The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard/forward Jerry Stackhouse to a contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today. Stackhouse, 35, is a 14-year NBA veteran who has appeared in 854 games (563 starts) with Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington and Dallas.

Stackhouse (6-6, 218) was the third overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1995 NBA Draft. He owns career averages of 18.4 points, 3.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist. His best statistical season came in 2000-01 when he averaged a career-best 29.8 points (second in the NBA), 5.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals. He has spent the last five seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

The North Carolina alum has participated in the postseason seven times with 64 games (16 starts) in games played with Detroit and Dallas. Stackhouse’s playoff averages are 14.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists.

Stackhouse was an NBA All-Star in both 2000 and 2001, was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1995-96 and earned the NBA’s Community Assist Award in October 2001. He ranks in the top 100 in NBA history in points (15,749, 90th), free throws (4,548, 41st) and three pointers (899, 78th). Stackhouse played two seasons at North Carolina, averaging 15.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 69 games. Like Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, he attended Oak Hill Academy high school.

New York Knicks center Eddy Curry is very big. Not as big as he was before, but the man is a giant. Despite being thinner now than he was a few months ago, each step he takes makes his knees cry.

And now, once again, he’s actually injured.

The AP reports:

Eddy Curry is expected to miss about six weeks after knee surgery, the latest setback for the injury-plagued Knicks center.

The Knicks said Curry will have an arthroscopic procedure on Monday to remove loose cartilage in his left knee. He will begin rehabilitation within a week.

Curry has only played seven games in 2009-10, averaging 3.7 points and little else in 8.9 minutes per outing.

Remember former NBA guard Stephon Marbury? Before he started doing wacky stuff on the internet and arguing with “haters” for seemingly 17 hours a day while reminding web users that “love is love” nearly every minute, he was a very good NBA player.

Not quite as good as his stats suggest. There were issues of bad chemistry, bad attitudes and not making teammates better. Still, Marbury was talented, exciting to watch, and occasionally spectacular and unguardable.

Before falling out of the NBA after years on the New York Knicks and a quick stint on the Boston Celtics, Marbury had made several mentions of wanting to play overseas; specifically Italy.

I’ve learned over the years that tons of overseas reports tend to jump the gun. And there are often language barriers and translation issues. So right now there are two reports. One seems to suggest Marbury will sign. The other says he may do it, but nothing is done.

Until it’s confirmed (hopefully by Marbury himself) that he’s really signing in China, these should just be considered reports on what may happen.

Reuters reports:

Twice NBA All Star point guard Stephon Marbury will become the highest profile American to play in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) after he agreed to join China’s Shanxi Club.

The 32-year-old, a free agent since leaving the Boston Celtics last season, had agreed a deal with the northern club and would arrive in Shanxi next week, the team announced on their official website (www.sxcba.com).

“The aim of signing Marbury is to pay back our fans and try to win more games in the rest of the season,” said Shanxi boss Wang Xingjiang.

AFP reports:

After bringing in NBA bad boy Bonzi Wells last season, Shanxi Zhongyu of the China Basketball Association are seeking to land former disgruntled New York Knick Stephon Marbury, the team said Monday.

“Marbury will come next week. We want to sign him and we want him to play for us,” club general manager Zhang Beihai told AFP by phone.

“When he arrives we will sit down and talk. Right now it is not clear if he wants to sign. After we talk we will make a decision.”

Assuming he’s kept in shape, Marbury should be able to destroy the competition. Which would be fun to keep track of.

InsideHoops.com will keep you updated.

Detroit Pistons big-man Chris Wilcox has mostly been a forgotten man this season, contributing about as much to the team as you. Which isn’t a lot. Unless you buy Pistons tickets, or gear, or something. Then it’s probably a tie.

Anyway, the 14-25 Pistons have been terrible this season, though constant injuries to key players is a very legitimate excuse. But they’ve rattled off several wins in a row, and Wilcox has helped.

Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports:

After Wilcox, an eight-year veteran power forward, was benched for 13 of the first 26 games, it looked as if he wouldn’t have an impact on this season.

But Wilcox has helped the Pistons to a 3-1 record since coach John Kuester put him in the starting lineup.

And with a 14-point, 10-rebound effort in Saturday night’s victory over the Knicks, Wilcox proved that his athleticism and shooting touch could be a boon to the Pistons the rest of the season.

“I thought in the third period he did some great things,” Kuester said. “Playing the amount of minutes (16) and him giving us that kind of energy … that’s awfully impressive.”

For the season, Wilcox is averaging 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per game. His stats are barely better than that in the three recent wins, but he’s hustled and helped the squad.

The Philadelphia 76ers are just 13-26 this season, but they’ve actually looked like an NBA team lately. A big reason why has been the emergency of power forward Elton Brand, who is starting to finally come alive.

Tom Moore of Philly Burbs reports:

After injuries limited him to 37 games during the previous two seasons, Elton Brand is finally starting to feel more like the Elton Brand who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in his first 10 NBA seasons. And it’s showing on the court.

In the Sixers’ last nine games, he’s shooting 58-for-108 (53.7 percent) from the field. The Sixers are 6-3 during that span, with Brand averaging 18.7 points and shooting 59.2 percent in the victories.

Brand had 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting in a Dec. 28 victory over the Trail Blazers, another 25 in a Jan. 9 drubbing of the Pistons and 18 in Monday’s 96-92 win over the Hornets.

Up next for the Sixers is a road game in Minnesota and tough home games vs Portland and Dallas.