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14 Hrs Wesley Johnson SF MIN, Evan Turner PG/S... PHI, John Wall PG WAS

Scottie Reynolds, a four-year star guard at Villanova, has signed a one-year deal with Prima Veroli, a Lazio-based club in Italy's second division, according to Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News. Interestingly enough, it appears the deal was orchestrated by former Duke guard Lee Melchionni, who also played professionally in Italy's LegADue and is now a player agent.

Barring a change of course, Reynolds will be the first NCAA Consensus First Team All-American to play in a league other than the NBA immediately after leaving college since Cincinnati guard Steve Logan in 2002. Fellow 2010 All-American Sherron Collins, a Kansas guard, spent Orlando Summer League with the Bobcats and, given Charlotte's lack of point guard depth, will likely get a shot at making the club come October.

Both Reynolds and Collins went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft. The other three 2010 First Team All-Americans -- John Wall, Evan Turner and Wesley Johnson -- were picked among the top four choices in the draft.

Reynolds played with the Phoenix Suns at the Vegas Summer League. In three games, he averaged 10 points and five assists. The Suns invited Reynolds to training camp on a unguaranteed contract to compete with Zabian Dowdell, who spent last year with the ACB's Unicaja Malaga, for the Suns' third point guard spot, but Reynolds apparently found a better offer across the sea.

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Malik Hairston PG/S... SA
15 Hrs San Antonio Spurs

Hairston asked the Spurs to release him from the final year of his contract in order to sign with an Italian League team, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

This may be the last week see of Hairston in the NBA, as he signed a long term contract with the Italian League team.

24 Hrs Luis Scola PF/C HOU

Luis Scola, weeks removed from agreeing to a fat contract with the Houston Rockets, has received clearance to play for the Argentine national team this summer at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. He has also received clearance to look dreamily toward the East on the Argentina national team's website.

The Argentines will still miss the team's longtime talisman, Manu Ginobili. But Andres Nocioni, Argentina's presumptive starting small forward, told Olé he expects Milwaukee Bucks wing Carlos Delfino to fill in admirably and make fans forget about Manu.

That's impossible, though it's worth noting Delfino isn't just good at the NBA, but he's had a good international career as well. He's not nearly the ball-handler Ginobili has been at all levels, but Delfino's smart and a good shooter. The drop-off is no bigger than the one from, say, Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant (Team USA's best 2008 backcourt) to Rajon Rondo and Chauncey Billups (the presumptive starting backcourt of Team USA at the 2010 Worlds). In other words, most teams are in worse shape compared to Beijing. It's just that basic.

Scola's confirmation assures Argentina's frontcourt will not be much worse off. Scola will team up with friend Fabricio Oberto, who last played for the Wizards. Michael Lee of the Washington Post reported Friday that Washington is interested in bringing Oberto back for one more year. Oberto's 35, and Argentina's in a touch of a pickle with its frontcourt going forward -- the nation's next big star up front is Patricio Garino, who won't play in Turkey and just turned 17 years old. The situation could be precarious for the 2012 Olympics, depending on Scola's availability and Garino's development.

Argentina is ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA. The nation finds itself in Kayseri's Group A, where advancement should be a breeze but Serbia looms as a major early test. (Of course, Argentina-Serbia is the final game of group play; honestly, both teams should head into it 4-0, with only an escape from the deathly Spain-U.S.A. side of the bracket in the knockout stage.)

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Kyle Weaver G OKC
2 Days Oklahoma City Thunder

Weaver was waived by the Thunder on Friday, NBA.com writer Art Garcia reports.

Weaver was hurt most of last season, and when he was healthy he spent most of his time in the D-League. His best option may be to play overseas for a few years, where he has reportedly been offered a contract by the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Joey Graham PG/S... DEN
2 Days Denver Nuggets

Graham signed a two-year deal with Cleveland on Friday, Yahoo! Sports reports.

Last season for the Nuggets Graham averaged 4.2 points and two rebounds per game coming off the bench. He has never posted spectacular numbers during his career, but due the recent gutting of the Cavaliers roster, he could see an increased role next season.

Von Wafer SG BOS
2 Days Boston Celtics

The Celtics signed Wafer to one-year deal on Thursday, the Boston Globe reports.

Wafer will provide the Celtics with a three-point threat off the bench, but his role is expected to be too limited to help in fantasy. The 25-year-old shooting guard has averaged 6.2 points in 109 NBA games.

2 Days LeBron James SF MIA

King James is Air Jordan, and Air Jordan was King James, but not in the way that you think.

Here's how you should think: Deception.

More specifically, you should think the fine art of deception. Which, if you believe the Scriptures, always leads to the perpetrator getting exposed at some point with a heavy dose of ugliness.

Exhibit A: Most of the universe didn't know Michael Jordan's public image was a fraud until years after his second Three-Peat with the Chicago Bulls in 1998. The truth dribbled into view -- somewhere between his $168 million divorce settlement and the insufferable (or shall we say insulting?) speech he delivered last year during his induction ceremony into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

No question, much about Jordan was well-crafted fantasy. The lovable superstar no matter what. The everyman with the perfect family. The African-American version of Ed McMahon who wasn't so much into pocketing millions, but who just wanted everybody to have a good pair of underwear and some nice-fitting sneakers.

There is a difference between King James and Air Jordan, though, and it's actually huge. Jordan's image went unblemished on and off the court throughout his playing career. LeBron James continues to dribble with authority in his prime, but when it comes to that self-proclaimed King James, he already is an emperor with no clothes.

Speaking of nakedness, the lengthy campaign by James and his handlers to make King James the next Air Jordan (without the baggage) has flopped, because it suddenly is bare of substance and credibility.

In slightly more than a year, we've gone from Filmgate to LeBrongate to "The Decision" to The Yanking.

Once, when you said, "King James," it caused eyes to pop.

Now it causes eyes to roll.

The negative stuff involving James' image just keeps coming, and it's self-inflicted. For instance: The Yanking.

According to an article by Arash Markazi for ESPN.com, he was an eyewitness to James and his pals enjoying themselves at a Las Vegas nightclub, where they saw a couple of women in their birthday suits sitting in a bathtub full of water and rose petals. Markazi wrote that a giant red crown-shaped cake eventually was brought near James while go-go dancers held aloft placards that read KING.

Markazi also wrote those at the scene -- including NBA players Chris Paul, Glen Davis and Lamar Odom -- were struck by James' arrogance and self-indulgence.

Added Markazi, "The more you hang around James, the...

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