The Phoenix Suns announced today the promotion of Vinny Del Negro to the position of assistant general manager.

?I?m excited that Vinny will be expanding his duties with the Suns,? Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr said. ?His knowledge, work ethic and energy will provide a big boost to our organization.?

Del Negro, who joined the club?s front office in 2003, served as director of player personnel last season. Prior to that, he spent three seasons as a color analyst on Suns? broadcasts and assisted with scouting duties. He began his broadcasting career with ESPN?s NBA Matchup show and the San Antonio Spurs.

The Suns are expected to carry 13 players, leaving one spot unresolved. GM Steve Kerr said he believes Phoenix is one of two teams still in the running for 6-foot-11 veteran P.J. Brown, who has yet to decide if he wants to continue playing at age 38.

Kerr said the Suns are willing to wait until training camp or even into the regular season if Brown needs that much time to make his decision. But if Brown?s timetable drags on another few weeks, the team would likely cover itself by signing another player to a non-guaranteed, one-year deal.

?I told P.J. that from our end, he could feel free to take his time and if he told us in October or even November that he wanted to come back, we?d be here for him,? Kerr said. ?Sometimes, retirement sounds like a great idea in the summer, but not such a good idea when the games start.?

The Suns? roster for next season now stands at 12 after second-round pick D.J. Strawberry signed a two-year contract, general manager Steve Kerr said Monday.

The first year of the deal is guaranteed and will pay Strawberry $427,163. The second year is a team option.

Kerr said the deal was completed two weeks ago with Strawberry, the 59 th overall pick out of Maryland, but the team hasn?t made a formal announcement.

?We knew D.J. would make our team when we drafted him and his play in Las Vegas (during the Summer League) really impressed us,? Kerr said. ?We like his toughness and the fact he can defend at multiple positions, and we like that he can handle the ball.

?It worked out well for him and for us that we had a spot available. I think Portland had four second-round picks this year, and there is no way they will all make it.?

Butch van Breda Kolff, who coached the Lakers to two NBA finals appearances and won 482 games as a college coach, has died after a long illness.

Van Breda Kolff, 84, died Wednesday afternoon at a nursing home in Spokane, his daughter, Kristina van Breda Kolff, said. His son, Jan, also played professionally and coached at Cornell, Vanderbilt, Pepperdine and St. Bonaventure.

Suns guard Leandro Barbosa scored 30 points, and Brazil held off Canada 75-67 Wednesday night in the FIBA Americas tournament opener for both teams.

Barbosa, the NBA's top sixth man last season, helped Brazil finally shake free by hitting two free throws and adding a floater, pushing the lead to 69-62 with 2:26 left.

A relieved Boris Diaw expressed his delight at being back in a France jersey after seeing his club-versus-country insurance saga eventually come to a successful conclusion.

Just minutes before Friday night's clash between France and Portugal in the EuroBasket 2007 warm-up tournament in Paris, Diaw was given the go-ahead to return to the court.

The versatile forward has been unable to train with France for the past few weeks, with his NBA side the Phoenix Suns insistent on him having an insurance policy that would absolve them of liability if he was to aggravate his back injury.

But he is back, and after 21 minutes of action - during which he scored four points - in the 86-64 win over the Portuguese, he is raring to go with the start of EuroBasket just two weeks away.

"I am happy to be back playing," he said.

"We were given the green light towards the end of the day.

"I was persuaded that I was going to be able to play at some stage or another. But it is true that it is important to return to training and preparation as quickly as possible.

Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy could face charges in Arizona's most populous county if investigations by the league and FBI show that he deliberately miscalled two Phoenix Suns playoff games this year, authorities said.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has sent letters to NBA Commissioner David Stern and the head of the FBI in Washington, saying he wants to know whether Donaghy gambled on the two Suns road playoff games, provided inside information to gamblers or helped determine the outcome by making bad officiating calls.

Thomas said the games in question are the April 29 game against the Los Angeles Lakers and the May 12 game against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Suns beat the Lakers 113-110 in the April 29 game, but lost to the Spurs 108-101 on May 12 in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Thomas said that if Donaghy "purposely failed to officiate the games properly and his conduct resulted in changing the outcome of the games, such conduct might have violated Arizona criminal statutes and could be the subject of criminal prosecution."

Mark Bartelstein, the agent for P.J. Brown, denied Wednesday night in a phone interview that his client spent Tuesday discussing contract and golf courses with Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr. KSAZ-TV, the Fox affiliate in Phoenix, reported Tuesday that Brown had visited the Suns.

"No truth to it," said Bartelstein, who has a reputation for being a fairly straight shooter. "It never happened."

Brown, he said, was with his family in Louisiana pondering his future.

Tim Donaghy, the disgraced former NBA referee, pleaded guilty Wednesday to giving inside information to gamblers and taking payments when his information was right.

Thomas Martino, one of Donaghy's alleged co-conspirators, is accused of delivering payments to Donaghy in Phoenix in January, Toronto in March, and Washington in April. Donaghy was in those cities to officiate games, though it is not known if he was paid specifically for those games.

P.J. Brown was reportedly in Phoenix on Tuesday discussing a deal with GM Steve Kerr.

Brown's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Monday that no visits were planned when asked directly. Tuesday, Bartelstein said that Brown might take longer than this week to decide his future.