MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -A person with knowledge of the negotiations tells The Associated Press that the Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a four-year, $16 million deal with free agent point guard Luke Ridnour.
The person spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been officially announced. The agreement was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.
Ridnour averaged 10.4 points and 4.0 assists per game as the backup to Brandon Jennings in Milwaukee last season.
The deal likely means that backup point guard Ramon Sessions will be traded from Minnesota. The team hopes to have Ricky Rubio come over from Spain next season and still has Jonny Flynn on the roster, so there may not be room for the veteran Sessions.
The Wolves were able to swing the deal after shipping Al Jefferson to Utah on Tuesday to create more salary cap room.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Former 76ers executive Billy King to replace Thorn
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -Billy King is the New Jersey Nets' new general manager.King was hired Wednesday to replace Rod Thorn as the team's top executive, new owner Mikhail Prokhorov announced in a release.Thorn is stepping aside as president and
<< Grizzlies sign Tony Allen
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies have announced the
signing of guard Tony Allen to a multi-year contract.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, per team policy. It was earlier reported
the contract would start at c
<< Cavs ink Kyle Lowry to offer sheet
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers have made their first
move of the post-LeBron James era, signing restricted free-agent guard Kyle
Lowry to an offer sheet.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but the Cle
<< Harrington says he's headed to Denver
DENVER (AP) -Free agent power forward Al Harrington says he's headed to the Denver Nuggets, who are in dire need of frontcourt help with Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen and Nene coming off leg injuries.The former New York Knicks backup tweeted: ``I'm
<< New York signs French striker Henry as second DP
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York signed French forward
Thierry Henry to a multi-year contract as its second designated player, the
Major League Soccer club announced on Wednesday.
Henry, a World Cup, European Cha
Report: Nets tab Billy King to run basketball operations >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets are reportedly set to hire
Billy King to oversee the team's basketball operations.
King had formerly been general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, but was
fired by team chairman Ed Snider
Suns get Childress from Atlanta >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns have acquired guard Josh
Childress from the Atlanta Hawks in a sign-and-trade deal for a future second-
round draft pick.
In addition to the draft pick, Atlanta will get a trade exception to us
Safarova pulls out in Prague >>
Prague, Czech Republic (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded heavy Czech crowd
favorite Lucie Safarova pulled out of her scheduled second-round match
Wednesday at the $220,000 Prague Open tennis event.
Safarova was slated to meet Swe
Braves get Gonzalez from Jays in five-player deal >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves acquired shortstop Alex
Gonzalez from the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in a five-player trade.
The Braves sent shortstop Yunel Escobar and pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes to Toronto and
also acqu
Nets name Billy King general manager >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have named Billy
King as their next general manager.
King takes the reins from Rod Thorn, who is stepping down as team president
and general manager after 10 years on the job
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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