Lawyers for both sides declined to comment on the development, which came on the second full day of deliberations.

SURGERY FOR SUNS ALL-STAR: Stoudemire will undergo minor arthroscopic knee surgery on today but is expected to be sidelined only two to three weeks. The operation to remove a loose particle will be on the All-Star's right knee, not the left on which microfracture surgery was done two years ago. That operation forced him to miss virtually all of the 2005-06 season.

"It's a procedure that Raja (Bell) just went through just to clean it up," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We have time to do it, so we thought let's go ahead and get it done."

There was no mention of the impending surgery, by Stoudemire or anyone else, during the team's media day gathering on Monday.

ALSO: Tony Massenburg signed with the Washington Wizards on Monday, a day before training camp opens, and if he makes the roster at the end of the month, he would have a chance to play for a league-record 13th franchise ... Indiana Pacers forward Shawne Williams was ordered to perform 40 hours of community service for driving without ever having received a license and a judge suspended a possible 60-day jail sentence ... The Houston Rockets signed Dikembe Mutombo to a one-year contract, extending the 41-year-old center's NBA career into a 16th season ... Cleveland guard Eric Snow will have surgery on his left knee and will likely miss the entire preseason after getting hurt last week while working out at the Cavaliers' new training facility ... The Detroit Pistons exercised their option to extend forward Jason Maxiell's contract through the 2008-09 season, and signed guard Gerald Fitch ... The New Orleans Hornets have signed free agents Ryan Bowen, Trey Johnson and Anthony Richardson, bringing their training camp roster to 16 ... Guard Darrell Armstrong was waived Monday by the Indiana Pacers.