Former NBA first-round pick J.J. Hickson is finalizing a deal to sign with the Fujian Sturgeons in China, according to league sources.Sources told ESPN.com that Hickson will start this season in the Chinese Basketball Association after splitting time last season between the Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards.Because Chinas season ends in the early spring, it typically affords NBA veterans such as Hickson an opportunity to vie for 10-day contracts to return to the league in March and April after completing their season abroad.Former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer recently signed with the Guangdong Southern Tigers with the hope of returning to the NBA once the Tigers season ends.Hickson, 27, was the 19th overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008 and spent three seasons with the Cavs, peaking in 2010-11 when he averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds.He has also played for Sacramento and Portland in addition to the Nuggets and Wizards. 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As the San Antonio Spurs prepare to retire Tim Duncans No. 21 jersey Sunday night, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has described Duncan ?as like my son.I love him dearly, Popovich told ESPNs SportsCenter in an interview earlier this week.Told that Spurs president R.C. Buford once described the two as soulmates to ESPN.com, Popovich said: Were more soulmates in life than we are in basketball. Ive been on his fanny so many times throughout his 19 years, and half the time he agrees with me and half the time he thinks Im a nut. And he just is polite enough and mature enough to just ignore me and go back out on the court, which allowed me to coach everybody else all those years. But off the court, thats where were soulmates.Popovich, though, said he and Spurs veterans Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili try to bring up Duncans absence very rarely after the big mans 19 stellar seasons in which he led San Antonio to five championships.?I think about it more off the court than I do during games or practices, Popovich told SportsCenter. You get busy, you get into what youre doing, but I miss him on the plane and on the bus trips and in the locker room after a win or a loss. Just the banter back and forth that weve had for, whatever, 19 or 20 years. I miss all of that.We might be somewhere at a certain moment in time and somebody says something [about Duncan] in a melancholy manner or reminiscing about such and such because we were all there at some point. But thats only happened a couple of times. Everybody has to move on.?Duncan, though, has been a relatively frequent guest at Spurs practices this season, working out with former teammates or new Spurs like center Pau Gasol, or counseling younger players such as forward Jonathon Simmons.He jumps in and out, Popovich said. A little bit of scouting [to] tell us what he thinks about this player or that player. Little bit of one-on-one here and there. Little bit of coaching, what were doing in pick-and-roll and what were doing here. Just hanging around -- just jumping in, putting a toe in the water, wherever he feels like it. Its great.We never know [when Duncan will show up], honestly. Its totally random. Everything is extemporaneous. Hes there or hes not. We might walk through the building and all of a sudden hes in there lifting weights. We put a locker for him in the coachs locker room in the practice facility and at the AT&T Center so he comes whenever he feels like it.Popovich, the only head coach Duncan has ever known in the pros, says now that he had a strong inkling the 40-year-old was bound for retirement after San AAntonios second-round elimination in the playoffs last season against Oklahoma City.ddddddddddddI was pretty sure that it was [the end], Popovich said. I knew hed take time during the summer to make a final decision and wed talk now and then, but I know he was frustrated because he had told me a couple years earlier, When I cant do what I need to do to help the team, I dont want to do it anymore. And it would frustrate him if some young whipper-snapper would make a move on him or do something and look at him like, Yeah, I got you. I wanted to run on the court [and say]: No, no, no. That wasnt Tim Duncan that you just did that to. But the young kid would have the gall to act that way, and I know that frustrated the hell out of him.??Duncans No. 21 will be the eighth Spurs jersey in franchise history to be hoisted to the rafters, joining David Robinson (50), George Gervin (44), James Silas (13), Johnny Moore (00), Sean Elliott (32), Avery Johnson (6) and Bruce Bowen (12).In addition to his role in the Spurs five titles, Duncan is the clubs all-time leader in points (26,496), rebounds (15,091), blocked shots (3,020), minutes (47,368) and games played (1,392). Hes the 14th-ranked scorer in NBA history and won two regular-season MVP awards as a Spur.Popovich, though, acknowledged that the famously media-shy Duncan had to be talked into Sunday nights postgame ceremony after San Antonio takes on the New Orleans Pelicans.It was a tough one, Popovich said. He knew that, in the end, he had to do it because he knows he owes it to the fans, more than anything, whove come out and supported him through all those years. But thats really the only reason hes doing it. He doesnt want any of the accolades, he doesnt want to sit there in a chair and listen to us talk about him. Hes dreading it. I even had to convince him, you know, Theyre going to have quite a few people in, so I thought, you know afterwards, well go get a bite or a Coke or a glass of wine or a beer or something and add a little food. [Duncan said,] Nah, Im not sure I want to do that. So I said: Timmy, wait a minute. All of these people are going to come from everywhere and theyre going to pay for flights and hotel rooms and youre going to shake their hand and say take care, Im going home? He said, I guess I cant do that, can I? I said, No, you cant do that. So well have a little get-together afterwards.Saad Yousuf of ESPN Radio in Dallas (103.3 FM) contributed to this report.? ' ' '