According to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, former Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin has been given permission by FIBA -- the governing body of international basketball -- clearance to return to the NBA immediately and he could be signed by a team after the weekend. Wojnarowski reported that Martin, known as K-Mart, met with the Atlanta Hawks, one of the five teams interested, on Thursday.
The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers are supposedly the favorite teams to sign Martin, but he and his agent, Andy Miller, are going to decide where the best place for Martin to sign a contract by Monday.
For now, the plan is for Martin to travel to the team's city on Monday to take a physical, sign a contract and work out for perhaps a week before he's activated.
Martin signed with a team in China in the offseason and due to rules, players who do so are not usually able to sign with NBA teams until the final game of the season in China. However, since the Chinese Basketball Association was slow to respond to a request to allow Martin to return to the NBA immediately, FIBA stepped in and made the decision for them.
According to Nate Timmons from SB Nation's Denver Nuggets blog, Denver Stiffs, the Nuggets have no interest in re-signing Martin, but that Martin is "intrigued by the ample amount of playing time available" due to the injury to Al Horford.
Martin, who started with the New Jersey Nets in the 2000 season before signing with the Nuggets, has averaged 13.5 and 7.2 rebounds per game throughout his career.
For more on the Atlanta Hawks, check out Peachtree Hoops.