NBA Free Agency: Will The Warriors Land David Lee?

The Knicks have gone from being the odds-on favorites to land LeBron James last night (based on...a tweet from Jared Dudley and the fact that “The Decision” will air from Greenwich, Connecticut) to suddenly looking like also-rans, with rumors that James will sign with Miami to create a power triumvirate along with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. So where does that leave the Knicks? According to the Oakland Tribune, if the Knicks fail to land James, the team will likely pursue a sign-and-trade with the Warriors, sending David Lee to Golden State in return for Anthony Randolph, and possibly Kelenna Azuibuke and/or Vladimir Radmanovic’s expiring contract.

The Nets and Timberwolves reportedly remain in play for Lee (Minnesota would have to pull off a sign-and-trade as well), but this reported package from Golden State might be the best value New York could get for the soon-to-be-departed Lee. Randolph possesses a tantalizing package of impossible skills in his long, wiry frame, and was quite inexplicably never really given a chance by Don Nelson despite the Warriors’ struggles last season after dominating the summer league last season and creating buzz as one of the top prospects in the game. Azuibuke is the type of three-point shooter who would thrive in Mike D’Antoni’s system (as we saw under Don Nelson, to be sure), and even Radmanovic would give the Knicks decent value as a throw-in contract, given his own long-range accuracy.

Considering the fact that the Hawks just gave Joe Johnson a huge contract, I think it’s pretty safe to say the time for them to win is right now. That’s about the only explanation I can come up with for the news that they’re pursuing Shaquille O’Neal.

Tim Potvak of Fanhouse is reporting that Shaq is weighing a two-year contract offer from the Hawks for the full mid-level exception. Yup, that’s right.

Former Knicks point guard Chris Duhon has agreed to a four-year, $15 million contract with the Orlando Magic, according to ESPN’s Chad Ford. For more on the signing, check out this StoryStream.

For a while there, it seemed like Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets were miles apart on a contract negotiation. said of a potential contract extension. A month ago, Melo said “We’ll go to the table and see what’s the best situation for me.” Well I guess they found it. Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post reports that a league source believes Carmelo Anthony is serious about signing the extension the Nuggets have offered.

Of course, Melo wants something else besides money. He wants help.

For more, visit the StoryStream here, and our Knicks blog, Posting and Toasting.

After scheming for the past two years in preparation for the summer of 2010, the Knicks entered this summer with grandiose objectives. Visions of LeBron James adorning billboards throughout New York City, with the league’s most famous young players playing in the world’s most famous arena. Overnight, LeBron would transform the team into contenders and return them to relevance. This was the Master Plan.

Annnnd... That’s probably not going to happen.

(Note: it was originally reported here that Dwyane Wade’s second meeting with the Bulls took place on Saturday, when in fact it took place on Friday. This post has since been corrected.)

On Friday, we noted that Dwyane Wade seemed interested in signing with the Chicago Bulls. After a second meeting, he didn’t seem as enthused. From NESN:

The craziest free agency season in the history of the NBA is getting crazier by the day. Today, Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski cites a source who says that free agent Dwyane Wade, who has spent his entire career with the Miami Heat, is giving serious thought to signing with the Chicago Bulls.

Wade and LeBron seem interested in playing on the same team. The Bulls can present a strong case for LeBron to make the move to Chicago, and it’s reasonable to assume that Wade is at least intrigued by the prospect of playing in his hometown.

How are Arizona natives feeling about Amar’e Stoudemire moving on from the Suns? SB Nation Arizona’s Seth Pollack writes that the Suns’ offer was quite fair.

Pollack closes by saying this:

It took a while for Dirk Nowitzki’s agent and Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson to touch base for a meeting, raising some eyebrows about whether Dirk would shock everyone and leave the team. But eventually, the two sides did meet, and according to Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas, it appears a contract offer came out of that meeting.

Nowitzki himself was not at the meeting, but the Mavericks are hopeful he’ll accept quickly so they can turn their attention to finding Dirk’s running mate in a sign and trade.

The Amar’e Stoudemire sweepstakes are underway, and the first team to make headway appears to be the New York Knicks. According to Marc Spears and Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks have offered Stoudemire a five-year maximum contract.

The contract is expected to be worth around $100 million for the five years. The Suns offered Stoudemire $96 million for five years, but only the first three years were fully guaranteed, so Stoudemire rejected it.

In a move that perhaps augurs the departure of Amar’e Stoudemire from Phoenix, the Suns have signed former Bull Hakim Warrick to a four year, $18 million deal, according to .

The soon-to-be 28-year old Warrick is a solid if unspectacular option for the Suns (PER of 15.6, 16.9 and 16.2 the past three seasons), as an athletic four-man with a bit of range to his offensive game. But the big story is that Warrick’s signing is likely an indication the Suns have resigned themselves to losing Amar’e Stoudemire. Indeed, Stoudemire reportedly turned down the Suns’ final offer, which was a max deal -- albeit, with only three of the five years guaranteed, per Yahoo! Sports (the final two seasons would have been guaranteed if Stoudemire reached certain minutes played incentives). Stoudemire reportedly expects to receive a fully guaranteed max offer from the Knicks.

We already knew it was unlikely Amare Stoudemire would return to the Suns. Now, we can pretty much lock it up. According to Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, Stoudemire turned down Phoenix’s final offer - a five-year, $96 million contract extension.

For more, visit SB Nation Arizona.

Of all the mid-tier free agents that have yet to sign, Washington’s Mike Miller is probably the one generating the most interest. He’s reportedly talked to the Knicks and Heat, among many other teams, and remains in contention to be re-signed by the Wizards.

The team that wants him the most, however, appears to be the Los Angeles Lakers. Via ESPN Los Angeles’ Dave McMenamin:

The Celtics have re-signed Paul Pierce to a four-year, $61 million contract, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.

For more on this, check out SB Nation Boston’s StoryStream here.

Amare Stoudemire and his agent Happy Walters (go ahead, chuckle at his name) have had numerous meetings with the Suns to try to work out a contract extension over the past year or so. They’ve rekindled talks when they seemed dead and have tried everything to work something out.

But now, it appears that they’ve finally reached an impasse they cannot solve. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports that the two sides are very far apart, and it’s unlikely Stoudemire will return to the team.

If Drew Gooden can get $32 million over five years and Amir Johnson can get $34 million over that same time, surely Channing Frye was worthy of getting at least in the $30M range. Phoenix’s initial offer of $25M came up a little short but their counter-offer hit the mark. According to Yahoo! Sports, Frye and the Suns have agreed to a five-year, $30 million contract.

Bright Side of the Sun is elated as they’ve thought Frye deserved the max contract to begin with. Now, about this Amare business…that’s another story.

Some would say Amir Johnson has recently become one of the NBA’s best kept secrets. Well the secret’s out and the Raptors don’t want anyone else getting in on their good thing. Toronto locked Johnson up with a five-year, $34 million contract Thursday.

That sounds like a lot of money for a guy who scores six points a game but, given what we’ve seen dolled out so far, it’s par for the course really. That said, RaptorsHQ is glad to see Amir back in a Toronto uniform but has to wonder if $7M/year is just a little too much.

Channing Frye apparently wants Drew Gooden money. And honestly, who can blame him. After the peripatetic Gooden somehow landed a $32 million, five year deal from the Bucks, John Gambadoro of 620 KTAR reports Frye has turned down a $25 million, five year offer from the Suns, and wants the team’s full mid-level exception, which would come out to roughly equivalent to what Gooden received: $32-34 million over five seasons.

The 26-year old Frye averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Suns last season (and for the more APBR-inclined of you, a 15 PER), in addition to connecting on nearly 44% of his three-point attempts, as a key reserve for the surprising Suns. Considering the relative dearth of “stretch fours” -- at least affordable ones -- the full mid-level for a 6-foot-11 sharpshooter of Frye’s caliber seems fairly reasonable. indeed, SB Nation’s Bright Side of the Sun has issued a constant refrain of “Pay Frye” throughout Thursday, after lesser players like Gooden and Darko Milicic have set the market at absurd early levels.

According to David Aldridge, Marc Stein and Adrian Wojnarowski, the Memphis Grizzlies will re-sign Rudy Gay to a five-year, $81.6 million contract, the maximum he can receive under the current collective bargaining agreement.

For more on this, check out our StoryStream here.

Another minute, another long-term contract offer for a role player on the first day of free agency. Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting the Suns have offered Channing Frye a five-year, $25 million contract.

My god, what is with all the five-year mid-level contracts? I thought we all learned how badly these often end up.

The Milwaukee Bucks appear to be close to re-signing John Salmons to a five-year, $39 million contract, according to NBA.com’s David Aldridge.

For more on Salmons, check out our StoryStream here.

So what is Nowitzki doing in New York? Cue the baseless speculation! Meeting with low-level officials from the Nets and Knicks (who sent contingents of their owner/coaches/former players to woo LeBron in Cleveland)? Or a secret rendezvous with Bulls officials? Or how about having dinner with Jason Kidd. Indeed, according to a report passed along by ESPN Dallas’ Tim McMahon, Nowitzki will idle away some of time in the Big Apple over a meal with his (former?) teammate.

The Mavs, for their part, are continuing to put a brave face on the situation, claiming that there’s nothing to see here, just move along folks. Mavs GM Donnie Nelson told DallasBasketball.com

It’s not official official until July 8, but Chad Ford is reporting the Timberwolves have re-signed Darko Milicic to a staggering four-year, $20 million contract.

For more on the signing, check out our StoryStream here.

Kevin Durant is not a free agent this year (if he was, holy hell), but he could be a free agent next year if he does not sign a contract extension. Obviously, the Thunder do not want that to happen, because we’re talking about Kevin Durant.

So while everyone else was wooing other teams’ free agents at 12:01 last night, the Thunder were at Durant’s house to talk about a new contract, according to Sam Amick of Fanhouse.