Thursday Insider

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There are no free agents. The draft is over. The luxury tax is looming. If you're a season ticket holder who doesn't live in Los Angeles, Sacramento or Dallas, things aren't looking too pretty.

Sure, some mid-level free agents like Jeff McInnis or Chauncey Billups will help. A little bit. But will they put you over the top? Unlikely.

Those lottery picks like Jared Jeffries, Amare Stoudemire and Dajuan Wagner may very well turn out to be stars, but this year? Forget about it.

That means middling teams that are hovering somewhere between the lottery and first-round playoff exit are struggling to find enough ammunition to make a major push this season.

Orlando might be better if Grant Hill is healthy and Stephen Hunter and Rashard Griffith turn out to be decent. The Heat will be better if Alonzo Mourning stays healthy, Rod Strickland stays off the corn dogs and Caron Butler lives up to the hype. New York will be better if Antonio McDyess returns to form and no one notices that Charlie Ward is running the show and Travis Knight is its tallest player.

That's a lot of ifs and we haven't even talked about the problems Minnesota, Indiana, Milwaukee, Philly and Portland will have just making baby steps toward the second round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, teams like the Warriors, Cavs, Bulls and Sonics are looking for that missing piece in their rebuilding effort.

With that said, here are five trades that we'd like to see happen sometime after July 17th, the first day teams can sign free agents and make trades. All of the trades have at least been discussed by the teams, but none of them are imminent.

1. Baron Davis, Jerome Moiso and Stacey Augmon to the Clippers for Jeff McInnis (via sign-and-trade), Keyon Dooling and Chris Wilcox.

Analysis: The Hornets have made it clear that they have no intention to trade Davis, but his refusal to sign an extension is the type of negative publicity the Hornets don't need as they descend upon New Orleans. He may be the team's best player, but with the addition of Courtney Alexander, it isn't imperative that the Hornets' point guard be a top scorer anymore. McInnis is a steady point guard who likes to push the ball and can be had for much cheaper. In 2000 his assist to turnover ratio was one of the best in the league. Dooling is still raw, but has great size and athleticism for a point guard. P.J. Brown has only one year remaining on his contract and Wilcox is the the type of dynamic, athletic power forward the team has always pined for. The Hornets may slip a notch this year if they make this trade, but in the long run, they'll have replenished their young talent base. For the Clippers, they add a dynamic All-Star point guard who desperately wants to play for them without having to give up any core players in return. It will be up to Donald Sterling to figure out how to pay for all of these guys, but the addition of Davis would absolutely push the Clippers into the playoffs.

Clipps projected starting lineup: Davis, Quentin Richardson, Lamar Odom, Elton Brand, Michael Olowokandi

Hornets projected starting lineup: McInnis, Alexander, Jamal Mashburn, Brown, Campbell

2. Wally Szczerbiak, Rasho Nesterovic (via sign-and-trade), Terrell Brandon and Anthony Peeler to the Blazers for Damon Stoudamire, Bonzi Wells (via sign-and-trade) and Dale Davis.

Analysis: This is a huge deal, but the Wolves have to do something desperate if they're ever going to get out of their first-round rut. Wally's max contract demands won't fly in Minnesota. His contract would throw them into luxury-tax land without improving the club. Nesterovic's demands are also spiraling out of control now that the Knicks are bidding for his services, and with Billups heading to Detroit, the Wolves are in desperate need of a reliable point guard. In return they'd get Stoudamire, who's overpaid, but is capable of running the team; Wells, a tough, athletic, high-octane two guard and Davis, who can swing between power forward and center. The key to the deal for the Blazers is actually Nesterovic. Since Arvydas Sabonis's retirement, they have been in desperate need of big man to block shots and rebound. Wally would give them a solid scorer who isn't afraid to take the last shot, or any other shot for that matter. Brandon is basically a throw in for cap purposes. If the Blazers pulled a trigger on the deal, they'd offer the full mid-level exception to Jeff McInnis to take over the day-to-day point guard duties. Both teams will take big cap hits to make this deal go down. The Blazers have never cared about that. The T-Wolves do, but they really don't have any other options. This deal is a beast cap wise. The T-Wolves would have to sign Szczerbiak to an extension now (his salary would them be averaged over the life of the extension for purposes of the trade), and the Wolves and Blazers can't give Nesterovic and Wells outrageous deals or both players will become base year compensation players, making them almost impossible to trade.

Blazers projected starting lineup: Brandon or McInnis, Derek Anderson, Szczerbiak, Rasheed Wallace, Nesterovic

Wolves projected starting lineup: Stoudemire, Wells, Garnett, Smith, Davis

3. Rashard Lewis (sign-and-trade) to the Bulls for Jamal Crawford and Marcus Fizer

Analysis: The Bulls desperately need a polished small forward to bind their high-octane backcourt to the big, athletic frontcourt. Lewis is a perfect fit. He's young, athletic, but also has a few years of experience under his belt. His outside shooting is something they've desperately searched for and he'll be great on the break. What would Lewis cost the Bulls? At a minimum, Fizer and Crawford. Fizer and Crawford are solid players in their own right, but they'll be terrible fits on the new look Bulls. Fizer still has upside, but has no future on the Bulls now that Chandler and Curry are running the show. The Bulls' attempt to turn him into a small forward was a joke. He could, however, give the Sonics that inside muscle they had hoped Vin Baker would bring. Crawford is always intriguing because of his height and ability to play the point. However, with Jay Williams, Jalen Rose and Trenton Hassell taking the majority of the backcourt minutes, Crawford won't get the time needs to develop. The Seattle native would be a great fit on the Sonics, however. With Gary Payton in the last year of his contract, Crawford could join a young nucleus of Fizer, Desmond Mason, Vladimir Radmanovic and Calvin Booth that would give the Sonics great cap flexibility and a solid base to build on for the future. The Bulls would have to renounce Charles Oakley and Travis Best to clear the cap room necessary to make this trade happen.

Sonics projected starting lineup: Payton, Brent Barry, Mason, Baker, Booth

Bulls projected starting lineup: Williams, Rose, Lewis, Chandler, Curry

4. Nick Van Exel to the Knicks for Kurt Thomas and Charlie Ward

Analysis: This trade has been discussed since before the draft. It looks like the Knicks will take care of their big man needs via free agency. They'd prefer to land Andre Miller and dump either Latrell Sprewell or Allan Houston, but they just don't have the juice to get it done. Van Exel was on his best behavior in Dallas last season, but he'll begin to rot if he doesn't get a bigger role with the team. The Mavs, on the other hand, are dying to get their hands back on Thomas. He's the type of no-nonsense dirty work player the team has been searching for.

Knicks projected starting lineup: Van Exel, Houston,Sprewell, Antonio McDyess, ???

Mavs projected starting lineup: Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki, Thomas, Raef LaFrentz

5. Kenny Anderson to the Pacers for Austin Croshere and Jamaal Tinsley

Analysis: This isn't a blockbuster trade for either team, but they've talked about it and it does make some sense. The Pacers like Tinsley, but are concerned about his outside shooting and immaturity. Anderson gives them a veteran backcourt leader and allows them to get Croshere off the books. With only one year remaining on his contract, he isn't a big risk. In the long run, the Pacers think they may have a keeper at point guard in last year's second-round pick, Jamison Brewer. For the Celtics, they knew that they were going to have to start their point guard search sooner or later and Tinsley has tremendous upside. Adding Croshere would allow them to let Rodney Rogers slip away and keep them out of the luxury tax. To make this deal work financially, the trade couldn't happen until August 1st, when Croshere loses his base-year status.

Pacers projected starting lineup: Anderson, Reggie Miller, Al Harrington, Jermaine O'neal, Brad Miller

Celtics projected starting lineup: Tinsley, Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, Croshere, Tony Battie

Clipps, Olowokandi still not talking

Eleven days into the free-agent negotiating period and Michael Olowokandi, along with the rest of us, are still waiting to see if Clippers owner Donald Sterling will open up his wallet and start paying for some of his young stars.

Olowokandi's agent, Bill Duffy, told Insider Wednesday that he has yet to have any substantive discussions with the Clippers about a contract for Olowokandi. Duffy said he has yet to meet with the Clippers though he has had several brief phone conversations with them. Duffy said the Clippers have yet to tell him what they are thinking in terms of compensating Olowokandi and thus refused to speculate on the likelihood of working out a deal. He said he hopes to sit down with GM Elgin Baylor sometime next week to start hammering out a contract.

Still, it's looking more and more likely that Olowokandi, who's a restricted free agent, may just take the Clippers' one-year, $6 million tender and then become an unrestricted free agent next summer, when as many as eight teams would have the cap room to sign him.

If Olowokandi's negotiations with the Clippers go south, expect more trouble to quickly surface in the contract extension negotiations with Elton Brand. Brand's agent, David Falk, has told the Clippers that his client may not sign an extension if he doesn't see some evidence that the Clippers will pay to keep this team intact.

McHale says he won't trade Rasho

Scott Layden's sign-and-trade plan to land restricted free agent Rasho Nesterovic hit a major bump in the road Wednesday when Wolves GM Kevin McHale told Nesterovic's agent, Bill Duffy, that he won't trade Rasho.

Instead, McHale said Wednesday the two sides have discussed signing a long-term deal with the Wolves, but nothing is imminent.

"I think we're better off waiting for the smoke to clear and then going from there," McHale told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Duffy said he isn't trying to force the T-Wolves' hand. "I wanted to convey to Kevin that [a trade] is something that Rasho's interested in," Duffy said. "I didn't say you have to do this or you have to do that. We're looking at every option. The Wolves have been very good to Rasho. We just want to make sure we find something that's acceptable to both sides."

Still, as of Wednesday night, very little was resolved. The problem, Insider has learned, is that the Knicks are willing to offer Nesterovic a considerable sum above the mid-level exception if the Wolves will agree to a sign-and-trade. A league source told Insider that the Knicks are willing to give Nesterovic a multi-year deal starting at around $7 million per season.

That may be too much for McHale's blood. Owner Glen Taylor is putting pressure on management to get the team turned around, but he's also been adamant, up to this point, about his refusal to pay the luxury tax. With Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak looking for big contract extensions this summer, Nesterovic's demands may be too rich for the Wolves' blood.

Wolves' Nesterovic asks for trade to Knicks; McHale says no

Chip Scoggins / Minneapolis Star Tribune

McHale Hounds Knicks

Frank Isola / New York Daily News

Chaney's Big On Nesterovic...

Marc Berman / New York Post

Lakers looking at backup plan

The Lakers are still desperately trying to convince Devean George to stay in L.A. But with George being seriously wooed by the Timberwolves, Wizards, Heat, Nuggets and 76ers, it's looking less likely that he'll return.

What's their backup plan? Two league sources told Insider Wednesday that they're talking with Mavs free agent Greg Buckner. Buckner, a defensive stopper who can play both shooting guard and small forward, was a key part of the Mavs rotation last season.

GM Mitch Kupchek is said to be in love with the type of instant defense and toughness he'd bring to the team. Buckner would also be a much cheaper option than George at this point.

The Lakers, however, aren't the only team interested. The Sixers have shown interest in Buckner since day one and are still talking daily with Buckner's agent, Steve Kauffman, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Buckner's agent hopeful of deal

Phil Jasner / Philadelphia Daily News

Summer League Update

In L.A., Rockets forward Eddie Griffin had 23 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 82-81 victory over the Grizzlies. Drew Gooden had the best game of his NBA summer career, scoring 27 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

In game two, Jaren Jackson led five Mavericks in double figures as Dallas defeated theClippers, 105-91. Jackson led all scorers with 21. John Celestand (20) and Lynn Greer (19) also had big games for Dallas. Quentin Richardson led the Clippers with 18 points and Zendon Hamilton chipped in 18 rebounds.

In the late game Kareem Rush and Kei Madison helped the Lakers beat the Warriors, 106-93. Rush scored 20 points and grabbed four rebounds and the undrafted Madison had 20 points and nine boards. Jannero Pargo added 17 points and three assists for the Lakers. Gilbert Arenas led the way for the Warriors with 25 points and six assists. ZhiZhi Wang and Jason Richardson chipped in 13 points a piece. Mike Dunleavy Jr., in his NBA debut, had a terrible outing, shooting just 3-for-14 from the field.

In Orlando, Luke Recker scored 15 points, including eight in the final quarter, as Miami came from behind and edged Indiana, 72-71, at the 2002 Orlando Professional Summer League. The Heat improved to 2-0, while the Pacers dropped to 0-2. Charlie Bell netted a game-high-tying 15 points for the Pacers, while Primoz Brezec and Fred Jones each had 13 points.

Mehmet Okur led the Pistons to a 69-67 win over the Bucks Okur led the way for the Pistons with 18 points and six boards, while Rodney White added 16. Ronald Murray paced the Bucks with 16 points and Marcus Goree chipped in with 14. Dan Gadzuric added 10 rebounds for the Bucks.

Orlando improved to 2-0 with an 84-77 victory over New Orleans at the RDV Sportsplex. William "Smush" Parker paced the Magic with 17 points and five assists, while Jeryl Sasser tallied 11 points and six boards. The Hornets, who dropped to 0-2, were led by Kirk Haston, who poured in a game-high 20 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Stephen Hunter continued to struggle for the Magic, scoring just three points and grabbing four boards.

Check out Insider's Pro Summer League and Orlando Summer Pro League pages for rosters, leaders and box scores.

Orlando Pro Summer League recaps

staff / Magic.com

Hornets Haston aggressive at summer camp

John Reid / New Orleans Times-Picayune

Mavericks topple Clippers, 105-91

staff / Dallas Morning News

Gonzalez shows defense in Heat debut

Ira Winderman / South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Peep Show

Warriors: Will Gilbert Arenas be the team's starting point guard again next season? He thinks so. "I'm approaching every practice like I'm the point guard and I'm going to approach every game like I'm the point guard until they take the ball out of my hands," Arenas told the San Francisco Chronicle. The Warriors remain high on Arenas. Plus, they say, rookie small forward Mike Dunleavy, a skilled ball handler, can help ease Arenas' responsibilities by initiating the offense at times. "We're seeing a lot of guys like Gilbert come into the league who have grown up having to score -- more than being focused on getting everyone else involved -- for their teams to be successful," assistant general manager Gary Fitzsimmons said. "That doesn't mean that when these guys get into the NBA they can't learn to be more of a point guard, but it does take some experience and some demands that they have not been accustomed to having."

Nuggets: Nikoloz Tskitishvili agreed to a buyout Wednesday with his former team, Benetton Treviso of Italy, the Denver Post reported. Agent Marc Fleisher and the Nuggets hope the 19 year old will be signed within the next three to four days, allowing him to play on Denver's summer league team at the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City.

Hornets: Is Jerome Moiso an official bust yet? This season will be Moiso's last if he doesn't improve. "I think some people have had an image of me that supposedly I was lazy, didn't work hard enough and being soft," Moiso told the New Orleans Times Picayune. "It's a long road, and you can't change some people's minds. It's taken a longer time to develop. This is my third team in two years, and that hurts. I didn't get a chance to get on the floor with the Celtics or the 76ers. But you have to live with it." Bob Bass, the Hornets' vice president of basketball operations, said the front office's primary focus this week is to see how much progress Moiso and Kirk Haston, another first-round pick, can make. "He gets after it and plays hard," Bass said. "But we want him to get more aggressive."

Nets, Warriors: Golden State has asked for and received permission from the Nets to talk to Eddie Jordan, the New York Daily News reported. Jordan could meet with the Warriors perhaps as early as today or sometime this weekend. The Nets assistant coach has already interviewed in Denver for the Nuggets' vacant coaching position and is a strong candidate for the job there.

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[Hawksfreak]

The hawks should look at J. James, and Michael Redd because these two guys would make our bench the best in the league. We already have a great bench but Redd can put in a lot of minutes and james with his defesive skills could give Theo a lot of breathers.

[DJ_Money]

1. New Orleans is dumb if they trade Baron to the Clips and don't get Odom in return. Nobody knows what's going on with Mash. Drop McInnis, get Odom.

2. Wow, Minnesota might finally get out of the 1st Round. Stoudamire/Wells/KG/Smith/DD would be a very solid lineup. I can understand Portland wanting a true center like Rasho, but I can't understand any team wanting to give Wally the max. But, I guess that's why they're Portland...

3. If I were the Sonics, I'd do whatever I could to keep Lewis. But, if it's obvious that he wants to be in Chicago, I can understand the trade. Crawford could play alongside GP or come off the bench behind him and be his sucessor if Seattle doesn't resign Gary. Fizer is a big body that will show up to play, unlike Baker.

4. Ok, New York gets their PG. But, they get even smaller inside. Unless they get a big man (Rasho?) this trade won't matter. Van Exel is still a good PG, as long as he is happy. Dallas gets Thomas, a nice change of pace from Dirk.

5. I can't understand why Indy would want to trade Tinsley to make room for Brewer. This is a trade only to get rid of Croshere and clear up some cap room, as they'll only have Anderson for one season. Boston takes on his salary, but may have found their future PG. Tinsley, Pierce, and Walker wouldn't be too bad to have around for the next 10 years. Maybe the change of scenery will wake Croshere up, as well. He could be a valuable player off the bench, he plays alot like Rogers.

Whee...

[Hawksfreak]

We have enough talent and don't need to be stacked because of money.