"In a surprising turn of events, the governing body of international basketball – FIBA – has granted free agent Kenyon Martin his letter of clearance to immediately return to the NBA, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Martin has visited with several teams interested in signing him, including Atlanta on Thursday, and will huddle with agent Andy Miller in New York over the weekend to reach a decision. The Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat are leaders for Martin, but the Hawks, Lakers, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs remain in pursuit of him.

New York has faded from contention in recent weeks, sources said, because of more pressing guard needs."