PHOENIX — Prized free agent Michael Finley has decided to sign with the San Antonio Spurs.
Phoenix Suns president Bryan Colangelo said he was informed of the decision by Finley's agent Henry Thomas on Wednesday.
"Of course we're disappointed, but to Michael's credit, he didn't just take the money," Colangelo said. "He talked about a chance to win, and ultimately he decided to play for the NBA champions."
The Spurs did not confirm Finley's decision. Spokesman Cliff Puchalski said the team had no comment. Thomas did not return a message left on his cell phone.
The 32-year-old shooting guard was courted by Miami, Phoenix, San Antonio and Minnesota. Each team sent representatives to Chicago to make a pitch to the veteran guard. Miami was considered the favorite, because the Heat could offer the full $5 million midlevel exception and the opportunity to play with Shaquille O'Neal.
San Antonio, which has won three of the last seven NBA titles, could offer about $2.5 million. The Suns had only the veteran's minimum of $1.1 million to offer but hoped to lure Finley back to the franchise that drafted him. In Phoenix, Finley would have been reunited with good friend and former Dallas teammate Steve Nash.
The decision will leave a crowd at the shooting guard spot in San Antonio, where All-Star Manu Ginobili is the starter.
Finley, who averaged a career-low 15.7 points last season, was waived by Dallas under a one-time "amnesty clause" that allows teams to cut players to keep their salaries from being subject to the NBA's luxury tax. Finley still will receive most of the $52 million remaining on his Dallas contract, but the Mavs won't have to pay that same amount in luxury tax, as they would have had he been kept on the roster.
ROCKETS TO RE-SIGN YAO: Amid reports that Yao Ming has agreed to terms of a five-year contract extension worth more than $75 million, the Houston Rockets said they would conduct a conference call Thursday.
The team said Wednesday that Yao and Rockets owner Leslie Alexander would participate in the call.
The deal that will keep the 7-foot-6 center with the Rockets through the 2010-11 season was first reported by Houston television station KRIV.
Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson would not confirm the agreement when reached by The Associated Press.
Yao, a native of Shanghai, is in China working with the Chinese national team.
Yao, the first pick in the 2002 draft, will be paid the maximum allowed under the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, according to the reports. The contract will be 25 percent of the salary cap, meaning the first year will be worth an estimated $12.5 million.
Yao averaged 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds and two blocks last season. He has averaged 16.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in his three-year career.
The three-time NBA All-Star has one year remaining on his rookie contract, which will pay him more than $5.5 million next season.
WEBBER SENTENCED: Philadelphia 76ers player and former Michigan star Chris Webber was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine Wednesday, nearly two years after he pleaded guilty to a federal criminal contempt charge in the University of Michigan booster scandal.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds fined Webber the maximum allowed after she ruled that Webber's conviction should be treated as a misdemeanor rather than a felony, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The judge also noted Webber's completion of 330 hours of community service and out-of-pocket expenses of more than $78,000.
In September 2003, Edmunds ordered Webber to perform 300 hours of the community service over the next two summers as a condition of his bond, saying she would decide whether to treat the crime as a felony or a misdemeanor in two years.
"I believe there is a reason and purpose for everything in life and if this situation allowed me the privilege to have my life intersect with the lives of the children I worked with these past two summers, than it was worth every moment" Webber said in a statement on his Web site.
Messages were left late Wednesday afternoon for Webber's attorney, Steven Fishman, and the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit.
Webber pleaded guilty to the criminal contempt charge in July 2003, a day before jury selection was scheduled to start for his trial on a perjury charge.
Webber and his father, Mayce Webber Jr., were accused of lying about money authorities say the player received from ex-booster Ed Martin. The maximum penalty would have been five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
SONICS SIGN MOORE: The Seattle SuperSonics signed free agent center Mikki Moore on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old 7-footer played 74 games for the Los Angeles Clippers last season, averaging 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds.
Last season, Moore, an eight-year veteran, played a career-high 1,178 minutes and scored a career-high 396 points.
Terms of the contract were not disclosed.