When former Bulls and Lakers standout Ron Harper expressed interest in coaching, Pistons coach Flip Saunders didn't hesitate to bring him on board.

"He brings five (championship) rings and a lot of credibility," Saunders said of Harper, who retired in 2002 and has spent the last two years working with the Lakers. "His knowledge of the game is impressive."

The Pistons formally announced Harper's hiring Monday. He joins Sidney Lowe, Don Zierden and Igor Kokoskov on Saunders' staff.

Kokoskov is one of three members of Larry Brown's staff still with the team. The others are video coordinator Bill Pope and advance scout Brendan O'Connor.

"Ron has been in a lot of situations," Saunders said. "He's a really nice addition for us."

Harper brings another attribute, Saunders said -- "He's very familiar with Shaquille O'Neal (the Miami Heat center with whom he played in Los Angeles)."

It didn't hurt that Harper and Saunders have the same agent -- Mark Termini.

On the surface, it would seem the NBA's new minor-league system would be a huge plus for the Pistons.

After all, they have two second-round draft picks, 19-year-old forward Amir Johnson and guard Alex Acker, whom they are extremely high on, although neither is expected to see much playing time this season.

But it's no slam dunk that the Pistons will use their minor-league affiliate, the Fayetteville Patriots of the National Basketball Development League, an affiliation they share with the New York Knicks and Charlotte Bobcats.

"It's sort of a work in progress right now," said Scott Perry, the Pistons' director of player personnel. "We have to really take a look and see what the environment will be down there, and see what the team will be like, before we start sending our players down there."

The ultimate goal for the NBDL is to have 30 teams, with each NBA team having its own affiliation. That way, the NBA team can impose its own coaches and system and regulate playing time for its players.

Most NBDL teams now have four NBA teams contributing to their roster. Fayetteville is one of two that is affiliated with just three.

"I think this gives us another great opportunity, if we choose to use it," said John Hammond, vice president of basketball operations for the Pistons. "As far as us having a definite set plan to send guys down right now, we don't have one."

Hammond said one of the concerns was playing time. He pointed out that with two other teams feeding players to Fayetteville, plus the team having its own players, there could be no guarantees that Johnson or Acker would play 25-30 minutes a game.

"Watching those guys on our own floor every day, working with our guys, that's as good as it gets," Hammond said. "There is something to be said for accountability, for actually seeing guys every day."

San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker helped France defeat perennial European powerhouse Serbia & Montenegro, contributing 13 points and 3 assists in the win.

Many analysts were impressed with the Pistons' Darko Milicic over the course of the tournament.  His numbers weren?t all that big, however, in 10 minutes of work, the youngster averaged 4.5 points, 4 rebounds and 1.25 blocks en route to a solid summer.

Pacers guard Anthony Johnson pleaded no contest Friday to a count of misdemeanor assault and battery stemming from last season's brawl at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Johnson, one of five Indiana players involved in the fight that started between players on the court and spilled into the stands, is scheduled for a sentencing hearing Oct. 7. Jury selection was to have started Friday.

NBA training camps open Oct. 4.

A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing. Johnson could be sentenced to a maximum of just more than three months in jail and a $500 fine.

Former Pistons second-round draft pick Rickey Paulding will  try to make the Sacramento Kings' roster, his agent said.

"Sacramento has some room on its roster for a player who does well in vet camp," Doug Neustadt said Tuesday.

Asked if he was disappointed he wouldn't be playing with the hometown Pistons, Paulding said: "It's definitely something I wanted to do. Whatever reason, it didn't work out."

"Rickey would have obviously liked to play for Detroit," Neustadt said, "but given the makeup of their roster, it would have been extremely difficult."

Now that most free agents are signed, GM's have begun to turn their attention towards their own players, those from the draft class of 2002.

Yao Ming started things off by landing a max contract.

A max contract will soon follow for Amare Stoudemire.

Agents for Mike Dunleavy and Tayshaun Prince have already begun negotiations.  Those talks will be more tricky because neither player is in line for anywhere close to a max contract.

Maurice Evans signed with the Detroit Pistons and is expected to provide depth behind starting small forward Tayshaun Prince and shooting guard Richard Hamilton.

"Maurice is the kind of player we think is going to fit in with our team and our culture," president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said Saturday. "Maurice brings a really strong competitive streak with him and can play two positions for us."

Detroit signed Evans on Friday, nine days after they extended an offer sheet to the 6-foot-5 Sacramento swingman. The Kings needed to match the three-year contract worth about $4.5 million to retain the restricted free agent, but they weren't expected to after signing Shareef Abdur-Rahim earlier this month.

Evans, a solid defender, averaged 6.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 19 minutes in 65 games, including 11 starts. He made similar contributions in the playoffs last season with the Kings.

In Houston on Friday, four NBA veterans pitched in with the Hurricane Karina relief efforts.

Antonio McDyess, Sam Cassell, Damon Jones and Nick Van Exel, who all reside in Houston during the off-season, purchased several thousand dollars worth of supplies for citizens who have been forced to relocate to the Astrodome.

The four gentlemen spent much of the afternoon distributing the provisions out of their rented trucks.

Refugees were bused from New Orleans to the Houston Astrodome over the past few days after the Superdome became uninhabitable.

A Detroit Pistons fan who threw a coin at the Philadelphia 76ers' Allen Iverson, hitting him in the back of the head, received a five-day jail sentence and a lengthy list of other punishments Thursday.

Dennis W. Pauley, 31, of Taylor, was arrested immediately after the April 26 incident, which occurred late in the Pistons' 99-84 victory in Game 2 of the first round of the NBA playoffs. He pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of throwing an object onto a playing surface.

Besides jail, Oakland County District Judge Julie Nicholson sentenced Pauley to two years of probation and ordered him not to drink alcohol during that time. She also fined him $200, ordered that he serve 10 weekends of supervised community service, required that he enroll in Alcoholics Anonymous and outpatient substance abuse treatment, and ordered him to undergo drug and alcohol testing while on probation.

Nicholson told Pauley that he faced 60 days in jail for each violation of the terms of his probation.