Bobcats to sign center Jones

Charlotte cuts Brown, Johnson to make room for big man

The Charlotte Bobcats plan to sign former Cleveland Cavaliers center Dwayne Jones to fill one of the roster spots they opened Wednesday, the Charlotte Observer has learned.

Jones could be in practice as soon as today, after the Bobcats cut forward Andre Brown and Linton Johnson on Wednesday. Neither had a guaranteed contract and neither was active for the Bobcats' past four games.

While those moves would leave the Bobcats one short of the maximum 15 players under contract, general manager Rod Higgins and coach Larry Brown said nothing was imminent on the trade front.

"We weren't playing these guys," Larry Brown said of the forwards waived Wednesday. "Sure, we're looking to see if there's anything we can do, but I don't know that [anything else will happen]. I feel bad [about the cuts] because these are good guys, but we moved on."

Jones is a 6-foot-11 forward-center from St. Joseph's who spent parts of the past three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.

He was in the Cavaliers' rotation last season, playing in 56 games, averaging 1.4 points and 2.5 rebounds.

Jones was with the Orlando Magic in the preseason before being cut. Since then he has played overseas in Turkey.

INJURY REPORT: Houston Rockets center Yao Ming sat out Wednesday's game against the Dallas Mavericks with a sore left foot.

* Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford was held out of Wednesday night's game against Washington with a sprained right ankle.