League (and Rodman) Back Again

After 204 days, hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and countless fits, starts, fights and snags, the NBA lockout came to an official end Wednesday.

“It’s a great feeling,” Commissioner David Stern said in New York after he and union president Patrick Ewing signed the nearly 300-page collective bargaining agreement. “It was an incredible relief.”

All league business officially will begin today with training camps opening and trades and free-agent signings going through.

Two of the most pressing free-agent issues were the futures of Antonio McDyess and Tom Gugliotta.

McDyess decided to return to the Nuggets, the team he played for in his first two NBA seasons.

The Suns immediately turned their attention to Gugliotta. But there remained a chance that Gugliotta would end up in Minnesota or with the Lakers.

Other players and their agents worked feverishly to finalize deals. Among the tentative agreements:

* Christian Laettner was heading to the Detroit Pistons in a sign-and-trade deal sending Charles O’Bannon and Scot Pollard to Atlanta.

* Billy Owens was signing with Seattle.

* Jud Buechler was set to sign with Detroit.

* Michael Stewart was close to signing with Boston.

* Jerome Kersey was headed to San Antonio.

* Sam Perkins was ready to sign with Indiana.

* Eric Murdock was joining New Jersey.

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Dennis Rodman posted a message on his Web site announcing he is coming out of retirement, and his agent, Dwight Manley, confirmed the player wants to return to professional basketball.

“I’ve been reviewing my options,” Rodman wrote, “and those options still include playing in the NBA this season with a contender. Chicago, New York and L.A. are all cities I’d like to play in. Playing overseas could be pretty cool too.”

Rodman had announced his retirement Tuesday.

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Free agent Damon Stoudamire has agreed to re-sign with the Portland Trail Blazers for $81 million over seven years, making him the NBA’s highest-paid point guard, his agent told the Associated Press. . . . The New York Post, citing sources, reported that Karl Malone will sign a four-year extension with an option year that would pay him an average of $16.5 million per season to play for Utah. . . . Detroit agreed to terms on a seven-year contract with free agent Jerry Stackhouse. . . . New Jersey center Jayson Williams said he’ll donate about $20,000 to concession workers at New Jersey’s Continental Airlines Arena who were affected by the lockout. . . . Charles Barkley is expected to re-sign with Houston but said at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in La Quinta that he’ll decide among the Rockets, Atlanta and Seattle.