"With a 3-year-old and a newborn, Shane Battier doesn't have much time to work on his golf swing.

If the NBA lockout lasts into the winter as expected, he will have more free time than usual. But he'd rather not have it.

Battier, a free agent whom the Rockets traded to Memphis in February, knows his time in the NBA is limited. The impact of missed games next season isn't going to be diminished by a long-term contact offer.

"The end of my career is closer than the start of my career," said Battier, who just finished his 10th season in the league.

Though a natural for the broadcasting booth, Battier isn't in a hurry to get there.

"I can see myself playing for three or four more years, then moving on to the next phase," he said.

Battier expects to draw interest from contenders, which is one of the reasons the Rockets elected to trade him. Don't be surprised if the next time the Michigan native takes the court he is spotting up outside the 3-point line for the Chicago Bulls or taking charges for the Miami Heat.

One thing is certain: He won't be with the Houston Rockets.

Battier was disappointed, bothered really, that the Rockets traded him at midseason. With as much as he had put into the organization, he left thinking the job wasn't done.

"I was disappointed that I couldn't see to the finish what I started out," he said. "It would have been nice to go through one more stretch run with those guys. If it didn't work out, I would have been happy with time I put in over the five years."

Even the postseason fun he had with the Memphis Grizzlies, who beat San Antonio in the first round of the playoffs and took Oklahoma City to seven games in the Western Conference semifinals, didn't close the wound."