FanHouse MarkoJaric

Just a few hours ago, Memphis guard Marko Jaric's name bubbled up as the rumored Grizzly under police investigation for allegations of sexual assault. NBC Philadelphia now reports that no charges will be filed in the case, citing a "lack prosecutorial merit" in the allegations.

That's a weird Friday for Memphis, for Jaric and to be honest, for the NBA media. NBC had the reported investigation before anyone and didn't jump on the SI.com report naming Jaric. (To my knowledge, NBC still has never mentioned Jaric in connection with this.) Frankly, we'd all be better off if Chris Mannix had not reported that the investigation was trained on Jaric, considering the conclusion.

UPDATE: NBC Philadelphia reports that prosecutors have decided not to press charges against Marko Jaric.

On Thursday, NBC Philadelphia reported that a member of the Memphis Grizzlies was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault in Philadelphia. No names came out until a few moments ago, however. Chris Mannix of SI.com reports the Grizzly under investigation is ... Marko Jaric. (H/T: Skeets.)

Jaric married Victoria's Secret lingerie model Adriana Lima last month, on Valentine's Day. The only game the Grizzlies have played in Philadelphia this season was ... three days prior, on February 11. The team would have been in the city only on February 10, the Tuesday before Jaric eloped with Lima.

Has Marko Jaric used up all his good luck? Two weeks ago he was the luckiest guy in the world, marrying Victoria's Secret supermodel Adriana Lima.

But ever since he seems a little, well, distracted on the court. As Ronald Tillery points out, Jaric hasn't made a single field goal since getting hitched, though he did finally get on the board in Saturday's game via the free-throw line. So what's the deal, did the basketball gods decide to even the score?

As one unnamed FanHouse colleague put it, "Nah. Tired legs."

The economy is crumbling, scandal has invaded every page of the sports section and technology is slowly turning our brains to mush, but don't despair!

If ever there was proof that the common(-looking) man can still prevail, it can be found in the unlikely marital bonds between NBA journeyman Marko Jaric and Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima, who secretly eloped two weekends ago.

The Timberwolves somehow went from being the spunky underrated team with lots of young pieces to the overrated, likely-to-regress squad in inside of a year, despite jettisoning Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, and adding Kevin Love and Mike Miller. Go figure.

The haters have one more reason to pile on the squad, though, as Al Jefferson will enter the year banged up. Jefferson had an MRI yesterday and it revealed an MCL sprain in his right knee which will keep him out up to the next three weeks. Good thing they're not a young team trying to get new pieces to gel together before the season starts. Whoops.

It's a minor injury though, and the young star should be back to full strength before the season starts, unlike some people who will remain nameless but who's name is synonymous with a Japanese grill. And with Mike Miller an upgrade at shooting guard, Kevin Love and the outlet pass of doom, Randy Foye back to full strength, and the rest of the youngsters with another year together, there's no room to think the Wolves will regress from, if not exceed last year's win total. Still, it's not the way you want to start a year.

What? It's the slow season. We can't only talk about drugs or the Star Spangled Banner.

The New York Times douses out those raging rumors about a deal with Zach Randolph, Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric changing hands. Despite indications the negotiations were feverishly being worked out between New York and Memphis, the Times quotes Donnie Walsh saying nothing's happening.

"It was a conversation I had with these guys a month ago," Walsh said. "We haven't talked recently. For some reason, it was in the Memphis press and everyone in New York acts like it's imminent."

It's a weird development, considering Walsh admitted there had been talks without noting the current coolness just last week, and both central players have said recently they expect to be traded soon. This could be a touch of gamesmanship from Walsh, or he could be telling the complete truth, and everyone -- including the Memphis press -- might just be starving for NBA news.

While we're here: I'm among the universal legions who feel Darko is not salvageable. He has played on every type of team with almost every type of coach ... and he still doesn't get it. He has fire when he plays for Serbia, but absolutely none in the NBA. It's infuriating. That said: there are plenty of ways to prove Darko sucks without making up meaningless statistics -- like "assist + block to foul ratio," as one prominent blogger does. Sure, Darko has more career fouls than assists and blocks combined. So do Amare Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer. It means nothing.

Is this Zach Randolph for Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric deal going to happen, or is it bouncing around the echo chamber simply because there's nothing else to talk about during the dog days of the offseason? Donnie Walsh confirmed talks have taken place a couple of days ago but refused to say much beyond that. If the players are to believed, though, it's just a matter of time before this thing goes down.

According to the New York Post, "Darko Milicic was quoted in a Serbian newspaper as saying he believes it's '99 percent' sure he'll become a Knick by the end of the week." Randolph is convinced as well; Newsday says he's "been telling friends he expects to wind up in Memphis before training camp opens Sept. 30."

As for Jaric, well, he's actually been in New York all summer and has been working out with Nate Robinson and David Lee. That's probably a lucky coincidence more than anything else -- the reason he's in the Big Apple is to be with his fiancee, supermodel Adrian Lima -- but still, if Robinson and Lee like what they see, it's probably safe to assume they're sharing it with Walsh. This is hardly a done deal, but where there's smoke, there's fire.

As the rumors about a deal pitching Zach Randolph to Memphis for a Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric package continue to fester, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News gets Knicks boss Donnie Walsh to confirm on the record that he's been chatting with his Grizzly counterpart. The rumor mill continues to press Knick subsidies to help pay Z-Bo's deal as the sticking point.

The Darko & Marko package isn't completely clear in 2010: Jaric makes $7.6 million in 2010-11. That still saves New York almost $10 million that summer, and -- without accounting for David Lee, Nate Robinson and Mardy Collins, who will all be free agents in the next couple years -- that's almost enough to free up the Knicks for a max contract in the vaunted summer of '10. The targeted max players of '10 -- LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Amare -- will draw starting salaries of $20 million. With this deal (and again, no new deals for the free agents) the Knicks will sit about $15-16 million under the cap in '10.

There would also still be two years to work on a smaller project. New York doesn't need to be the first team to clear the cap, they just need to get it done by July 1, 2010, if they want to play ball. Things are certainly getting more interesting ...

I think we all (save Knicks fans) prayed the latest round of Zach Randolph rumors -- to Memphis, they said -- would die a quick, painless death. To the contrary. It's been either a rumor on life support or one which is taking the long, painful road to extermination. On Thursday, Inside Hoops proffered a minor confirmation talk was still brewing between NY and Memphis. Last night, Memphis Commercial-Appeal beat writer Ronald Tillery offered confirmation of talks on his Memphis Edge blog.

Any potential Memphis deal involving New York forward Zach Randolph is now in the Knicks' court from what I'm told. The Griz will agree to a package that includes Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric going to the Knicks for Randolph. But Griz brass apparently wants the Knicks to pick up more of the deferred payments owed Randolph in the latter year of his contract. New York executives supposedly are deliberating.

Further, the Memphis Flyer's Chris Herrington says there could be fire behind the rumors, based on talking with his sources. The real crux of the matter for me: how much cash is Memphis looking for to offset Randolph's massive 2010-11 contract? We're working with two teams which have different currencies here: the Knicks need cap space, the Grizz need cash, or the equivalent. Until now, cap space has been equivalent to cash for Memphis. But if they can get a player at some sort of discount, with a rich team playing part of his salary ... and lose burdens like Darko and Marko in the process, that's a neat re-purposing of that cap space into something more.

I get the feeling the Knicks would be happy to pay someone to take Z-Bo if it gets them under the league cap in 2010. James Dolan has cash to burn, which doesn't mean a thing if you can't legally sign worthy players. Using the cash to get the space is clever.