Paper: Ferry to Sign With Cavaliers

Former Duke All-American Danny Ferry may join his teammate Brian Shaw in returning to the United States after a less-than-impressive season in the Italian basketball league, a sports newspaper reported Sunday.

Gazzetta dello Sport of Milan, Italy’s largest sports daily, said that Messaggero Roma was negotiating for a replacement for Shaw, who has decided to rejoin the Boston Celtics at the end of the season, and that Loyola Marymount guard Bo Kimble was a possibility.

Kimble said Sunday at the West Coast Conference tournament that he had been contacted by more than one Italian team, but that he considered playing in Italy a second option behind playing in the NBA.

Ferry’s poor performance in Italy could have sealed his decision to leave Rome and sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold his NBA draft rights after trading with the Clippers for them. Ferry signed last year with Messaggero Roma for an Italian record $1.5 million.

“Rome is losing Ferry,” read the paper’s banner headline.

Messaggero, eighth in the regular season standings, is fighting for a berth in the Italian league playoffs in May. Team officials and Ferry could not be reached for comment Sunday.

The article quoted coach Valerio Bianchini as saying that Ferry, 23, had an extremely exhausting start in the Italian league “and is now taking a breather--he’s going through a period of low energy.”