Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin is expected to be sidelined between three to four weeks because of a strained right shoulder he suffered during last week's Las Vegas Summer League, the team announced in a statement yesterday.

Two examinations on Tuesday prompted team doctors to advise that Griffin abstain from competition, starting with the USA Basketball National Team Mini-Camp that began yesterday. In the statement, the Clippers said Griffin will maintain the same level of lower body training and conditioning.

Griffin, who was signed by the Clippers out of Oklahoma, was named the most outstanding player in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 19.2 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

TIMBERWOLVES

RUBIO TO LEAVE SPAIN

Ricky Rubio plans to part ways with Spanish basketball club DKV Joventut even if the Minnesota Timberwolves cannot reach a deal to bring their first-round draft pick to the NBA.

Timberwolves president David Kahn was in Spain this week to try and help the fifth overall pick negotiate a buyout of his contract with Joventut. Rubio is at odds with his boyhood club over a buyout clause that could cost the 18-year-old point guard as much as $6.6 million. The NBA's collective bargaining rules limit the Timberwolves' contribution to $500,000.

Regardless of whether Rubio makes the trip across the Atlantic next season, he won't be playing at Joventut.

"I want to continue with the club but, after everything that's happened, I don't think they're too comfortable having me in their squad," Rubio said yesterday. "I want to play in a winning team, on a team that can achieve many things."

ELSEWHERE

Lakers: Los Angeles star Kobe Bryant is optimistic the NBA champions will re-sign key free agent Lamar Odom. "I'm optimistic that he'll be back," Bryant said yesterday at a news conference in Singapore as part of a six-country Asian tour. "He makes us a much, much stronger team." Negotiations broke down last week and the Lakers retracted a contract offer to Odom. The Miami Heat are also wooing the 6-foot-10 forward.

Pacers: Indiana announced that it waived point guard Jamaal Tinsley, and a team spokesman said the NBA will process the request today. If he clears waivers in seven days, he will become a free agent. Tinsley, a Pacer since 2001-02, will likely try to revive his career elsewhere.

Indiana also re-signed free agent forward Josh McRoberts. Terms of the multiyear contract were not disclosed. The Pacers made a qualifying offer to the 6-foot-10 McRoberts last month, making him a restricted free agent. The athletic post player averaged 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds last season.

Pistons: Detroit has signed free agent forward Chris Wilcox to a multiyear contract. The 26-year-old Wilcox has appeared in 448 NBA games since the Los Angeles Clippers drafted him eighth overall in 2002. He also has played for Seattle/Oklahoma City and New York, averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 21.7 minutes per game in his career.

Heat: Reserve Jamaal Magloire has re-signed with Miami, giving the team four centers under contract. Restricted free-agent center Joel Anthony re-signed Monday. The Heat also have starter Jermaine O'Neal and seldom-used Mark Blount.

Beijing exhibition: Denver will play an exhibition game against Indiana in Beijing. The Oct. 11 matchup at Wukesong Arena, site of the 2008 Olympic basketball competitions, comes three days after the teams play the NBA's first game in Taipei.

Tulsa wants WNBA: Investors who want to bring a WNBA franchise to Tulsa, Okla., face a Sept. 1 deadline to land a team for the start of the June 2010 season.