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Indiana Pacers forward Peja Stojakovic will not play for Serbia and Montenegro in the World Championship this summer, his agent said Wednesday.

Stojakovic led Yugoslavia to the 2002 championship and was a member of the all-tournament team. Stojakovic’s agent, David Bauman, said his client could have played for Serbia and Montenegro this summer despite its youth movement, but he has decided against it.

However, Serbia and Montenegro coach Dragan Sakota previously told Novosti, a Belgrade newspaper, that he never invited the 28-year-old Stojakovic to play in the tournament Aug. 19-Sept. 3 in Japan.

"But, as I have said, the results are not the priority at this World Championshi; working on a new, youthful team is," Sakota told the newspaper. "It will be different for the European championship in 2007, when we will add some of our big names. That is what I have told Stojakovic."

Bauman said the national team left the door open for Stojakovic to play if he chose to.

"Of course, if he wanted to play, there would have been a spot for him," Bauman said. "I think the direction of their team is to play young guys."

Attempts by the Associated Press to reach the Serbia and Montenegro team’s headquarters by phone and e-mail were unsuccessful.

The 6-foot-10 Stojakovic averaged 19.5 points in 40 regular-season games after being traded to Indiana from the Sacramento Kings. A lingering right knee injury caught up with him in the playoffs, causing him to miss four of the six games against the New Jersey Nets.

He missed 15 games including the playoffs this season and 16 last season because of injuries, including a protruding disc in his lower back, a sprained right pinkie finger and a strained groin.

"At the end of the day, we want to make sure Peja’s body is healthy," Bauman said. "We want to protect him for free agency."

Bauman said the swelling and pain that forced Stojakovic to miss games have disappeared because the Pacers got him the help he needed. Stojakovic has said he wants to finish his career with the Pacers.

"The knee is completely fine," Bauman said. "The swelling has gone down and is nonexistent."

Bauman hinted that Stojakovic’s international career could be winding down.

"He’s always going to leave the door open," Bauman said. "This summer, for many reasons, it just wasn’t the thing to do."

The trade that almost wasn’t is finally happening. The Kings and Pacers have both signed off on a deal that will send Ron Artest to Sacramento and Peja Stojakovic to Indiana, the Pacers announced Thursday.

 

 

	Stojakovic

	Artest

"Obviously, we’re very happy about getting a player of his caliber," said Larry Bird, President of Basketball Operations for Indiana. "[Peja’s] one of the best shooters in the league and we definitely feel he can come in and help us right away. We think he’ll fit in with our team because he’ll help spread the floor and give our big men better opportunities to score."

 

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith reports that Artest is boarding a plane for Boston and he will be in a Kings uniform Friday night against the Celtics.

 

CHRIS SHERIDAN REAX

It’s been clear for some time that the Kings had to do something. The team has basically been lifeless the first three months of the season, except for three occasions when they’ve won three straight games, and they’re at their lowest point in the standings in six years. This is a good risk for the Kings, because they stood a chance of getting nothing if Stojakovic left as a free agent this summer. Now instead they have a player who is signed for two more years, not to mention a player with a much better all-around game than Stojakovic. Artest will be reunited with Brad Miller, and he’ll be able to take Stojakovic’s spot in the lineup. At this point, Artest has more game than Stojakovic on offense, and it goes without saying that he’s a much stronger defender. From the Pacers’ perspective, you have to give credit to the front office for holding out. It took a lot of guts for them to wait six weeks for a player they wanted to come along. It’s only mid-January, so they have plenty of time to recover. They are tied for fifth in the East, and should have no trouble securing a playoff spot. It’s not clear how Stojakovic will function in that offense, but he’s not the fastest guy in the league so he should fit well into the Pacers’ methodical offense.

"We wish Ron the best at Sacramento," said Pacers CEO/President Donnie Walsh. "There’s no doubt in our mind he’ll have an immediate impact on their team. We’ll miss him very much. We know this has been a long process for our fans, but we have a player we think our fans will enjoy watching."

 

Artest met Wednesday with Pacers officials to discuss a possible trade to the Kings after a deal for Stojakovic collapsed on Tuesday night.

"They said they were going to try to get something sorted out to get the trade done," Artest told the Indianapolis Star by phone as he drove away from the meeting at Conseco Fieldhouse. Artest told the Star it was a good meeting.

However, ESPN’s Jim Gray and Smith reported Wednesday after the meeting that Artest had agreed to be traded. Gray reported that Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof talked to Artest and planned to talk to him again before finalizing any trade.

On Tuesday, his agent was more guarded about the prospect of Artest playing in Sacramento.

"In the last month, Ron Artest has been vehemently portrayed in an unflattering manner in the media, specifically in the aftermath of requesting a trade, even after it was made clear that he only spoke out because he believed the Pacers were going to trade him to Sacramento, a place he did not want to go to," Mark Stevens said in a statement to Smith on Tuesday night. "Now it has become evident that this trade was not merely speculation but something that has been at least discussed for quite some time.

"Ron Artest did not want to be traded to Sacramento weeks ago, and he does not want to be traded to Sacramento now.

"Basketball is Ron Artest’s passion. In order for Ron to fully demonstrate his natural skills and abilities, to the best of his abilities, he not only must be in an environment that is conducive to his growth an development as a player, he must also ensure that his family is happy and content as well. Ron does not believe that will be the case if he were in Sacramento. Period. However, as mentioned earlier, Ron is deeply committed to the sport of basketball and desperately misses playing the game he loves. If the trade is made he will play for his new team, regardless of how he may feel about it."

 

Stevens told ESPN’s Greg Anthony that he thought Artest needed a stable situation with strong leadership, and that the uncertainty about both Kings coach Rick Adelman’s future and the Kings’ future in Sacramento indicated a lack of stability that would be uncomfortable for Artest.

 

PLAYER NOTES

–Shooting guard Stephen Jackson is averaging 23 points in the last four games.

–Center Scot Pollard led the Pacers in steals with three.

–Point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius scored in double figures for just the second time in the past 10 games when he finished with 10 points.

–Small forward Danny Granger had his lowest point total since Jan. 20 when he finished with two points.

–Power forward Jeff Foster tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight.

 

–The Pacers are 15-5 in games that they out-rebound their opponents.

–The Pacers are 13-8 in games that they have at least 20 assists.

–The Pacers are 6-1 in their last seven games against Western Conference teams.

–The Pacers were swept by the Spurs in the season series for the third time in the past six seasons.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It’s always hard to lose. We had a chance to win. Both teams played well and they executed better at the end." — Indiana Pacers shooting guard Stephen Jackson.

The Indiana Pacers, winners of four of their past five games, hope to go into the All-Star break on a high note when they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.

 

The Pacers and Bucks have played twice this season, with each team successfully defending its home court.

The Pacers should have won both meetings, but Milwaukee’s Mo Williams made a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat them in early November.

The Pacers bounced back and beat the Bucks handily 112-88 in early January.

Stephen Jackson led the Pacers with 24 points in that game.

Indiana has won 39 of 70 meetings against Milwaukee in Indianapolis. Bucks guard Michael Redd, who was left off the All-Star team, is averaging 20 points a game, but only shooting 30 percent from the field against the Pacers this season.

REPLAY: Missed opportunities put an end to the Indiana Pacers’ four-game winning streak.

The Pacers put up a fight, but came up short in their 92-88 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday afternoon.

" It was a tough one," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "A tough, tough way to lose. The guys fought so hard to get a lead, but lost it."

The Pacers had a five-point lead with less than two minutes left in the game when they were called for a defensive three-second violation and the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili made a 34-foot three-pointer to bring the Spurs within one.

The Pacers had a couple of chances to stay in the game after falling behind. Stephen Jackson missed a 17-foot jumper with 13 seconds left and Fred Jones missed out on an opportunity to tie the game when he missed a lay-up with 6.9 seconds remaining.

Jackson led the Pacers with 17 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Peja Stojakovic added 16 points for Indiana.

"(San Antonio) made great plays down the stretch," Carlisle said. "We had chances. Unfortunately, we’re going to walk away empty handed."