Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed last night that the team has agreed in principle to a sign-and-trade deal with New Orleans that would land point guard Dan Dickau in Boston with a three-year contract worth an average of $2.5 million per year.

Ainge said some details of the deal still must be negotiated, including what the Celtics will give to the Hornets. New Orleans will receive a trade exception in the process.

Dickau, who is 6 feet, 190 pounds, visited Boston yesterday for a physical and chatted with members of the Celtics staff.

''He had a really great day," said Dickau's agent, Mark Bartelstein.

The Akron Beacon-Journal is reporting that if the Cavaliers aren't able to lure point guard Damon Jones away from the Miami Heat, free-agent Dan Dickau might be the next option.

Dickau has played with several clubs already, but had a breakout season with the Hornets before they drafted Chris Paul.

Point guard Jason Williams resides in Orlando during the offseason. Eddie Jones once was Jerry West's lottery pick in Los Angeles.

When NBA training camps begin in October, Williams won't have far to travel and Jones will reunite with the man who gave him an NBA start.

The Grizzlies completed their part in a five-team, 13 player deal Tuesday -- the largest trade in NBA history -- that will send Williams, James Posey and Andre Emmett to the Miami Heat for swingman Eddie Jones.

The components of the five-team deal came together when Memphis chose to deal with Sacramento straight-up in a separate trade that sent Bonzi Wells there for Bobby Jackson and Greg Ostertag.

Memphis, along with Utah, then worked with Miami, Boston and New Orleans on the larger deal.

The breakdown is as follows:

Memphis will receive Jones, who is scheduled to earn more than $30 million over the next two seasons, and Utah's Raul Lopez, who will not suit up for the Griz after having his contract bought out as a condition of the trade.

Miami will get Williams, Posey, Emmett and Antoine Walker, who agreed to a six-year, $52 million sign-and-trade deal.

Utah will receive Ostertag.

New Orleans will get Utah's Kirk Snyder and Miami's Rasual Butler without losing players because it has money under the salary cap.

Boston will receive Curtis Borchardt (Utah), Qyntel Woods (Miami -- and Carver High School in Memphis) and Miami's $1.9 million trade exception as well as the rights to the Heat's 2004 second-round pick Albert Miralles and two more future second-round picks.

The Grizzlies also received a $4.9 million trade exception by convincing Utah to participate in the larger deal. That money can't be spent on a free agent but it could be used in a trade to acquire a player during a specific time frame.

Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey could soon be coming to the Miami Heat in a proposed five-team trade that was nearing completion Tuesday, according to a lawyer and league official both familiar with terms of the complicated deal.

"Unless something strange happens, it's going to happen," said the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Miami -- which signed Shaquille O'Neal to a $100 million, five-year deal earlier Tuesday -- would obtain Walker in a sign-and-trade from the Boston Celtics, then add Williams, Posey and rookie Andre Emmett from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for veteran swingman Eddie Jones.

The trade -- which has been submitted to the league for approval -- was first reported by The Miami Herald. League and team officials generally do not openly discuss proposed trades until they become finalized.

Walker, Williams and Jones are the headliners in the proposed deal, one that also includes the aftereffects of a three-team deal agreed to earlier Tuesday by Sacramento, Memphis and Utah.

As part of the Walker deal, Boston would obtain Qyntel Woods, the rights to Spanish center Albert Miralles and the Heat's $1.9 million trade exception.

Walker, a three-time All-Star who averaged 19.1 points and nine rebounds last season for the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics, would be a welcome addition to the Heat, said forward Udonis Haslem -- who formally signed his $30.7 million, five-year deal Tuesday.

"We're two different players and we can bring two different things to the table," Haslem said. "If we put that together, we should have a pretty good tandem."

The Celtics would get Borchardt from Memphis; Borchardt was part of Tuesday's earlier trade in which Sacramento acquired guard Bonzi Wells from Memphis for guard Bobby Jackson and center Greg Ostertag.

Memphis was then expected to send Ostertag to the Utah Jazz for guard Raul Lopez, forward Kirk Snyder and Borchardt. Snyder would be sent to New Orleans, along with the Heat's Rasual Butler, and Borchardt would head to Boston.

Jones, a career 16.4-point-per-game scorer, averaged 12.7 in the regular season and 13.7 in the playoffs as Miami's third option. Williams averaged 10.1 points and 5.6 assists for the Grizzlies last season.

"He's one of the best playmakers in the game," Haslem said of Williams.

Posey was limited to 50 games this past season because of injuries, and only 18 starts. He averaged 8.1 points and 4.4 rebounds.

The New Orleans Hornets have released a press release announcing a press conference to announce the re-signing of free agent Chris Andersen.

No contract details are available at this point

The New Orleans Hornets have come to terms with free agent Bostjan Nachbar.

Nachbar will be part of a Hornets press conference on Tuesday, when the moratorium is lifted.

Nachbar came into his own last season when he was traded to the Hornets by Houston.