Point guard Jason Williams, who is trying to return to the NBA after a self-imposed, one-year retirement, will be in Memphis this weekend for a meeting and a workout with the Grizzlies.
Williams, 33, is expected to formally clear waivers Thursday, making him an unrestricted free agent and available to any team in the league. The Clippers, who had signed him to a contract a year ago before he retired, waived their exclusive right to him last week.
The Knicks also have shown interest in Williams, according to NBA sources. Williams, who last played for the Miami Heat (2005-2008), has been working out in Orlando, where he makes his off-season home.
Williams signed his last NBA contract in August with the Clippers, only to change his mind, citing family reasons, and put himself on the league's voluntary retirement list. He forfeited his contract.
He asked for reinstatement last February, hoping to hook on with a contender, but failed to get the unanimous approval of all 30 teams that it would take to bypass the one-year requirement after retiring. Williams now will be eligible to play again on the one-year anniversary of his original retirement date, which was Sept. 26.
http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/07/29/jaso ... grizzlies/
Former Indiana Pacers teen prodigy Jonathan Bender is plotting an NBA comeback after a injury-forced retirement.
Bender left the Pacers midway through the 2005-06 season because of persistent knee troubles that limited him to just 237 games in seven NBA seasons. But he recently revealed his intent to put a growing business career on hold to give professional basketball one more shot.
"My potential is still enormous and I can still do a lot for a team," Bender told ESPN.com. "If it happens, then everything flows. And if it doesn't, at least I tried."
Now 28, Bender has developed various entrepreneurial ventures in Houston and New Orleans. When asked in March 2008 if he missed playing basketball, Bender replied by saying it was a "tough question."
Drafted fifth overall out of high school by the Toronto Raptors, who then traded his rights to the Pacers, Bender signed a three-year, $7 million contract in 1999.
Following the 2001-02 season, Bender then received a four-year, $28.5 million contract extension from Indiana. But recurring knee problems prevented him from establishing himself even after the Pacers began to rebuild the veteran team he joined initially.
As for his damaged left knee, where cartilage was removed, Bender insists that there are no lingering problems after considerable therapy and training. Bender believes that the years of rest paid off in giving his knees a "break" from basketball, which he hadn't experienced since he was 12 or 13. He gradually began to work out again and over the past six months has trained six days a week alongside Olympic high jumping gold medalist Charles Austin, who has also dealt with knee injuries.
Austin trains Bender through a track-and-field approach while incorporating a method of running that Bender says takes a lot of the pressure off of his knees. They also focus on agility work, biometrics and aerodynamics.
Bender is under no obligation to the Pacers and free to sign with any team. Given his injury history, it's doubtful that Bender would initially command more than the league minimum, which would be $959,111 next season based on his service time.
Although no concrete NBA interest in Bender has yet been established, it's believed that former Pacers general manager Donnie Walsh -- now running the New York Knicks -- will consider signing him again.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4359580
