Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune reports that the Chicago Bulls? number one priority this summer is to acquire a small forward. Smith says the Bulls will likely target Sacramento forward Hedo Turkoglu, Golden State?s Mike Dunleavy, and Memphis?s Shane Battier.

Smith feels Turkoglu would be the easiest to acquire since the Kings will be hard pressed to give him an extension due to commitments to other players on the team. Instead of losing Turkoglu, who will become a restricted free agent at the end of next season, for nothing, he suggests that the Bulls could offer their number one pick in the draft, assuming it is not in the top 3, Dalibor Bagaric, and a second round pick to acquire the talented forward. Turkoglu is said to be unhappy about losing his job in the rotation to Jim Jackson.

"I know I can't complain too much because attitude is important and it would be stupid of me to get too upset when we are winning," said Turkoglu, averaging seven points in about 18 minutes a game. "I know the people back home [in Turkey]?my parents, the fans?they are wondering what is going on."

Dunleavy could be the next easiest option. While the Bulls seem to be committed to Jay Williams as their future point guard, the present starter is Jamal Crawford. Should the Warriors lose Gilbert Arenas to free agency, point guard would become a need position for the Warriors- who were desperate for Jay Williams last summer. The Bulls could offer Jay Williams in exchange for Dunleavy, solving a logjam at point guard for the Bulls and logjam at small forward for the Warriors.

"I'm happy where I'm at," Dunleavy said. "No matter how poorly I do or how bad things are, this is only my rookie season. As a rookie, I haven't really been able to play through my mistakes. So when it comes time next year or a time after that, I'm going to appreciate playing big minutes. This organization had its reasons for picking me, a lot of reasons that don't have to do with being rookie of the year. They're expecting more things down the road. In the meantime, I'll let everybody else pass their judgments."

Finally, Shane Battier could fit the bill. Jerry West is known for being a guru when it comes to the NBA draft, however, Memphis will lose its selection in this years draft if it isn?t number one overall. They will acquire Houston?s pick, but if they make the playoffs, West is out of the lottery. Chicago could offer its lottery pick, again under the assumption it is not in the top 3, and Marcus Fizer for the Houston pick and Battier.

Battier is becoming one of the NBA?s best shooters and would bring a good defender to Chicago.

"I knew I wouldn't be in the same situation as I was last year, playing 40 minutes, so I wanted to become a very efficient player," Battier said. "The guys on the team and the coaches appreciate what I bring. I just try to come out and be valuable for our team, not just take up space on the floor. I'm a little bit awkward, but I get the job done."

John Denton of the Florida Today reports: Mike Miller understands why he was dealt to Memphis last month and believes the Orlando Magic did the right thing.

"I agree 100 percent they had to do something. That's another reason why it's hard to blame anybody," Miller said of his feelings toward the Magic. "They had to make a move. I think a lot of people were getting impatient and we weren't going anywhere. We were going to the first round of the playoffs and getting knocked off. We were a playoff team, but after a while people get impatient with just being a playoff team. It's funny to say that, but they had to make a move."

After being mentioned in trade talks for his entire Magic career, Miller was glad to finally have some closure.

"Then, I could just worry about basketball and my family and not worry all the time about where I was going to be," he said. "It's hard when you're starting a family and you're worrying about where you're going to live. But I'm excited because I have great coaches and one of the best GMs ever in Jerry West."

For the first time tonight, Mike Miller will enter the T.D. Waterhouse Centre as a visitor.

"It's going to be difficult as far as seeing all those people and not being apart of the Magic anymore," Miller said. "But I'm a Grizzly now. . . . I'm looking forward to growing with this team."
Miller was supposed to be part of Orlando's core along with Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. It never materialized like it was supposed to, in part because of Hill's injury-ridden career in Orlando, and now all that is left is what could have been.

"I used to think all the time about what we could have been with me, Grant and Mike," McGrady said. "I don't know what we would've been like. I think we'd be better than how we turned out, but I don't know that. I'll never know that."

Orlando Magic coach Doc Rivers concurs with McGrady.

"If Grant was healthy, you might make the case that the deal would not have been done," Magic Coach Doc Rivers acknowledged. "But you could also make the case that we needed to make a deal to get a post player still. We liked the possibilities of that lineup, though."

So tonight, Orlando gets closure according to the Orlando Sentinel's Jerry Brewer.

Ron Tillery of GoMemphis.com reports that while it may seem at first glance that Orlando has won the trade, the Grizzlies are ecstatic to have Miller.

"He's going to be a star, and there's no way we could get a player of his caliber in the draft," Griz coach Hubie Brown said of Miller. "We're talking about a primetime guy in our style of play."

The trade seems to be lopsided, but the trade answered needs for both teams. The emergence of Stromile Swift has also helped ease the loss of Drew Gooden.

Swift has averaged number's close to that of Gooden, but has been able to be more of a force on the defensive end blocking 3 shots per game in a 6-game stretch of double-doubles.

"The deal makes us a whole lot stronger," Griz center Lorenzen Wright said. "We just didn't have the (playing) time here for Drew."

The Magic admit Miller will not be easily replaced, but they are excited to see where this trade will take them.

"We can't replace Mike Miller," General Manager John Gabriel said. "He is a good player, and his best years are ahead of him. What we want to do now is work with this group, keep improving and see what we can do."

Even McGrady feels good about this team, despite the fact his best friend is not included.

"Absolutely, I think we can do something with this group," McGrady said. "Drew is a talent. He just has to learn. Gordan can play. You just never know what's going to happen in the future."

It was fitting that Jermaine O'Neal wore a Bob Pettit St. Louis Hawks retro jersey to the Indiana Pacers' game Friday.

Putting up numbers that would have made the Hall of Fame forward proud, O'Neal led the Pacers through a stunning comeback from a 19-point third-quarter deficit to a 101-92 victory over Memphis that squeezed the Eastern Conference playoff race.

O'Neal tied his career high with 38 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, blocked three shots, had three steals and made hustle plays in what most of the Pacers considered the best performance of his seven-year NBA career.

"It's getting to the point he's getting scary," coach Isiah Thomas said of O'Neal. "He put us on his back and we rode him for as long as he could go. He was fantastic.

"It was the most dominant game he's had."

One of the most timely, too. The Pacers, playing without starters Ron Artest (suspended) and Brad Miller (injured), improved to 41-28. Thanks to losses by Detroit and Philadelphia, they're in third place in the Eastern Conference, 21/2 games behind the Pistons and a half-game behind New Jersey.

Momentum, of course, could be cut short when the Pacers play tonight in Atlanta, where a victory would match last season's win total. But that game will be followed by three more at home, starting with one against the 76ers Wednesday, by which time Miller and Artest will be in the lineup.

Midway through the third quarter on Friday, however, the Pacers weren't thinking optimistically about their future. Memphis was putting on a clinic, displaying the best of 69-year-old coach Hubie Brown's aggressive, fundamental approach.

Memphis, which had won seven of its previous eight games, shot 54 percent in the first half, outscored the Pacers 28-4 on fastbreak points and confused them with shifting defenses.

The Grizzlies' 12-point halftime lead reached 19 as the Pacers hit one of their first nine shots in the third period, and boos were ringing down from the 15,505 fans at Conseco Fieldhouse.

But it all changed suddenly. With the Pacers trailing 70-51, Reggie Miller hit a 3-pointer that started a 14-0 run. Miller scored the first seven points and the final three of that surge for 10 of his 14 points.

O'Neal took over from there.

"Pride kicked in," he said. "It's an important part of the year for us. To play the way we played in the first half is extremely unacceptable."

The game had begun improbably for him, as he was called for a technical foul 33 seconds after tip-off and missed all four shots in the first quarter. But he scored 14 in the second quarter to keep the Pacers from being blown out, then scored the first six of the fourth.

His short turnaround jumper on the first possession of the final period gave the Pacers a 77-76 lead and they never trailed again.

As good as O'Neal was, he was largely the primary beneficiary of a penetrating attack in which guards Jamaal Tinsley and Erick Strickland combined for 18 assists. Of O'Neal's 16 field goals, nine were dunks or layups.

"He did everything," Reggie Miller said. "There's not one thing he didn't do. He blocked shots, he scored, he rebounded, he assisted a few plays, and he dove on the floor."

The Pacers led 85-83 midway through the fourth when O'Neal caught the ball in the post and fed Tinsley for a layup. After Reggie Miller's steal, O'Neal drew a foul by Shane Battier on a dunk attempt and hit two fouls shots. He followed by beating Stromile Swift on the left baseline for a dunk that opened an eight-point lead.

"You do what you have to do to win the game," O'Neal said. "Guys dug down real deep."

Lorenzen Wright joined his Memphis teammates on the floor once again at the Pyramid only 15 days since his daughter died of natural causes.  Wright did so under the urgence of his wife, who believed it was time for him to go back.

"It's been long enough," Wright said, with the letters "R.I.P. SI SI" written on his left shoe.

"She knew I wanted to play the Hawks," Wright added. "She said, 'You need to get out of the house.' [I] was just sitting at home not doing anything."

Wright finished the game with 21 points and 8 rebounds in the Grizzlies' record-breaking 124-92 victory.

Michael Dickerson is probably finished for the season, according to Ron Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Dickerson?s latest injury is called a sports hernia.  What?s that?  It can?t be from too much sports, since he?s only played in 10 games total between last season and this season.

Dickerson appeared in four games before suffering an abdominal strain February 21 in New Orleans when Hornets forward Robert Traylor knocked him off balance on a drive to the basket.  

Trainer Scott McCullough says, "He got hit, landed a certain way, it put all of that pressure in a certain area, and he felt it."  The injury then moved from the abdominal area down to the pelvic area.

McCulough says, "Physically, the biggest thing is the pressure in his lower abdominal wall. It takes us back to the start of this year."

Dickerson could require surgery and another three months of rehabilitation.  McCullough said even surgery, albeit a last option, is a simple procedure.

Marc Spears writes about last nights Nuggets loss in Memphis.  This stretches the losing streak to 14 games.  Marcus Camby got ejected to end the 3rd period.

Denver travels to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies.  The game is on Fox Sports and can be heard on 710 KNUS AM.

Mike Miller seems to have a lot of stamina, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, as he practiced long and hard after the team's official session had ended.  According to Miller he is now ready to make his home debut for the Grizzlies, the back injury which had kept him on the sidelines now recouperated.

"I'm feeling better. I'm ready to go," said Miller, who has been out of action the past 10 days. "It'll be fun. It's exciting. But I think what's most important is getting a win. That's what I'm shooting for."

"I can move now," he said. "I wanted to go through contact and see what it would be like after I took the first hit. It feels good. I just want to play."

Memphis fans still turned out in their droves to cheer on their favorite players at The Pyramid, ignoring a call for a boycott by minority contractors hoping to get more work at the FedExForum, the Grizzlies' future home.

''I hear what the contractors are saying about things not being fair and all, but this is not the place to boycott,'' said fan Marcus Johnson of Collierville. ''This is not where the battle is.''

Blake Fontenay of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that at 6:30pm several protesters carrying signs that read ''Be Fair with our share of FedEx Arena,'' ''This Deal is no Good,'' and ''Mortenson is unfair to local contractors'' marched in front of The Pyramid.

The men and women carrying the placards and handing out fliers weren't minority contractors - they said they were hired to march outside the game for $5 for two hours.

''We were hired to walk, not to talk,'' said one protester who identified himself only as Ken. He said they were hired by ''some guy.''