Bobcats 'officially' trade Chandler to Mavs

The Charlotte Bobcats completed a wild 24 hours of trade discussions with a deal yesterday that does include center Tyson Chandler after all.

He's just not heading to the team he thought a day earlier.

After a potential trade with Toronto fell apart, the Bobcats sent Chandler and fellow center Alexis Ajinca to the Dallas Mavericks for center Erick Dampier, forward Eduardo Najera, shooting guard Matt Carroll and cash considerations.

While the Bobcats get financial flexibility with Dampier's non-guaranteed $13 million contract, the injury-plagued Chandler is off to this third team in a year after being acquired from New Orleans last summer.

Bobcats general manager Rod Higgins said the Bobcats will either waive Dampier or make another trade with him. That would allow the Bobcats to clear about $7 million in salary-cap space because they dump Chandler's $12.7 million contract and Ajinca's $1.5 million deal and take in Carroll ($4.3 million) and Najera ($2.8 million).

Before the trade, the Bobcats were only about $3 million shy of the reaching the luxury tax threshold, a payroll figure owner Michael Jordan said they wouldn't exceed.

Carroll, a graduate of Hatboro-Horsham High, is a jump-shooter Charlotte traded to Dallas just 19 months ago, one of eight deals involving 26 players the Bobcats have made since Larry Brown took over as coach at the start of the 2008-09 season. Najera will add depth to Charlotte's frontcourt.

It's a far different outcome for Charlotte than what was being discussed a day earlier. The Bobcats had been closing in on a deal that would've sent Chandler and Boris Diaw to Toronto for Jose Calderon and Reggie Evans. Calderon would have provided Charlotte with a needed replacement for point guard Raymond Felton, who signed with New York on Monday.

While Higgins insisted the deal wasn't agreed upon, the Raptors seemed to think it was. Chandler wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press on Monday night that his agent had told him the deal was done, while Evans thanked Raptors fans on his Twitter page.

* Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's emotional, controversial letter criticizing LeBron James for leaving to join Miami spawned an outpouring of fan support for Gilbert.

A team spokesman said the team has received thousands of e-mails and phone calls, including some from fans offering to help Gilbert pay a $100,000 NBA-imposed fine.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to send forward Al Jefferson to the Utah Jazz for center Kosta Koufos and two future first-round draft picks.

The teams confirmed the trade last night.

Timberwolves president David Kahn says the first-round picks and the added flexibility under the salary cap made it the right time to trade Jefferson.

Jefferson averaged 17.1 points and 9.3 rebounds last season in his first year back from a major knee injury in February 2009. He will help fill a void in Utah after Carlos Boozer went to Chicago.

_ Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the veteran center who started playing for Cleveland in 1997 and has never suited up for another NBA team, expects to sign a 2-year contract with the Miami Heat later this week, agent Herb Rudoy said.

_ The New Jersey Nets have acquired guard Anthony Morrow in a sign and trade deal with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors will get the Nets' second-round draft pick in 2011. The pick is protected if it falls between 31 to 55.

* Boston's Ray Allen, who signed a 2-year deal worth about $20 million, had his physical at the Celtics' workout facility yesterday and finalized his contract.

* The San Antonio Spurs have finalized a new contract with forward Matt Bonner. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

* The Hornets and general manager Jeff Bower have "mutually agreed" to part ways immediately. The Hornets announced that Bower was leaving after spending more than 14 seasons with the club in various capacities. He was the club's GM since 2005.

* The Dallas Mavericks have signed first-round draft pick Dominique Jones, whose rights they bought from the Memphis Grizzlies on draft day. The Mavericks also announced they've signed free-agent center Ian Mahinmi. Terms weren't disclosed.

* The Houston Rockets have reached an agreement with first-round draft pick Patrick Patterson. Patterson's agent, Odell McCants, said the deal is a standard rookie contract, with the first 2 years guaranteed and two 1-year options.

* The Los Angeles Clippers have signed guard Willie Warren, their second-round selection in the NBA draft.

* The New York Knicks have signed Russian center Timofey Mozgov. The 7-1 Mozgov spent last season with BC Khimki of Russia, averaging 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 32 games.

* Center Hilton Armstrong has signed a free-agent contract with the Washington Wizards. The deal gives the Wizards an experienced 6-11 backup center known as a shot-blocking defensive specialist.