Though he is eligible to declare free agency the season after next and still hasn't accepted the Bucks' offer for a contract extension, point guard Sam Cassell made one thing clear Tuesday:
He wants to remain in Milwaukee.
"My intentions are definitely to stay here," Cassell said. "I've never said (I want to leave)."
Cassell said he is ready to accept a three-year extension worth about $17 million that would carry him through the 2005-'06 season, when he will be 36 years old and presumably nearing the end of his career.
The only holdup now, Cassell said, is financial details.
"We've got to get certain things that I want," he said. "There are certain things I've got to have. I want everything that Sam Cassell deserves under the collective-bargaining agreement.
"I'm done with it. When my representative says it's time, it's time. When I get everything I need, it will be that simple."