Free-agent centre Ben Wallace is leaving the Detroit Pistons to sign with the Chicago Bulls, a source within the NBA said on Monday.

The source, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because NBA free agents can't officially sign contracts until July 12, said the Pistons offered Wallace a four-year contract worth about US$50 million. That would have made him the highest-paid player on the team next season with a salary of US$11.5 million.

Wallace told The Detroit News on Sunday that he was disappointed with the Pistons' offer.

"It was not at all what I expected," Wallace said.

Wallace helped Detroit advance to four straight conference finals - the first team to do so since the Bulls of the early 1990s.

Detroit had wanted to keep its starting line-up together, and Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, said late last week that his top priority was to re-sign Wallace.

Wallace, a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, could be a good fit for an up-and-coming Chicago team that needs help with rebounding and defence.

Wallace helped Detroit advance in the playoffs in 2002 - for the first time since 1991 - get to the conference finals in 2003, win a title in 2004 and reach the finals last year. The Pistons won a NBA-high and franchise-record 64 games last season, then lost to the eventual champion Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

Wade working on extension

Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat are working on a five-year contract extension, with the hope that a deal will be struck before the MVP of the NBA finals leaves for USA Basketball's summer training camp this month.

Wade is eligible for a deal worth about US$80 million; the exact value of the extension, much like the one agreed to by Carmelo Anthony with Denver and the one offered to LeBron James in Cleveland, will not be known until the salary cap for the 2007-08 season is set.

Wade is expected to report to practice with the US world championship team in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 19.

There is no real urgency on either side; he is under contract for next season with the Heat, who will defend their first NBA championship. Without the extension, Wade would become a free agent after the 2007-08 season.

But the Heat - who quickly made their extension offer - almost certainly are not going to let that happen. Wade's agent, Henry Thomas, said he and the Heat are engaged in "very positive" talks.

Wade has repeatedly said he wants to stay in Miami, Florida, reiterating that again on Monday during a visit to Walt Disney World in Orlando, where he and team-mate Udonis Haslem donned Mickey Mouse hats and were grand marshals of a Heat victory parade.

Wade also arranged for 100 underprivileged South Florida children to board Orlando-bound buses and spend the day with him and Haslem at the theme park.

Other than coach Pat Riley saying that getting Wade to agree to an extension is Miami's top offseason priority, the team has not commented on the negotiation process.

Wade was the fifth pick in the 2003 draft, and his rise to stardom was quick. He averaged a career-best 27.2 points during the regular season, making 49.5 per cent of his shots, plus averaging 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds per night.

(China Daily July 5, 2006)