Raptors, Carter Close to Signing Long Extension

Vince Carter is staying with the Toronto Raptors, his agent strongly hinted Tuesday night.

“There is a press conference [today],” Carter’s agent, Merle Scott said. “You can read into that.”

The NBA star is close to signing a six-year contract extension that would keep him with the team through 2008. He would receive the maximum salary allowable under the collective bargaining agreement--more than $85 million over the length of the deal.

Today is the first day NBA teams can offer players extensions that would take effect for the 2002-03 season.

The Raptors recently locked up three key free agents, re-signing Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams and Alvin Williams to long-term contracts.

Carter, 24, has been Toronto’s most prolific player in its six-year history, averaging 24.6 points a game in his first three seasons with the club.

“It’s obvious that Vince is certainly a player that qualifies for whatever the maximum allows. I don’t know if there is any issue on what the contract will be,” Toronto General Manager Glen Grunwald said. “We’ve been talking about Vince, about his desire to make sure that he’s happy here. We want him to be a Raptor for life.”

The Boston Celtics and forward Paul Pierce are close to a six-year contract extension that would keep the young star in Boston for most of his career.

The Celtics called a news conference for this afternoon to announce the deal, although it was not yet finalized Tuesday, General Manager Chris Wallace said.

Pierce would earn more than $85 million. The new contract would go into effect after next season, Pierce’s fourth with the Celtics, during which he is set to make $2.05 million.

The deal keeps the 23-year-old former Inglewood High standout in Boston for the next seven years, the maximum time an NBA player can be under contract.

Pierce led the team with an average of 25.3 points per game last season, coming back from lung surgery after a September nightclub assault in which he was stabbed in the neck, back and chest.

Free-agent center Hakeem Olajuwon has turned down the Houston Rockets’ three-year, $10.2-million offer, a television station reported.

The Raptors are believed to have the best shot at obtaining Olajuwon through a sign-and-trade deal.

Small forward Bruce Bowen, 30, a former Cal State Fullerton standout, signed with the San Antonio Spurs, but it still wasn’t clear if he would be Sean Elliott’s teammate or replacement.

Elliott, who came back last year from a kidney transplant, hasn’t said yet if he will return for another season. He hinted that he might retire after the Spurs were swept by the Lakers in the Western Conference finals last season.

In Bowen, the Spurs get a 6-foot-7 free agent who played for the Miami Heat last season and has established himself as one of the NBA’s best defensive players. He signed for the minimum salary of $716,000 despite receiving better offers from other teams, said his agent, Steve Kaufman.

Free agent Danny Manning, 35, agreed to a two-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks, owner Mark Cuban told the Dallas Morning News. Manning, a 13-year pro and former Clipper, played for the Utah Jazz last season. The 6-10 center-forward was a backup for the Jazz, averaging 7.4 points in 16 minutes a game. . . . The Seattle SuperSonics, looking for a starting center after the departure of Patrick Ewing, signed Maverick backup Calvin Booth, 25, to an offer sheet. The Mavericks have 15 days to match the SuperSonics’ offer, but they are over the salary cap and would have to make a trade in order to clear enough room to keep Booth, a restricted free agent. . . . Free-agent center Peter Cornell, a 1998 graduate of Loyola Marymount, has signed a contract with the Lakers. The 6-11 Cornell played with San Diego and Memphis of the ABA last season.

Former Jazz center Olden Polynice was charged with hitting and spitting on a Salt Lake County man during a fight at a golf course.

The misdemeanor assault charge, stemming from a July 23 incident at Old Mill Golf Course, marks more legal problems for Polynice, who pleaded guilty last fall in two road-rage incidents during which he flashed a fake police badge.

Golf

The made-for-TV “Battle at Bighorn” on ABC Monday night got a 6.1 national rating with an 11 share, falling well below the 8.0 target and also below the audience ABC drew for similar golf exhibitions the previous two years.

When Tiger Woods beat David Duval at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks the first weekend in August 1999, the event drew a 6.9 rating and a 12 share. Last year, when Sergio Garcia defeated Woods at Bighorn in Palm Desert on Aug. 28, ABC earned a 7.6/13.

In Monday’s expanded mixed doubles field, Woods and Annika Sorenstam beat Duval and Karrie Webb on the 19th hole of the alternate-shot, match-play format.

The event drew a 7.1/14 in Los Angeles. In New York, where play continued until after midnight, the numbers were 4.0/8.

Miscellany

The U.S. women’s under-21 national team won its third consecutive Nordic Cup, scoring three goals in the first 16 minutes and routing Sweden, 6-1, at Gjovik, Norway.

Anne Morrell, making her first start of the tournament, scored three goals off headers.

In the third-place game, Finland upset Germany, 3-2.

Wearing an electronic monitoring device on his ankle, Tony Ayala Jr. scored a unanimous decision over Puerto Rico’s Santos Cardona at San Antonio.

Trying to revive a once-promising middleweight career cut short by a rape conviction and lengthy prison sentence, Ayala, 38, appeared to be in the best shape of his comeback.

Last December, Ayala was shot through the left shoulder blade by a woman after he allegedly broke into her house and refused to leave. Already a convicted rapist, Ayala was charged with burglary with intent to commit sexual assault and ordered to wear the ankle monitor. He goes on trial Aug. 13.

The Mountain West Conference could end up in the Bowl Championship Series if a lobbying effort to add the Liberty Bowl to the series succeeds.

Organizers of the Liberty Bowl, which matches the Mountain West and Conference USA champions, are hoping to persuade BCS officials to add the Liberty Bowl as the fifth in its series.

“These are two conferences [that] need to be reckoned with,” Liberty Bowl director Steve Ehrhart said. “We’re trying to make some noise in the geography of college football.”

A torn ligament in Donovan Bailey’s left knee will prevent the sprinter from running in the 400-meter relay at the world track and field championships. He will still try to run the 100.

Bobby Smith, who won the javelin throw at the U.S. track and field junior national championships, was disqualified and received a public warning after he tested positive for the banned drug ephedrine.

Smith, of Hopatcong, N.J., said the drug was in an over-the-counter substance. It was his first offense and the seventh such announcement by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency since it became the independent anti-doping agency for U.S. Olympic, Pam Am and Paralympic athletes last October.