DeJuan Blair is in serious talks to play in Russia during the NBA lockout, according to sources.

Blair would be eligible to return to the NBA when a deal is reached.

A deal can be agreed upon within the week.

Brazil defeated Venezuela by a final score of 92-83 in their opening game of the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship.

Brazil had a balanced scoring attack with four players scoring between 17 and 15 points, lead by Tiago Splitter's 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Greivis Vasquez led Venezuela with 26 points and seven assists.

Omri Casspi is considering signing with ASVEL of France, according to sources.

Casspi initially appeared set to join Maccabi Tel Aviv, his former team in Israel.

ASVEL is co-owned by Tony Parker.

Levon Kendall, a longtime veteran of Team Canada, has been impressed with Cory Joseph.

“I’ve been most impressed with his attitude, not having a sense of entitlement (from being a first round selection),” said Kendall.

“He understands guys have been here (a while), he’s got to prove himself before he gets that respect. He has to earn it to a certain extent so that’s what I’ve been most surprised (about). It’s nice to see that.”

A week after signing with Union Olimpija, Danny Green left for Slovenia on Saturday.

“I’ve heard horror stories about playing overseas, and I’ve heard good stories,” said Green. “I don’t know what to expect.”

Green said he would not be going abroad if not for an out clause that allows him to return to the Spurs when the lockout concludes.

“I didn’t want to jeopardize what I had here,”  Green said. “This is where I want to be. At the same time, I need to play somewhere.”

Tony Parker has been engaged in serious contract talks with Chinese teams, according to sources.

But Parker is under contract with the Spurs and Chinese teams are likely to be forbidden from signing players under terms where they can opt-out to return to the NBA.

Jeremy Pargo opted out of his contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv before an August 1st deadeline.

The team has signed Thodoros Papaluokas and Jordan Farmar to fill the void left by Pargo.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with listening to other offers in Europe," Chicago-based agent Mark Bartelstein said of Pargo's decision to opt out of his Maccabi deal. "This is all about Jeremy's dream to play in the NBA. That's what he wants to pursue." 

Sources in Israel say that the San Antonio Spurs expressed interest in Pargo before the lockout began. Sources in the states contend that several other teams are interested in Pargo.

Undrafted out of Gonzaga, Pargo's had summer-league stints in 2009 and 2010 with Detroit, Orlando, Charlotte and Minnesota. 

Danny Green has confirmed on Twitter that he will play in Slovenia for Union Olimpija.

Green was set to make $884,293 thousand in the 2011-12 season with the Spurs on a non-guaranteed contract. 

Ryan Richards will sign with Caja Laboral for the 11-12 season.

Richards has played well since recovering from shoulder surgery and received an invite to join Great Britain's preliminary men's senior basketball team.