A war of words between Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins and Dallas Mavericks guard O.J. Mayo reached a new low today. The NBA issued a one-game suspension to Cousins for striking Mayo “in the groin area” during the Kings’ 23-point loss to the Mavs on Monday night, according to a tweet Wednesday evening from Ian Begley of ESPN.

Cousins, who admitted earlier this month that he’s been “terrible” this season and doesn’t have “any confidence,” had been exchanging words with Mayo through the media throughout this week. Mayo had said that Cousins has “mental issues,” is “immature” and questioned his ability to become a franchise player for Sacramento. Cousins responded, saying to The Sacramento Bee that Mayo doesn’t have a great reputation and shouldn’t be making comments about being a franchise player since he isn’t one with the Mavericks and wasn’t one with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Cousins also said he didn’t hit Mayo on purpose:

“In slow motion, it looks like I did it on purpose. But you look in real speed, you see what happened. Of course it’s gonna get thrown out there that I did it on purpose.”

The suspension will take effect for tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Footage of the play that resulted in Cousins’ suspension can be seen below.

NBA suspends Demarcus Cousins one game without pay for striking O.J. Mayo "in the groin area."—
Ian Begley (@IanBegley) December 12, 2012

The Grizzlies will sign guard Jerryd Bayless, right, to help replace the production of O.J. Mayo, left. (Joe Murphy/Getty Images)

The Memphis Grizzlies have reached a deal with free agent guard Jerryd Bayless, reports ESPN’s Marc Stein.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports the contract is for two seasons.

Bayless can help replace the production of guard O.J. Mayo, who is expected to leave Memphis this offseason as a free agent. Bayless played the best season of his NBA career last year with the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 11.4 points and 3.8 assists per game.

Toronto decided to withdraw its qualifying offer to Bayless last week. The Raptors took Washington guard Terrence Ross with the No. 8 pick in the NBA Draft, and Bayless’ playing time likely would have dropped this year.

Now, Bayless will be asked to add some scoring punch to the Grizzlies’ bench. Mayo scored 12.6 points per game last season. If Bayless can continue to build on his production with Toronto, he could fit well with Memphis.

The Pacers have their eye on O.J. Mayo, but does the former lottery pick want to be a backup? (Andrew Bernstein/ Getty Images)

The Indiana Pacers are in the market for a backup for Paul George.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star reports the Pacers are interested in both Courtney Lee or O.J. Mayo to fill the role of backup shooting guard for the team.

Wells said the Pacers are “very, very interested” in Mayo and has been their top choice for years. But there may be a snag.

The Pacers have to decide how much they want to pay the former lottery pick and does Mayo mind continuing to come off the bench.

Lee averaged 11.4 points on 43 percent shooting for the Houston Rockets last season. Mayo didn’t start a single game for the Grizzlies last season but averaged 12.6. points per game last year.

George started all 66 games for the Pacers, averaging 12.1 points in the regular season before dipping below 10 points per playoff game in the postseason, where Indiana lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Memphis Grizzlies issued qualifying offers to two of their impending free agents, but they did not extend one to guard O.J. Mayo. That makes the sought-after Mayo an unrestricted free agent.

Ronald Tillery of Memphis’ Commerical Appeal writes that Mayo’s high qualifying threshold — $7.4 million — factored into the Grizzlies’ decision to let him go without compensation. The team is only $7.7 million from having to pay the luxury tax.

The Boston Celtics are frequently cited as having a great deal of interest in Mayo; the team nearly completed a deal for him (for Ray Allen) at this season’s trade deadline. Now they may be able to add Mayo to their roster without giving up anything in return.

The Boston Celtics are interested in trading for Memphis Grizzlies’ guard O.J. Mayo. (Steve Babineau/Getty Images)

The Boston Celtics are considering trying to trade for Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo and, though nothing is imminent, may be willing to include forward Brandon Bass in a sign-and-trade deal, reports CSNNE.com‘s A. Sherrod Blakely.

The Celtics nearly pulled off a trade for Mayo at the trade deadline in March. According to a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Boston coach Doc Rivers had actually called veteran guard Ray Allen to tell him he had been traded, only to have to call him back when the deal fell apart at the last minute.

It appears the Celtics are interested in making another run at Mayo. The team is at a turning point with Kevin Garnett and Allen – two of the team’s Big Three – both free agents. Some of the team’s top role players, including Bass, are also free agents.

Bass, a young, athletic forward, could be an attractive piece for Memphis. But he would need to sign off on any potential sign-and-trade deal. Blakely reports Bass will likely want a deal close to the four-year, $26-million contract signed by Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

Boston’s two first-round selections in Thursday’s draft, Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger and Syracuse’s Fab Melo, both provide the team with depth in the frontcourt. Those picks may make it easier for the team to move Bass for Mayo, a high-scoring combo guard.

The previously reported trade that would send O.J. Mayo to the Indiana Pacers for Josh McRoberts and Brandon Rush is “officially dead,” according to a tweet from the Commercial Appeal.

“Right now, we do not have any active effort going to trade O.J. Mayo,” Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley told the Commercial Appeal.

The Pacers have been attempting to acquire Mayo for some time now, however they have now failed several times. At the trade deadline last year, the Pacers set up a three-team deal with the New Orleans Hornets but the Hornets pulled out of the negotiations.

Mayo, 24, averaged just 11.3 points and 2.4 assists per game in limited playing time last season, marking career worsts in every major offensive category.