Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic has been left off the Slovenian national team.

Slovenian coach Jurij Zdovc left Vujacic and Miha Zupan off the team when reducing the roster from 16 to 14 players on Monday.

Vujacic is suffering from a minor knee injury.

Lakers broadcaster Stu Lantz notes in an in-the-works Pete Newell documentary that the former Lakers GM not only made the trade that brought Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers, but also put together the deal that gave the Lakers the draft pick that yielded Magic Johnson.

"When you think of Showtime," Lantz tells filmmaker Doug Harris, "you'd better start thinking Pete Newell."

Ron Artest is unhappy with the way the Rockets treated him as a free agent this summer.

Artest signed a five-year deal with the Lakers for less than he was making in Houston.

"Houston did me dirty," wrote Artest on his Twitter page on Saturday. "I can't wait til next year when we go to Houston. I'm not shooting. All defense. Somebody getting locked da [expletive] up."

Ron Artest believes that the Lakers can be like the Bulls of the late 1990s.

Artest, who signed a free-agent deal with Los Angeles this summer, grew up as a fan of Michael Jordan.

"The opportunity was unbelievable. I get a chance to play with Kobe, Michael Jordan's my favorite player, Kobe's probably the closest person to Michael Jordan, so I get to kind of relive that whole Chicago Bulls thing growing up, that was my favorite team," Artest told 790 The Ticket in Miami.

"So, Phil Jackson, you got Kobe Bryant, you got myself at the three like Scottie Pippen, you have a clutch shooter in Derek Fisher like a Steve Kerr, you have Lamar Odom like a Toni Kukoc, it's just fun, it's a dream. I thank God so much to be in this situation, get a chance to win, playing with the defending champs, and I'm in LA 'cause you know I love the spotlight."

Paperwork has not yet been filed after Lakers guard Shannon Brown was served in June with notice of intent to file a sexual assault suit.

Brown's agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPN that a woman had served the guard with papers notifying him that she was filing the case in June.

However, after reviewing the papers Bartelstein said he was misinformed and that the initial letter was actually an "intent" to file a document rather than the actual civil suit.

The suit stemmed from an incident that took place in late January when Brown was playing against the Nuggets in Denver as a member of the Bobcats.

The state of Colorado has a six-year statute on filing of civil suits.

Kurt Rambis has long been mentioned as a potential replacement candidate for the Lakers following Phil Jackson's eventual retirement.

But he appears fully committed to the situation in Minnesota.

"He was after the same thing that we were after," Wolves owner Glen Taylor said. "We both talked about a four-year contract. That's what he wanted and I think that's what we wanted, to tie him up so that he would stay here for the long run. I don't think we're in to releasing him for the Lakers. I think he is here to build this team and get the good part of it when we get to winning."

Rambis said he is "absolutely committed" to the Wolves, adding: "I'm not going to look back. I made this decision to come here, I'm here, and I told Glen Taylor I'm here for the long term. I want to go through the whole process, be here from the start and I want to finish it."

Pau Gasol had surgery Monday after breaking the middle finger in his left hand during practice with the Spanish national team.

Lakers spokesman John Black told the Los Angeles Times of the news.

Gasol is expected to be sidelined for three weeks, but agent Arn Tellum said that there were no problems with the surgery.

Longtime NBA assistant David Wohl is coming to the Timberwolves as a top assistant for Kurt Rambis, according to multiple reports.

Rambis, who has agreed to terms with Minnesota, is expected to replace most of, if not all, of former coach Kevin McHale's staff.

The Spurs have added a few impact players this offseason.

San Antonio traded for Richard Jefferson, signed Antonio McDyess as a free agent and drafted DeJuan Blair.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told Yahoo! Sports that he believed changes were necessary if the club was going to compete with the NBA's best.

"We weren't beating the Lakers, even if we were whole," Popovich said of last year's team.

"If you really wanted to be honest with yourself, you had to think that."

Popovich acknowledged that many of the league's other top teams have improved this summer as well.

"By no means are we the best team in the league," Popovich said. "But I think we're back in the ballgame."

The Timberwolves and Kurt Rambis have reached terms on a deal that will install Rambis as the Wolves' new head coach, according to NBA coaching sources.

Rambis was lured away from Lakers coach Phil Jackson's staff by a four-year deal believed to be worth in excess of $8M.

Wolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed ESPN.com's report in an interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press late Saturday, telling the newspaper that he expects Rambis to formally sign the contract Monday.