Clippers are close to deal with Byron Mullens

The Clippers and free agent Byron Mullens are nearing a deal for the center to join the team, said NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Mullens, a 7-footer who played for the Charlotte Bobcats last season, and the Clippers are working on a two-year deal, with a player option after the first season, the executives said.

The two sides are getting close to a deal that would pay Mullens the veteran’s minimum of about $1 million.

Mullens made 38.5% of his shots last season, including 31.1% of his three-pointers. He averaged 10.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in 53 games, 41 as a starter.

Both sides hope to have a deal in place Thursday, the executives said.

—Broderick Turner

The Milwaukee Bucks signed free agents Carlos Delfino and Zaza Pachulia. Terms were not disclosed.

Delfino returns to the Bucks after spending last season with the Houston Rockets.

Pachulia returns for his second stint with the Bucks after spending the 2004-05 season in Milwaukee.

::

The Toronto Raptors agreed to buy out center Marcus Camby’s contract and put him on waivers.

Camby, 39, acquired as part of the trade that sent Andrea Bargnani to the New York Knicks, was owed $7.5 million over the final two years of his contract.

ETC.

NCAA will drop EA Sports

The NCAA said it won’t allow Electronic Arts Inc. to use its logo and name in video games while it fights a lawsuit that says the governing body owes billions of dollars to former players for allowing their likenesses to be used for free.

The NCAA said it won’t enter into a new contract with EA Sports beyond the current one that expires in June 2014. That means NCAA Football 2014 will be the last edition of the popular game. However, it won’t necessarily stop EA Sports from producing a college football video game depicting powerhouse teams such as Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon.

::

The Detroit Lions released running back Jahvid Best after concussion problems prevented the former first-round draft pick from playing at all in 2012.

Best hasn’t played since October 2011, and his return was looking increasingly unlikely. Best agreed to a five-year deal with the Lions after they drafted him in 2010, but he has played only 22 games.

::

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has been charged by German prosecutors with paying a $44-million bribe, placing his future as head of the motor sport series in doubt.

The 82-year-old British billionaire has been under investigation since a German banker was convicted of taking the payment from him in connection with the sale of a stake in F1.

The Munich state court said Ecclestone has until mid-August to respond to charges of bribery and incitement to breach of trust in connection with Gerhard Gribkowsky’s management of the bank BayernLB’s 47% stake in F1.

Ecclestone, the longtime commercial head of F1, acknowledged during Gribkowsky’s trial in 2011 that he made the payment five years earlier but said he was pressured to do so.

::

Roger Federer rallied to beat Daniel Brands, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the German Tennis Championships at Hamburg in his first match since his second-round loss at Wimbledon last month.