Teams’ Interest in Jaric Is ‘Strong,’ Agent Says

After meeting with the Nuggets in Denver and the Cavaliers in Cleveland over 48 hours, Clipper free agent Marko Jaric was headed back to Los Angeles on Wednesday with a better gauge of those teams’ interest in him.

“It’s strong,” agent Bill Duffy said. “There’s no doubt.”

The Clippers own matching rights on Jaric, a restricted free agent, but the trip may have strengthened the Serb’s resolve to try to persuade them to let him go.

“There are a couple situations where he would have the chance to kind of be the leader of the team and play point guard, and I think he’d like that challenge,” Duffy said. “There just seems to be a little better opportunity for him elsewhere.”

Jaric would play behind Shaun Livingston and Cuttino Mobley if he were re-signed by the Clippers, who have said they would like to keep him but are “very open” to moving him in a sign-and-trade deal, according to Duffy.

The agent said the Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers also have shown interest but said no other visits were scheduled.

Contracts cannot be signed nor trades finalized until early next week, when the new collective bargaining agreement is expected to be finished and the salary cap released.

Jerry Crowe

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Laker second-round draft pick Ronny Turiaf should be able to resume his basketball career after undergoing heart surgery, his college coach said he was told Wednesday.

Turiaf underwent surgery at Stanford University Medical Center on Tuesday, and Dr. Craig Miller said he was able to repair Turiaf’s enlarged aortic root without having to replace the heart valve.

Gonzaga Coach Mark Few said he was told by the doctor that Turiaf should be able to eventually resume his basketball career. But the Lakers will ultimately have to decide whether Turiaf will be cleared to play.

“And that could be months, maybe even a year or more, before that’s all sorted out,” Few was quoted as saying by the Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash.

Associated Press contributed to this report.