[h1]PACERS, GUARD CUT TIES[/h1]
[h3]By MARC BERMAN[/h3]
Add Brooklyn's Jamaal Tinsley to Donnie Walsh's exploration of point guards.
Yesterday, the long-running dispute between Tinsley and the Pacers was resolved, with a settlement reached, heading off next week's arbitration hearingin New York. Tinsley, whom Walsh drafted in 2001 late in the first round and became a diamond in the rough, officially was waived by the Pacers yesterday, andif he clears waivers, will become a free agent tomorrow. Tinsley grew up in Bed-Stuy, attended Iowa State and could be amenable to returning home.
Tinsley was banished from the Pacers all season, with Indiana refusing to trade him or buy him out. Tinsley still was owed $14.7 million on his contract.According to a source, Walsh, who has been talking to the agents of Ramon Sessions and Andre Miller, will have internal discussions with his staff on whetherto pursue Tinsley, and could view him as a cheaper alternative to Miller as a one-year pickup for a portion of the mid-level exception. The Tinsley situationcould be why Walsh had been dragging his feet.
The Heat are also said to be interested in Tinsley.
"I would like to thank the Pacers for working on a resolution to this, and Jamaal and I are sorry things didn't work out," agent RaymondBrothers said in a statement.
Walsh likely would prefer Miller, but is willing to do only a one-year, $5.8 million deal and may be outbid. Walsh would have to make a long-term investmentin Sessions and is concerned about how it would affect his cap space in 2010.
"We're talking, but we haven't moved closer to a deal," Walsh said. "I'm trying to look at everything in that picture ofprotecting our cap position. Is it going to put us in a bad position or not?"
Walsh added a Sessions deal likely would have to include the player tak ing a pay de crease for 2010-11 in a back-loaded deal.
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It doesn't appear as if Nate Robinson will be taking his act to Greece.
Olympiakos reportedly has moved on, supposedly disappointed Robinson did not pay the club a recruiting visit.
The Greek club was offering Robinson a deal that would be worth the equivalent of $10 million for the first year, including endorsements, merchandising andincome-tax relief. Olympiakos management apparently believed Robinson was using the offer as leverage with the Knicks, and has not made a long-term pitch forthe popular 5-foot-7½ guard.
The Raptors' Chris Bosh, a free agent in 2010, is shown on a UStream video laughing for more than a minute with his manager at the possibility ofplaying for the Knicks. A contest winner from Hofstra, Ismail Humet, had told Bosh on the phone during the taped segment he hopes he'll play for the Knicksnext season.
"I always laugh it off when people ask me to come to their cities," Bosh wrote onTwitter. "I wasn't laughin' because it was the Knicks."
