Better working conditions. More opportunity for advancement. Same pay.

No wonder Scot Pollard likes his new job.

The Indiana Pacers center, acquired in last week's trade that sent Brad Miller to Sacramento, had a smile as bright as his bottle-blond hair when he was introduced to the media at Conseco Fieldhouse on Tuesday.

Here in the Eastern Conference, Pollard will see the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan half as often and won't have to go through the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs or Dallas Mavericks to get to the NBA Finals.

He also has a much better chance of starting, as opposed to backing up Vlade Divac.

"There're a lot of positives that can come out of it for my career," said Pollard, who began his career in the East with Detroit.

"I don't have to play against Shaq and Duncan every night. Out East there's Ben Wallace and that's about it. Not that it's easy out here, but it's different. It's a different style of play."

The Milwaukee Bucks' search to find a replacement for coach George Karl is kicking into high gear.

At least four candidates - Atlanta Hawks interim coach Terry Stotts; Sacramento Kings assistant coach Terry Porter; Bucks assistant Don Newman; and Detroit Pistons assistant coach Mike Woodson - are known to have interviewed already with general manager Larry Harris.

Another, Seattle SuperSonics associate head coach Dwane Casey, is to be in Milwaukee today for his interview. Two other candidates, Phoenix Suns assistant coach Marc Iavaroni and former Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Sidney Moncrief, are also expected to interview with Harris this week.

Considering that the Bucks must pay off the final year of Karl's contract, which is valued at $7 million, they might be looking for a coach on the value end of the pay scale. That could favor Porter, a Milwaukee native, who with just one year of coaching experience has the shortest coaching resume of the seven known candidates.

"The only way you get experience is if somebody gives you a chance," said Porter, who interviewed for the job Thursday.

"I would have to say my biggest selling point is 17 years (as a player) in the NBA. I played a long time in this league. It's another game now but I think I learned the game pretty well.

Dick Bennett literally watched Terry Porter grow up and now he thinks it's time for his former player to take the next step in his basketball development.

"I think Terry would make a great NBA coach," said Bennett, the former University of Wisconsin coach who recently came out of retirement to accept the Washington State head coaching position. "If Milwaukee is looking for a guy who relates to younger players, they can't find a better coach than Terry."

Porter, who played for Bennett at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 1981 through 1985 after prepping at Milwaukee South, is believed to be one of seven candidates under consideration for the Milwaukee Bucks head coaching position. The opening was created recently when George Karl was fired with one year remaining on his contract.

The Bucks also are believed to be considering Atlanta Hawks interim coach Terry Stotts; former Bucks great and more recently a Dallas Mavericks assistant, Sidney Moncrief; current Bucks assistant Don Newman; Detroit Pistons assistant Mike Woodson; Seattle SuperSonics associate head coach Dwane Casey; and Phoenix Suns assistant Marc Iavaroni.

Of all the candidates, Porter, who has been an assistant with the Sacramento Kings for one season, has the shortest coaching resume. But none can match his record of longevity as a player.

LeBron James' first pro game will be in Sacramento against the Kings and his first home game will be against friend Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets, according to league sources.

The dates and complete NBA schedule are expected to be released this week.

The Cavaliers, who also opened last season in Sacramento, were at one time scheduled to open the year in Los Angeles against the Lakers. It is unknown whether Kobe Bryant's uncertain future led to the changing of those plans.

According to a source, TNT had planned to carry that game, though James' first game could still be on national television.

Clean shaven and minus the stubble that often frames his dark, swarthy features, Vlade Divac looked five years younger and a dozen pounds lighter. He was wearing baggy shorts, a loose T-shirt, black sandals -- his official offseason attire -- and seemed impervious to the 100-degree temperatures pelting the pavement.

This was so Vlade. He plays basketball, he gives back. He signs autographs, chats with fans and appears at one charity function after another.

Yet the genial nature is a bit of a disguise. While publicly welcoming Brad Miller and pledging his loyalty to the Kings' organization, Divac knows his role has been dramatically altered. What he doesn't know -- what no one knows -- is to what extent, or even how much longer he'll continue squeezing minutes out of a remarkably durable 7-foot-1, 260-pound frame.

"At this point, I take it year by year now," the 35-year-old Divac said while taking a break at the Andre Agassi breast cancer fund-raiser. "I still love to play and being around the guys. But I don't like to practice. So we will see. If I am still playing good and helping the team, who can say?"

At the very least, Miller's acquisition accomplishes three things: (1) It enables Divac to play reduced minutes, down from 29.8 per game last season, thereby possibly extending his career; (2) it provides quality frontcourt depth, particularly in light of Chris Webber's rash of injuries; and (3) with the Kings' center entering the final season of his six-year contract, it eases the transition to life after Vlade.

Geoff Petrie has rarely felt as good and looked as bad as he did Friday morning during the latter stages of his meeting with the media to discuss his team's acquisition of center Brad Miller.

The Kings' president looked as if he could hardly stay awake while explaining how the team was alert enough to seize an opportunity and deep enough in both talent and long-term salary commitment to take advantage of the NBA surroundings.

Perhaps Petrie had to continue rubbing his eyes, because, in effect, the Kings came out of nowhere to win the Miller sweepstakes and sign him for seven years and a reported $68 million.

"Don't I always look like this?" the normally suave, GQ-tailored Petrie deadpanned while sporting sneakers and looking as if a 48-hour stint in bed would be just what the doctor ordered.

But had this been a horse race, the Kings would have come from behind out of the starting gate.

"It was one of those things that ... at the very beginning of all of this, there was no sense that you would ever be able to have the ability to do it," Petrie said. "It just didn't seem like that could potentially ever be an option.

On the surface, it appears as if two-time NBA Executive of the Year Geoff Petrie did it again.

But that doesn't mean there won't be mixed feelings.

On Thursday, the Kings consummated a three-team sign-and-trade deal that brings center Brad Miller to Sacramento and sends Scot Pollard to the Indiana Pacers and Hedo Turkoglu to the San Antonio Spurs via Indiana.

For Kings power forward Chris Webber, it was tough to deal with the loss of Turkoglu and Pollard.

"I'm going to miss Hedo," Webber said. "He's like my little brother, him and Gerald (Wallace). I can't imagine our team without Scot and Hedo. ...

"But I trust Geoff. He's gotten us this far. Yes, it's the talent. But he's had a lot to do with it."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich finally got his man when the Spurs signed Rasho Nesterovic earlier this month.

Spurs general manager R.C. Buford finally got his man when Hedo Turkoglu joined the team Thursday.

"I've been following Hedo since he was 17 years old and playing for the Turkey World Team," an ebullient Buford announced during a news conference at the team's practice facility.

The Spurs completed the three-team trade package that brought Turkoglu and Ron Mercer to the Spurs, sent center Brad Miller to Sacramento and center Scot Pollard and forward Danny Ferry's one-year non-guaranteed contract to Indiana.

In addition, Buford announced the signing of forward Robert Horry.

Horry has a two-year deal for $5 million and $5.5 million with the first year guaranteed, Mercer has one year left at $6.75 million and Turkoglu has one year remaining at $1.995 million.

"This uses up our cap space," Buford said. But he added that the Spurs can still re-sign guard Stephen Jackson.

"Nothing precludes us from signing Jackson, we have retained his Early Bird rights (meaning he can be signed even if it puts the team over the salary cap)."

Free-agent center Brad Miller is not officially a member of the Kings, but consummation of a three-team deal that would send center Scot Pollard to the Indiana Pacers and guard-forward Hedo Turkoglu to the San Antonio Spurs could come today.

Miller, who played at Purdue but was not drafted, played in Greece before joining the then-Charlotte Hornets during the 1999 lockout season. He signed with the Chicago Bulls in 2000 as a free agent and was part of a seven-player deal in February 2002 that brought him to Indiana.

Now, Miller, an Eastern Conference All-Star last season, is expected to sign a seven-year deal with the Pacers worth approximately $68 million, then be dealt to the Kings.
Miller, Pollard and Turkoglu are the main figures in the trade, which the teams discussed the past few days, but Indiana guard Ron Mercer also is expected to go to San Antonio. Pollard and Turkoglu would go to the Pacers, who then would send Turkoglu and Mercer to the Spurs.

Geoff Petrie, the Kings' president of basketball operations, cautioned Wednesday that the deal was not done. Miller was believed to be fishing Wednesday, and if so, there is no way he could have had a bigger catch than this potential contract.

Petrie said he did not target Miller entering the free-agency period.

"It really gathered some momentum in the last four or five days," Petrie said. "I've got to preface it that it hasn't happened yet. But to be honest, no. However, fairly far down the road, it was a possibility."

Petrie was asked if the deal could come down today.

"Hopefully, that's realistic," he said.

Sacramento point guard Damon Jones, an unrestricted free agent, signed with the Bucks on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not announced.

Jones served as a backup last season to both Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson.

Jones is a 6-foot-3 athlete from the University of Houston, and has played five seasons in the NBA with five teams. He averaged 6.5 points with Vancouver during the 2000-'01 season and 5.1 points with Detroit the next year.