Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw has exercised his player option for next season that will pay him $9 million.
Agent Doug Neustadt said Tuesday they informed the Bobcats of the decision earlier this week.
Diaw said after the season that with the potential labor uncertainty this summer, it was a "no-brainer" to pick up the option and avoid becoming a free agent until 2012.
The move comes after owner Michael Jordan criticized Diaw's play in the 2010-11 NBA season. Diaw, who was nearly traded twice last season, could be a potential target to be moved as Jordan seeks to revamp Charlotte's roster.
Diaw, 29, averaged 11.3 point and 5 rebounds last season.
Raptors hire Casey: Dwane Casey hopes to bring a rugged, NHL-style of defense to his newest job in the NBA.
The Toronto Raptors hired Casey as their coach on Tuesday, nine days after the Dallas assistant helped the Mavericks win the championship.
Casey succeeds Jay Triano, a Canadian who became a consultant after the Raptors finished 22-60. Casey was the coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves from June 2005 to January 2007, compiling a 43-59 record.
Owners propose "flex cap": Commissioner David Stern said Tuesday that NBA owners have proposed a "flex cap" system in negotiations with players.
The union insists it's still a hard cap, leaving the salary cap as perhaps the biggest remaining obstacle in avoiding a lockout.
Both sides made new proposals in a 31/2-hour meeting on what Stern said was an important day in the league's labor talks.
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Ryan O'Reilly scored on a slap shot with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime and Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped a season-high 39 shots in the Colorado Avalanche's 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. 
Hours after the Smith Center emptied and the cameras left, long after he and his North Carolina teammates went their separate ways, Tar Heels point guard Kendall Marshall lay awake in the early hours of Thursday morning with certain parts of Duke's 85-84 victory against UNC playing on a loop in his mind. 
Forget about Duke's comeback win over North Carolina. The evidence from this season suggests that the Blue Devils' biggest test of the week will come today when Maryland comes to Cameron Indoor Stadium. 
There's a secret to setting up a 12-player, round-robin table tennis tournament like the one going on this weekend at Bond Park Community Center in Cary. 
While there will be bonus time to draw up a game plan for Thursday's trip to Duke, the break also comes at a good time for C.J. Williams. 
Rameses, North Carolina's 18th ram mascot, died Thursday night of natural causes. He was 8 years old. 
Robert Orr, a Raleigh attorney who represented UNC football players Quinton Coples and Devon Ramsay during the school's recent NCAA-related problems, said Friday that the firing of Butch Davis and hiring of Larry Fedora as head football coach would not fundamentally change the chances of similar issues cropping up at the school. 
If Wake Forest wants to extricate itself from the ACC's cellar, wins in its next two games would be a good place to start. 
Former Duke star Luol Deng learned Thursday he'd been selected for his first All-Star Game. That would have been a thrill no matter what, but Deng found it special because of all he's been through. 
Derrick Rose can afford to take a night or two off with the way the Chicago Bulls are playing - especially when the opponent is the worst team in the NBA. Keep up with the latest sports stories with our free e-mail newsletters, delivered to your inbox!
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