Heat’s Carter Is Out $4.1 Million

Anthony Carter’s representatives mistakenly failed to exercise a player option that would have allowed him to make $4.1 million with the Miami Heat next season.

Heat spokesman Tim Donovan said Tuesday that Carter didn’t invoke an “opt-in” clause by July 1, which leaves Carter a free agent. The move could also mean Carter’s salary for next season will be about one-sixth of what he would have made with Miami.

Agent Bill Duffy told ESPN.com on Monday that one of his employees mishandled the situation, but said he’s optimistic “an honorable solution” can be reached with the Heat. Duffy did not return several telephone messages left Tuesday by Associated Press.

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Prosecutors were banned from presenting key testimony and evidence at the perjury trial of Sacramento King star Chris Webber.

Prosecutors cannot use notes kept by Michigan basketball booster Ed Martin as evidence that Webber borrowed money from him while playing in high school and college, U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds ruled in Detroit.

Prosecutors also were prohibited from calling other players to testify about amounts they said they received from Martin.

Edmunds said she probably would not allow wiretapped phone conversations in which Martin reportedly tells an acquaintance about how much Webber owed him.

Webber, and his father, Mayce Webber Jr., were charged with lying to a federal grand jury about money authorities say the player received from Martin. Jury selection begins Tuesday.

Martin died in February at age 69 without testifying before a federal grand jury.

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Carmelo Anthony, the third pick overall in the NBA draft by Denver, and Chris Kaman, selected sixth overall by the Clippers, will not participate in the Summer Pro League at Long Beach State, organizers said.

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All-Star center Jermaine O’Neal is near an agreement on a new contract with the Indiana Pacers.

“We’re very close,” Pacer President Donnie Walsh said. “We are working on the contract right now.”

Several teams, including the defending champion San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks, were interested in signing O’Neal, who averaged 20.8 points and 10.3 rebounds last season.

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First-round draft pick Chris Bosh from Georgia Tech signed a three-year contract with Toronto and will earn about $2.91 million a year under the terms of the NBA’s rookie pay scale.

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Former NBA star Ralph Sampson was sentenced at Richmond, Va., to two years of probation and fined $1,000 for not paying child support for his 14-year-old daughter.

Prosecutors said Sampson, who owed more than $22,000, is now $661 in arrears.