Joe Smith has played for nine teams in his 14 NBA seasons. Could his second stint with his eighth team lead to his first NBA Finals?

According to a report in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the former No. 1 overall draft pick from 1995 may join the Cavaliers as early as Wednesday. Cleveland traded him last offseason to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team deal that put Mo Williams on the Cavs.

Smith, who played 27 games for the Cavs last season, was originally acquired in a three-team, 11-player trade deadline-day deal. His re-addition to the Cavs would help Cleveland in two ways.

One, Smith would help replace Ben Wallace, who will miss four to six weeks with a broken right fibula. Two, it counters the personnel moves made by Eastern Conference-rival Boston. The Celtics added Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury in the past 10 days.

Back in December, the Plain-Dealer reported that Smith would be interested in returning to Cleveland if he were to become a free agent. The Thunder granted Smith's wish on Feb. 28, agreeing to a buyout before the March 1 deadline that would have prohibited Smith from participating in the postseason.

"I think the Cavs would have done this even if Wallace hadn't gone down," said one NBA scout.

If he joins the 47-12 Cavaliers, Smith shouldn't have a problem fitting in. "Him having been there already should make the transition that much easier," the scout said. "He knows what they're doing."

With Anderson Varejao replacing Wallace in the starting lineup, Smith would also give the Cavs' second unit an offensive boost. "The [J.J.] Hickson kid is nice, but he's a rookie," the scout said. "When the playoffs come around, Smith has been there and one thing they didn't have is a guy to bring consistency on offense."

Smith, who can hit the mid-range jumper, could be used much like the Cavs use Zydrunas Ilgauskas to set screens at the top of the key or on the wing in their new motion offense.

"Smith isn't as good as [Antonio] McDyess in Detroit," the scout said, "but you have to box him out and he'll make you pay if you don't rotate on defense. You can't leave him wide open."

If Smith signs and when Wallace returns, the Cavs could have the deepest frontcourt in the postseason with Ilgauskas, Wallace, Varejao, Smith and Hickson. "And don't forget, the Cavs sometimes like to move LeBron over to play power forward," the scout said. "He creates problems there, too."

The Cavs will need all the help they can get to claim homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. The Cavs are tied with the Celtics in the win column with 47 victories and have two fewer losses than the defending champs. The teams still have two meetings remaining this season: Friday in Boston and April 12 in Cleveland.

Richard Hamilton said he was willing to come off the bench as long as the Pistons were winning.

"But we've been losing," Hamilton said last week.

With Allen Iverson out with a back injury, Hamilton returned to the starting lineup on Feb. 27, promptly scored 56 points in two games and the Pistons snapped their eight-game losing streak with back-to-back wins against Eastern Conference division leaders in Orlando and in Boston.

While he averaged 18.8 points off the pine since Jan. 21, the Pistons were 6-12 with Hamilton not in the starting lineup.

"I thought Rip would play well off the bench. He did," Pistons coach Michael Curry told the Detroit News. "This change is about more than just Allen and Rip. We hope that with this change, more guys will play better. That's what we are seeking. Hopefully this will allow us to execute better, get us back in sync and rejuvenate us."

Hamilton's return to the starting five means Iverson, not second-year point guard Rodney Stuckey, will come off the bench. Iverson hopes to be back in uniform Tuesday, when the Pistons host former Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups.

Michael Redd hasn't played since tearing his ACL and MCL on Jan. 24. Andrew Bogut hasn't played since Jan. 31 and is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his lower back. Yet the Milwaukee Bucks are still clinging onto the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Heading into tonight's game against the Nets, the Bucks have a precarious one-game lead over the Chicago Bulls and a 1.5-game lead over New Jersey. And despite not having two-fifths of their starting lineup, the Bucks and coach Scott Skiles are thinking playoffs instead of lottery.

"In my opinion, it's crucial for young players," Skiles told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "You've got veteran players talking to them about what it's like to play in the playoffs and they've got the coaching staff talking to them about what it's like and how the intensity level goes up, how every possession is so crucial and all those things. But until they actually go through it ..."

Forward Richard Jefferson, who went to two NBA Finals with the Nets, is the only healthy player on the Bucks roster who has any significant playoff experience. He's looking forward to the last six weeks of the season.

"This is what it's all about," Jefferson said. "We're in a great spot where teams in front of us aren't out of reach, and there's teams behind us that aren't out of it, either. So we're in that middle position now where every game, win or lose, means a lot. It's fun. This is what you dream about in professional sports."

"I was telling the refs, like, 'Man, let's warm up some more, then. Let's stall. You all want to play tic-tac-toe or something just to kill time?' I was truly nervous for the first time in my career just to have the president over there."
-- Wizards guard Caron Butler on delaying tipoff the Bulls-Wizards game on Friday in order to wait for President Barack Obama to take his seat

"I was angry. When I'm angry, I attack."
-- Heat All-Star Dwyane Wade explaining how the Knicks' rough play spurred him to score 24 of his 46 points in the fourth quarter in Miami's 120-115 win over New York on Saturday.

"After a while you just get tired of it. You get tired of getting punched in the face. That's what it's felt like most of the season."
-- Pistons center Rasheed Wallace on the relief of breaking an eight-game losing streak

2 and 3329 -- The seat number (Gold VIP North Seat 2), in which President Barack Obama sat to watch the Washington Wizards host the Chicago Bulls on Feb. 28; the number of days since a sitting president last watched a game at the Verizon Center (President Bill Clinton on Jan. 19, 2000)

29-0 -- Cavaliers record when scoring 100-plus points this season

14.7 -- Average lead of division leaders in the East. Cleveland has a 17.5-game lead on Detroit, Boston has a 17-game lead on Philadelphia and Orlando has a nine-game lead on Atlanta

The Wizards haven't beaten a Southeast Division opponent since they defeated the then-Dwyane Wade-less Heat 109-95 on April 4, 2008. The Wizards are 0-13 against division foes this season ... After his 41-point performance in the Heat's 107-100 loss to the Cavaliers, Wade now has eight 40-point games this season, to lead the league. LeBron James, who had 42 in the game, is second with seven ... The Pacers' Mike Dunleavy Jr., who has only played in 18 games this season because of a chronic knee injury, is now out for the season ...