Jason Quick of the Oregonian reports that Damon Stoudamire may be playing himself back into the Blazers good graces.

After another rumor-filled summer where Damon has reportedly been mentioned in trades to the Timberwolves, Knicks and Cavaliers, the point guard waiver between wanting out of Portland and wanting to prove he can beat recently acquired Jeff McInnis for the starting job. I'm tired of listening to all of this stuff," Stoudamire said during the weekend. "It's not a bad thing, but it's something that has really motivated me. I'm really looking forward to having a big year. If it's here in Portland, it's here in Portland. If it's somewhere else, it's somewhere else. But I'm looking forward to having a big year."

In a scrimmage against Team USA on Saturday, Stoudamire was impressive. Considering he was matched up against Andre Miller, he was very impressive. "I tell you what, they might not want to trade me," Stoudamire said, laughing. . "I've got something in store for everybody." Blazers assistant coach Herb Brown said, "Damon looked good, huh?"

Stoudamire has heard the rumors while working out religiously. He looks more muscular than last season and accepts the trade talk. "I have been here for five years, and I always come up in trade rumors," Stoudamire said. "But until I am gone, I am a Blazer. But the one thing I can say is that through my time here, I have always tried to please everybody and do everything for everybody else. This season, I have to -- not play for myself -- but play my game from start to finish."

The Sixers signed Cleveland free agent Brian Skinner to a one-year contract today. He will be penciled in as Derrick Coleman's backup at the power forward position.

With Cleveland last year, he averaged 3.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 65 games (eight starts). The four-year NBA veteran has career averages of 4.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, playing in 158 contests while starting 40 of them.

Chris Tomasson reports that Cavaliers GM Jim Paxson is on a roll. First fleeced a future Hall of Famer. Then he outnegotiated one of the NBA's savviest agents.

Last October, Paxson got the best of Miami coach Pat Riley when the Cavs received Miami?s Ricky Davis and Toronto?s Brian Skinner in exchange for washed-up journeyman Chris Gatling. Paxson even convinced the Heat to pay Davis? salary last season.

Last week, Paxson outsmarted Dan Fegan, one fo the best player agents in the game. Feegan had been looking for a 6-year contract averaging around $7 million per year for his client. Paxson and the Cavs only offered 3-years and $15 million. When the Davis camp balked at the Cavs' offer, Paxson sat back and waited for Davis to sign an offer sheet.

Paxson realized that no other teams would have the ability to offer more than the $4.5 million mid-level exception, so he bid accordingly. With Davis being a restricted free agent, the Cavs would ultimately get the chance to match any offer and keep Davis if he were to sign with another team.

The Cavs were prepared to wait until late September. But Minnesota did them a favor when it signed Davis to a six-year, $34 million offer sheet on Aug. 16. Paxson promptly matched the offer and Davis was a Cavalier.

In the days before the offer was matched, an apparently desperate Fegan called several newspapers and told stories about how Davis didn't want to play for the Cavs (Fegan did not call the Beacon Journal nor did he return messages seeking comment). In an interview with the Beacon Journal, Davis denied Fegan's claims. He said he does not have a problem with returning to the Cavs and he expected all along that they would match the offer sheet.

Tomasson speculates that Fegan may have been trying to get more money for his client (and a larger commission for himself) by attempting to get the teams to void the offer sheet and agree to a sign and trade. If he really wanted his client to leave Cleveland, he could have accepted a one-year deal and went into free agency next summer without ?restricted? status.

So now the Cavaliers get the player they wanted, Davis is playing where he wants to play, and it will be at least six years before Paxson has to hear Fegan ask for a maximum contract for Davis. That is what they call a ?win, win, win situation?.

Minneapolis Star Tribune writer Steve Aschburner reports that the Timberwolves have missed out on acquiring shooting guard Ricky Davis after the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to match the Wolves offer.

Davis, a restricted free agent, had signed an offer sheet with the Minnesota Timberwolves.  His restricted free agency status gave the Cavaliers the right of first refusal, meaning that they had the opportunity to match any offer that Davis was formally given and the player would remain with the team.  Cleveland General Manager Jim Paxson had until Sept. 4 to make a decision but opted to match the deal one day after receiving formal notice of the Minnesota offer.

"If you go with that [today], you won't be wrong," Paxson told a Willoughby News-Herald reporter Tuesday evening. A formal announcement is expected today."

Both Davis and his agent Dan Fegan urged the Cavaliers to let him move on without intervention, but to their anger their pleas fell on deaf ears.  Fegan stressed that his client preferred to be in Minnesota and it would be bad business to lock up an unhappy Davis long term.

"You don't want to pay $34 million over six years for a player who wants to be somewhere else," Fegan had said Tuesday afternoon. "That's a crazy way to run a business."

The article reports that the Cavaliers did not want to lose Davis without compensation and had held discussions about potential sign and trade deals with both Denver and Minnesota.  Once Davis signed the offer sheet this option was exhaused, and now Davis cannot be traded until December 15 at the earliest but not to Minnesota for a minimum of 12 months.

Asked if he would be reluctant to commit $34 million to a player who wanted out, Kevin McHale, the Timberwolves Vice President, said: "It would be something I'd have to think about. I'm kind of close to the deal, so it's hard to be objective. Ricky's got some issues in going back there, some things he's got concerns about."

Minnesota now regains their mid-level exception which would have been used should the matching deadline have passed.

Branson Wright of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Ricky Davis is about two weeks away from becoming the next player to leave the Cavaliers this summer - unless management decides otherwise.

Davis signed an offer sheet with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The offer wasn't disclosed, but a source close to the negotiations said it was worth about $35 million over six years. Now, because the Cavaliers have ?the right of first refusal?, they can choose to match the Minnesota offer and retain Davis for the same 6-year, $35 million contract.

Cavs General Manager Jim Paxson said the organization has made it clear it wants to keep Davis. "We qualified Ricky because our intent was to have all three [Darius Miles and Dajuan Wagner] of them [develop together]," Paxson said. "The system was set up this way and we'll take the full amount of time to make our decision [on matching the offer]."

By taking the full amount of time to make their decision, the Timberwolves will be unable to do anything with their mid-level exception until the matter is resolved. The Cavaliers have 15 days to match the offer, which means the Timberwolves may end up having their exception unavailable for the next two weeks and still lose out on Davis.

Steve Aschburner of the Pioneer Press reports that the Timberwolves have taken the plunge with Ricky Davis. The Cleveland free agent signed an offer sheet with the T-wolves on Friday night. As a restricted free agent, the Cavaliers will have the opportunity to match the offer and keep Davis.

Terms of the Wolves' offer were not disclosed, but the deal is believed to be for the NBA's full mid-level salary cap exception, worth $34.7 million over six years. The Cavaliers have 15 days to match the offer. Cleveland management has sent mixed signals in recent weeks about its plans for Davis. The team traded guard Wesley Person on draft night in part to free more playing time for Davis. But earlier this week, General Manager Jim Paxson three times evaded a reporter's question when asked if he would match a full-exception offer to the four-year veteran.

The signing is the Wolves' first significant move of the offseason. If the Wolves land Davis, the move would put them well over the estimated $52 million threshold for the NBA's looming luxury tax.

Terry Pluto of the beacon Journal reports that Cavaliers GM Jim Paxon has been able to bring in some young, exciting players into town and has given his floundering franchise a sense of direction.

The big three are Darius Miles, Dajuan Wagner and Ricky Davis. Wagner and Miles are signed for the upcoming season; Davis is not. Davis is a lanky, 6-foot-7 shooting guard/small forward who averaged 12 points last season, In eight games as a starter, he averaged 19 points. Along with an above-the-rim high-wire act, Davis has a solid middle-range jumper and shot 79 percent from the foul line. He's more than just a dunker.

Davis is a restricted free agent and the Minnesota Timberwolves are interested in signing him. The Cavaliers have the right to match any offer for Davis and intend to do so unless it?s a totally outrageous deal. Keeping Davis is a big part of what they'd like to become, what Paxson calls ``a young, athletic, exciting team.''

Last season, Andre Miller was the Cavs best player, but Ricky Davis seemed to inspire the fans. He played hard. He played slightly out of control, and he played with joy. Keeping Davis is crucial, especially after some fans perceive the team as being cheap because it wouldn't give into Miller's demands for a maximum contract.

Bob Finnan of the News-Herald reports that the cavaliers may be close to acquiring a point guard to fill Andre Miller?s shoes. Cavs coach John Lucas met with the agent of 6-foot-3, 185-pound Damon Jones on Monday night in Houston.

"It was a good meeting," agent Lamar Holt said. "John has shown a lot of interest in Damon. John, Damon and myself will meet again (today). Hopefully, next week we'll come (to Cleveland) for a visit."

Holt said Jones is seeking a two-year deal, but the Cavaliers are probably offering only one. We'd like a two-year deal," he said. "We're hoping. It's open for discussion."

Jones was left out of the mix in Detroit when they signed Chauncey Billups away from the Timberwolves. Jones averaged 5.1 points, 2.1 assists and 16.2 minutes in 67 games for Detroit last season. He shot 40.1 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from the 3-point line.

"For what John is looking for, he's ideal," Holt said. "From the guys left on the free-agent market, he's the guy they are looking for. I don't know when something is going to happen. He can really shoot the '3.' That can put him over the hump on that team. Darius (Miles) will draw a lot of double teams, which will create a lot of open shots for other players."

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that the Knicks will make one last attempt to sign Michael Doleac. With few more free agent options remaining, Knicks GM Scott Layden will try to break the impasse with Doleac's agent, Glen Schwartzman, when they resume contract negotiations. Talks heated up last week but broke down well short of a deal.

Layden wants this cleared up one way or another by this week as he heads to the Hamptons on vacation Monday, with or without Doleac in the fold. The Knicks are looking for a three-year deal and it is believed Doleac's agent is trying to squeeze out a fourth year. The Knicks were prepared to offer Doleac a three-year deal starting at about $2.2M, bringing the total to $7.5M.

If the Doleac signing crashes, one intriguing reserve center who just became a free agent is 7-footer Mikki Moore, whose contract was bought out by Detroit Monday and is available for the minimum $699,000.

Chris Tomasson of the Beacon Journal reports that Lamond Murray is asking to be traded. With the acquisition of Darius Miles, the Cavaliers will have less playing time for Marray. After asking to be traded last week, he has specified his request. ``I want to be traded to a team on the West Coast,'' the Cavaliers forward said by telephone from his home in Oakland, Calif.

In his trade request last week, he said the Cavs ``keep rebuilding a house on no foundation.''

In an interview with the Beacon Journal, Murray elaborated. Murray, who arrived in a sign-and-trade deal in August 1999, said he chose the Cavs because he believed that they were committed to winning. He said he no longer sees an urgency in that commitment.

``When I got here, we had (Shawn) Kemp and I was another piece in the puzzle,'' said Murray, who led the Cavs in scoring last season with a 16.6 average. ``Since then, we've taken a step backward. We're in a downhill mode. We have people being traded left and right. Andre (Miller) is gone. Wes (Person) is gone.''

``He (Cavs GM Jim Paxson) said at the end of the season that we were going to try to keep this team together, and, if we played the way we did the second half of the season, the possibilities were good for next year,'' said Murray, whose Cavs began last season 14-33 before going 15-20 the rest of the way. ``But it's the same thing over and over again. Every year, I look at the team picture from the previous season, and there are seven players gone. The were seven players gone from my first year, seven from my second, and there will probably be seven gone from last season.''