Magic guard Vince Carter sprained his ankle in the team's 95-85 win over the Nets on Friday night.

Carter had 16 points when he left the game in the second quarter with the injury.

"I heal like a young guy so I'll be good tomorrow," Carter told the Associated Press after sitting out the second half. "Hopefully, I'll be back Sunday. We're going to be smart about it. It's a long season. I'm feeling better now that I am walking on it."

X-rays were negative on the ankle and he didn't experience a lot of swelling.

"We don't have a timetable. Maybe we'll have a better idea tomorrow," coach Stan Van Gundy said.

The Magic had a hard time letting go of Courtney Lee in the June trade that got them Vince Carter.

Owner Rich DeVos had severe reservations about trading Lee to the Nets.

"Courtney Lee was a tough conversation," Magic general manager Otis Smith told the Orlando Sentinel. "And I equally agreed I didn't want to give him up either. But we had an opportunity to improve our team."

At Smith's urging, DeVos finally signed off on the deal.

"He's always questioning things, whether you sign a free agent or signing a guy [already on the roster], he's questioning what you want," Smith said of DeVos. "It's not without its challenges but at the end of the day not once since I've been in this position has he told me no, 'We're not going to do that.' And I'm not sure that everybody can say that."

The New Jersey Nets have exercised third year contract options on Courtney Lee and Brook Lopez, and a fourth year contract option on Yi Jianlian, while declining to pick up the fourth year contract option on Sean Williams, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  

Lee, Lopez and Yi are now signed through the 2010-11 season.

When Mikhail Prokhorov reached agreement on the $700 million purchase price for the New Jersey Nets, sources say he immediately sought a sit down talk with part owner Jay-Z.

Jay-Z is a close friend to LeBron James and some believe he could be influential when the MVP becomes a free agent next summer.

?Prokhorov and his people know that the way to LeBron is through Jay-Z,? one high-level source connected to the Russians and Nets said. ?From the start, that?s right where they?ve wanted to go.?

Rod Thorn spoke of expectations placed on this team in their final season before they are able to use salary cap space.

?Obviously, we?re in a good position at the end of the year to do things, if it breaks that way and we want to. We?ll be in a good position cap-wise. But who knows what will happen with that?

?We?re not the only team under the cap. We?re not the only team trying to improve. And where you usually have just two or three teams who are significantly under the cap, this time it will probably be more like seven or eight.

?There could be that many players looking for? a max contract, which the Nets can offer, Thorn added, ?or maybe we should say there more than a few who will be difference-makers for a lot of teams in the market for one.?

A plan has been drafted by an adviser to New Jersey's governor that would make Newark's Prudential Center the venue for sports events, possibly including home games of the Nets while the NBA team awaits a planned move to New York City's Brooklyn borough.

The Izod Center in East Rutherford, where the Nets currently play, would focus on concerts and family entertainment events.

NBA commissioner David Stern believes that the Nets could have a new owner before the end of the year.

He also believes that he could have his old referees back before the start of the regular season next week.

"I'm hopeful with respect to both and optimistic with respect to both," Stern told the Associated Press on Thursday.

Mikhail Prokhorov, who has a deal to buy 80 percent of the Nets, had a positive introduction with NBA owners recently, according to Stern.

"The review process is incomplete and the documents are not finalized," Stern said of Prokhorov's bid. "That said, we haven't surfaced anything that has caused us to have a negative opinion of him. We're not finished."

The New Jersey Nets have requested waivers on Will Blalock, Bennet Davis and Brian Hamilton, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  Blalock, Davis and Hamilton each signed as free agents with the Nets on September 29, 2009.

Blalock appeared in four games for the Nets during the preseason, averaging 1.0 point and 1.5 rebounds in 6.5 minutes per game.  

Davis played in one preseason outing, totaling one rebound in four minutes of action at New York on 10/4.  

Hamilton saw action in one contest, posting one rebound and one steal in three minutes at New York on 10/4.

The NBA league office will undertake the standard background check and due diligence concerning Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who has entered into an agreement to become the majority owner of the Nets.

The NBA is aided in this process by an outside security firm whose costs run about $50,000.

"We have a very extensive, stringent, some would say, invasive -- but I wouldn't -- process for vetting the character and financial capacity of all owners," said Commissioner David Stern.

The process could be made more difficult by the fact that records in Russia may not be as easy to come by.

The Nets have created an interesting ticket package that includes a player appearance for $25,000.

New Jersey is calling the package 'Your Ticket to a Player.'

They are offering four courtside tickets for 10 games, parking, access to a private lounge at their arena with free food and beverages and a one-hour appearance by a player of your choice at your home, office, school or party.

"It will be interesting to have an NBA player come to your birthday party or come to your Bar Mitzvah or even just coming to your house for dinner for an hour when your friends are over," Nets chief executive Brett Yormark told the Associated Press. "That's a terrific thing and it's tough to put a price tag on it."

The package does offer a discount. Nets courtside seats sell for $750 each, meaning 40 would cost $30,000.