Bob Young of the Arizona Republic reports that the Suns signed another forward yesterday. Houston free agent Dan Langhi accepted a partially-guaranteed minimum salary deal. Langhi was planning to pla in Europe until Wednesday when he heard from the Suns.

"You don't know how happy I am right now. You could call my wife," Langhi said after the club's final informal workout at America West Arena. "This is a great situation. It's a young team, and we've got a lot of good players. It's a great opportunity."

Langhi was the 31st pick in the 2000 draft and had his rights traded to Houston. 2-years with the Rockets was not good for his game. "I really didn't fit in there," he said. "I enjoyed my two years there. I just didn't think that was the best opportunity for me as a player to improve Everybody treated me nice, just basketballwise it wasn't the best for me."

The 6-11, 220-pound Langhi, will try to win a spot on the roster as a backup forward.

Utah Jazz Owner Larry H. Miller, has announced that the team will retire Jeff Hornacek's number 14.

The ceremony is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 19 at halftime when the Jazz host the Phoenix Suns.
Hornacek played 477 games with Utah, averaging 14.5 points and 4.0 assists, while shooting .494 percent from the field, .428 from three-point range and .897 from the free throw line. He ranks eighth on the NBA's all-time free throw percentage list and remains the Jazz' all-time leader in free throw percentage and 3-point field goal percentage.

Bob Young of the Arizona republic reports that Penny Hardaway has a new attitude this season. After a summer of soul-searching, he's at peace with the player he still can be. And he no longer wants to be traded out of Phoenix.

Hardaway claims he doesn?t care whether he starts or backs up shooting guard Joe Johnson and will accept whatever role is bestowed upon him. "It was a big deal last year," he said. "This year, I just want to win games. . . . I want to win for the Suns. It doesn't matter if I start or not. Of course, I would love to start, but if it doesn't happen, that's fine."

After 2 injury-riddles seasons, Hardaway hasn?t had much to be thankful for. When the Suns missed the playoffs last season for the first time in 13 years, he felt like much of the blame was placed on himself. "It was a bad season for the team," he said. "But it seemed like I got the entire focus of the blame. It made it seem like, 'OK, if you get Penny Hardaway out of the lineup, you'll win.' "

Last season?s disappointment led to a coaching change with Frank Johnson taking over for Scott Skiles. The Suns are in rebuilding mode which could leave veterans like Hardaway and Tom Gugliotta out in the cold. Johnson met with Hardaway earlier this summer to discuss his role in the coming season. Hardaway will have the chance to compete with Joe Johnson for the starting role.

"The biggest thing it comes down to for me is that I was trying to impress everybody else and let them know I can still play, and make them think that I deserve to be here," Hardaway said. "And it has backfired. . . . "I've done a lot in this league, no matter what anybody says. I just had an unlucky break and got hurt. "I did some soul-searching, and I know where I am as a person and a player. I'm just going to have fun."

Bob Young of the Arizona republic reports that the Suns and the Wizards have been discussing a trade, but the trade is not likely to go through. A rumored deal that would have sent forward Bo Outlaw to the Washington Wizards for forward/center Christian Laettner is apparently not going to happen, according to a league source.

By acquiring Laettner, the Suns could save money against the salary cap in the future, because his contract is for about $5 million and Outlaw will get $6.5 million in the upcoming season. Both are signed through the 2004-05 season. The sticking point is that both also have so-called "trade kickers" in their contracts, which cannot be waived. (RealGM note: trade kickers can be waived, but only if the player agrees to do so.)

Outlaw has a 10 percent kicker and Laettner has a 15 percent kicker. That means the Suns would have to pay Laettner 15 percent of the remaining value of his contract. The Wizards would pay Outlaw 10 percent of his remaining value. (RealGM note: While Laetner?s trade kicker could pose a problem, Outlaw?s trade kicker has already been activated when he was traded from Orlando to Phoenix and is no longer a factor.)

The Cleveland Cavaliers obtained guard Milt Palacio in a trade with the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a future second-round draft selection. The announcement was made today by Cavs Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Paxson.

Palacio, 24, has played in a total of 180 games during his three-year NBA career with averages of 3.8 points and 1.6 assists per game. The 6-3 guard played in 28 contests last season with the Suns after being acquired from the Boston Celtics along with Joe Johnson and Randy Brown in exchange for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk on February 20. He played in 41 games last season with the Celtics prior to the trade and scored a career-high 19 points at Washington on November 24.

Palacio averaged a career-best 5.9 points per game during the 2000-01 season with the Celtics. He played 53 games with the Vancouver Grizzlies during his rookie campaign in 1999-2000 and averaged 2.0 ppg. Palacio, who was not selected in the NBA Draft, was signed by the Grizzlies as a free agent on September 29, 1999 after averaging 18.4 ppg and 4.3 apg during his senior season at Colorado State.

The trade comes in the wake of Cleveland resinding their trade with the Sacramento Kings that had sent forward Jumaine Jones to Cleveland for guard Mateen Cleaves.