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NBA free agency season begins with flurry of action

Guard Jason Terry signed a six-year contract and will remain with the Dallas Mavericks. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
The Spokesman-Review
Guard Jason Terry signed a six-year contract and will remain with the Dallas Mavericks. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

The New Orleans Hornets made the first splash of the NBA’s free-agent signing period, agreeing to terms Saturday with three-time All-Star Peja Stojakovic.

Stojakovic, who last week opted to become a free agent instead of continue playing for Indiana, will sign a five-year deal worth about $64 million with the Hornets, said his agent, David Bauman.

Bauman said Stojakovic will sign as soon as the NBA’s moratorium ends next week. NBA teams were allowed to begin negotiating with free agents Saturday but cannot officially sign players until July 12.

In other deals:

•Jason Terry agreed to a six-year deal to stay with Dallas. The Mavericks also signed first-round draft pick Maurice Ager. Terms of the deal were not released.

•Carmelo Anthony agreed to a maximum contract extension with the Denver Nuggets, working out a five-year deal worth approximately $80 million, the same terms Cleveland star LeBron James and NBA finals MVP Dwyane Wade can sign this summer.

•Vladimir Radmanovic plans to sign a long-term contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, his agent said. The 6-foot-10 forward played 4 1/2 seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers last February for Chris Wilcox.

Hockey

Bruins make big moves

The Bruins opened free agency in a big way Saturday.

Boston signed two of the top free agents on the market as it moves to revamp its entire lineup, inking 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara and center Marc Savard. Chara, the tallest player in the NHL, got a five-year deal worth $37.5 million dollars, while Savard signed a four-year deal worth $20 million.

Los Angeles, Edmonton, Phoenix and Carolina also made important moves on a busy day around the NHL. The salary cap is going up to $44 million next season, and teams wasted little time in raising their payrolls.

The Kings continued the rush on big-time defenseman and brought Rob Blake back to Los Angeles with a two-year deal worth $12 million. They also signed left wing Scott Thornton to a two-year contract after the San Jose Sharks declined their contract option on the 35-year-old veteran.

The Oilers retained two players who helped spur the team’s improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals. They re-signed goaltender Dwayne Roloson to a three-year, $11 million and inked forward Fernando Pisani to a four-year contract worth $10 million.

The Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes signed 21-year-old center Eric Staal to a three-year, $13.5 million contract, then re-signed defenseman Mike Commodore and snagged free-agent goaltender John Grahame. Both got two-year deals.

One player they couldn’t keep was forward Matt Cullen, who signed with the New York Rangers just hours after the free-agent period began.

Ed Jovanovski agreed to terms on a five-year deal worth $32.5 million with the Phoenix Coyotes, who pried the big defenseman away from the Vancouver Canucks.

But the deals for Chara and Savard were the top news of the day.

“We were really aggressive out of the gate,” interim general manager Jeff Gorton said. “It made it much easier to sign Savard after Chara signed with us. He could see how serious we were about winning.”

Chara had a career-best 43 points last season for Ottawa, with 16 goals and 27 assists in 71 games. He spent the last four seasons with the Senators. Savard had career-high totals of 28 goals and 69 assists in 82 games for the Atlanta Thrashers last season.

The Bruins are overhauling their entire organization after finishing out of the playoffs and in last place in the Northeast Division last season with a 29-37-16 record for 74 points.

Horse Racing

Dance wins CashCall Mile

Japanese-bred Dance in the Mood put a lot of bad memories behind her, winning the $750,000 CashCall Mile at Inglewood, Calif., by 1 3/4 lengths.

The 5-year-old mare was coming off a tough stretch that included a 14-race losing streak, which ended in May, and a second-place finish in the 2004 American Oaks at Hollywood Park.

Dance in the Mood, a daughter of 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Sunday Silence, arrived nearly two weeks ago after a 9-hour flight from Japan.