The Clippers agreed to terms with veteran free-agent forward Walter McCarty on Thursday.

He is scheduled to sign a contract Friday, pending the results of a physical, the team said. Terms of the contract were not announced.

McCarty has averaged 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 557 games over nine seasons with New York, Boston and Phoenix.

The 6-foot-10 McCarty was traded in February from Boston to Phoenix, where he averaged 3.5 points in 28 games while helping the Suns to the best record in the Western Conference.

McCarty helped lead Kentucky to the 1996 NCAA title, then was drafted 19th overall by New York.

First-round draft pick Yaroslav Korolev signed a contract with the Clippers on Monday.

Selected 12th overall, Korolev is the highest Russian draft pick in NBA history. He averaged 16.3 points and 7.5 rebounds for the under-18 Russian national team in July's European Championship.

An early entry candidate in the NBA draft, the 6-foot-9 forward also played in Russia's Superleague A.

"Yaroslav is a very skilled player and has a great feel for the game," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "I think having him here to learn our system and work with our coaches on an individual basis will speed up the learning process."

Yaroslav Korolev is headed to the Clippers.

Their No. 1 draft pick has been freed from his contract with a Russian club, paving the way for the teenager to join the Clippers for the start of training camp, sources familiar with the situation said Monday.

Joe Safety, Clipper vice president of communications, would not confirm that Korolev's status had been resolved but said the team now hoped the 18-year-old, 6-foot-9 forward could join them for the 2005-06 season. "We have determined that his development would be best served by being in the NBA environment sooner rather than later, so it's possible that we'll have his situation taken care of sometime this week," Safety said. "Then he can be in Los Angeles preparing for training camp soon after that."

Agent Marc Fleisher late last week negotiated a buyout of Korolev's contract with CSKA Moscow, and the Clippers are expected to sign Korolev soon. Training camp begins Oct. 3 in Santa Barbara.

NBA senior vice president Stu Jackson and NBA Development League president Philip Evans are scheduled to announce team affiliations today. The Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers are expected to be affiliated with the new NBDL franchise in Austin. The NBA will be affiliated with the now eight-team NBDL for the first time in the 2005-06 season.

NBA teams can send players with less than two years' experience to play for the NBDL teams.

Free agent guard Yuta Tabuse, the first Japanese-born player to appear in an NBA game, has signed with the Clippers.

Tabuse, who played at BYU-Hawaii, averaged 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds in 4.3 minutes over four games with Phoenix last season. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Tabuse scored a career-high seven points in 10 minutes in the Suns' season opener against Atlanta.

The Clippers open training camp in less than three weeks, yet there remains uncertainty on whether they will have their top draft pick, Yaroslav Korolev, in camp.

Negotiations continue with Korolev's club team, CSKA Moscow, with whom he is under contract for another three years. Terms of a proposed buyout reportedly are between $750,000 and $1 million.

"We're still looking at that situation,'' Elgin Baylor, the Clippers' vice president of basketball operations, said in a statement. "We're in no hurry.''

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.

Dick Van Arsdale will always be the "Original Sun." The latest Sun has been a title in flux this summer.

The Dick Van Arsdale Conference Room probably hosted its last new player introduction Thursday when James Jones held up a No. 22 Suns jersey. The Suns' changes appear to be done with Jones' welcome, Michael Finley's choice of San Antonio and a more lucrative offer elsewhere for prospective addition Scott Padgett.

Padgett agreed to terms with Phoenix in late July but hesitated recently when Brian Grant accepted Phoenix's $1.68 million exception and the Suns pursued Jones and Finley. Padgett would have played in Phoenix for a veteran minimum deal, worth almost $1 million. He has received interest from the Clippers and Nuggets.

"I still leave the possibility open that he signs with us," Suns President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo said. "There's speculation that there'd be a richer deal for Scott out there."

Colangelo said the Suns likely will not give out any more guaranteed deals before camp starts Oct. 4. He expects to hold on to the $3.6 million trade exception as an in-season tool.

"There are some players out there that agents are looking to place in what they view as ideal situations," Colangelo said. "We're a target for a lot of those players. There are a lot of guys out there that are guaranteed contract-type players. Whether or not we commit to one of those guys is still unknown."

A league source has confirmed to Christopher Reina that Calvin Booth worked out with the Washington Wizards on Wednesday and that he has also drawn interest from at least five other clubs, including the Clippers and Cavaliers. He has reportedly received offers from multiple teams.

Booth was waived by the Bucks in August and designated their amnesty victim.

The 6-11 center was drafted in the second round by the Wizards in 1999 and then went on to do two tours with the Mavericks that surrounded a three-year stint in Seattle.

Mikki Moore?s departure to Seattle earlier this week leaves a void in the Clippers? frontcourt that the six-year veteran Booth could nicely fill.