CBS Sports Ken Berger reports that negotiations to sell the Detroit Pistons to billionaire Tom Gores are far enough along that the matter is expected to be brought up at the league's Board of Governors meeting April 14-15 in New York.

Gores has been negotiating with Pistons owner Karen Davidson for some time.

League approval will come as a welcome relief to the Pistons' basketball operations department who have been virtually paralyzed awaiting sale of the team. Detroit is the only team in the league that hasn't completed a single transaction this season.

Utah Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor announced today that the team has elected not to re-sign center Marcus Cousin to a second 10-day contract. Following the transaction, the Jazz roster now stands at 14 players.

Cousin was originally signed to a 10-day contract on March 9 and appeared in four games for the Jazz (all as a reserve), averaging 1.0 point and 0.8 rebounds in 4.5 minutes per game. He registered four points, two rebounds and a block in 13 minutes of action at Minnesota on March 11.

The Hornets are not going to extend guard Jerel McNeal's 10-day contract that he signed on March 9, team officials said Friday. McNeal has not played in five games since joining the Hornets and was signed as insurance in the backcourt following Chris Paul's concussion.

McNeal, 6-foot-3 point guard, is expected to return to Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA Development League.

The Portland Trail Blazers signed Head Coach Nate McMillan to a two-year contract extension, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho.

"With his NBA and USA Basketball track record, Nate has established himself as one of the premier minds in the game of basketball," said Cho. "What Nate has accomplished in the last few years is truly remarkable and getting his contract extended was a top priority for the franchise and me."

McMillan, 46, is currently in his sixth year with the Trail Blazers after signing with the team prior to the 2005-06 season. He has a 234-239 (.495) record with the Trail Blazers and a 446-422 (.514) overall mark in 11 NBA seasons with Portland and Seattle. He is the second longest tenured Trail Blazers head coach behind only Jack Ramsay.

"I'm very excited to have the opportunity to finish what we started," said McMillan. "Portland is home for me now and I greatly appreciate the bond between the fans and this basketball team. It's a very special place to be and it's the only place I want to be.

"I want to thank all the support that I've been shown along the way, especially that of our owner, Mr. Allen, who time and time again demonstrates his commitment to this franchise and winning basketball. I also want to thank Larry Miller, Rich Cho, my coaching staff and everyone in the Trail Blazers family as we continue on this journey of bringing another championship to Portland."

The Knicks have claimed Derrick Brown off waivers, announced Donnie Walsh on Tuesday.

Brown was waived by the Bobcats last week.

Brown, who played collegiately at Xavier, has played in 11.9 minutes per game this season and has scored 11.1 points per 36 minutes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed center Kendrick Perkins to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. Per team policy, the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Yahoo! Sports reports that it will pay Perkins $34.8 million over four years.

“We had a unique opportunity to enter into discussions with Kendrick to solidify his future with our organization,” said Presti. “We are pleased to know that he will be a part of our core group now and in the future. Kendrick’s blue-collar, team-first approach aligns with the vision we hold for building a sustainable team in the Oklahoma City community.”

Perkins (6-10, 280) owns career averages of 6.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.0 assist and 22.3 minutes in 454 NBA games. He has appeared in 12 games (7 starts) this season with the Celtics before being traded to the Thunder on February 24th, averaging 7.3 points and 8.1 rebounds in 26.1 minutes. 

Perkins' $4.4 million salary for the 10-11 season was raised to $6.7 million and the extension was raised off that number, according to the Yahoo! report. The deal includes $750,000 in annual bonuses, according to sources.