A missing persons report

It's never a good sign when the talk at training camp focuses on guys who are not there. That's sort of like being out after midnight - when nothing good happens - or seeing a TV news crew (as opposed to a sports crew) show up at practice.

But that is what is going on as the defending Eastern Conference champion Cavaliers work out at their splendid new facility in Independence, Ohio, just south of Cleveland. LeBron James is there. Boobie Gibson is there. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden are there. But two critical regulars from last year, Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao, are not. Neither man is believed to even be in the United States. They can't practice because they have no contracts.

James has been outspoken about the missing duo. He wants them in camp. And James tends to get what he wants. Coach Mike Brown would also like them there but acknowledges, "I can only coach the players I have." Guard Larry Hughes said the team will likely take a few steps backward until the two return because of all the time lost.

Pavlovic and Varejao are caught in the web of restricted free agency, where you're essentially damned if you do and damned if you don't. The club holds all the cards. Cleveland made qualifying offers to both players, which expired when training camp opened. The offers ($2.8 million for Pavlovic and $1.18 million for Varejao) constitute raises of 42.6 percent and 25 percent, respectively, as stipulated by the collective bargaining agreement. Pavlovic's increase is larger because he was a first-round pick, 19th overall, in 2003. Varejao was a second-round pick in 2004.

But even though the offers have expired, the Cavaliers still have the right of first refusal should any other club come forward.

So far, no one has. No one did for Mickael Pietrus either, so he accepted Golden State's qualifying offer of around $3.5 million and reported to training camp last Thursday. His agent, Happy Wolters, told the San Francisco Examiner, "He isn't thrilled, but he's a team player. He's going to come back and work his [rear end] off."

There's no indication that Pavlovic or Varejao will do the same. They will have to sign with the Cavs or get an offer sheet from someone else. The sides are very far apart in both instances, with the usual threats coming from the agents that the players will play overseas if nothing can be worked out. The Cavs are holding firm. (Maybe the players would change their minds if they knew that the Cavs have two cooks on call to make made-to-order breakfasts and lunches at their new facility.)

While Pavlovic and Varejao aren't exactly foundations, they played big roles in Cleveland's surprising run to the NBA Finals last season. When Brown decided to put Pavlovic into the starting lineup, the Cavs responded by going 20-8. He ended up playing almost as many minutes last year as he did the previous two with Cleveland. Varejao is a well-known "energy guy" who can rebound (6.7 in only 23.9 minutes a game) and block shots.

This current stalemate is rare. Generally, teams take care of their regulars, and the Cavs feel they've made decent offers to both players. The players obviously feel otherwise. They clearly have decided not to take the Pietrus route and look forward to unrestricted free agency in 2008. That could be a pretty strong free agent class if certain players (Baron Davis, Tim Duncan) decide to exercise opt-out clauses. They want their money now. They just want more than Cleveland is prepared to pay.

Few expect the Cavs to reprise their magical run from last year, even if Varejao and Pavlovic do return. But they are a playoff team in the East with or without the two. And they still have LeBron.

"I'm excited about the guys we have in camp," said Brown. "Yes, we do miss Andy and Sasha. But it's my job to coach who's here, and we have capable players. It has not been a distraction."

That's his story and he's sticking to it.

Deadline looms for '04 picks

There still are 24 days left for teams to sign 2004 first-round draft picks to contract extensions. But, to date, the Class of 2004 is not having anything close to the success that the celebrated Class of 2003 had.

Only Dwight Howard, the No. 1 pick from 2004, and Devin Harris, the No. 5 overall pick, have signed extensions, which will kick in after next season. Both signed five-year extensions, the longest available, although Howard has an opt-out clause for the final year.

The Bulls are under the gun with both Luol Deng and Ben Gordon eligible. The Bobcats and Emeka Okafor have been talking, with Okafor confiding to the Charlotte Observer that he thinks he'll come to terms before the Oct. 31 deadline. The Clippers, on the other hand, understandably will likely see how Shaun Livingston (knee injury) responds and pass on an extension. Golden State is negotiating with Andris Biedrins, who was so indispensable last year that, when taken out of the lineup late in the season, the Warriors went on a tear.

Kevin McHale is under pressure to do something with Al Jefferson; how that works out will be interesting given that Big Al appears to have the leverage since he is the undeniable - some might say only - star who came in the deal for Kevin Garnett.

Danny Ainge would have had a handful of players eligible had he not made the two big trades over the summer. Now, he has only Tony Allen. Last year, he signed Kendrick Perkins to a four-year extension worth around $16 million. Asked about extending Allen, Ainge said he wasn't sure.

"That is a question for a few weeks from now," he said. "I'm very satisfied by how Tony is playing. He's not 100 percent right now. But he's had a terrific camp and he's worked extremely hard to get where he is right now. We're excited about him."

The Class of 2003, led by LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwyane Wade, saw seven of the first eight picks agree to extensions before the deadline. The sole exception was Darko Milicic.

If a first-round pick from 2004 does not sign an extension before the deadline, he will be a restricted free agent going into his fifth year.

Thomas case a very unappealing situation

No wonder Isiah Thomas lost his court case - he said he was focusing on his basketball team during the trial. What a depressing admission.

Thomas and Madison Square Garden both plan to appeal the jury verdict that went against them for sexual harassment. (Had to love Thomas's post-verdict announcement that he was "innocent, very innocent.")

According to attorney Fred Nance of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, who specializes in these kinds of things, a successful appeal is "highly unlikely."

"This was a decision based on the jury's finding of credibility," said Nance. "Who do you believe? That's the province of the jury. Courts of Appeals don't like to get behind what went into the jury's thinking. They're interested in any issues of law that may have been misapplied."

Nance did say one possible appellate route would be if there is a big difference between the punitive and compensatory damages for Anucha Browne Sanders, the plaintiff. She was awarded $11.6 million in punitive damages. The judge will determine compensatory damages (lost wages, legal fees, back pay, etc.).

The NBA, meanwhile, decided to take no public action against Thomas because this was a civil case. So apparently it's OK for a team executive to do what Thomas did, but it's not OK to plead nolo contendere to a reckless driving charge as James Posey did, even though he wasn't driving.

Let's hope commissioner David Stern is working behind the scenes to do something to the hapless cabal at 33rd and 8th. And we're not talking about the basketball players.

Etc.

The invisible men

Time to throw a little love to the defending Atlantic Division champions? That would be the, ahem, Toronto Raptors, who surprised one and all last season by going 47-35 and winning the division by six games. They have essentially the same group back but are big losers in the publicity battle to both the reconfigured Celtics and the contending-as-long-as-Jason-is-around Nets. Does that bother coach Sam Mitchell? Not in the slightest. "We're always going to be under the radar to a certain extent because we're in Toronto," Mitchell said. "I can't remember the last time we played in a TNT game or an ABC game, so what's new? I like our team, I like the way our makeup is. We may not have three All-Stars we can throw out on the floor but we've got nine, 10, 11 players, and over the course of a game we think we can wear people down." The Raptors are scheduled for only one national TV appearance - against the Pistons Jan. 4 on ESPN. (They do have four NBA TV appearances, which the league likes to think of as national games.)

Courting Courtney

Interesting transaction just before the start of camp: Courtney Sims signed with the Pacers. Yes, that's the Roslindale native who played for Wellesley High and Noble & Greenough before heading to the University of Michigan. He was a member of Leo Papile's national champion BABC team in 2001, a team that went a modest 63-0, according to Papile. But the Courtney Sims that Jim O'Brien will see in Indiana and the one folks saw the last four years at Michigan are two different fellows. Sims has been working diligently with local conditioning/nutrition/strength coach Wayne Alpert, and it shows. The Celtics had him in for a couple of summer workouts and liked what they saw, but not enough to draft him or sign him. He has a chance with Indy. The Pacers' training camp roster has 16 players, so if they take 15, it could come down to a battle between Sims and fellow rookie big man Lukasz Obrzut.

Fly them to the moon

New Charlotte coach Sam Vincent isn't the least bit shy about pushing the proverbial envelope for his Bobcats. Like maybe making the playoffs for the first time? Nah. Vincent has bigger plans, as he confided to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. "It will be harder to be the eighth-best team in this conference than last year, but I'm not shooting for eighth," Vincent said. "My goals are much higher than that - absolutely. When you look at the depth of our team, why do we have to settle? We're definitely not coming into the year hoping to be in the eighth slot. I've never, ever believed anything is unachievable. I need these guys to know we're shooting for the moon - we're going for it all. I would think it's impossible for us to be in fourth place if we don't believe we can be in fourth place."

Painful to watch

Larry Hughes doesn't see himself as a point guard or play much like a point guard. "I prefer to play off the ball," said the Cavaliers' guard. But when he was moved to point guard last season, good things happened to the Cavs. But not necessarily to Hughes, who hurt his foot in the playoffs to the point where he had to take himself out of uniform during the Finals. Who knows what might have happened had he been healthy? The Cavs might have won a game. For Hughes, it was the continuation of a long and frustrating pattern; he and Marcus Camby are annual first-teamers on the All-Injury Team. "Those things happen," he said. "I'm not the only one who goes through something like that, who has had an injury or suffered a family loss." Hughes said it was very difficult to sit and watch the Spurs take apart Cleveland in the Finals. But he had no choice. "It was something I had to do," he said.

Guard miscalculated his shot

Has the NBA marketplace ruined what Earl Boykins hoped would be a productive (and rewarding) summer? Well, the former Bucks guard, who averaged 14 points a game last season, opted out of a contract that would have paid him $3 million this season. He has yet to sign. "There are ongoing discussions with several teams regarding Earl," said Boykins's agent, Mark Termini. Given what Boykins has done over the years, it's hard to see him not landing somewhere, although probably at less than what he gave up. He was 23d in the league in 3-point accuracy last season and sixth in free throw percentage. "He may end up settling for something around the biannual exception," said one league executive. "He can help a team, kind of like middle relief in baseball." The biannual exception starts this year at $1.83 million. Any deal signed under the exception can be for no more than two years.

Peter May can be reached at p_may@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.