After a relatively quiet offseason, the Rockets started training camp Tuesday with the attention-grabbing clap of a pair of major roster moves.

The Rockets sent veteran forward Glen Rice and two draft picks -- next season's first-round pick and a pick acquired from Chicago -- to Utah to pick up center John Amaechi and a chunk of spending money. They then immediately used the extra cash to sign free-agent shooter-for-hire Jim Jackson to a three-year contract worth, according to sources familiar with the deal, $7.3 million.

Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said the deals were made to free the Rockets from the luxury tax hit they expected without hurting themselves and even potentially strengthening the roster at small forward.

"It's just so much easier to live under the cap," Dawson said. "If you can't do that, you try to live under the luxury tax (because of) the restrictions. This enabled us to get under the luxury tax and enabled us to get Jim Jackson."

The Rockets sent Rice, in the final season of a contract that uses $9.6 million of cap space, to Utah along with the draft choice next season for Amaechi and a second-round pick. The trade moved them from $59.5 million in guaranteed contracts to $53 million, $2 million less than the figure expected to trigger the luxury tax.

Having moved from that threat, they were free to sign Jackson, who had long been considered the top free agent still on the market.

The trade with the Jazz also gave the Rockets a $7 million trade exception, the difference between Rice's and Amaechi's contracts, potentially allowing them to trade for a player that makes as much as $7 million more than a player dealt in any trade in the next 12 months.  

Though such a deal would return the Rockets to a luxury tax hit, the trade exception is considered valuable for future trades and is especially useful when acquired after the summer free-agency period because it could potentially be used in a sign-and-trade free-agent deal next summer.

"It loosens us up so if something else comes up, we're able to look at it," Dawson said. "A lot of people were in our situation as far as the luxury tax goes. Right now, we're out of it, so that's a big relief. We're one of the people that can do some things if the right thing comes up."

The Jazz are expected to approach Rice about a buyout of his contract. Rice would not discuss the deal or his plans.

"We're going to sit down with him and his agent and go from there," Jazz vice president Kevin O'Connor said.

Gerald Wallace made himself a fan favorite during his first two seasons with the Kings by coming off the bench late in games and throwing down acrobatic, artistic dunks.
But those days are over.

He'll still be a fan favorite for his dunks. But if things go according to the plan of Wallace, coach Rick Adelman and assistant coach Elston Turner, the small forward will become more valuable because of consistent, thoughtful play with games on the line.

Wallace no longer will be an afterthought for Adelman, not with the trade of forward Hedo Turkoglu and the team's decision to not re-sign veteran forward-guard Jim Jackson. The 6-foot-7, 21-year-old Wallace is slated to back up All-Star Peja Stojakovic.

Turner has worked with Wallace for most of the past two seasons. The assistant coach has been pleased by improvement he's seen during workouts. Now, the coaches want to see Wallace apply what he's learned in practice during games.

"One of the things I've been working on is trying to get his head right," Turner said. "Every young guy in the league is told that his time will come. Well, the door opened so wide for him this summer, it was incredible. The two players who played in front of him are no longer here.

"And his production will be gauged by consistency. It's not about playing well for five or six minutes. It's about doing it in a league where you sometimes play three or four games a week."

Mateen Cleaves, the former Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings point guard whose early NBA career has been plagued by foot trouble, is expected to join the team for the beginning of workouts tomorrow, but he doesn't have a guaranteed contract. Players with three or fewer years of NBA experience are expected to report, with veterans scheduled to begin two-a-day workouts Friday. . . .

If Chris Webber had a hand in bringing booster Ed Martin into the University of Michigan athletics fray, then Webber should pay.

If school officials were completely ignorant of the fact that Martin was giving players money, including Webber, then Webber should pay.

But school officials are off base in their request that Webber fork over $600,000 to make up for lost NCAA Tournament revenue and legal expenses.

Michigan acts as if it is an innocent victim. It is not. The current players and coaches are innocent victims. The people who let Martin into the program are not innocent.

Chris Webber's sentencing on a contempt charge was delayed for two years while the star basketball player participates in a summer reading program with Detroit schoolchildren, a federal judge said Tuesday. If Webber fulfills that obligation, he likely won't face further punishment.

"I'm not ready to make a final determination whether it's a misdemeanor or a felony," U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds said Tuesday of Webber's contempt charge.

After the five-minute hearing, attended by Webber and a throng of reporters, assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, the lead prosecutor on the case, stormed out of the courtroom without commenting.

Edmunds said she was swayed, in part, by "scores of letters" she received from Webber's supporters.

"I believe that Mr. Webber understands the seriousness of his offense and that he's remorseful," Edmunds said.

For the next two summers, Webber will serve as a mentor in the Butzel Middle School summer program, spending 150 hours each in 2004 and 2005 teaching reading, math, science and living skills to the children.

The summer school will last four to six weeks, and is run by a number of agencies and organizations -- including the Spencer Haywood Foundation. Haywood, a former University of Detroit and NBA star, attended the hearing.

A bill by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg that could provide a way to build a Sacramento Kings arena downtown was sent to the governor Friday as the legislative session drew to a close.

As lawmakers raced to finish business for the year, a number of other bills inched their way out of committee, including new contracts for state employees, which were pending.

The Steinberg bill would allow business owners to set fees on themselves to float bonds and pay for public works like a sports arena. Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said he introduced the bill in the waning days of the session at the request of Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo and other city and business officials.

Under the bill, which was approved earlier by the Senate, businesses would have the choice of whether to assess themselves, Steinberg said. A business improvement district would be formed if businesses that collectively pay 50 percent of the proposed fees petition the city.

"This bill is a tool for local government's toolbox," Steinberg said. "(It) will give the city the ability to voluntarily ask business owners to participate in the redevelopment of important portions of their city."

But opponents said AB 944 violates the spirit of Proposition 218, which limits local governments' ability to raise taxes, fees and assessments without voter approval.

And they raised the prospect that taxpayers could be left holding the bag if the businesses defaulted on the bond.

With training camp three weeks away, the Kings received troubling news Monday that forward Peja Stojakovic sprained his left ankle at the European Championships in Boras, Sweden.

Stojakovic, playing for defending champion Serbia and Montenegro, was hurt in the first quarter of an 80-76 victory over Turkey. He lost his balance and fell, left the game and did not return.

Kings spokesman Troy Hanson said he did not have an update on the severity of Stojakovic's injury. He also said that president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie was en route to Sweden for the tournament, unaware of Stojakovic's injury. The Kings expect to learn more today.

The Kings open training camp Sept. 29 for players with four years or less experience. Veterans such as Stojakovic, entering his sixth year, report Oct. 3. The season begins Oct. 29 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In May 2002, Stojakovic sprained his right ankle in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks. He missed six playoff games, then came off the bench for Games 5, 6 and 7 of the conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

A last-minute bill by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg could provide a way to pay for a downtown arena for the Sacramento Kings.

The Sacramento Democrat introduced a bill this week to allow businesses to assess themselves to pay off long-term bonds issued to raise money for such projects as the downtown arena.

Mayor Heather Fargo said the proposed law would pave the way for creating a funding source for an arena -- something arena backers have been scrambling to find. The latest move, she said, could help everything fall into place.

"This moves us ahead as we decide whether we can afford to do it or want to do it," Fargo said.

The city is looking for the best way to redevelop the largely vacant 240-acre Union Pacific railyard, adjacent to downtown and Old Sacramento.

Fargo and others see it as a one-time chance to redefine the city's downtown by adding a mix of restaurants, shops, clubs, offices and apartments. It's also seen as the most likely spot for a new arena, one built partly with public funds.

The estimated total cost of the project and surrounding infrastructure -- the amount varying by scope -- ranges from $300 million to $500 million.

By itself, the bond money likely wouldn't be enough, though it's a critical component, Fargo said. The project's backers also are considering a hotel tax, parking revenues and land donations by property owners, with 15 percent to 25 percent of the total cost paid by the sports teams.