Brown’s agent talks with Pistons; Sonics sign Allen

Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | 9:12 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

Larry Brown's agent and Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars spoke Tuesday about the coach's future with the team, but did not reach a resolution.

"Joe Glass and I have started talking about Larry's situation and we are continuing to discuss the matter," Dumars said in a statement released by the team. "As of right now there is nothing new to report."

Glass said he did not have another conversation scheduled with Dumars.

"There's no timeframe on when we're going to talk again," Glass said in a telephone interview from his office in New York. "We just have to monitor Larry's situation, and go from there. People are reading too much into me and Joe talking, and trying to speculate on the implications."

Brown checked into the Mayo Clinic last week to address a medical problem that developed from complications following hip surgery in November and didn't go away after a second procedure in March. He arrived at his vacation home in New York on Friday.

Allen agreed to a five-year, $85 million contract extension with Seattle, his agent said. The contract includes $80 million in salary and $5 million in bonuses, although terms of the bonuses and the yearly breakdown of salary hasn't been determined.

The All-Star shooting guard became a free agent on July 1, and cannot sign the deal until the free-agent signing period begins on July 22. His agent, Lon Babby, said Allen plans to sign the contract at the first available moment. Allen will turn 30 on July 20.

Hodge, the 20th overall pick in the June 28 NBA draft, was the first of two first-round selections by the Nuggets. Kleiza was taken by Portland with the 27th pick, then traded to Denver with the draft rights to forward Ricky Sanchez for the draft rights to guard Jarrett Jack, Denver's second first-round selection.

The Nuggets didn't disclose financial terms of the contracts in a press release, though Hodge is guaranteed to receive about $2.1 million for his first two seasons and Kleiza will make about $1.6 million.

With an estimated $24 million in salary-cap space and a plethora of needs up and down the roster, Hawks general manager Billy Knight expected as much.

But even he couldn't have been ready for the deluge of misinformation that has spread like brush fire since the NBA's free-agent negotiating period began at midnight on July 1.

No contracts can be signed before July 23, but recruiting pitches and conversations are ongoing. And the rumors -- from the feasible to the ridiculous -- continue to circulate.

"That's the way it goes," Knight said. "Every team that has cap space is being mentioned with (free agents), even when they aren't talking to those guys. And guys are being mentioned with those teams, too, when they shouldn't be. It's not just us."