The Associated Press reports: The Houston Rockets won't find out if they can sign Yao Ming until at least mid-October, a Chinese sports official said Sunday.

"Matters concerning Yao's playing in the NBA will be made clear after the Asian Games,'' which end Oct. 14, Li Furong was quoted as saying from Busan, South Korea, by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Li, a deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports, didn't say what issues remain to be worked out.

Yao still needs approval from the Chinese Basketball Association before signing a contract with the Rockets. The NBA team doesn't expect there to be a problem, team spokesman Nelson Luis said Sunday.

According to the Houston Chronicle, The Rockets are hoping to have Ming in town by Oct.20th, the date of their 5th preseason game.

Chinese officials have said Yao's dealings with the Rockets would not be affected by the dispute over the Dallas Mavericks' Wang Zhizhi, who angered Chinese sports officials by not reporting for training with the national team.

"Wang's issue with the Chinese team will not affect Yao's NBA future,'' Li said.

Dwain Price of the Star Telegram reports that the Dallas Mavericks have wrapped up one of their free agents, and are in discussions with the other. Eduardo Najera re-signed with the Mavericks yesterday to an undisclosed contract while the team continues to negotiate with Wang Zhi Zhi.

Re-signing Najera was important to the Mavericks who are trying to increase their defensive intensity this season. Najera was one of the team's defensive stalwarts the past two seasons and has become a fan favorite because of his gritty style of play.

"Eddie, in a lot of ways, is everything we're looking for in players," Mavericks' president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. "He has great heart; he's a total team guy. The intensity that he brings on the floor is second to none, and we're really pleased and proud to have him back in the fold."

'I'm ready to start working," Najera said. "I think that we have a great team and I'm really happy with my teammates, so this is great news for me."

Meanwhile, the Mavericks are in contract negotiations with Wang's agent, Jeff Schwartz, and are exploring all options, including trading him, said Nelson. It appears as though the Mavericks are close to finishing their training camp roster after adding guards Raja Bell and Adam Harrington along with center Kip Christianson and forward Derek Hood. All were signed to minimum salary contracts and will be in camp when it opens Monday.

Jodie Valade of the Dallas Morning News reports: The last time Popeye Jones called Dallas home, the Mavericks had a different owner, a different coach and played in a different building.

Yet after signing a fresh, one-year contract Friday to play for the Mavericks at the veteran's minimum, the 6-8 forward had one overriding thought.

"This feels like coming home," he said.

The addition of Jones marks the Mavericks' first free-agent acquisition of the off-season, with the re-signing of Raef LaFrentz as the only other summer move. The Mavericks continue to label the re-signing of restricted free agent Eduardo Najera as "close" and hope to use restricted free agent Wang Zhizhi as trade bait.

In contrast to past summers filled with trades and free-agent signings, this off-season has been quiet. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he anticipates bringing just 12 players to training camp, which begins Oct. 1.

"We wanted to bring back the same team, basically, unless something rang our bell," Nelson said.

"This is where I want to retire," Jones said. "This is my second home. I'm going to make it my first home for the rest of my life."

The Dallas Mavericks will sign forward Popeye Jones to a one-year contract Friday, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported Thursday night.

Jones, a nine-year veteran who played for the Washington Wizards last season, returns to the team that originally drafted him out of Murray State in 1993. Jones, who averaged 7.0 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Wizards last season, had his best season in Dallas in 1995-96, when he averaged 11.3 points and 10.8 rebounds in 68 games.

Dallas moved to sign Jones when Rashard Lewis re-signed with the Sonics, opting for the big-money contract Seattle could offer now instead of the Mavs' veteran exception.

RealGM note: The deal likely includes a player option for a second season. However, it is unknown if Jones will get part or all of the mid-level exception or thr $1.4 million dollar exception.

The Associated Press reports that Rashard Lewis has made his decision. The Seattle SuperSonics re-signed the free agent forward to a seven-year contract Thursday. Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed but the Sonics have had a 7-year, $60 million offer on the table for a while. That deal included an additional $15 million in incentives. Te team reportedly gave him a deadline to sign or lose the offer.

Both sides appeared to be pleased with the signing.

''Seattle is where I started my NBA career and it is the city in which I wanted to continue it,'' Lewis said. ''Last year was very exciting and I have always felt that my future here is promising.''

''I am extremely happy to have Rashard back as part of this team,'' coach Nate McMillan said. ''He is a very coachable player and an important key to the Sonics future, and we are all eager to start training camp in two weeks.''

''We are very excited that Rashard is returning to the Sonics,'' general manager Rick Sund said. ''Re-signing him represents another important piece in a successful summer of shaping our roster.''

Corey Brock of the News Tribune confirms that the contract is an incentive-laden 7-year, $60 million deal. The incentives could push the value of the contract to $75 million and Lewis has an opt-out after the fifth season.

ESPN.com reports that the Sonics are still waiting. Contrary to various media reports, Rashard has not yet re-signed with Seattle and the Sonics have not increased their original 7-year, $60 million contract offer.

A team source says they are optimistic that he will return to the Sonics, but the team has reportedly given him a mid-week deadline to make a decision or else their offer will be pulled and they aill spend their money elaswhere. "Hardcore deadline? No,'' General Manager Rick Sund told the Seattle Times on Tuesday. "But this thing needs to be resolved soon, next couple of days. We've got some guys we're looking at, and Rashard's got decisions to make also.''

In other Sonics? news, Gary Payton is feeling unappreciated and the chances are good that he will not show up when training camp opens on October 1st.

"Everything's 50-50 right now,'' Payton told the Times. "It's 50 percent odds that I'm going to be a Sonic and 50 percent odds that I'm not. But by October it's probably going to be different. It's going to be 70-30 and the 70 is that I'm going to be somewhere else. Right now everything's up in the air and it's not going in a good direction. It's becoming a bad situation.''

Payton?s contract ends after this coming season and he wants to be appreciated for the years of service he has given to the Sonics. He says he wants to be shown the same respect Chicago showed Michael Jordan and Utah showed Karl Malone and Indiana showed Reggie Miller.

Seattle ownership claims they do respect Payton and they want him to retire as a Sonic, but they will not give him an extension. Payton doesn?t see the respect.

"To me, what they're telling me is that I'm too old,'' said Payton. "They're going to get as much out of me as they can and that's it. They just want to get what they can out of me and then, hopefully, I'll slow down and they can get me out of the way. That hurts me. They haven't showed me they want me around.

"That makes me mad. Why make me mad? Why make me upset? Why create a problem when you don't have to have one? They think that I'll just come out and play hard like I always do. Keep doing the things I've been doing and things will be fine. Well, that's got to stop and it's going to stop now.''

Paul Silvy of KingTv in Seattle is reporting that forward Rashard Lewis has decided to re-sign with the Seattle Supersonics.

The deal is reportly for 7 years and worth $64 million with incentives.

Apparently, Sonics Head Coach Nate McMillan played a big factor in his decision to stay in Seattle.

The dollars also likely had a big influence as well.

Dwain Price of the Star Telegram adds that The Sonics had a 7-year, $60 million deal on the table until Tuseday when they upped the guaranteed money to $64 million and finally satisfied Lewis.

The deal -- which includes an additional $15 million in incentives -- will be completed either today or tomorrow, and will end some tense negotiations that had Lewis threatening to shun the Sonics' offer and sign a three-year, $15 million contract with the Mavericks.

Dwain Price of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports: Free-agent power forward Popeye Jones talked with the Mavericks on Monday about the possibilities of signing with the team within the next two weeks.

"We just wanted to have a chance to get to know him a little bit more," said Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations. "We are looking for more of a rebounding presence, and he's someone that makes a lot of sense, positionally, for our ballclub.

"When he was here before, he was a franchise and a fan favorite. Besides, he's one of the best per-minute rebounders that there is in the league."

A nine-year veteran, Jones played his first three NBA seasons with the Mavericks, from 1993-96. He also has played for Toronto, Boston, Denver and Washington, and averaged 7.0 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 43.7 percent from the field in 24.3 minutes per game last year for the Wizards.

Besides Jones, the Mavericks are holding out hope that Seattle free agent Rashard Lewis will forego a seven-year, $60 million offer from the Sonics and accept the Mavericks' three-year, $15 million offer. Nelson said even if the Mavericks sign Lewis -- they are saving their $4.5 million exception for him -- they still will try to sign Jones.

"The two [situations] are not related," said Nelson, adding that they won't press Lewis with a deadline for a decision.

"We want to respect his space, because it's a huge career decision," Nelson said. "But the $4.5 million exception has been reserved for him exclusively."

Meanwhile, the Mavericks are still expected to sign restricted free-agent forward Eduardo Najera. While discussions with Najera have progressed, they were interrupted because his agent, Dan Fegan, had to fly to Atlanta to check on another client, Hawks guard DerMarr Johnson. Johnson broke his neck Friday in an automobile accident.

Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com has learned that the sick-and-tired Sonics have decided that Wednesday is Hump Day -- because if Rashard Lewis doesn?t come over the hump and sign with Seattle by that day, they are threatening to sever ties and free him to sign with Dallas.

Here is the latest from Dallasbasketball.com on the Lewis sweepstakes:

Sources close to Lewis tell us that behind closed doors with Lewis, Seattle is angered by his reluctance to accept an offer that has been bumped up to $64 million over seven years, and that the Sonics are informing the free agent that their ultimatum, if not accepted, will lead to them signing replacement part Lee Nailon and not cooperating with Lewis? attempts to get bigger money via a sign-and-trade.
     "If that?s true,?? Mavs owner Mark Cuban says as a response to the scoop, "I think we can afford to wait until Wednesday. Actually, we?ll wait as long as it takes.??
     
Seattle is unwilling to be so patient with the 6-10 small forward. The offer had been $60 mil base (in comparison to the $4.5 mil-a-season, three-year deal Dallas can offer) but was recently upped to $64 mil.

   
And the incentive package that Seattle says represents Lewis? "max-money desire?? of $90 mil? Our sources tell us the $15 million package features three key "reachables":
     1) Lewis must play in 50 wins;
     2) Lewis must help the club to the second round of the playoffs;
     3) Lewis must average 9.25 rebounds per game.

A Dallas exec concedes that sign-and-trade talk that once laughably included Seattle?s request of "two of the Big 3?? (Dirk, Nash, Fin) has turned more realistic in the last two weeks. Now there are discussions focusing on a three-way, with Seattle settling for landing a fat-contracted player in the final year of his deal who might next season create a cap vacancy of $6.5 mil or so. (That, and the dumping of Gary Payton, would put Seattle in position to be a major-player in the Summer-of-2003 Duncan Derby.) Yes, the Mavs have tried to make Tariq Abdul-Wahad part of the giveaway, with no enthusiastic takers.
     
Dallas will happily do the three-year thing. But the Mavs prefer the sign-and-trade route. "Then,?? a source says, "they wouldn?t have to worry about a max deal in three years. They?ve got Rashard long-term at the $64 million. As long as they give up nothing big, it?s perfect for them.??
     
RealGM Note: Lee Nailon is a restricted free agent and because New Orleans is over the cap, they can only match offers up to the Mid-level exception for him.

Danny O'Neil of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the Sonics are talking to Scott Burrell. He is just the latest in the list of players Seattle is possibly bringing in to replace Rashard Lewis. Lee Nailon, Popeye Jones and Walt Williams have all been contacted by the Sonics recently.

Burrell, 31, is a 6-foot-7 forward with nine seasons of NBA experience, though he did not play in the league last season. A solid perimeter shooter, his career averages are 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds.

Burrell was originally a first-round draft choice of the Seattle Mariners when he graduated from high school in 1989, but did not sign with the team and went to play basketball at University of Connecticut. Thirteen years later, he's a free-agent forward in the NBA, and the Sonics have inquired about his interest in coming to Seattle should Rashard Lewis not re-sign with the team.

It is unlikely that the Sonics would make a move until Leris has made a decision. He is currently mulling the seven year, $60 million offer by the Sonics against a three year, $15 million offer by the Dallas Mavericks.