Amar'e Stoudemire appears to be healed from the back injury that ended his 10-11 season.

“He looks great,” Isiah Thomas said on Wednesday about Stoudemire. “He is in awesome shape. He’s been working very hard. You hear these stories about how (former NFL receiver) Jerry Rice used to work out. You can say the same about Amar’e.” 

“Amar’e is ready to start the season,” agent Happy Walters said on Wednesday. “Earlier in the summer he had some issues with his back but he didn’t have any problems after playing that charity game in early October.”

The Wizards will not use their amnesty clause on Rashard Lewis, according to his agent Tony Dutt.

Lewis is due a prorated portion of $21.1 million in 11-12 and $22.6 million in 12-13.

Because the Wizards are under the cap and therefore the luxury tax, there is no financial incentive for the club to use their amnesty clause on Lewis at this time. However, the Wizards could create substantial cap room by using their amnesty on Lewis at a future date.

Junior Cadougan has been a significant upgrade at the point guard position for Marquette over Dwight Buycks.

"Dwight helped us win a lot of games, but Junior is a different type of player," Williams said. "He delivers the ball on time and on target." 

Cadougan is a true point guard and has helped in improving the distribution.

Marquette lost Jimmy Butler to the NBA, but they may be better than they were a season ago.

Jae Crowder's production may exceed that of Butler or Lazar Hayward.

"He's a really good player, is extremely intelligent and instinctive," Marquette coach Buzz Williams said.

Crowder is averaging 17.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.

Tyson Chandler is anticipating his one-season tenure with the Mavericks may be over.

"I really think I'm going to be on a new team come training camp," Chandler told ESPN.com in a telephone interview Wednesday night. "I'm really taking a hard look at all of my options, trying to see what best suits me."

Chandler admitted for the first time that he's disappointed by the club's decision not to offer him a contract extension.

NBA front office sources list New Jersey, Golden State, Houston and Toronto as the teams pursuing Chandler hardest.

The Warriors have reportedly approached the Grizzlies about a deal centered around Monta Ellis and Rudy Gay.

Golden State would also offer a second asset in the deal.

The motivation for Memphis would likely be financial if they were to consider agreeing to a move of Gay.

Blazers president Larry Miller is hopeful that Greg Oden will play this season for the club.

But he may not be physically fit to play in games until January.

Miller said he hopes Oden will be in training camp. "Don't know how much activity he'll be able to participate in, but he should be here," Miller said.

Blazers president Larry Miller adamantly denied a report from John Canzano of the Oregonian that the team has decided to use the amnesty clause on Brandon Roy.

"We have not, and regardless of what's been said by John Canzano and others out there, (made a) decision on amnesty as of yet," Miller said.

Miller said interim general manager Chad Buchanan called Roy's agent at 6 a.m. this morning to arrange a meeting with Roy.

"With everything that Brandon has done for this organization, there's no way we would make a decision like that without having conversation with him, without evaluating where he is," Miller said.

Canadian-born Anthony Bennett continues to consider various colleges and isn't expected to make a decision until the spring.

Bennett recently visited Kentucky and continues to consider UNLV, Florida, Washington, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Connecticut and Oregon.

“All [the] schools in my top nine are all calling me, but right now I’m just answering a few calls [and] just trying to stay focused in school,” said Bennett of how his recruitment is going. “Like I said before [I have] no favorites. I feel like all the schools are putting a lot of time and effort trying to recruit me to come to their school.”

To acquire an asset they can dangle in a trade offer for Dwight Howard, or to bolster their lineup in case they are able to land the Magic's center, the Nets are in pursuit of free agents Nene and Tyson Chandler.

The Nets are hoping to sign one of the two big men.