Hornets' Paul agrees to $68 million extension

Chris Paul and the Hornets reached a contract agreement Thursday that could keep the All-Star point guard with the team for at least the next four seasons.

Lance Young, Paul's agent, said Paul agreed to a three-year extension with a player's option for a fourth year. The total value of the deal is $68 million.

Paul, a former Wake Forest star who recently completed his third NBA season and has been selected to play for the United States in the Olympics, has one season remaining on his current contract. Under league rules, the first day the Hornets can formalize Paul's new contract is Wednesday.

ARENAS TO GET BIG DEAL: Gilbert Arenas has agreed to re-sign with the Washington Wizards for $111 million over six years, essentially taking millions less so that his team could have more financial flexibility, two newspapers reported Thursday.

Arenas told the Washington Times and Washington Post that he was offered a maximum deal in the neighborhood of $127 million on Tuesday, the first day of the free agency period.

"(The Wizards) offered me the max, and I'm basically giving back $16 million," Arenas told the Washington Times from China, where is traveling as part of promotional tour for a shoe company. "This is in line with what I've been saying the whole time. You see players take max deals and they financially bind their teams. I don't wanna be one of those players and three years down the road your team is strapped and can't do anything about it."

BRIEFLY: Former NBA coaches Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff are returning to the sidelines, this time as assistants under new Chicago Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. Bickerstaff is a former coach and general manager of the Charlotte Bobcats.

* Michael Beasley returned to practice with the Miami Heat on Thursday, one day after the No. 2 overall pick in last week's NBA Draft was knocked out of his first official summer league workout with a chest bruise.

* The Orlando Magic signed first-round draft pick Courtney Lee on Thursday.

* Former slam dunk champion Gerald Green agreed to a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.