Knicks: A number of team executives say the Knicks have been the most active team during the first five days of the free-agency period.

Team president Isiah Thomas is trying everything to remake the team's roster. That includes, according to multiple team executives, offering Stephon Marbury to the highest bidder. The problem is that no one seems interested in the four years, $76 million left on his contract.

Thomas is willing to trade Marbury to the Sixers for Samuel Dalembert (in a sign-and-trade), according to two league sources. To get a deal to work under the CBA, the deal would have to be expanded because of base-year issues with Dalembert. A trade of Marbury and Tim Thomas for Dalembert, Jamal Mashburn, Aaron McKie and Kevin Ollie works under the cap.

The Knicks' plan would be to move Jamal Crawford to the point, with Quentin Richardson at the two. Channing Frye would play the four, with Dalembert at the five.

Would the Sixers make that trade? They would have the most dynamic (or is that combustible?) backcourt in the league (Marbury and Allen Iverson) and would get to dump two bad contracts. But losing Dalembert at center, with only Marc Jackson left to roam the middle, would be a high price to pay.

If they can't convince the Sixers to deal, the Knicks might be willing to do a smaller deal that sends Marbury to the Hawks for Al Harrington, Tony Delk and Jason Collier. If the Hawks really want veterans (see below), this could be the way to go.

Thomas also has set his sights on several other top free agents. Thomas has been wooing Kwame Brown, Antoine Walker and Stromile Swift but has only enough cash (with the mid-level exception) to bring one guy -- unless, that is, he can work out a sign-and-trade for one and use his mid-level on another. The goal, sources say, is to sign Walker with the mid-level and work out a sign-and-trade with Washington that ships Sweetney back to D.C., where he played his college ball at Georgetown.

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Redd, Jasikevicius, Ilkausgas joining LeBron?By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
Archive

The free-agent frenzy slowed down over the holiday weekend as NBA executives hunkered down for what appears to be an extended period of negotiations and trade talk.

League sources say that progress on working out the specifics of the new collective bargaining agreement is going slower than expected, and several NBA executives believe the league may extend the player-signing moratorium beyond the July 22 date already set by the league.

The good news is that this gives teams lots of time to formulate and reformulate their free-agent strategies. From the look of things, some teams need more time than the NBA can give them.

The bad news is that the moratorium leaves a number of teams in limbo. Remember, restricted free agents must wait an additional seven days if they sign an offer sheet with another team. That means many teams won't be able to settle their rosters until August.

In the meantime, every agent in the league is sitting back a little and waiting to see what Michael Redd does. Now that Ray Allen has agreed to return to Seattle, Redd is the other big domino that needs to fall (and set the market) before the rest of the free-agent class starts seeing their final offers.

Here's what we're hearing coming out of the holiday break:

Cavs: It's becoming clearer what new GM Danny Ferry's strategy is: He'd like to lure Michael Redd away from Milwaukee, bring in Lithuanian point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius from overseas, re-sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas and find a way to swap Drew Gooden for a more blue-collar, defense-oriented power forward.

It's not a bad plan, and it's one, if completed, that should propel the Cavs into the playoffs.

To make it happen, first Ferry has to convince Redd to agree to the home-state discount (Redd is from Ohio). That would mean Redd would lose a year of guaranteed money -- roughly $20 million, depending on what happens with the new cap figures.

It's a long shot. However, Redd hasn't agreed to the Bucks' huge max offer yet and is planning to visit Cleveland this week -- encouraging signs for the Cavs.

On most teams (including the Bucks), Redd isn't worth a max contract offer. He's a fantastic shooter, but what else does he do? He's not really a go-to guy, he isn't a great defender and he doesn't rebound or handle the ball well. However, paired next to LeBron and Ilgauskas, he might be worth the cash. The Cavs desperately need a shooter, and Redd's stroke could be deadly in Cleveland with LeBron and Ilgauskas commanding double teams.

Could is the operative word here. Joe Johnson was the team's first choice, but the Cavs believe the Suns will match any offer to him. Johnson was actually a better shooter last year, is three inches taller than Redd, can play the point and is a better defender -- and is two years younger, to boot. Before Ray Allen agreed to re-sign with Seattle, he was the Cavs' backup plan -- as a more versatile and experienced, but much older, choice. Hughes is also an option (and statistically the best of the top four guards), though everyone believes he'll re-sign with Washington.

Jasikevicius is next on the to-do list for the Cavs. He's also being wooed strongly by the Pacers and Celtics and wants to make a decision soon. The Cavs appeal to him because they're one of the few teams in the league that have starting jobs available. The asking price is high (he'd like the full $5 million mid-level exception), but he might be worth it. If the Cavs want championship experience in their point guard, Jasikevicius has it. He's won three straight Euroleague titles, leading two different squads. However, if the Cavs want a point guard who plays defense, they'd better start looking elsewhere. If Ferry can't sign Jasikevicius, look for the Cavs to switch gears and make a strong push for Antonio Daniels and Marko Jaric.

Ilgauskas is demanding more cash than the Cavs are willing to offer and appears to have a legitimate suitor in the Hawks. However, the Cavs believe his agent, Herb Rudoy, is bluffing when he claims that Ilgauskas really wants to play elsewhere. They've already added one fellow Lithuanian to the roster (draft pick Martynas Andriuskevicius) and are in the process of potentially adding another. Ilgauskas loves Cleveland and knows the Cavs are in position to offer him a big deal.

If the Cavs land Redd and Jasikevicius, they'll be left with roughly $9 to $11 million to offer Ilgauskas as a starting salary (again, depending on where the new salary cap comes in).

If Ilgauskas can't live with that, the Cavs might be better off going young and trying to lure Tyson Chandler, Samuel Dalembert or LeBron's favorite, Eddy Curry, to Cleveland.

If they can add a big, athletic, shot-blocking rebounder like Chandler or Dalembert to the mix, they could either keep Gooden or swap him for a more stable low-post scorer. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Al Harrington, Mike Sweetney and Chris Wilcox are all available via trade or sign-and-trade.

If they keep Ilgauskas or grab a guy like Curry, the Cavs will look for a bruising, rebounding power forward who can defend and do the dirty work in the paint that Ilgauskas and Gooden don't provide. Reggie Evans, Udonis Haslem, P.J. Brown or even, yes, Carlos Boozer could be available via trade or sign-and-trade.

Knicks: A number of team executives say the Knicks have been the most active team during the first five days of the free-agency period.

Team president Isiah Thomas is trying everything to remake the team's roster. That includes, according to multiple team executives, offering Stephon Marbury to the highest bidder. The problem is that no one seems interested in the four years, $76 million left on his contract.

Thomas is willing to trade Marbury to the Sixers for Samuel Dalembert (in a sign-and-trade), according to two league sources. To get a deal to work under the CBA, the deal would have to be expanded because of base-year issues with Dalembert. A trade of Marbury and Tim Thomas for Dalembert, Jamal Mashburn, Aaron McKie and Kevin Ollie works under the cap.

The Knicks' plan would be to move Jamal Crawford to the point, with Quentin Richardson at the two. Channing Frye would play the four, with Dalembert at the five.

Would the Sixers make that trade? They would have the most dynamic (or is that combustible?) backcourt in the league (Marbury and Allen Iverson) and would get to dump two bad contracts. But losing Dalembert at center, with only Marc Jackson left to roam the middle, would be a high price to pay.

If they can't convince the Sixers to deal, the Knicks might be willing to do a smaller deal that sends Marbury to the Hawks for Al Harrington, Tony Delk and Jason Collier. If the Hawks really want veterans (see below), this could be the way to go.

Thomas also has set his sights on several other top free agents. Thomas has been wooing Kwame Brown, Antoine Walker and Stromile Swift but has only enough cash (with the mid-level exception) to bring one guy -- unless, that is, he can work out a sign-and-trade for one and use his mid-level on another. The goal, sources say, is to sign Walker with the mid-level and work out a sign-and-trade with Washington that ships Sweetney back to D.C., where he played his college ball at Georgetown.

Hawks: So you're Atlanta GM Billy Knight, you have $24 million in cap room and you have a roster filled with young swingmen like Marvin Williams, Al Harrington, Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Boris Diaw.

In a best-case scenario, you get Childress to play the two, Smith to play the three, Williams to play the four and then use Harrington and Diaw as trade bait to help lure a center and point guard via a sign-and-trade.

Given the makeup of your team, you're looking for a young point guard who can push the ball up the floor and provide some leadership and a young big man who can run the floor, block shots, rebound and provide an anchor on the defensive end.

Instead, Knight decided that the way to go is to woo Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Ray Allen with the cap room. Never mind that neither Ilgauskas nor Allen really fits what the team needs -- and that Allen immediately spurned the Hawks' overtures to return to Seattle.

Ilgauskas may be the best offensive center on the market, but he's old, lumbering, has a history of feet problems and doesn't play defense. Allen, likewise, was hardly the best long-term solution for Atlanta.

That's just part of the problem. Players like Ilgauskas and Allen have about the same level of interest in playing in Atlanta that Kenyon Martin and Erick Dampier had last year. They needed a team to make a big offer to drive up their price on the market. Surely Knight has to see this, yet he's still tying up valuable time trying to make a run at them while alienating the free agents he actually has a chance to sign.

What happened to the Hawks' stance, all year, that they would make a run at a young big guy like Dalembert, Chandler or Curry? Or a younger two-guard like Joe Johnson?

According to sources, Knight has gotten cold feet on the young guys because they're restricted free agents. Knight fears that the offers will be matched and the Hawks will go through yet another summer without a significant free-agent signing.

The fears are justified. The Sixers, Bulls and Suns are telling everyone they'll match any offer, and all three teams seem to have positioned themselves to do just that.

The question is, why does Knight care? He has nothing to lose. He has enough cap room to make two max offers. He has valuable trade assets he could offer to teams for sign-and-trades. By making a run at a young guy he likes, he locks up his cap room for seven days. If the team matches, he loses. But if he doesn't make a solid offer in the first place, he loses anyway.

Rockets: They also have been wooing Walker, hoping that Boston would be willing to take a player or two in the last year of their deals to facilitate a sign-and-trade. The Rockets have a number of tradable assets in the last year of their contracts, including David Wesley, Clarence Weatherspoon, Moochie Norris and Vin Baker. Stromile Swift and Bobby Simmons also have been targets.

Nuggets: We're still scratching our heads over Cuttino Mobley's decision to give up more than $6 million in guaranteed money to opt out of his contract with the Kings. However, it sounds like he's found a suitor in the Nuggets willing to spend their full mid-level for his shooting abilities. Denver is also taking a hard look at Jaric.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

Thanks for posting this

The Hawks deal is terrible! No please!!!!!!!! Now, the Sixers trade... Hmmm.... I like the fact that Isiah is really looking for a center.

And yeah, Marbs for Harrington and filler is garbage. As is Walker for the MLE. But damn, I'm liking Steph for Dalembert.

Tom, I think you are right in the fact that our Offense would hurt. With no go-to guy, that team could easily make the lottery for a couple of seasons...

Posted by BRIGGS:

it might be better for the team long term to dump Marbury, apparently that is the plan.

I would take Harrington and two of the four number 1 picks the Hawks have in the next two years or look for a three way where I can get rid of Harrington for picks.

How are the contracts of Harrington, Delk and Collier? They would definitely have to throw a lot of first round picks to get it done, and a prospect.

Well, its Chad, so it's not like this will really happen or it has any truth.. Althought, I remember reading an article where Isiah said that we were rebuilding now. That when he came here he traded for Marbury because he saw the guards as the best together considering H2O's great shooting. But after Houston went down, maybe so did his vision of Marbury on the team. Hmm...

wow, if that happened, having to face both marbs and Ivy on the same team 6 times a year is tough.... Craw and Q would have to change shoes every quarter.....

Posted by Bonn1997:

these trade rumors make me wonder if Marbury's knee is much worse than we realize.

I don't think thats the issue right now, but since we are rebuilding, Isiah may not want to deal with that issue later.

Why don't we try to get Dalembert with Craw and any other player?