The NBA owners have voted to reimburse the Oklahoma City Thunder a sum of $8 million for the gap between Kevin Durant's contract under the old collective bargaining agreement and the new on that was agreed upon in December of 2011.

Durant's deal became a super-max due to his presence on All-NBA teams. 

The $8 million is half of the gap between the two contracts for Durant.

The National Basketball Players Association has denied an online report indicating that Stu Jackson, Isiah Thomas, Steve Mills and Fred Whitfield have become the four finalists to replace Billy Hunter as executive director.

"That couldn't be further from the truth," a union source said Sunday night. "There's been no process where there have been any candidates vetted, much less those four. I don't think there's been any process or any decision. That's completely fictional."

Jerry Stackhouse, the union's first vice president, also denied the report.

"The process is moving," he said. "But we haven't narrowed anything down to any four candidates. These are some of the names that are popping up out there more than others, and we recognize that. But the process of getting a search firm hasn't even been completed yet. We are looking at two search firms. The HR piece is huge for us, getting to the league what we thought needed to change."

The NBA Board of Governors voted to award the Oklahoma City Thunder approximately $15 million due to an issue with Kevin Durant's super-max contract, according to reporting by Zach Lowe of ESPN.

Durant signed a maximim extension with the Thunder in 2010 that went into effect for the 11-12 season, but in the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, he would be eligible for a super-max as a two-time All-NBA honoree. The NBA approved the boost in December of 2011 and an additional $15 million over five years.

The Thunder signed the deal not anticipating paying Durant 30 percent of the cap.

Teams can only designate one player for the five-year extension, but were able to do so with both Durant and Russell Westbrook because of the loophole.

Mikhail Prokhorov explained his willingness to shell out more than $100 million in player salaries for next season – a figure that will trigger an NBA-record luxury tax bill of about $80 million.

“When I bought the team, I promised to create a championship contender, a team worthy of Brooklyn,” said Prokhorov. “I’ll be proud when we win the championship. I am not a man of procedure. I am a man of results.”

Prokhorov reiterated his goal of winning a title by 2015.

“In the NBA, money, it’s important, but you can’t buy a championship only spending money. What’s most important is to put pieces together [for] a championship contender,” he said. “Frankly speaking, I’ll do whatever I can to reach the championship here in Brooklyn. It was the goal when I bought the NBA team. From inside, for me there is only one place and that’s first place.”

The NBA has approved the name of the Charlotte Bobcats to the Charlotte Hornets.

The Bobcats were named after the franchise's first owner Robert Johnson.

The New Orleans Pelicans abandoned the name, Hornets, this season.

The name change will take effect for the 14-15 season.

Paul George and the Indiana Pacers have yet to agree to a contract extension and the stakes increased with his comments at the ESPY's that he would have a hard time saying no to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency.

George became eligible to sign an extension on July 1 and is the only player of the 2010 NBA Draft class with an All-Star appearance.

The following list includes the 15 players who signed rookie extensions that already had an All-Star Game appearance at the time of the agreement along with the date of when a deal was reached.

2009 Class: Blake Griffin (Jul. 10)

2008 Class (following lockout): Derrick Rose (Dec. 20), Russell Westbrook (Jan. 19), Kevin Love (Jan. 25)

2007 Class: Kevin Durant (Jul. 7)

2006 Class: Brandon Roy (Aug. 6)

2005 Class: Deron Williams (Jul. 18), Chris Paul (Jul. 9)

2004 Class: Dwight Howard (Jul. 12)

2003 Class: LeBron James (Jul. 12), Carmelo Anthony (Jul. 12), Chris Bosh (Jul. 14), Dwyane Wade (Jul. 13)

2002 Class: Yao Ming (Sept. 1), Amar'e Stoudemire (Oct. 3)

Most players not on NBA contracts participate in Summer League play without compensation.

The opportunity for exposure in front of NBA teams is worth it to the aspiring players, who may make more money overseas.

Flight and hotel accommodations are paid by the teams.

The NBA had three teams make Forbes' list of the most valuable sports franchises in the world.

The New York Knicks rank 23rd at a valuation of $1.1 billion followed by the Los Angeles Lakers at 31st with a $1 billion valuation.

The Chicago Bulls are listed at 47th at $800 million.

Pat Riley wants to keep the nucleus of the Miami Heat together despite looming luxury taxes coming next season.

"I want to try to keep this team intact as long as we can, because we have a championship basketball team here," Riley said. "I would hate to break any part of it up, that is productive and leads to winning."

Riley said the Heat have no immediate plan to use their one-time amnesty provision on Mike Miller or Joel Anthony.

"Right now, we're not using amnesty, no," he said, but qualified it by adding, "as of today."

Riley said the Heat tried to land a perimeter player by offering their $3.2 million taxpayer mid-level exception during free agency.

"We weren't successful and we're going to save it, and we will use it if we have to use it, if the right player pops up," Riley said. "I'm not sure that who's available out there are people that we would offer it to now."

The Los Angeles Lakers had a luxury tax charge of $29,259,739 for the 12-13 season.

The Miami Heat ($13,346,242), Brooklyn Nets ($12,883,647), New York Knicks ($9,962,406), Chicago Bulls ($3,932,336) and Boston Celtics ($1,181,640) also had tax payments.