Tuesday Insider (sorry Dolfan)

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Don't want to offend Dolfan, he may have had more work than I did today...so here it is...

Trade fallout: What's next for the Clipps, Cavs?

by Chad Ford

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Also Below: Knicks get their man (kind of) | Keon running out of Magic | What's Rashard Lewis thinking? | Peep Show

Updated NBA Free Agent Watch

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Forget everything you knew about Donald Sterling. At least for the next day or so. In the course of 13 months, Sterling has traded two high school phenoms who, somewhere way down the road, may turn into something special for two solid, All-Star worthy players who are already something special.

Somewhere Jerry West is smiling. Maybe there was some rhyme to West's reason to get out of L.A. The Clippers are on the verge of greatness.

The NBA values potential the way we all used to value dot.com stocks. Too many teams, punch drunk from highlight reels and Nike commercials, are willing to ignore little or questionable gains on the hope, the prayer, that some day, potential turns into talent.

Darius Miles packed them in at the Staples Center, but he was never going to lead the Clippers to the promised land. His outside jumper is atrocious. He doesn't have the body type to be a big-time banger. He was a 30-second commercial -- a good one -- that will be missed.

But Miller, in my mind, is the best young point guard in the NBA. He's as steady as a rock. He's a brilliant playmaker. He led the league in assists last season and had absolutely no one to pass to. He plays defense, scores when he needs to, and most important, is the glue that will bind this young team together. He's not spectacular but he's lethally effective. The Clippers still have spectacular. They had too much of it. Now with Elton Brand and Miller, their new motto, with apologies to Bob Marley, should be, simply, Rock Steady.

Still, as we await official word that the trade, which will send Miller and Bryant Stith to the Clipps for Miles and Harold Jamison, several questions about the ramifications of the trade swirled around the league late Monday night. Insider digs deeper to give you a look at what's next for the Clippers and Cavs.

The Clipps can play, but can Sterling pay them all?

You've got to believe that the Clipps didn't trade for Brand and Miller just to let them slip away into free agency. Then again, with the Clippers you never know. Right now, the team is focused on re-signing restricted free agent Michael Olowokandi. If the Clippers come in with a substantial offer for Olowokandi, they'll likely give Brand an extension as well this summer. Miller will have to wait a year. Sources told Insider late Monday night that the team wants to see how Miller gels with the rest of the team before doling out a big extension. Miller will have to wait a year to get that max contract he was looking for in Cleveland. It won't be a foregone conclusion. There is no consensus that Miller is a max player. If the Clipps give big money to Olowokandi and Brand, paying Miller will push the team into the luxury tax. The team will also wait a year before deciding the fate of Lamar Odom. Coach Alvin Gentry and GM Elgin Baylor think Odom is the most talented player on the team. If he can stay healthy and stay out of trouble, he'll command big money next summer as well. Can Sterling afford all four -- Olowokandi, Brand, Odom and Miller?

Is it time for the Clipps to get a big-time coach to go with all of that talent?

Gentry has done a solid job for the Clippers, but he's on notice now. If this team doesn't make some noise in the playoffs this year, he's a goner. Sterling will want some serious playoff love for all of those checks he's writing. His focus will be teaching the team how to finish teams off. The Clippers blew too many games in the fourth quarter last season. They were always competitive, but didn't have the poise to handle the late runs. That's why Miller is there, but he'll need some help. Remember, as good as Miller is, it wasn't like he was finishing off teams in Cleveland.

Does this mean the Clippers are keeping Chris Wilcox and Melvin Ely?

Probably. The team didn't sign either player in case it needed them to make a trade. The team is especially high on Ely and thinks he'll be able to come in and provide backup minutes right away for Olowokandi and Brand. Wilcox is a bigger project, but the team has time to wait. The Clippers would like to add a grizzled veteran to keep things real. Bo Outlaw might be a nice addition. The Suns don't need him anymore with the addition of Amare Stoudemire and Alton Ford. The Clippers have plenty of young players, like Keyon Dooling and Wilcox, who won't see the light of day on this team.

Who will play point guard for the Cavs next season?

The Cavs are high on rookie Dajuan Wagner, but he isn't ready to take the reigns just yet. The Cavs still see him as a sort of combo guard. Expect the team to re-open talks with the Spurs. Insider first reported two week ago that the teams were talking about a trade that would send Antonio Daniels and Steve Smith to the Cavs for Lamond Murray, Tyrone Hill and Chris Mihm. The Cavs think Daniels, who is 6-foot-4, has the size and experience to handle the point guard duties while Wagner gets his feet wet. Murray is expendable now that Miles is on board and Mihm won't really fit in with the run-and-gun approach coach John Lucas plans to employ. However, there is some question, league sources told Insider on Monday night, whether the Cavs really want Smith included in the trade. He has only one year left on his contract, but the team is concerned that it would have nowhere to play him next year. If Smith is out of the deal, the Cavs could send Mihm and Jumaine Jones for Daniels or they could send Murray straight up for Daniels. Either way, expect the Cavs to come up with a plan to grab a big point guard who will alleviate the pressure on Wagner to do everything on his own.

If the Cavs didn't want to pay Miller, what are they going to do when Miles asks for big money next summer?

The Cavs really feel like they have two years before they'll have to commit one way or the other to Miles. Like most players, he was less than thrilled to hear that he was being shipped off to Cleveland. Not only are the Cavs not the most attractive free-agent destination, but Miles will be leaving his best friend, Quentin Richardson, behind. Will Miles really want to re-up, long term in Cleveland? It's a better situation than it appears for Miles. He'll finally have a chance to start and star in Cleveland. The Cavs have another potential star in Wagner. And, if they play their cards right, they'll have cap room to make a serious run at another top-flight free agent next summer.

Will the Cavs tank the season in an effort to get enough Ping-Pong balls to land LeBron James?

Let's just put it this way. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if this team turned out to be terrible next year. Depending on what the Cavs do with Daniels, Ricky Davis may or may not be returning to the team. The Cavs still don't have much of a low-post presence. DeSagana Diop looked promising in the summer league, but he's still a few years off. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was pretty healthy last season, but he's lost a few steps. That puts the load on Miles and Wagner. Both have talent, but the Cavs will rack up the losses while John Lucas lies in his bed at night dreaming of a backcourt of LeBron James, Wagner and Miles. Sweet dreams Cavs fans.

Pouting fans miss point of Clippers' deal

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

Cavs go Miles to finish Miller deal

Chris Tomasson / Akron Beacon Journal

Clippers Going Miles for Miller

Elliott Teaford / Los Angeles Times

Knicks get their man (kind of)

Judging from the reaction in the New York press to the Andre Miller trade, you would've thought that Miller was a Knick, not a Cav.

Here's Mitch Lawrence's take from the N.Y. Daily News. "So much for Andre Miller wearing a Knicks uniform this coming season and throwing alley-oop passes to Antonio McDyess. The Knicks' grand plans of bringing Miller to New York fizzled last night when Cleveland agreed to send its talented play maker to the Clippers . . .Although GM Scott Layden had targeted Miller to step in and replace his aging and limited point guards, Charlie Ward and Howard Eisley, the Knicks didn't have the young, talented player the Cavs demanded in return."

Instead, the Knicks decided to give their veterans' exception to Cavs center Michael Doleac. According the the Daily News, the deal should be finalized today. Doleac will make $1.4 million this year and $1.5 million next season.

The deal for Doleac still leaves the Knicks with their full $4.5 million mid-level exception. With Keon Clark continuing to hit walls, Zhi-Zhi Wang still available and point guards like Jeff McInnis and Travis Best still waiting for the phone to ring, the Knicks still have the cash to make another significant addition. Or, they could just wait until next summer when Miller becomes a restricted free agent.

Writes Lawrence: "The Clips have a history of not paying their top players big money when they reach free agency. So it remains to be seen just how much of a future he has in his native Los Angeles."

You gotta love the New York media. They just won't let the dream die.

Knicks Make Exception For Doleac

Mitch Lawrence / New York Daily News

Cavs' Miller headed to Clips

Mitch Lawrence / New York Daily News

Keon running out of Magic

Keon Clark didn't even make the trip to Orlando Monday. Instead, his agent, Jim Mourer, sat down with GM John Gabriel and tried to work out a deal that both the Magic and Clark could live with.

In hindsight, it was probably best that Clark didn't make the trip. After the meeting, Gabriel sounded like a man who was running out of tricks.

"I think it's unlikely, but you've still got to explore," Gabriel told the Orlando Sentinel. "When players show interest, you have to kick open a door that's slightly cracked."

According to the Sentinel, Clark has at least six serious suitors who are willing to give him more money. The Magic were hoping that Clark would sign a one-year deal for less than his market value. The Kings are still considered the favorites to land Clark.

So where does that leave the Magic? The team still is in desperate need of frontcourt help. Right now, the team has an aging Horace Grant, Andrew DeClerq, Steven Hunter and Don Reid. That frontcourt strikes fear into absolutely no one. Still, Gabriel has said that he feels comfortable with his current roster.

"I do like it," he said. "As much as we care about re-launching our team to championship status, our goal is to keep core guys together who've been through the good and the bad."

Clark unlikely fit for Magic finances

Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel

What's Rashard Lewis thinking?

The Mavs are still waiting by the phone, hoping to hear from Sonics free agent Rashard Lewis. Lewis, who visited the Mavs last week told the Dallas Morning News over the weekend that his decision would be between the Mavs and Sonics.

However, league sources told Insider Monday that Lewis was still listening to pitches by the Rockets and Bulls. While Dallas would give Lewis the best shot at winning now, he'd be the fifth wheel on a very talented team. Lewis would get a much larger role on the Rockets and Bulls. Of course, a larger role means better numbers and Lewis is also concerned that if his stats drop significantly in Dallas, he won't be able to recoup the money he's giving up on the back end.

The Mavericks are trying to persuade Lewis to accept a three-year, $15 million offer for their mid-level exception.

Could the Mavs, or the Rockets and Sonics for that matter, work out a sign-and-trade for Lewis? Mavs owner Mark Cuban told the Morning News that the Mavericks have had "zero discussion" about a sign-and-trade scenario with Seattle. "That is our only option," Cuban said. "The value is that he wants to play with these guys."

The problem with a Lewis sign-and-trade is that Lewis would become a base-year compensation player if he signs a big deal with Seattle. The Sonics could only take back half of his salary as part of any trade. That means the Mavs, or another team, would have to make the trade significantly large enough to cover the discrepancy. It isn't easy. The Bulls are the only team with an outside chance of working out a sign-and-trade deal. Depending on what Lewis will settle for, the Bulls, theoretically, could clear about $3 million or so in cap space if they waived all of their free agents.

That's why Morning News columnist Kevin Blackistone doubts Lewis will end up in Dallas. Despite all of the talk by free agents about winning, they usually follow the money in the end.

"If Lewis accepts the Mavericks' salary cap-restrained offer, he ought to be awarded some sort of Purple Heart from sports fans and some sort of dunce cap from sports agents. For it would mark the second time he's left something like $35 or $40 million on the table to follow his desire to just win. It's not just pro athletes who don't do that kind of thing. Neither you nor I would do that kind of thing because, to put it mildly, it just doesn't make sense. So I'm hard pressed to believe that Lewis, at the tender age of 22, is all about the jewelry and not interested in the Benjamins alone. It would be a nutty move. For if Lewis signed up in Dallas, it would take him three years to get back to the earning position he is in right now with Seattle. And one rule of economics is that the same dollar today is worth less tomorrow."

Where is Lewis heading?

Kevin Blackistone / Dallas Morning News

Peep Show

Nuggets: The team is expected to sign Celtics restricted free-agent center Mark Blount to a one-year deal, the Denver Post reported. "We're close," said Nuggets assistant general manager David Fredman, whose team brought Blount in for a workout two weeks ago. "There are still some things that need to be done. He's still another team's property." The Celtics, who are dangerously close to the luxury tax, probably won't match an offer from the Nuggets.

T-Wolves: Agent Andy Miller told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he has talked twice with the Wolves about free-agent forward Gary Trent, but "nothing is imminent." Miller said Trent, who averaged 7.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 64 games for the Wolves last season, is 100 percent healthy and is working out up to four times a day with trainers and physical therapists.

Sonics: Calvin Booth is recovering on schedule. Booth had surgery in April to repair a damaged tendon. Booth works out 45 minutes a day with a trainer, but is restricted from contact during the drills. In a few days, he expects team doctors to provide medical clearance that will allow him to play against competition next month and participate in pickup games in September. "In many ways, I think of Calvin as another free agent we're bringing to the team this year," GM Rick Sund told the Seattle Times. "He's been with us for a season, so he knows our coaches and players, but we're not exactly sure what we have in him. ... He's somebody else that gives us options and we'll have to fit [him] in."

Blount close to signing deal

Marc J. Spears / Denver Post

Peeler's agent blames the Joe Smith case for his client missing

Robbi Pickeral / St. Paul Pioneer Press

Booth gets ready for next leg

Percy Allen / Seattle Times

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By posting the insider......hey I appreciate it. I try and stay awake until it gets put up by ESPN but I am usually asleep by 7am and then up again around 11-12. If you want to post it before I wake up to post it then hey thats cool with me, no sweat.