Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports: On Wednesday, the Grizzlies cut forward Tony Massenburg and claimed small forward Mike Batiste off waivers from the Los Angeles Clippers.

Batiste is expected  to join the team today. To make room on the roster, rookie center Robert Archibald was placed on the injured list.

The Griz saw an opportunity to add more perimeter scoring.

"He's a guy who can shoot the basketball and you never have too many shooters," Griz coach Sidney Lowe said. "It opens up things inside and it just gives you another weapon. He's also a big forward, and we're happy about that. . . . Sometimes you have to match up with teams when they go big. That's why we looked at possibly playing Drew at the three."

A native of Inglewood, Calif., Batiste averaged 14.4 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Clippers in eight preseason games. He scored 24 points in an Oct. 13 game against the Grizzlies.

With the waiving of Massenburg, Michael Dickerson and Stromile Swift are the only players remaining on the roster with ties to the francises Vancouver days.

Art Thompson III of the Orange County register reports that Elton Brand is ready to return to action. The only thing standing in his way are the doctors. Brand will undergo extensive testing on his right knee on Monday. If everything checks out, he will be cleared to be in the starting lineup against Cleveland on Wednesday.

Brand ran through practice on Saturday without pain or swelling in the knee. "I'm aiming for Wednesday," Brand said Saturday night, "but I still have to check with my rehab people. But I feel great.''

Clippers trainer Jasen Powell says that Brand has recovered quicker than expected from arthroscopic surgery on the knee. He expects Brand will play on Wednesday.

"We'll have Elton. I believe that he'll be ready,'' Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. "The big thing with him was just getting his timing back. But every day he's been getting better at it. And improving more from a conditioning stand point."

Michael Olowokandi and Corey Maggette are two other Clippers starters who have been slowed by injuries. Olowokandi has been dealing with a sore knee and hip. Maggette has a bruised shoulder and thumb. Both ran through drills on Saturday and are expected to be ready for Wednesday?s game.

The Clippers and the Lakers have been affected by injuries this summer. The Los Angeles times reports on some of the injuries plaguing the LA teams this preseason.

It has been learned that Shaquille O?Neal will start the season on the injured list for the Lakers. This means that he will miss the first five games of the regular season at least. O'Neal, who had surgery on his right big toe six weeks ago today, could return Nov. 7 against the Boston Celtics. Lakers coach Phil Jackson, however, said he figured O'Neal would miss at least two more games.

Having O'Neal on the injured list would let the Lakers have another player active, presumably Soumalia Samake.

O?Neal met with his shoe company to discuss the fit of his playing shoes. Shaq will meet with his doctor on Thursday. "If everything's OK, I'll be cleared to run," O'Neal said.

The Clippers are finally starting to get healthy. After preseason injuries to most of their key players, forward Elton Brand, center Michael Olowokandi and sixth man Quentin Richardson, practiced Tuesday for the first time in more than two weeks.

Brand, Olowokandi and Richardson each indicated to Gentry they hope to play in their final preseason game tonight, but Gentry couldn't say for certain Tuesday whether any of the three would face the Cavaliers.

Brand underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Sept. 26 and isn't expected to be sound for at least another week or so. Olowokandi has a sore left knee and Richardson has a sprained right knee. Their availability also is uncertain.

"I'm really frustrated with all the injuries," Gentry said. "We haven't had all our guys out there for one single [exhibition] game. We can't walk out there on opening night and expect that everything is going to click."

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports that Wang Zhi-Zhi is almost a Clipper. On Thursday, the Mavericks will allow Zhi-Zhi to sign with Los Angeles, ending his two-year run with the Mavericks.  Dallas had the opportunity to match the 3-year, $6 million offer made by the Clippers and retain Zhi-Zhi, but they chose to let him go.

Mavs coach Don Nelson and owner Mark Cuban offered differing reasons why the 7-1 Center was let go.

"The main reason we're not matching is that Wang signed a contract with his country that he would return there in our off-season to play for their national team," Nelson said Wednesday. "When Wang broke that contract, he also broke his word with us. We have apologized to the Chinese Basketball Association and made it clear that we were in no way part of the reason why Wang never went back."

Cuban cited the luxury tax implications of the contract as the main reason for the decision. With the Mavericks already over the tax limit, Wang?s salary would be doubled and he would be relegated to reserve duty. Cuban said he understands the need for a trusting relationship with China's basketball officials. But the question of how much Wang would have been able to contribute this season also weighed heavily in the decision.

"He's a great player with lots of potential, but the reality on our team is that the coaching staff didn't think there would be more than 10 minutes per game for him," Cuban said. "That's what it came down to. But we wanted to hold off until the last minute in case somebody got hurt."

One day after having their offer to Michael Redd matched by the Milwaukee Bucks, Mike Fisher of Dallasbasketball.com reports that the Mavs are prepared to let their own restricted free agent, Wang Zhizhi, find a new career in LA.

A source tells Fisher that Wang might be an unhappy camper and a constant distraction. "It?s just not worth it," a source said.

There seems just one scenario that would cause the Mavs to change their minds: an injury to a roster member just before the Thursday deadline.

Elliott Teaford of the Los Angeles Times reports that Clippers? Center Michael Olowokandi is not ready. He was told to rest for two more weeks before testing his injured knee. This latest setback may jeopardize Olowokandi?s chances of being ready to play in the season?s opener.

"I'm very hopeful I'll be there for the first game," he said on Sunday night. "I've lost a half an inch of muscle [in his leg].... I'm confident it's something I can work with.... It's better to treat it before the season starts rather than during the 82-game schedule."

Olowokandi said he injured his knee while working out during the off-season. "That's all I did," he said. "I prepared for this season. I hardly took any time off.... I felt a little discomfort. Once training camp started, I thought I could fight it off."

An MRI exam indicated Olowokandi was suffering from bruised cartilage. He has been resting the knee and taking anti-inflammatory drugs.

The Clippers have been battling injuries all preseason. Olowokandi, power forward Elton Brand, top reserve Quentin Richardson, backup point guard Keyon Dooling, small forward Lamar Odom and first-round draft picks Melvin Ely and Chris Wilcox could not play Sunday against the Grizzlies.

Brand's status for the opener is uncertain after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Sept. 26, although he shot baskets for the second consecutive day. Richardson has a sprained right knee, Dooling and Odom sprained ankles. Ely has tendinitis in his left big toe and Wilcox a strained right quadriceps.

"I want to play healthy guys," Coach Alvin Gentry said. "We're not going to have anyone out there who's going to injure themselves [further]. We've got eight months of basketball, if we're lucky, ahead of us. Our whole thing is to get them healthy to the point where they can go out and play at a high level."

Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Mavericks are more concerned with what?s going on off the court than the team?s play on the court. After a sloppy 91-83 pre season win over the Nuggets, the Mavs were focusing on the situations surrounding Michael Redd and Wang Zhi-Zhi.

Mavericks? owner Mark Cuban said that he expects to find out soon whether the Bucks will match the $12 million offer offered to free agent Michael Redd.  The Mavericks play the Bucks on Friday night in Milwaukee.

"If they're going to re-sign him, it would make sense to do it while we're up there to kind of show us up," Cuban said. "If they're going to match, I think they'll do it [Friday]. I'm sure if they're going to sign him, they'd like to get him in camp as soon as possible."

Also, with the announcement that Wang Zhi-Zhi has been kicked off the Chinese National Team for failing to comply with Chinese officials may affect the way the Mavericks handle his free agent situation. Wang was signed to a $6 million offer sheet by the Clippers and the Mavericks have the opportunity to match.

It was originally assumed that the Mavs would allow Wang to leave if they were able to sign Redd. If Milwaukee were to match Redd?s offer the Mavs would then retain Wang. That may no longer be the case.

"We want to maintain as many options as possible," Cuban said. "But one [acquiring Redd] is really not related to the other [matching Wang's offer] anymore."

The Mavericks are very sensitive to maintaining good relations with China. Keeping Wang after his banishment may not be received well by the Chinese Basketball Association.

The Bucks have until Tuesday to decide if they want to match the Mavericks' offer to Redd. The Mavericks have until Wednesday to match Wang's LA offer. "It's been an awkward situation from the start," said Donnie Nelson, president of basketball operations. "We're going to sit down with Nellie, Mark and myself and discuss it in depth."

The Associated Press reports that Wang Zhi-Zhi has been dismissed from the Chinese National Team for deciding to play with the Los Angeles Clippers instead of at the Asian Games, state media reported Thursday.

Wang, who signed last week with the Clippers, has shown an "absence of professional standards, indiscipline and indifference to the interests of the nation,'' according to a statement by the China Basketball Association published in the Beijing Times and the Beijing Morning Post.

He defied the association's orders to play for China at last month's World Championships and the Asian Games so he could work out in Los Angeles.

"Participating in international competitions -- winning glory for the country -- is every athlete's honor and obligation,'' the statement said. "But when the motherland needed him, he did not care about what's good for the country and was unwilling to serve his country.''

Wang can return to the Chinese team if he "admits his wrongdoing. He still has the opportunity to correct his mistakes.'' the statement said.

Jeffrey Denberg of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Clippers may be in trouble. Instead of working toward improving on their 39 wins from last season, their best players are grumbling about money. The team?s reluctance to pay their free agents could lead to the dismantling of a young, talented team.

The Clippers have five potential free agents next summer --- center Michael Olowokandi, forwards Elton Brand, Lamar Odom and Corey Maggette and Miller.

"I'm ready to move on to bigger and better things," Olowokandi says.

Says Brand: "For the team's sake, having so many potential free agents can't be helpful. Coaches are judged by wins and losses. Players are judged by their stats. Believe me, you don't want a whole bunch of guys taking extra shots instead of looking out for the team."

And Miller, yet to play a game since being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers, was astonished when the Clippers didn't offer him a contract extension.

Money will be a problem next summer, but injuries are the main concern of the Clippers right now. Odom and Brand will both miss training camp and will likely start the season on the injured list. Keyon Dooling is just now returning from ankle surgery. Quentin Richardson and Bryant Stith are out with injuries as well.

Other topics covered by Denberg:
The Celtics frugal ownership, the Bulls? new ad campaign with Michael Jordan, and the point guard situation in Cleveland.