It had been less than a day since agent David Bauman talked to his client, Peja Stojakovic.

When last they spoke, Stojakovic's only concern regarding his Kings team was how to speed up its slow start. Yet Bauman's cell phone was suddenly ringing nonstop on Monday, with word spreading that Stojakovic was a requesting a trade.

"My first reaction was, "What the (...) is going on?" Bauman said.

"So I called Peja and wanted to find out if anything had happened in the last 24 hours since we'd talked."

What had happened was an Arlington Heights Daily Herald story which stated that "rumors persist that? Stojakovic wants a trade to the Bulls or is hoping to sign here as a free agent next summer."

The report prompted various NBA Web sites to circulate the speculation that Stojakovic - who asked for a trade before last season - wanted out again. Bauman, though, said that couldn't be more false.

"We categorically deny that we're asking for a trade," Bauman said.

"We haven't discussed free agency at all in the past two months. It's the furthest thing from his mind. I know he just wants to get the team right. These kinds of false rumors, it's almost like they're designed to cause turmoil.

"I guess that's what they need to do to get people to click on their web sites, but I really resent people printing rumors as fact. I can tell you we had nothing to do with it."

When asked about the report on Monday, Stojakovic said, "I can't control what the papers (do), or what somebody is going to write. It's going to be what it's going to be. I can't really say what's going to happen (in the offseason)."