The 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard was the team's second-round pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. He was waived on Thursday, three weeks after he was suspended for one game by the NBA after he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in Idaho.

Curry, a former Oklahoma State standout who is the leading scorer in North Carolina high school basketball history, was arrested in January and pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and urinating in public.

After he signed a letter-of-intent to play at North Carolina, Curry was among 49 students arrested in a February 2004 drug raid that involved the Alamance County school system. Curry pleaded guilty to drug charges, and North Carolina rescinded the scholarship to the Eastern Alamance High School star. He later played at Oklahoma State.

Curry spent most of last season in the NBA's Developmental League.

OKAFOR SIGNS WITH BOBCATS: Emeka Okafor signed his six-year, $72 million free-agent deal with the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday and indicated he's excited to play under new coach Larry Brown.

Okafor, who was a restricted free agent, agreed to terms on the richest contract in team history early Tuesday, after nearly a month of negotiations.

"The Bobcats and the entire Charlotte community embraced me from day one," Okafor said in a statement. "It's exciting to enter this season with a Hall of Fame coach and teammates who are committed to winning."

The 6-foot-10 player has averaged 14.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in four seasons in Charlotte. He was the expansion team's first draft pick and the second overall selection in 2004.

BULLS GIVE DENG LONG DEAL: The Chicago Bulls drafted their point guard of the future last month, and now they've locked up their best player, signing versatile forward Luol Deng, 23, to a six-year deal.

The team did not release details of the deal, first announced Wednesday, but several news outlets have reported it is worth $71 million in guaranteed money and up to $80 million.

CLIPPERS SIGN SKINNER: Free-agent forward Brian Skinner, 32, a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Clippers 10 years ago, signed with the team Thursday.

The Clippers reached a deal with the 6-foot-9, 255-pounder, who averaged 3.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 66 games for the Phoenix Suns last season.

Terms were not announced.

NUGGETS' WEEMS HAS SURGERY: Denver Nuggets rookie Sonny Weems had surgery Thursday to repair a sports hernia.

Weems, a second-round pick by the Chicago Bulls who was acquired by the Nuggets on draft night, is expected to fully recover in time for the start of training camp on Sept. 30.

OKLAHOMA TEAM BUYING D-LEAGUE'S TULSA FRANCHISE: Oklahoma City's new NBA team, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, will buy its NBA Development League affiliate, the Tulsa 76ers, for $2.25 million.

Oklahoma City will be the third NBA team to own its D-League affiliate. The Los Angeles Lakers own the Los Angeles D-Fenders, and the San Antonio Spurs own the Austin Toros.

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