Stephon Marbury's fitness declaration has failed to impress at least one of his Knicks' teammates, who said that Marbury says the same thing every year, the New York Daily News is reporting.

"It's the same story every year," says one veteran Knick. "He's doing this, he's doing that, he's running hills, he's lifting weights. And then on the first day of training camp he can't even finish some of the drills."

Marbury, who is entering the final year of his lucrative contract, may not play out the season with the Knicks.

According to the report, if President Donnie Walsh acquires a point guard, Marbury likely will be released, according to a league source.

David Lee, who is looking for a contract extension, seems the most likely candidate to be dealt for a point guard, with Raymond Felton from Charlotte and Steve Blake from Portland possible options.

Channing Frye is excited about playing with fellow Arizona alumni Jerryd Bayless once the trade with Indiana is made official on July 9, the Arizona Republic is reporting.

"Jerryd is going to be good for us," Frye said Friday. "Coach (Nate McMillan) likes good, fast players. (Bayless) is definitely that type of guy. He brings us a lot of different looks and will do a lot for us. I'm excited."

Jerryd Bayless was projected to be drafted as high as fourth overall before free falling to position 11, taken by Indiana. He did not remain there, however, with Indiana agreeing to package him with Ike Diogu to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for the rights to Brandon Rush (who was selected 13th), Jarrett Jack, and Josh McRoberts.

Bayless, however, is going to go out and try to prove the 10 teams who passed over him in the draft wrong, according to the Arizona Republic.

"I think they are crazy," Bayless said when asked what he would say to people who don't think he can play both guard spots. "That's what I think."

"I have 10 teams to prove wrong now," Bayless told ESPN radio. "I'm going to definitely go out and try to do that. Hopefully, everything works out."

Both Phoenix and Portland were looking to acquire T.J. Ford from the Raptors before Bryan Colangelo took an offer that included Jermaine O'Neal from Indiana, according to The Toronto Star.

The Raptors also reportedly had a deal on the table that would have sent Ford to Charlotte for swingman Gerald Wallace, but the Bobcats refused to add a second rounder to sweeten the deal.

Forward James Jones will become a free agent after deciding not to exercise his contract option with the Blazers, according to The Associated Press.

The option would have paid him $3.1 million next year in Portland.

The Houston Rockets drafted Nicolas Batum with the 25th pick in the NBA draft but then turned around and traded the small forward to Portland, receiving Donte Green and Joey Dorsey in return, the Houston Chronicle is reporting.

Greene, a 6-9 forward, was chosen by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 28th pick in the first round while Dorsey was taken early in the second round with the No. 33 pick that was acquired from Portland.

In the end, it was separate deals that ended up completing a three-way transaction that sent Batum to the Trail Blazers, Darrell Arthur to the Grizzlies, and Greene and Dorsey to the Rockets, along with a second-round pick from the Grizzlies in 2009.

"We needed size, athleticism, and shooting," said Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey. "(Greene) has all of those things. He's a young kid, one year out of high school. He's a future bet. But when you're athletic and can shoot, that's a good place to start."

The Chicago Bulls acquired the draft rights to center Omer Asik, the 36th selection in NBA Draft 2008, in a three-team deal with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Denver Nuggets.

The 7-0, 255-pound Asik is a 20-year-old native of Bursa, Turkey.  A two-time Turkish League All-Star (2007, 2008), Asik split 30 games last year with Alpella and Fenerbahce, where he averaged 10.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg, a league-high 1.90 bpg, and 1.90 spg.  In 2007-08 Euroleague action, he set a league record for blocked shots in a game with 19 rejections.

The Bulls traded the 39th pick in NBA Draft 2008 (which turned out to be 6-6 guard/forward Sonny Weems from Arkansas) to the Denver Nuggets for Denver?s 2009 regular second-round draft pick.  Chicago then acquired the 36th selection in NBA Draft 2008 from the Portland Trail Blazers for Denver?s 2009 regular second-round pick, the New York Knicks? 2009 regular second-round pick (acquired from New York on Oct. 4, 2005 in the Eddy Curry trade), and Chicago?s 2010 regular second-round draft pick.

The Los Angeles Clippers acquired the draft rights to guard Mike Taylor from the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for a second round selection in the 2009 NBA Draft. Taylor, who averaged 14.5 points in 39 games for the Idaho Stampede in the NBA Development League in 2007-08, was selected by the Trailblazers with the 55th selection of the 2008 NBA Draft.

Taylor, 22, enjoyed a successful 2006-07 season at Iowa State where he led the Cyclones in scoring (16.0 ppg), assists (4.5 rpg), and steals (1.1 spg) en route to earning Honorable Mention All-Big 12 honors from the Associated Press and league coaches.

The Chicago, Ill. native joined the Stampede last season in December and added offense and energy off the bench as the sixth man. He scored 20 or more points 11 times and registered a career-high 32 points against Tulsa.  Taylor becomes the first player in draft history to be selected directly from the NBA Development League.

Blazers' forward James Jones became an unrestricted free agent on Thursday after deciding not to exercise his player option to remain with Portland, the Associated Press is reporting.

Jones turned down around $3.1 million he would have made with the Blazers for 2008-09.

The Suns talked about trading Leandro Barbosa to Portland, where he has high interest, for Martell Webster, the No. 13 overall pick and perhaps Finnish point guard Petteri Koponen.

But the Blazers were keying on other options Wednesday, including ones with New York and New Jersey.