Randy Hill of FoxSports.com reports that the Clippers/Cavaliers trade is finally confirmed. The Clippers have received Andre Miller and Bryant Stith in exchange for Darius Miles and Harold Jamison. Miller will now be able to negotiate with the Clippers for that maximum salary contract extension.

The Clippers, who haven?t employed a star-caliber point guard since the franchise?s inception, now have the reigning league leader in assists. Miller, 26, averaged 16.5 points, 10.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds while making 45 percent of his field-goal attempts.

Cleveland will welcome Miles, a 6-foot-9 acrobat who turns 21 the second week of training camp. In two seasons after hopping from high school to the draft?s third overall selection in 2001, Miles has been the Clippers? crowd-galvanizing seventh man. He averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, shooting 48 percent from the field in 27.2 minutes per game.

After failing to complete a trade on draft night, the two teams were finally able to get something done. Now the Clippers have a young and talented point guard to play with the likes of Michael Olowokandi, Quentin Richardson, Odom, hard-charging Corey Maggette and recently signed Euro guard Marko Jaric. They also have two skilled, young big men selected as lottery dividends.

The Clippers now are prepared to sign lottery picks Chris Wilcox and Melvin Ely within the next 24 hours. Wilcox, a 6-9 power forward from Maryland, was the Clips? choice at 8; Ely, a 6-9? center-forward out of Fresno State, was taken at 12.

?Adding Miller and keeping Odom with that bunch could be devastating,? one Western Conference assistant coach muttered on condition of anonymity. ?With a point guard like Andre, these guys might be good enough to make the playoffs and win a series right now.?

The Morning Journal, a rather unknown source of information, is reporting that the Cleveland Cavaliers are ready to trade Andre Miller to the Clippers in a three-team trade.

Bob Finnan quotes a Western Conference source as saying that Darius Miles and Harold Jamison will be traded to Cleveland. There is no report on who the third team is.

The Clippers and Cavs tried to close a deal on draft night that hit several stumbling blocks. The original deal reportedly included Lamar Odom and the 8th overall pick in the draft.

People were surprised when the Clippers took two power forwards with the eighth and 12th pick in the draft.  GM Elgin Baylor said they were addressing their shortcoming at the point with Yugoslavian star Marko Jaric, who they selected in the second round of the 2000 draft.

Yesterday the 6' 7" Jaric signed a multi-year deal with the Clippers.  He averaged 15.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 33 games for Kinder Bologna in the Italian League last season.

Terry Pluto of the Beacon Journal still sees the Cavaliers and the Clippers as perfect trade partners. After the draft-night deal to send Cav?s guard Andre Miller to LA for forward Darius Miles and rookie Caron Butler never materialized, these teams could still make a deal.

Cavs? general manager Jim Paxon insists that he?s not trying to trade Miller. But the Summer is early. There is no rush. But something will have to be done eventually. Miller wants a maximum contract and has said that if he doesn?t get it, he wouldn?t mind being traded. Since the Cavs are unlikely to give him the max, trade options must be studied.

The Clippers are overloaded at power forward with Elton Brand and rookies Chris Wilcox and Melvin Ely. They are in need of a point guard since last year?s starter, Jeff McInnis is a free agent that they don?t seem too keen on resigning.

The Cavs need a power forward because their only option is the unreliable Tyrone Hill. And even though the Cavs claim that Miller and rookie Dajuan Wagner can play together, neither is much bigger than 6-2.

These teams seem destined to make a trade. Since the Cavaliers may want Ely over Wilcox, Pluto suggests a Miller for Miles and Ely trade. The Clippers would rather send Odom over Miles,  but his drug problems and last year?s injury drops his trade value.

Pluto writes, ?Paxson is right, he doesn't have to make a deal for Miller. But if he can convince the Clippers to give up Miles (or Corey Maggette) for Miller, he should do it.?

Stephen F. Holder of the Miami Herald reports that the Heat may be running out of options at point guard. They had Minnesota?s Chauncey Billups on their short list of potential free agent signings, but he has apparently agreed in principal to a contract with the Pistons. Now the Bulls? Travis Best has informed the Heat that he is close to signing with another team.

''Let's just say we have some things cooking that would take us off the market very soon,'' said Forrest King, Best's agent. ``We could have a deal by [July] 17th.''

King confirmed that talks with the Heat are ongoing but they haven?t discussed specifics. Negotiations with other teams have progressed beyond that point. Still, Best believes that the Heat could be a good fit for him. ''We think that, clearly, the best fit for [the Heat] is Travis,'' King said. ``He can run a halfcourt offense, and he can run the break. And he can also create his own shot.''

The Heat are still talking to free agent Rod Strickland who is looking for more than the $1 million veterans minimum. Best is looking for the entire middle-class exception, which is estimated to be about $4.6 million.

With Billups and Best possibly off the list, the Heat's top free agent options -- other than Strickland -- might be Chris Childs and Jeff McInnis. McInnis' agent said last week he planned to speak with the Heat about his client. Childs' agent has been unavailable for comment, and the Heat does not comment on free agency negotiations.

Chris Tomasson of the Akron Beacon Journal writes that Andre Miller is taking the high road. He knows that the Cavaliers tried to trade him on draft night and he knows that they can still trade him this summer? but he?s o.k. with that.

``It's something beyond my control,'' said Miller, speaking publicly for the first time Tuesday about the failed trade to the Clippers. ``It's something I can't worry about.''

Miller wants a maximum-salary contract extension, but it doesn?t appear as if the Cavs are going to give hit to him. In a Sports Illustrated article, Cavs GM John Paxon said ``We're not going to trade Andre because he wants the max, We know Andre. We aren't winning with him. Nobody's coming to our building to see Andre Miller play. I'm not putting Andre down. It's just a fact.''

The Cavaliers can still trade Miller this summer once the new salary cap is set on July 16th. ``If a trade happens, it happens,'' Miller said. ``But if I'm back in Cleveland, that would be fine.''

Joe Stevens of the Press Telegram reports that Keith Closs is back? for now.

Closs is playing in the LA Summer Pro League for the Frontline team. He had a relatively strong performance on Sunday as he scored 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting. His game may have been impressive, but not everyone was impressed. One scout at the game isn?t sure Closs can make it back to the NBA.

"He has good offensive skills, but he doesn't look too strong. He has good athleticism and can hit a jumper." Overall, the scout liked his game, but called him "a time bomb."

The 7-3 Closs played part of three seasons with the Clippers until he was dismissed from the team for being out of shape and ?unfit to play?. A charge that Closs claims is false.

On October 2, 2000 - media day - a guy comes up to me when I'm changing into my uniform, getting ready for pictures, and in kind words, tells me I'm a head case," Closs said. "So I thank him for his opinion, and a couple of guys couldn't believe he would say something like that to me. Being in that organization, it was something I was used to. They antagonized me a lot, and I fed into it. But I've learned. I don't feed into other people's bull any more. On that same day, they told me not to go to training camp."

Closs repeatedly said Sunday he was never unfit to play. He was then asked why the Clippers claimed that he was.

"I was raised not to let people talk down on me," Closs said. "I gave them ammunition because I would show up late just because I didn't want to deal with those guys and my heart really wasn't there, considering what I was going through."

Even though Closs was set to earn $1.9 million for the 2000 season, the Clippers claimed he was unfit to perform and refused to pay his salary. When he and his attorney fought that, he said he settled for $650,000 to walk away from the team.

Mike Kahn goes off on Donald Sterling in his CBS Sportsline column this week.  He talks about the potential deal between the Clippers and Cleveland to send Andre Miller west.  

The deal got messed up when Sterling intervened, and the Clips ended up picking Chris Wilcox when it was their turn.  Of course, the Cavs wanted Caron Butler instead.

Since Lamar Odom was a likely part of that trade, he's now less generously inclined towards the team that would have sent him to Cleveland.

Kahn also takes a run around the league to look at possible free agent signings.

Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reports: On Tuesday, President Joe Dumars introduced the Pistons' first-round draft pick, Tayshaun Prince, to the local media.

In two weeks, he hopes to introduce a new point guard.

Dumars said Tuesday he has made preliminary contact with the representatives of free agent point guards Jeff McInnis (Clippers), Travis Best (Bulls) and Chauncey Billups (Timberwolves).

He hopes to bring at least one of them in for an interview -- McInnis would most likely be first -- this weekend.

"We have a specific area we are targeting in free agency," Dumars said. "I think everybody is well aware that we are looking for a point guard to help Chucky (Atkins, last year's starter)."

Dumars said there are eight to 12 teams vying for each of the three point guards, and every team is offering the same basic financial package -- the $4.6 million mid-level salary cap exception.

"Because the money is the same, it really comes down to intangibles," Dumars said. "It comes down to where they want to play. It comes down to playing time, will they be able to start. It comes down to the direction the team is heading, is it winning or losing, does he fit in with the coach and the system -- those kinds of things."

The Pistons, coming off a 50-win season, have some intangibles in their favor with two of the players. McInnis played in the same backcourt with Jerry Stackhouse at North Carolina, and the two are long-time friends. Best played for three seasons under Coach Rick Carlisle's offensive system in Indiana.

"This is really all we are focusing on in free agency," Dumars said. "You aren't going to see a big cast of guys coming through here. This is just a small group we have zeroed in on."