Despite having two years and $14.5 million remaining on his contract the Phoenix Suns severed ties with Howard Eisley Friday, releasing the guard who has been unhappy about his role on the team.

The East Valley Tribune reports that Eisley got somewhat less than the $14.5 million he was guaranteed, $13 million over the next two seasons, then a partial guarantee of $1.5 million for a third season, a Suns' official indicated.

Eisley termed the Suns' backcourt "crowded" before sitting out Thursday's exhibition game vs. the Los Angeles Clippers. Coach Mike D'Antoni said Eisley had "flu-like symptoms" though he said so with a wink and a nod.

The Utah Jazz, a team Eisley has played for in the past, are believed to be interested in signing the point guard.

ESPN is reporting that the Utah Jazz and forward Andrei Kirilenko have come to terms on a contract extension which will see Kirilenko remain in Salt Lake City earning maximum dollars, according to sources close to the negotiation.

The news was broken by ESPN Insider's Chad Ford, with the Jazz to defer some of the money beyond the six-year term of the deal. Under collective bargaining guidelines, up to 30 percent of a player's compensation can be deferred. That, according to ESPN, would allow the Jazz to enjoy a significant savings over the life of the contract.

The agreement must be signed by Sunday, Oct. 31, the deadline for players who began their rookie season in 2001 to sign extensions.

Only four players from the 2001 rookie class have signed extensions; Richard Jefferson of the Nets, Pau Gasol (max) of the Grizzlies, Shane Battier of the Grizzlies, and Primoz Brezec, the ex-Pacer now with the expansion Charlotte Bobcats.

Mickael Pietrus of the Golden State Warriors was voted the international player most likely to have a breakout season this year.

He will back up Jason Richardson and his prescence is the lone reason why JRich remains without a contract extension.

Pietrus is the best defender former coach Eric Musselman has ever seen and many in the Golden State brain trust expect Pietrus to develop into an offensive player as good as Richardson.

Andrei Kirilenko feels he is close to a contract extension with the Utah Jazz and hopes to have it finalized within the next few days.

The Jazz and Kirilenko have until Oct. 31 to agree on an extension for Kirilenko, who is in the fourth-year option of his original contract. If no deal is reached, the All-Star forward will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season - something both sides are trying to avoid.
"I think we're almost done. I think (in the) next few more days everything will be done," Kirilenko said Friday before the Jazz's preseason game against Sacramento. "I want to be part of this organization forever - for my career."

Kirilenko is jockeying for the maximum 6-year, $86 million deal, but would not discuss details in the contract or what the holdup has been. He said he and the Jazz are more than 90 percent finished with the negotiations.

Kirilenko's agent, Marc Fleischer, said Friday night that negotiations were still going.

"We're not done. That's all I can tell you," Fleischer said. "There's only nine days left so I'm hopeful we can get it done in time."

Moving from behind the scenes to in front of the bench, Adrian Dantley has plenty to teach the talented but inexperienced Denver Nuggets.

"It's just a matter of practicing, knowing your opponents and shooting the basketball," Dantley said. "You've got to shoot the basketball and you've got to be able to dribble the ball a little to be successful. That's what I'm trying to teach them."

That Dantley is teaching at all may come as a surprise to some.

In his 15 seasons with seven teams, Dantley developed a reputation as being a selfish player and somewhat aloof, someone more concerned with his numbers than helping his team win. A bitter holdout in 1984-85 didn't help his image, nor did clashes with Utah coach and general manager Frank Layden; Dantley's still waiting to have his number retired by the Jazz.

When he first arrived in Denver last season, most of his work came in side sessions with the Nuggets' younger players. This year, Dantley has moved to the bench as an assistant to coach Jeff Bzdelik.

Though his role has changed, Dantley's main task remains the same: making Denver's post players more effective. He's done it by teaching the techniques he all but perfected.

Footwork was a key reason Dantley was able to get off his shot against much taller players, and he's been working with Denver's players on being able to pivot with both feet instead of just one. Dantley also is teaching them to use their backsides to "seal" defenders, something he perfected over the years with his sturdy rump.

And perhaps most importantly, Dantley is widening the young Nuggets' arsenal of shots, showing them the up-and-unders, fadeaways and flip shots he used so effectively.

"A lot of these guys today just want to shoot jump shots or get close to the basket and shoot a good percentage," Dantley said. "They'd rather have a dunk than have three or four nice layups or 5-foot jumpers, 10-foot jumpers -- the mid-range jump shot. That's what's kind of lost today with the big men. I just try to work on things they might get in a game."

It seems to be working. Under Dantley's tutelage, Denver's frontliners have made dramatic improvements.

Power forward Nene has learned to harness his athletic exuberance inside the lane, expanding his repertoire to include jumpers, flip shots and jump hooks instead of just bulling his way to the basket.

Nikoloz Tskitishvili, who at times has seemed lost in the NBA, has started showing signs he might not be a total bust as the fifth pick in the 2002 draft.

Standing Sunday morning on the very same Salt Palace floor that long ago served as the Jazz's homecourt, John Stockton addressed coach Jerry Sloan's club with the wood-plank wisdom of a retiree who is merely the NBA's all-time leader in steals and assists.

There is no need, however, to create space on Sloan's bench ? or any other in the league, for that matter ? for the man who toiled all 19 years of his professional career in Utah.

"That's a long ways ahead," Stockton said of the possibility that some day, perhaps when his half-dozen kids are all grown and gone, he may actually yearn to coach in the pay-for-play league of NBA millionaires.

"I'll worry about that," he adds, "when, or if, the time ever comes."

Contract extension negotiations between the Jazz All-Star Andrei Kirilenko have been rocky.

"We're far apart on what we both see his value as being, and I'm not optimistic at the moment," said agent Marc Fleisher, who left with no deal in hand after coming to Salt Lake City for a face-to-face meeting with Jazz basketball operations senior vice president Kevin O'Connor.

"We met (Tuesday) night," Fleisher added Wednesday afternoon, "and I think there's a big disparity in what we see as Andrei's value."

The deadline for agreeing to an extension before this season is Oct. 31, and Fleisher said it is possible things can change before then.

But Kirilenko's side is standing firm on its demand for Pau Gasol money, meaning an extension just like the six-year, roughly $86 million deal Memphis recently gave to its big man from Spain.

The Jazz apparently are offering much less to their forward from Russia ? perhaps even less than $76 million over six seasons that, as of last week, they were believed to be willing to pay.

"I think we believe Andrei is in the same class as Pau Gasol," said Fleisher, who got deals done with O'Connor for both big man Mehmet Okur (six years, $50 million) and shooting guard Gordan Giricek (four years, $16 million) this past summer.

"In fact, Andrei was selected over Pau Gasol as an All-Star (last season)," Fleisher added. "And the Jazz don't see it that way."

The New York Post is reporting that Keon Clark visited the Knicks camp in Westchester during this past summer and verbally accepted a contract.

After that meeting Clark was not heard from again by Knick management and he remains a free-agent today.

The Knicks were hoping that Clark could return to the form that made him such a valuable part of the Kings team of 2002-2003.

Andrei Kirilenko emerged last season as one of the most promising players in the league, as he led the surprise Utah Jazz into the playoffs.

Kirilenko will be a restricted free-agent at season's end and is currently trying to work out an extension, similar to the one Pau Gasol recently signed in Memphis.

"Memphis took good care of him," Kirilenko said. "He's one of the best forwards    in the world. . . . I don't like to be compared, but it's a good example for the Jazz. I want to be here, but it's a business.

"I want to sign this year, for sure," said Kirilenko, who will earn $1.67 million this season. "I don't want to wait one more year."