[h1]
Knicks Aren't Concerned About Cap Room Created By Bulls, Heat[/h1]Jun 25, 2010 6:57 AM EST
Both the Bulls and Heat used trades to create additional cap room on Thursday night, but the Knicks aren't worried about the advances of their competition in the free agent market.
"The situation in Miami is a little different than us. To analyze it and say, 'Well, now they've got a lot more cap room,' yeah, they do. But if they're wanting to sign some of their own players, then that would lessen it," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said, pointing out that he believes Miami cleared the additional room in order to retain free agent Udonis Haslem.
"As far as Chicago, they've got more cap money than they had. There's no doubt about that."
The Bulls, Heat and Knicks now all have the cap room to sign two max-level free agents.
Walsh added that he expects the process to take time and that players aren't going to immediately make a decision on July 1.
"I'm going to make an assumption that nobody's playing around out there, the players or us. If they're going to meet with you and you're going to meet with them, then you're serious -- and that's how I'm going to treat it. I'm not going to say one guy's more important than the other, but you can probably only do one guy a day," Walsh said.
[h1]
Yahoo! Report: LeBron, His Advisors Creating NBA Chaos[/h1]
Jun 25, 2010 7:58 AM EST
In a revealing, scathing look at the events leading up to the so-called Summer of LeBron, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports details the chaos that members of James' inner circle are sowing over the NBA landscape.
Wojnarowski writes that the turmoil surrounding James' impending free agency is "the most fascinating free-for-all this sport's ever witnessed" and "the biggest farce the NBA's ever endorsed and enabled."
As the Bulls and Heat continue dumping salary, each team seems to be dancing to the tune of William Wesley, a close advisor to James. Wesley is telling people that James will leave Cleveland for Chicago and bring Chris Bosh with him.
"He's up out of there," Wesley said about Cleveland.
"We're going to Chicago and Chris Bosh is coming too," said Wesley.
The Bulls believe Wesley's statements and are preparing to bring James and Bosh into the fold.
"Bosh is attaching himself more to LeBron than LeBron is to him," said one official.
Nets' owner Mikhail Prokhorov plans to fly to Akron to meet with James as early as July 1. Prokhorov has not yet signed a new contract with Rod Thorn, whom Wojnarowski praises for his shrewd negotiating skill.
He writes that Thorn "turned insufferable Minnesota GM David Kahn into a basket case over the Nets threatening to draft Wesley Johnson."
As for the Knicks planning a day with James in Manhattan on July 1, an executive whose team is in the hunt said that James will be home that day.
"LeBron's taking appointments with teams in Ohio that day," the official told Wojnarowski.
In the meantime, it appears that the Cavaliers have little more than sentimentality left to keep James from bolting Cleveland.
Cavs' owner Dan Gilbert dismissed Mike Brown and Danny Ferry as he scrambles to keep Cleveland's ship afloat.
"The most unforgettable moment of the offseason," writes Wojnarowski, "had to be the Cavs' new GM, Chris Grant, standing there at his introductory news conference reading a list of scripted compliments about his owner that the organization laid out for him."
Wojnarowski believes Gilbert has contributed to an atmosphere in which James and his crew exert undue influence over NBA affairs.
"For so long, Gilbert enabled everything with LeBron – the bigger-than-life billboards, the full-time jobs and summer league roster spots for his buddies and the endless capitulations that contributed to his obsession with creating a culture of all him, all the time in the NBA."
[h1]
LeBron's Friend Wants No Part Of New York; Heat's Priority Is Bosh[/h1]
Jun 25, 2010 9:41 AM EST
A well-informed source told Newsday that Maverick Carter, a long-time friend of LeBron James, does not want James to wind up in New York with the Knicks.
The Knicks are reaching out to William Wesley but he reportedly does not have nearly the influence that Carter has over James.
An NBA source told Newsday that Chris Bosh is the Heat's first choice among free-agent power forwards.
Carlos Boozer is Miami's second choice and Ama're Stoudemire is third.
[h1]
Walsh Wanted To Preserve Cap Space[/h1]
Jun 25, 2010 10:51 AM EST
Donnie Walsh indicated that he did not want to take on a first-round pick because that would eat up salary cap room the Knicks plan to spend on free agents.
"I knew we didn’t have a first-round pick so we weren’t going to get any help in the draft, so to speak," Walsh said.
"You want to preserve the room. It’s been about trying to get in free-agent categories and do the best we can in there and get good players."
Walsh was, of course, paying attention to the competition.
"There’s a lot of teams out there creating more cap, so we wanted to make sure our position was unchanged as much as we could," he said.
Walsh believes the Knicks did well for the second round.
"I think we got guys that, for where we picked, were good picks," he said.
