NBA suspends T'wolves' Telfair

Minnesota point guard Sebastian Telfair was handed a three-game suspension, to be served at the start of the regular season, by the league office Tuesday for pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon.

The incident occurred in 2007 when Telfair still was a member of the Boston Celtics. He finally was sentenced last month to three years probation.

Speaking of legal trouble, the Bulls are hoping Joakim Noah does not receive punishment for his May arrest in Gainesville, Fla., on charges of marijuana possession and carrying an open container of alcohol. Noah paid a $200 fine and was sentenced to six months probation. The charges will be dropped if he meets the terms of his probation.

But so far the Bulls have been given any no indication of whether Noah can expect a penalty from the league.

"Every case is different, but you never know," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Obviously, players have to take responsibility for their actions. The league is really cracking down on things, and they should. I'm sure they're looking at everything."

Something in common: No. 1 draft pick Derrick Rose and training-camp addition Darius Washington are former Memphis point guards. Washington left the school a year before Rose arrived.

When Rose led Memphis to the NCAA title game last spring, Washington was playing for a team in Greece. He had to watch the game against Kansas on his computer at around 3 a.m.

"I had practice the next day, so I watched the whole first half, a little of the second," Washington said. "Then I fell asleep because I thought they had the game won. I woke up the next morning and was like, 'What happened?' "

Now that he's on the same team as Rose, Washington is trying to help the Bulls build for the future, even though he's a longshot to make the final roster.

"For the little experience I have in this league, I try to push him every day, get after him a little bit to get him ready for the game," Washington said.