Cassell drawing interest

At least 3 teams await to see if he gets buyout

LOS ANGELES - Sam Cassell has been in the NBA since 1993. He has two championship rings. He has played in 115 playoff games for five teams - and he knows he won't get to No. 116 with his current outfit, the Clippers.

That is why this week stands as one of the more memorable ones in Cassell's 15-year career. He soon will know whether he will be going to the postseason with any of three teams - the Celtics among them - or whether he will close down his third year in Los Angeles April 16.

According to a Clippers source, the team will announce today that it is buying out the contract of the 38-year-old guard.

NBA sources indicated that the Celtics, Mavericks, and Nuggets all are prepared to make Cassell an offer once he clear waivers in 48 hours. All three teams have their biannual exceptions available to give to Cassell (a maximum of $1.83 million) while the Mavs have their full mid-level available ($5.356 million) and Denver has $2.356 of its mid-level. The Celtics have spent all of their mid-level.

"It's weird. I've been playing 15 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me," Cassell said yesterday morning following the Clippers' shootaround in nearby Manhattan Beach (he didn't play in last night's 104-76 loss to Boston because of a sore right wrist).

"I've been dealing with this for a month and it's going to come to an end soon. Hopefully something positive will come of it. I'll let it rest and hopefully everything will work its way out.

"My agent has been talking to them about it, but until he calls me and tells me to pack my bag, I'm still here."

Cassell's $6.15 million deal ends this season, and he is not in their plans for 20 9. There is sentiment in Clippers camp to do the veteran a favor with a buyout.

"It's still in the air right now," Cassell said. "But as of now, I'm still a member of esterday's shootaround.

Sunny forecast

While Cassell remains a possibility for the Celtics, it appears Brent Barry is going to stay in the Western Conference. Barry, who was traded by San Antonio to Seattle last week and subsequently released, clears waivers today, and it is believed he has decided on going to the Phoenix Suns. Other possibilities include the surging Houston Rockets and his old team, the Spurs. If he returns to the Spurs, he cannot play for another three weeks under league rules. Other potential high-value targets Flip Murray and Jamaal Magliore are expected to clear waivers tonight . . . Kevin Garnett's brother-in-law, the famed R&B producer/songwriter Jimmy Jam, was planning on attending last night's game. The two are related by marriage; Garnett's wife and Jimmy Jam's wife are sisters. According to Jimmy Jam, Garnett first laid eyes on his wife, Brandi, when she was attending a Timberwolves game with her sister. "He was so distracted by what he saw that he threw a ball into the stands," Jimmy Jam recalled. "Then, after the game, he asked me, 'Who was that girl sitting next to your wife?' I told him who it was and he said, 'Cool. Can I come over to the house?' And the rest is history.' "

Kaman sits out

The Clippers did not have center Chris Kaman available because of a sore back. "It's the same thing that bothered him back in training camp," Dunleavy said. It was the seventh game Kaman has missed. The Clippers are 1-6 in those games . . . The Celtics decided not to have a shootaround before the game and instead went through a meeting at the team hotel. Additionally, coach Doc Rivers decided to remain in Los Angeles overnight and fly home today, rather than take a red-eye back to Boston after the game. The Celtics have a tough one at home tomorrow night, when they host the reconfigured Cavs (and old friends Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak). The Bobcats are in Friday, but it appears Charlotte will be without Gerald Wallace, who is out after suffering a Grade 3 concussion against Sacramento Friday night.

Peter May can be reached at pmay@globe.com.