Dikembe Mutombo donated $100,000 to the Ithuteng Trust School in South Africa for at-risk and underprivileged children this summer. He was at the NBA Store yesterday to raise money for UNICEF and he's still working on a hospital in Congo.

Mutombo is easily one of the NBA's most generous players. However, his charity stops when it comes to the idea of him accepting a possible buyout from the center-loaded Nets.

"I give my money to my foundation; I don't give my money to anybody else," Mutombo said yesterday in midtown while promoting the "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" program. "I've got about $10million left to build my hospital, so I'm not willing to give my money to nobody right now."

With four centers - Alonzo Mourning, Mutombo, Jason Collins and Aaron Williams - on their roster, the Nets had discussions with the Blazers over the summer about a trade that would have involved Mutombo and Kenyon Martin for Rasheed Wallace. Those talks, along with a potential three-way deal with the Raptors that would have brought Wallace and Morris Peterson to the Nets, fell apart, according to a source.

The Nets also have contemplated buying Mutombo out of the $37 million remaining on his contract, which has two years left. While that would cost the Nets perhaps as much as $30 million or more, such a move would give them slight salary-cap relief for the next two years not to mention help avoid an ugly situation should Mutombo be the odd man out in the center rotation.