Taj Gibson and the Chicago Bulls have agreed upon a contract extension of $38 million over four seasons.

"I looked at the numbers and that's a lot of money, especially the security," said Gibson.

Gibson was the 26th overall pick by the Bulls in the 2009 NBA Draft and quickly established himself as one of the best defensive power forwards in the NBA.

The Toronto Raptors and DeMar DeRozan have agreed upon a four-year, $42 million (with bonuses) contract extension.

DeRozan was the ninth overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft.

DeRozan averaged 16.7 points on 42.2% shooting last season for the Raptors.

James Harden and the Houston Rockets have agreed upon a five-year, $80 million contract extension.

Harden was acquired by the Rockets last Saturday in trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Harden was the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year last season and also won a gold medal as a member of the United States' basketball team.

The Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry have agreed upon a four-year, $44 million extension.

Curry was limited to 26 games last season due to ankle issues.

The Warriors drafted Curry with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Curry enters the 12-13 season with career averages of 17.5 points, 5.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

Daniel Orton has returned to the roster of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Orton was signed by the D-League's Tulsa 66ers Wednesday morning, and then called up and signed by the Thunder.

Orton spent his first two NBA seasons with the Magic.

Greg Monroe will be eligible for a contract extension next summer with the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons have clearly committed to Monroe as their franchise cornerstone.

"Flat out, I'm happy where I'm at," Monroe said. "I'm happy to be here. I believe they feel the same way on the other side. I'm just focusing on what I have to do to win games.

"That's something where you have an agent. They do most of that talking anyway, so at the end of the day, I'm going to do my job and let the Pistons on the other side do their job. I trust my agent a whole lot. I'm not worried about that."

Monroe spent nearly the entire offseason working with the Pistons.

"It has been a big help to have my feet on the floor this summer with the coaching staff and with the team," Monroe said. "I definitely think I made strides this summer by being here more and being with the guys at summer league. ... I think I improved a lot this summer."

The Portland Trail Blazers declined team options for 13-14 on Luke Babbitt, Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams.

The Blazers largely made the decision based on a desire to preserve cap space for the 2013 offseason.

“Based on our evaluation of the free agent market and the number of teams with significant cap room next summer, in order to be a player at all in free agency, we needed the flexibility,” general manager Neil Olshey said.

The Blazers will have between $11.8 million and $13 million in cap space next summer, Olshey said. 

Cleveland Cavaliers' owner Dan Gilbert can empathize with the decision made by the Oklahoma City Thunder to trade James Harden before he hit free agency.

Gilbert was relating the Cavaliers' experience with LeBron James to Sam Presti's preemptive trade of Harden to the Rockets. Gilbert expressed reget being unable to trade James to provide a return for the Cavaliers.

”The key thing, whoever you are and wherever you are, you can not wait,” Gilbert said. ”The big lesson was if a player is not willing to extend, no matter who they are, no matter where they are playing, no matter what kind of season you had, you can not risk going into a summer and having them leave in unrestricted free agency and get nothing back for it.”

James was eventually moved to the Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade that gave the Cavaliers a future first round pick.

“I’m sure the player or whoever would have said, ‘Of course I would have stayed. You guys screwed up and ruined the whole franchise.’ You’re in a no-win situation,” said Gilbert.

The Boston Celtics have exercised the fourth-year option in the contract of Avery Bradley. This option covers the 2013-2014 NBA Season 

Bradley, a 6’2” guard, had a breakout season during the 2011-12 season recording career highs in virtually every statistical category. Bradley averaged 7.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 21.4 minutes in 64 games last season. 

The Phoenix Suns declined their $5.4 team option on Wesley Johnson for 13-14.

The Suns, however, told Johnson that they are interested in re-signing Johnson in the offseason.