The Nuggets continue to have interest in bringing in Bonzi Wells.

The club won't be able to offer him the kind of contract he and his agent have been seeking this summer, so it is unclear whether or not he would accept a one-year pact in order to try again a year from now.

When Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke returns from a European vacation, discussions will take place about interim basketball boss Mark Warkentien having his interim tag removed.

The move has been expected for more than a month, although it's unclear what title Warkentien, now director of player personnel, will have.

The Nuggets may use their mid-level exception to re-sign Reggie Evans and the forward has been impressed with the moves the club has made during the summer.

"They are doing what they are supposed to do," Evans said Saturday. "They're trying to make the team better."

The Cavaliers are also interested in Evans, as they continue to work on a Drew Gooden deal.

According to multiple team sources who spoke with the Rocky Mountain News, Kenyon Martin took part in pickup games with Carmelo Anthony and other teammates earlier this month at the Pepsi Center  

Martin remains on the trading block after being suspended for insubordination during the playoffs.

The Drew Gooden contract stalemate with the Cavaliers now seems to have frustrated both sides, the Akron Beacon-Journal is reporting.

Following initial contract talks earlier this month that showed a wide gap, Gooden's agents decided to pursue sign-and-trade options for the restricted free agent forward. Nothing has gotten done, and now it's the Cavaliers who might be getting antsy.

According to two league executives, the Cavs are hoping to schedule a meeting with free agent forward Reggie Evans next week and might also look to pursue another free agent big man, Lorenzen Wright.

It seems the team is looking to investigate other options in case the talks with Gooden don't work out, and it might also be trying to put pressure on him to accept the current deal on the table. The Cavs still have their $5.2 million midlevel exception, as well as the biannual exception to work with.

They own the rights to Gooden, so they can match any offers and also can sign him without using the exceptions. And re-signing Gooden still appears to be the Cavs' top priority.

Evans, however, is a player Cavs General Manager Danny Ferry has kept an eye on since last summer.

The Nuggets on Friday signed forward-center Jamal Sampson.

Terms of the deal were not released, but Sampson did make $745,248 as a member of the Kings this past season.

The 6-11 Sampson appeared in just 12 games in his only season with the Kings, averaging 0.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 3.2 minutes.

A source said Wednesday that the Nuggets will sign Jamal Sampson to a minimum contract that could pay $798,112 for a player with four years of service.

While George Karl wouldn't confirm the signing, he thinks his former player would be a good fit.

"We have to find young players that won't get big money," Karl said. "A lot of games in the NBA now you play small and fast. There is a percentage of games where you have to have a big body. Jamal is one of those guys."

It appears that Keith Van Horn will be on the market for a while yet, with David Falk revealing in the Rocky Mountain News that the Mavericks forward is on vacation and he and his client will have a meeting in the second week of August.

Could the Nuggets be part of his future?

"I don't think there's any question I want a shooting big (man) next year," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We need somebody to get people off (Carmelo Anthony). I would lean more toward a veteran. (Van Horn) has got to be one or two on that list."

Falk said a "number of teams" have expressed interest in the 6-foot-10 Van Horn but wouldn't be specific. Falk said it helps the Nuggets' cause that Van Horn lives in Evergreen.

"I would say that is attractive," Falk said.

Falk said he has talked with Karl "a number of times" about Van Horn. Karl believes the nine-year veteran would fit in well with his new spread offense.

Van Horn must take a big pay cut after making $15.7 million with the Mavericks. The Nuggets, who have 12 players under contract for $61.6 million and don't want to pay the luxury tax after $65.4 million, don't appear willing now to pay Van Horn much more than $2 million.

Falk wouldn't comment on salary or the possibility of a sign-and-trade. With disgruntled Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin on the block, there has been speculation Van Horn could be included in a deal with a high-priced Mavericks player such as Erick Dampier or Jerry Stackhouse for Martin.

Yakhouba Diawara, a native of Paris, turned down a reported two-year, $1.8 million offer from the Dallas Mavericks to sign with the Nuggets on Wednesday, according to a report in the Denver Post. Terms of the deal were not released, but it is expected to be a two-year deal at the league minimum.

"His integrity and character jumped off the page," Nuggets director of player personnel Mark Warkentien said. "After verbally agreeing to a minimum deal with us, and being offered a bigger deal, he turned it down. He is the type of person we want representing Denver."

Diawara said, "I think it was a better fit for me."

The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Diawara can play shooting guard and small forward for coach George Karl.

"(Karl) was the reason I came here. They played me at summer camp," Diawara said. "I've been here for a couple weeks and I'm just comfortable. Sometimes when you are comfortable you just go with it."

Nuggets coach George Karl was hoping to add ex-Utah Utes coach Rick Majerus as an assistant coach for the upcoming season, but after a day or two of pondering Majerus has declined the offer, the Rocky Mountain News is reporting.

"(Karl) offered me the job a month ago," Majerus said Monday. "But I can't move (to Denver) right now."

Majerus, who hasn't coached since leaving the University of Utah in January 2004 because of health reasons and has been working as an ESPN college analyst, lives in Milwaukee. He said much time is devoted to taking care of his ailing 81-year-mother, Alyce.

"If I could have gotten her to move, I might have taken it," said Majerus, who added he needs surgery on a knee but could return as a college coach as early as 2007-08.