Hughes, who did not play in the NBA last season, signed a free agent deal with
the Magic in early December and averaged nearly 13 minutes during his nine-
game stint.
The 33-year-old veteran scored two points and had one assist in Wednesday's
109-103 victory.
<< Nash becomes Suns' assist leader in win
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash was all the Suns needed on
Wednesday.
The veteran point guard dropped in a game-high 30 points while shooting 13-
of-16 from the floor and dished out 10 assists as the Suns toppe
<< Jennings, Bucks rally past Heat
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milwaukee trailed by as many as 18 in the
second quarter, but Brandon Jennings scored 20 of his 31 points in the second
half as the Bucks rallied to take a 105-97 victory over the Miami Heat at the
Bradley
<< Rangers edge Sabres 1-0 in shootout
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Callahan buried a wrister in the fifth
round of the shootout as the New York Rangers took a 1-0 victory over the
Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
The entire 65 minutes of regulation and overtime passe
<< Nets outlast Pistons
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deron Williams scored 26 points and dished out
nine assists, carrying the short-handed Nets over the road-weary Pistons,
99-96, at Prudential Center.
Kris Humphries added 18 points and eight rebounds, a
<< No.1 Baylor remains perfect with rout of Missouri
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brittney Griner scored 18 points to go with
five rebounds and four blocks as top-ranked Baylor remained perfect with a
71-41 drubbing of Missouri on Wednesday.
Kimetria Hayden finished with 15 points
Granger paces Indiana over Timberwolves >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danny Granger nailed five three-pointers en
route to a season-high 36 points as the Indiana Pacers downed the Minnesota
Timberwolves, 109-99.
Darren Collison filled the stat sheet with 20 points, n
Westbrook lifts Thunder over Mavericks >>
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook finished with 33 points,
including six in the final two minutes, as the Thunder escaped American
Airlines Center with a 95-86 victory over the Mavericks in a battle of Western
Confere
Spurs rally past Rockets behind Duncan, Parker >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Duncan scored 25 points and Tony Parker
had 24, leading the Spurs to a 99-91 comeback win over the Rockets on
Wednesday.
Gary Neal added 15 points for the Spurs, who overcame a 13-point ha
Panthers take first in Southeast by clipping Caps >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikael Samuelsson tallied twice and Shawn
Matthias provided a late insurance goal as Florida doubled up Washington, 4-2,
in a battle for Southeast Division supremacy.
Stephen Weiss added a goal and Toma
Oklahoma proves no match for Jayhawks >>
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Robinson netted 20 points and pulled
down 17 rebounds as No. 8 Kansas thumped Oklahoma, 84-62, at Allen Fieldhouse
on Wednesday.
Tyshawn Taylor finished with 21 points, while Jeff Withey put home
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
Football Betting
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
NFL Betting Lines
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.