Per the Memphis Commercial Appeal…

Free-agent guard Allen Iverson informed the Grizzlies this morning that he will accept a one-year offer to bring his explosive scoring to FedExForum this season, according to an NBA source.

Iverson’s decision came following a Monday night meeting in Atlanta with Griz owner Michael Heisley, general manager Chris Wallace and head coach Lionel Hollins. Iverson, a 34-year-old, 13-year veteran, will play for a contract that pays $3.5 million (what the Griz have left under the salary cap) and the deal will be loaded with incentives.

Iverson confirmed his decision on Twitter.

Iverson will join MIke Conley and O.J. Mayo in the Grizzlies’ backcourt. Coming off the bench hasn’t worked for AI in the past, so I’d expect a deal was made that would have Iverson start, likely alongside Mayo.

AI is a veteran with a unique skill set, so the fact that he landed with the Grizzlies instead of joining a contender is a testament to the current state of the economy and his unwillingness to accept a lesser role to play for a winner.

Yes, according to his Twitter feed.

My people just informed me that we are getting close to a deal. I asked them to call me the when its done. I am so ready to know!

I have not been this eager with anticipation since the night before the NBA Draft in 96. Then I knew where I was going, now I want to know!

It sounds like even he doesn’t know where he’s going. Why are his people keeping him in the dark? So that he won’t spill the beans on Twitter?

Chris Sheridan outlines the five teams that are likely in the mix for AI’s services: Miami, New York, Charlotte, LA Clippers and Memphis.

He thinks the Heat are the frontrunner.

Lakers only offering Odom a three-year deal?

Reports persist that Odom has been offered deals spanning three and four seasons in length from the Lakers, but that differs sharply from every bankable indication we’ve received.

The Lakers’ best offer to Odom, so far, tops out at $27 million over three seasons. The expectation among rival teams remains that the sides will eventually come to terms.

This makes more sense. I don’t know why Odom would turn down a four-year deal from the Lakers worth $36 million to consider a five-year deal worth $34 million from the Heat. If the Lakers are only offering three years, then the total value of the contract is about $24 million after state taxes, so Odom could elect to go with the security of the extra $10 million in the Miami deal.

This, coupled with the Lakers’ decision to pull their offer from the table, might convince Odom to head to Miami and play for the mid-level. Pat Riley also indicated that the Heat are trying to work out a sign-and-trade for Odom, though it’s not clear what players would have to be involved to get the Lakers to agree to take on the extra salary. Udonis Haslem? Michael Beasley?

Clippers going after Ramon Sessions?

The distinct vibe in the stands at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion is that the Clippers — apart from owner Donald Sterling — would greatly prefer to add more of a set-up man to a backcourt rotation that already features Baron Davis and emerging star Eric Gordon as opposed to signing Allen Iverson to a one-year deal up to the full $5.9 million midlevel exception.

The top choice in that scenario? Extending an offer sheet to restricted free agent Ramon Sessions.

I am a huge Sessions fan. Yesterday, I pondered why no one has signed him to an offer sheet when the Bucks are clearly looking to cut salary. He’s only 23, he had the 13th-highest PER amongst all point guards, and the 5th-highest amongst all point guards under the age of 26. With Brandon Jennings playing well in the summer league, the Bucks might be dumb enough to let Sessions go if some team made a substantial ($4-$5 million per year) offer.

A federal judge threw out the SEC suit against Mark Cuban alleging that the Mavs owner participated in insider trading.

Utah will match Blazers’ offer for Paul Millsap.

The Utah Jazz will match the four-year, $32 million offer the Portland Trail Blazers tendered restricted free agent Paul Millsap, the Jazz posted on their Web site Thursday evening. A league source confirmed the development to ESPN.com.

Under the terms of the contract, the Jazz will have to pay the 24-year-old forward $10.3 million this weekend. Portland front-loaded the contract to discourage Utah from matching, but the Jazz had said they would match any offer Millsap received.

While there are those that believe that the Blazers were just trying to put the Jazz in a tough spot, I think they were making a sincere attempt to get one of the best players left on the free agent market. After the Rockets series, the Blazers know that they have to get tougher, and the addition of Millsap would go a long way towards that goal. He doesn’t have the range of LaMarcus Aldridge, but his face up game is improving, so he could fit into Portland’s plan to always have four shooters on the court with Brandon Roy.

With the match, the Blazers have to move on to Plan C. What will it be?

The New York Post speculates that it might be the Knicks’ David Lee, who is apparently still looking for a deal averaging in the $10-$12 million per year range.

T-Wolves GM David Kahn is heading to Spain, hoping to convince Ricky Rubio’s current team (DKV Joventut) to lower his buyout number. Good luck with that, David.

- According to GM Mitch Kupchak, Lamar Odom and the Lakers aren’t on the same page. The team has offered $8 million per season but Odom wants $10 million, and the contract’s length may be an issue too. Dallas, Miami, Phoenix and Portland (if the Jazz match their offer for Paul Millsap) have emerged as possible landing spots for Odom. He doesn’t have much leverage if the Blazers aren’t interested. The other three teams would have to work out a trade and it would take a good player (Josh Howard, Michael Beasley, etc.) to get the Lakers to bite.

- The Jazz have until February to move Carlos Boozer before the luxury tax implications of keeping both Boozer and Paul Millsap kick in. Right now, it looks like the Jazz are planning to match, even if they have to take out a loan to pay Millsap the huge signing bonus that is a part of his deal with the Blazers. If the Jazz do match, it will be interesting to see if the Blazers have a Plan C after missing out on Hedo Turkoglu and Millsap.

- After a brief flirtation with the Bucks and the Bobcats, Josh Childress is heading back to Greece. The Hawks still hold his rights, and his camp was unable to work out a sign-and-trade with Milwaukee or Charlotte, so Childress’s best option was to play for Olympiakos for another season.

- Brandon Roy wants a fifth year option, but the Blazers have only offered four years. It’s not clear what the Blazers are worried about; I’d want to lock him up for as long as possible.

Allen Iverson asked for the $5.8 million midlevel exception from the Heat in a one-year deal, but Miami has been reluctant to pay him much more than $2 million, if that. Iverson also is exploring Memphis and Charlotte, but Miami would be his preference if money is equal. The Heat spoke with the agent for Andre Miller — who’s in a stalemate with Philadelphia — but hasn’t pursued a sign-and-trade, and Miller wants more than the midlevel.

Memphis is also interested and Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley speculated about why the Heat aren’t willing to offer Iverson a mid-level deal.

Heisley indicated Sunday that Iverson is “only looking for a one-year contract,” which actually would mesh with Miami’s intent to add no players with contracts stretching past next season to preserve maximum flexibility to re-sign Wade and land him at least one marquee teammate in the summer of 2010. Yet it’s believed that the Heat are reluctant to come close to the $5 million for next season that the Grizzlies are reportedly prepared to pay, since Miami is already in luxury-tax territory.

The Heat are sitting at about $69.86 million which is a hair below the threshold of $69.92 million. If they sign Iverson, they’ll go into luxury tax territory and will have to essentially pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on AI’s entire salary. Not only would they miss out on the reward for being under the luxury tax, but they’d have to pay the tax themselves. Therefore, a contract worth $2 million could perhaps cost the Heat $5.5 million (or more), depending on how many teams are over the threshold and how big the payout turns out to be.

It’s strange to see a player of Iverson’s stature fighting for table scraps on the free agent market. He was once a franchise player, but his disastrous stint in Detroit (resulting from his distaste for coming off the bench) and his ball-dominant style has created an environment in which most teams are extremely leery of utilizing his services. True contenders don’t want to participate in an experiment that has a good chance of backfiring while the lower echelon playoff teams don’t see Iverson as the game-changer needed to put them over the top.

He has proven that he is not willing to what’s best for the team (by coming off the bench), so why would a good team want to add him? The Heat are interested because he’ll put butts in the seats and would probably add a few wins, which might help to convince Dwyane Wade to stay in Miami.