it would be probably better that he doesn?t dress. Otherwise, it's hard for him to sit there. I understood that."

"I?m not frusturated at all," Marbury said. "I have no control over it. If it was raining outside, I can't get mad if it?s raining. I?ve got to go get an umbrella and then walk in the rain. I have no control over the situation. The coach makes the decision on who plays and who?s not going to play and obviously, right now he feels like I?m not one of the guys that?s going to be playing."

Speaking about whether he felt he had played his last game in a Knick uniform, Marbury said, "I didn't go that far. I?m not there. I?m not in that place."

"I want to stress, he?s been great," D'Antoni said. "He did everything we asked, he came ready. So it?s really just two things collided and I just couldn?t make this fit. I want to be respectful to him and everything, he?s been in the league a long time. This is the best thing I can come up with."

Anthony Roberson will be activated for Friday's game.

The Blazers reportedly signed swingman Martell Webster to a four-year contract extension on Friday afternoon.

Webster's agent Bob Myers told ESPN that his client has signed a four-year extension with the Blazers believed to be worth $20 million.

The fourth season of Webster's new contract, which will kick in next season, is a team option.

Webster is expected to miss two months while recovering from recent foot surgery.

The Jazz will not pick up the third-year option on the contract of guard Morris Almond, who spent a majority of last season in the NBDL.

Almond said he was told by Utah GM Kevin O'Connor that the team would not exercise the option, worth $1.157 million, to bring him back for the 2009-10 season.

"I've seen that coming for a while," Almond said, who added that the team has been trying to trade him in recent weeks.

Rockets center Yao Ming doesn't like that the 2010 NBA All-Star Game will be played at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington.

"In a football stadium?" Yao said. "Are you sure? A football stadium? That?s just too far. It will feel like playing outdoors."

He recalled that he played in a football stadium at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis, and found the notion more acceptable.

"It?s not a bad idea. I?ll be retired already," he joked, "so I don?t worry about it."

Indiana forward Danny Granger believes that the team can play with anyone in the NBA, including the defending-champion Celtics, whom the Pacers will host on Saturday.

"Against Boston, we have a good chance of winning the game," Granger said. "They're the world champions, but we feel we can play with anybody."

The Pacers lost to the Pistons in a close game on Wednesday. The deadline was Friday for Indiana to extend the contract of Granger, who will become a restricted free agent next summer if not agreement is reached.

The Knicks had serious discussions with the Warriors about a trade involving Eddy Curry and Al Harrington, but talks ended when Golden State insisted that they receive David Lee in the deal as well.

The Golden State Warriors have exercised the third-year contract options on guard Marco Belinelli and forward Brandan Wright and declined the fourth-year contract option on guard Marcus Williams, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.

Under the terms of the NBA?s current collective bargaining agreement, the first two years of a first round draft pick?s contract are guaranteed, while the third and fourth year of the contract are the team?s option.  Belinelli was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Warriors while Wright was selected with the eighth overall selection in that same draft by the Charlotte Bobcats and later acquired by Golden State.  The Warriors acquired Williams ? the 22nd pick in the 2006 NBA Draft ? from the New Jersey Nets on July 22, 2008.

The Boston Celtics announced today that the club has exercised the fourth year option on guard Rajon Rondo. Per team policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The third-year product out of Kentucky averaged 10.6 points, 5.1 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.68 steals last season.  Rondo also averaged 10.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.73 steals during the Celtics run to their 17th NBA Championship last spring. During the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, Rondo started for the Sophomore team in the Rookie Challenge scoring six points and had six assists in 18 minutes.  The former Wildcat was originally acquired in a draft night trade from the Phoenix Suns along with Brian Grant and cash considerations in exchange for a future first round pick on June 28, 2006.

76ers' swingman Andre Iguodala has been inspired by the World Series triumph of the Philadelphia Phillies.

"We're trying to win a championship . . . that's our goal," Iguodala said Wednesday.

"Last year, we lost our first game, and we said we were building. Now, we've got to get it rolling. Even though there are some new guys here, we've got to keep pushing, get that ball rolling faster, rather than waiting around until February to start playing well."

Iguodala took the microphone prior to the team's opener, a loss to the Raptors on Wednesday night, and expressed his excitement over the Phillies' success.