Offer

The Portland Trail Blazers offered Greg Oden , the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, an $8.8-million qualifying offer to remain with the team. The offer means the often-injured 7-foot center becomes a restricted free agent. The Blazers can match any other offer made for him. Oden, 23, did not play last season after microfracture surgery on his left knee. He sat out his rookie season in 2007-08 after microfracture surgery on his right knee. Two seasons ago he broke his left kneecap.

The Portland Trail Blazers weren't bluffing about Nicolas Batum after all. The Blazers matched Minnesota's four-year offer sheet worth more than $45 million for the restricted free agent, keeping the 23-year-old swingman in Portland just like GM Neil Olshey said they would all along. Olshey made the announcement on Wednesday in Las Vegas, where the Blazers were participating in the NBA's summer league. He said that some of the incentives in Minnesota's offer sheet, which would have pushed the deal past $50 million, were denied by the league.

Boston designated hitter David Ortiz and the New York Yankees' trio of Nick Swisher , Hiroki Kuroda and Rafael Soriano are among nine free agents who have received $13.3-million qualifying offers. Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton , Tampa Bay outfielder B.J. Upton , Atlanta outfielder Michael Bourne , Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche and St. Louis pitcher Kyle Lohse also got the offers Friday. Players have until Nov. 9 to accept the one-year contracts.

Struggling Best Buy Co. has agreed to give founder and former chairman Richard Schulze more time to make a takeover bid for the electronics chain. The agreement allows Schulze, the company's biggest shareholder, to wait until the end of the holiday season and fiscal year before making an offer. In a statement, Best Buy said the extension "is in the best interests of shareholders" and will give Schulze and potential partners more time for due diligence on the company. Shares of the company, which rose Thursday on news of an imminent buyout offer, fell $2.08, or 14.7%, to $12.04 in mid-session trading Friday.

Call it an offer Edward J. DeMarco didn't refuse. The federal overlord for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week gave the thumbs down to a Treasury program pushed by the Obama administration to reduce the mortgage debt of millions of distressed homeowners. The Treasury program would pay some incentives for reducing principal, but DeMarco said those benefits still didn't outweigh the costs. Economists and housing advocates have long pushed for more principal reduction, which is the writing down of loan balances for borrowers who are underwater.

The Knicks will "absolutely" match the Houston Rockets' four-year, $28.8-million offer sheet for Jeremy Lin, New York Knicks Coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday. Woodson said Lin was expected to play a key role in the team's future. "Jeremy Lin has always been a big part of what we're trying to do as we move forward with our franchise," Woodson told reporters in Las Vegas, where the Knicks are participating in summer league.  Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in 35 games last season before a knee injury prematurely ended his campaign.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., intensifying competition in the low-cost mobile service market, said Wednesday that it would begin selling prepaid cellphone service starting at $30 a month. The Straight Talk service, which will include an unlimited calling plan for $45, will be available for purchase at more than 3,200 Wal-Mart stores nationwide beginning Sunday. The $30 monthly plan includes 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts, 30 megabytes of mobile Web access, nationwide coverage and 411 calls at no extra charge.

Norwegian Cruise Line is offering to waive fares for children who sail with their parents on selected fall and winter cruises to Alaska, the Bahamas, New England, the Caribbean, Hawaii and other destinations. And aboard the Jewel and the Epic, you can sail with SpongeBob and Dora the Explorer too. (Well, actually, their characters and themed events.) The deal: Two children age 17 or under can sail free when they share a cabin with two paying adults. It's that simple.

Allen Iverson wants to play in the NBA again -- but not the NBA Development League. The former league MVP and 11-time All-Star took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce that he will not be accepting an offer to play for the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks' D-League affiliate, and to explain that decision. "I thank Donnie [Nelson, the Mavericks' president of basketball operations and co-owner of the Legends] and Dallas for the consideration and while I think the D-League is a great opportunity, it is not the route for me," wrote Iverson, who has not played in the NBA since the 2009-10 season.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine said Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.'s $265-million all-cash takeover offer was superior to a stock-and-cash bid from Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. Peet's proposal to buy Diedrich reverted to the Nov. 2 offer of $26 a share, or about $213 million, after an improved bid of $30.35 a share, or about $251 million, expired Wednesday. Green Mountain, of Waterbury, Vt., raised its bid to $32 a share Tuesday, from $30. The companies are vying for Diedrich's K-Cup business, which makes single-serving coffee pods used in Green Mountain's Keurig brewing equipment.