Wells last week flipped off a fan and had a shouting match with Coach Maurice Cheeks. Still, Nash isn't planning on just giving a player of Wells' talents away for free.

"If an opportunity presents itself whereby we can get ourselves a good player without a bad contract, we would do it," said Nash, who had contacted more than six teams about Wells. "Right now, I can't say there is a potential for a deal that would make sense. We don't want to take another team's baggage or a player with plenty of financial obligation."

Portland TrailBlazers head coach Maurice Cheeks is not going to take anymore of the insubordination he has endured in his over two years of coaching Bonzi Wells.

"I will coach him, because it's my job to coach him," Cheeks said. "But I've let things fester, and whatever leeway I gave him before won't be there anymore. It's another sensitivity issue. Well, that sensitivity that I had, it's not there anymore.

The Blazers are rumored to have had talks about Wells with 12 teams.

"Several teams expressed an interest in Bonzi early on, but we never were able to achieve anything that was in our best interest," GM John Nash said. "But we weren't really looking for a Bonzi deal earlier, and now I think we'd be more amenable to one."

Monday's incident was at least the fourth time Wells has berated Cheeks in front of the team in Cheeks' two-plus seasons, but Tuesday's penalty was the harshest action taken because of the repeat nature of the offense.

"This time I'm fed up with it," Cheeks said Tuesday. "I'm just tired of it."

Rookie Matt Carroll and Qyntel Woods tried to pick up the slack after Wells was relegated to the bench, but it wasn't enough as the Blazers suffered consecutive losses for the first time this season and now must deal with the friction that has erupted between Cheeks and his starting shooting guard.

"There is friction. You can write it," Cheeks said. "That incident happened and we have to deal with it. I don't have a concern with it. I'm going to deal with it, and then I'm going to put it aside."

"With the Trail Blazers continuing to have problems at the box office, and mixed results on the floor, their coach received a bit of security amid the turmoil on Thursday. The Blazers announced that (Maurice) Cheeks, whose original contract was up after this season, has signed a deal that runs through the 2005-06 season after the team picked up an option for next season and the two sides agreed on an one year extension."

PORTLAND,Ore. (AP) Portland Trail Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks agreed to a one-year contract extension Thursday.

``There is a sense of relief in that I don't have to think about this during the year,'' Cheeks said.

Terms of the deal, which runs through next season, were not released. Cheeks is in his third season with the team.

"According to league sources, the Raptors had agreed to a trade last summer that would have landed them (Rasheed) Wallace and Bonzi Wells for Antonio Davis and Morris Peterson (there would have been some extra ballast here and there to make the salaries match). However, the Blazers backed out at the last minute. A similar deal could be revisited at any time, of course, and the Blazers would be more willing to pull the trigger now."

Broadcast reports had the Dallas Mavericks trading Antawn Jamison and Michael Finley to the Portland Trail Blazers for Rasheed Wallace and Bonzi Wells. Mavs owner Mark Cuban laughed and denied the trade.

"There is no trade," Cuban said. "None. It's ridiculous. We want this team to stay together and play together. It's not about getting anyone else or swapping. We have great, great, great guys on this team. There is no reason to make a trade."

PORTLAND,Ore. (AP) The Portland Trail Blazers activated rookie forward Travis Outlaw from the injured list Saturday night before their game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The 6-foot-9, 210-pound 18-year-old was placed on the injured list at the start of the season with tendinitis in both knees.

Outlaw was the 23rd pick in this year's draft out of Mississippi's Starkville High School. He was the second high school player taken in the draft, behind top overall pick LeBron James by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

SEATTLE (AP) _ A horn malfunction delayed Friday night's game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle SuperSonics for 15 minutes late in the third quarter.

The horn began to sound during a stop in play with 1 minute, 6 seconds remaining on the clock. When it became apparent it wasn't going to immediately stop, players returned to their benches and officials conferred near midcourt.

The horn finally stopped when team officials turned off the scoreboard above center court. But the game was held up for another 10 minutes as technicians continued to work on the problem and referees spoke to coaches.

Sonics chairman Howard Schultz left his courtside seat and approached the scoring table to investigate. An acrobatic team that had performed at halftime returned to the floor, drawing cheers.

Players stayed on the floor, jumping to stay loose or just standing near the benches.

The game resumed with the scoreboard turned off, but with smaller clocks above the 24-second clocks functioning.