Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-Sentinel reports that the Heat are sill looking for a point guard. While incumbent starting point guard Rod Strickland remains unsigned, the Heat has brought in former University of Connecticut guard Khalid El-Amin for an extended tryout.

Under the coach staff's supervision, El-Amin, 23, has been working out with Heat point guards Anthony Carter and Mike James. If Strickland and the Heat can't come to an agreement, it's quite possible that coach Pat Riley will throw open the competition for the starting spot and allow the trio to fight it out in training camp

"Hopefully, I can be their man," El-Amin said. "I just want to be consistent every night and stay on that level. I learned about hard work from Elton Brand [in Chicago] and Tim Hardaway and Steve Nash in Dallas," he said. "I know I have to put the time and effort in. It takes hard work to survive in this league."

Strickland's agent, Rock Newman, refused to comment on the 36-year-old's free-agent negotiations. "Under the conditions and circumstances I am not discussing it at all," Newman said Friday.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that Alonzo Mourning is not only fighting kidney disease, but he also has to contend with anemia as well. Anemia can cause fatigue and a decreased ability to concentrate, because the body lacks enough red blood cells to carry oxygen from the lungs to tissues and organs. Mourning says the anemia is caused by his kidney disease.

Still he says he plans to play this season and beyond.

Mourning, 32, told The Washington Post's Michael Wilbon in Saturday's editions that anemia contributed to his lack of energy early last season. He was diagnosed during the season, but a Heat official and an associate of Mourning said Saturday they were uncertain exactly when that was.

''The kidney disorder triggered other abnormalities in my body, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and now anemia,'' Mourning told The Post. ``I started feeling very fatigued, very lethargic. My minutes dropped off because I was having problems getting up and down the court. . . .

``By the time I practiced or played a game, I had nothing left in the tank. I had nothing left for my family by the time I got home. It just wasn't worth it. If I had to live like that, I would have had to back away from the game.''

David Aldridge of ESPN reports that the Dallas Mavericks are talking to the Miami Heat. The object of the talks: Alonzo Mourning. The discussions are very preliminary, and Miami coach and president Pat Riley has said all summer that he will not trade Mourning, who is entering the final year of his contract.

Aldridge believes that the Mavs would offer Nick Van Exel in a package to try and land Mourning.

?Coach (Pat) Riley has gone on record saying that 'Zo will be on the team this year, and it's our intention to re-sign 'Zo at the end of the season," Heat spokesman Tim Donovan told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel at the time. "I want to be (in Miami), but I can deal with change," Mourning told the paper. "I know the business, and I've seen some strange things."

Former University of Florida center Udonis Haslem may bypass a chance to play in the NBA for guaranteed money overseas.

Haslem's agent, Jason Levien, said Wednesday the 6-foot-9 center has been offered $400,000 to play for the Chalon pro team in France. Since he was unselected in this year's NBA Draft, Haslem would have to go to camp with one of the three teams that have invited him and try to make the squad without any guarantees.

"Right now he's leaning towards (signing with) that team," Levien said of Chalon.

Haslem averaged nine points and was third in the NBA's summer league play in rebounds with 8.1 per contest while playing for the Atlanta Hawks.

Golden State and Seattle are among several teams that have invited Haslem, a four-year starter at Florida, to their fall camps.

Since European teams open camp at the end of the month, however, Haslem has to make a quick decision on a nice, quick payoff or gambling it all on making an NBA team. He's apparently decided to take the sure money.

Levien said Haslem will likely make a final decision Monday.

Harvey Fialkov of the Sun-sentinel reports that the Heat quickly denied the rumor that Alonzo Mourning could be traded to the Knicks.

"Coach [Pat] Riley has gone on record saying that Zo will be on the team this year, and it's our intention to re-sign Zo at the end of the season," said Heat spokesman Tim Donovan, with Riley and General Manager Randy Pfund in Los Angeles for the funeral of Lakers' broadcaster Chick Hearn.

The New York Daily News reported on Thursday that according to an "Eastern Conference official" Knicks General Manager Scott Layden called Riley to discuss a swap involving Mourning for swingman Latrell Sprewell and either forward Kurt Thomas or forward Clarence Weatherspoon, two former Heat players.

The "official" also said the Heat rejected Mourning's bid for a contract extension.

The trade doesn't make sense on several levels, with the most glaring contradiction having to do with Riley's insistence on clearing salary cap room for next season's glut of stellar free agents, including Tim Duncan.

Mourning, 32, is in the final year of his contract, which will net him $20 million, so why should Riley take on the future back-loaded contracts of Sprewell, Thomas or Weatherspoon? Sprewell and Thomas will earn a combined $18.9 million next year.

Another well-traveled rumor is forward/center Brian Grant (guaranteed $66.5 million through 2006-07) going to the 76ers in a sign-and-trade for free-agent swingman Matt Harpring and enigmatic forward Derrick Coleman. That would make monetary sense for the Heat because Coleman is in the final year of his contract, in which he'll reap $9.3 million this year.

However, Riley questioned why the Sixers didn't opt to re-sign Harpring, and Grant's agent Mark Bartelstein extinguished the brushfire.

"There's nothing going on with that right now," Bartelstein said.

Marc Berman of the New York post reports that ?Superagent?, David Falk would have liked to see the Knicks trade for Dikembe Mutombo. While he admits that Mutombo will be a good fir in New Jersey, Falk is baffled that Knicks GM Scott Layden didn't pull the trigger to obtain the center he's pursued since he traded Patrick Ewing two years ago.

The Post reported Wednesday the Knicks and Sixers engaged in trade talks about Mutombo, but Philly wasn't interested in Latrell Sprewell or Allan Houston, wanting a center in return. A league source confirmed yesterday's published report that the Sixers and Knicks had been close to a deal that collapsed because Layden wouldn't part with Kurt Thomas.

Last Friday, the source said, a trade was proposed in which the Knicks gained Mutombo and gave up Thomas, Charlie Ward and Travis Knight. On Monday, Layden called the Sixers, backing out of the deal. That's when the Sixers called the Nets. Sixers GM Billy King, asked about the crashed deal, said "I'm not going down that road."

Layden wouldn't comment either, but the club disputed the contention that a serious offer had been on the table. Evidently, Layden was leery of Mutombo's age and the fact that, in two years, the Knicks could have been saddled with four players - Sprewell, Houston, McDyess and Mutombo - signed to maximum contracts, further reducing his flexibility.

"It would've been interesting if Dikembe went back to New York now that they have McDyess because they played together in Denver," Falk said. "It would've been a helluva frontline. I guess there was a deal on the table - for whatever reason it wasn't consummated. I know Scott loves Dikembe."

Stephen A. Smith of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the trades the Sixers almost made. On Monday, the Sixers traded Mutombo to the Nets for Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch, but there were other deals discussed.

Last week, Mutombo was nearly a New York Knick (in a trade for Kurt Thomas and Latrell Sprewell) before he became a New Jersey Net. And, had it not been for the combination of Allen Iverson's arrest on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, followed by subsequent arrests of Bucks forward Glenn Robinson for allegedly assaulting his ex-fiancee and Coleman for suspicion of drunken driving, Robinson could have been traded for Coleman.

Sixers GM Billy King was on the phone with Milwaukee talking about inheriting the remaining three years and $32.66 million on Robinson's contract; he was trying to trade both Mutombo and Coleman in the same week. The major stumbling block stemmed more from appearances on the police blotters than play on the court.

Meanwhile, Ashley McGeachy Fox of the Inquirer reports that the Sixers are most likely not done dealing.

After the Nets trade, Philly is in the market for a veteran big man. Preferably one who can play both the center and power forward position. A report that the Sixers were interested in trading Derrick Coleman and Harpring to Miami for Brian Grant surfaced yesterday. That was apparently false because Grant's contract was too large and for too long. But a league insider said of the possible deal: "Miami would be the best for all three parties."

There are several free-agent big men who would fit Brown's criteria for a veteran center. Houston's Kevin Willis, who turns 40 next month, is 7 feet tall and averaged 6.1 points in 52 games, including five starts. Dean Garrett also is available. Minnesota traded the 6-11 Garrett to Golden State in February, and in 34 games last season, he averaged 1.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in 5.4 minutes.

Another veteran option could be Portland's Chris Dudley, who has said he is going to retire, or Chicago's Charles Oakley.

Frank Isola of the Daily News reports that the Knicks are still looking to improve their front court. After signing Michael Doleac to serve as their back-up center, Scott Layden and the Knicks want a starting center. Layden's search for a franchise big man has actually included a call to Riley for Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning, according to an Eastern Conference official.

A deal for Mourning would likely have to involve a third team and multiple players because Mourning, who missed 79games two years ago due to a career-threatening kidney ailment, is scheduled to earn approximately $20 million this season. For the Knicks to make a serious bid for Mourning, their offer would probably include Latrell Sprewell with either Kurt Thomas or Clarence Weatherspoon, who became expendable with yesterday's addition of Doleac.

The Heat has fielded numerous calls regarding Mourning from teams desperate to add an All-Star caliber center. Riley, however, is reluctant to deal Mourning because of Mourning's pending free agency. Miami will take only young players or players without long-term contracts because Riley is hoping to make a run at free agent-to-be Tim Duncan after the 2002-03 season.

Mourning, 32, wants to finish his career with the Heat, but Miami recently rejected his bid for a contract extension and appears ready to allow Mourning to walk after this season.

The Miami Herald is reporting that the Miami Heat and free agent guard Rod Strickland are still at length in negotiations about a new contract, with Pat Riley adding that Miami's search for a veteran point guard might stretch into September.

According to an official close to the situation, the Heat wants Strickland to accept a one-year, $1.1 million offer, while Strickland wants a multiyear deal for substantially more.  What does not bode well for Strickland, however, is the fact that the team re-signed backup center Vladimir Stepania to a one-year deal worth more than $1.2 million and are also chasing Sixer Matt Harpring, who is also attracting attention from the Bulls and Jazz.  The Heat have maintained that they will not get into luxury tax waters unless absolutely necessary.

Travis Best and Jeff McInnis are the only other starting-caliber free agent point guards, each of whom the Heat are hoping they can sign for the $1.1 million slot.

Because the Heat wants cap space next summer, Riley said he is ''not comfortable'' signing any player for more than one year.

The Heat also have a backup plan in case they cannot sign Harpring to play small forward, signing Jimmy Jackson for $1 million.

''We feel good at that position,'' Riley said. ``We're very high on Caron and Rasual. At the summer league [in Long Beach, Calif.], Caron's ball-handling impressed me the most. He is very strong in the low post.''

Israel Gutierrez of the Palm Beach Post reports that the Heat are still trying to fill their vacant point guard position. They would like to resign Rod Strickland, but they are keeping an eye on other free agents as well.

The Heat would like to sign Strickland for one year at the minimum $1 million, but may be willing to use the $1.4 million exception. Based on contracts recently signed by Chris Childs (two years, more than $3 million with New Jersey) and Earl Watson (three years, $4 million), Strickland should command at least the $1.4 million exception, but his age, 36, likely will keep him from getting a deal longer than one year.

Miami has contacted the agent for free-agent point guard Troy Hudson, who averaged 11.7 points and 3.1 assists in a breakthrough 2001-02 season with the Magic. The Heat, however, would prefer offering a one-year deal, and Hudson is seeking a longer contract. Travis Best is another option.

Miami is also one of the teams still in the running for Boston free agent forward Rodney Rogers. The Heat still have their entire $4.5 million exception available but may not be willing to use it on one player. The Sixers were chasing Rogers until they signed Greg Buckner with part of their exception. The Sixers only have $2.1 million remaining, which Rogers? agent, James Williams, says is well below what Rogers is willing to sign for.