Dave Twardzik and Otis Smith, co-assistant general managers of the Orlando Magic, are expected to leave for Spain on Monday morning, hoping for a face-to-face meeting and a possible change of heart with first-round draft pick Fran Vazquez.

The Magic used the No. 11 pick in last month's NBA draft to select Vazquez, a 6-foot-10 power forward. They were confident they could sign him for this season.

Vazquez was equally confident about joining the team when he visited Orlando the day following the draft, which he attended with the other top picks in New York.

Vazquez, though, stunned the Magic and his American agent this week by telling reporters in Spain that he would play at least another season in Europe before joining the NBA. By drafting him, the Magic retain his NBA rights indefinitely.

"Should we have sent someone to live with him following the draft? I don't know," Magic President Bob Vander Weide said Friday. "Right now, we need to build a relationship with this kid, extend an extra hand."

It appears that the Orlando Magic's first-round draft pick will be spending at least the next two seasons overseas.

Forward Fran Vazquez, who the Magic selected 11th overall in the June Draft, had showed no signs of wavering on his decision to come to the NBA but it sounds like he will play with Real Madrid next season.

"I've said `no,' because I was afraid to adapt to the American way of life, and of not giving the level they have asked,'' Vazquez told the Spanish newspaper Malaga hoy today. "I'm not a coward, but I prefer to stay in Spain, progress, and who knows? Maybe jump to the NBA in a few years.''

The Magic were surprised but are not giving up hope on Vacquez playing for them this coming season.

"Yes, we're a little surprised,'' said Dave Twardzik, Magic co-general manager who had seen Vazquez play six different times in Europe. "The message we've been getting all along -- before the draft, after the draft -- was that he was excited about playing here. He said it was his dream to play in the NBA. I don't know (what changed his mind).''

"When you draft an international player, something like this is always possible. We talked about it before the draft,'' Twardzik said. "It's something he has to figure out now, if it's what he wants to do.''

The Magic hope to talk with Vacquez and if he has not already signed a contract, it is possible they can still sway him to sign with them.

The Orlando Magic late Wednesday disputed a report out of Spain, which had stated that its first round choice in the 2005 Draft, the 11th overall pick Fran Vazquez could be close to signing a two year contract with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid.

The report was published on AS.com, but it did not cite the source.

"We fully expect him to be in our training camp this fall," said Scott Herring, Magic director of basketball administration. "We've been in contact with his agent almost daily, and we've heard nothing that would lead us in that direction. That would be 180 degrees different from what we've been hearing."

The Dallas Mavericks plan to wait it on whether to use the "amnesty" clause on swingman Michael Finley.

However, the Mavericks would prefer to trade Finley to an Eastern Conference team and might have one offer already.

The Mavs have at least one deal on the table for Finley, possibly with Orlando, that satisfies Mark Cuban's requirement of receiving expiring contracts in return. The Mavs will continue to pursue a trade and could easily wait until the eve of training camp before deciding Finley's fate.

Players rumored to be involved in the possible deal include Doug Christie, Tony Battie, Stacey Augmon and Mario Kasun.

The Mavericks though are expected to wait it out to see if they can get a better offer.

Free agent center Andrew Declercq and the Orlando Magic are likely to call it quits after five seasons together.

The team has not offered him a contract and his agent believes Declercq, who is coming off of knee surgery, will be playing elsewhere next season.

"He won't be returning to Orlando, but there are various other options we're sorting through," said Joel Bell, DeClercq's agent on Monday. "He'll be in the league."

Otis Smith, Magic co-general manager, said Monday that the team has been monitoring DeClercq's rehab, but he would not say for certain that DeClercq's career with the Magic was over.

A possible option for Declercq is the Philadelphia Sixers who have been interested in Declercq now and in the past.

This summer many have speculated that Magic guard Steve Francis would be on the move.

However, it appears the Magic want to keep him around.

Francis met with management during a summer league game in Las Vegas last week and they apparently told Francis he is staying put.

"I'd be misleading you if I said, 'I have not received calls from around the league,' people wondering what Steve wanted to do," said Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, who was vacationing in Florida last week. "The interest from other teams was genuine. But Steve likes Orlando. And based on our discussions with the Magic, they like him here."

Former Orlando Magic head coach Johnny Davis was hired Saturday as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves under new coach Dwane Casey.

Davis, who has spent 28 years in the NBA as a player, coach and front office executive, was fired by the Magic last March. Davis, who was also the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1996-97 season, went 51-84 with the Magic after taking over for Doc Rivers in November 2003.

Davis spent 10 seasons as a player in the NBA with four different teams and then was an assistant for 12 seasons for five different teams.

Sources have confirmed that Keyon Dooling has agreed to a contract with the Orlando Magic.

RealGM and DraftExpress first reported the Magic had offered Dooling a contract on Wednesday.  The offer was three years for $9 million.  The Magic were forced to up their initial offer when the Nets were able to execute a sign-and-trade deal with the Blazers for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Dooling will sign a four-year pact with the Magic worth between $11 million and $12 million.

Quiet throughout the first three weeks of the NBA's free-agent courting period because of roster and financial restrictions, the Orlando Magic appear poised now to spring into action.

Intent on upgrading their depth at point guard, the Magic could be on the verge of extending a contract offer to either Memphis' Earl Watson, Miami's Keyon Dooling or Chicago's Chris Duhon.

Orlando is in no hurry to make a splash in free agency, assistant general manager Otis Smith said Thursday, but the team would like "to have something concrete in the next two to three days."

Such a signing would allow the Magic to move Steve Francis exclusively to shooting guard and signal that the team does not believe Jameer Nelson is ready to start at point guard.

Now that the Nets have reached an agreement to complete a sign-and-trade deal for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, they are free to use the mid level exception on another player(s).

Keyon Dooling has emerged as the Nets' next priority and the only hang up appears to be if the 6-3 guard out of Missouri would be comfortable backing up Jason Kidd.  

The Nets met with Dooling on Thursday.

Dooling was reportedly offered a $9 million contract by the Magic earlier in the week.  

Signing with the Nets would give Dooling an opportunity to play for a consistent playoff team, a team the guard had an excellent series against last season as a member of the Heat.