5:32 PM: I'm about to head to a friend's place in the city. I'll be hanging out with our good friend Tommy Dee tomorrow. LeBron and others have been charmed, there are more meetings to come, and a few more rumors are popping up. Here's some of the speculation:
- Chad Ford says Chris Paul could still be a target.
- Richard Jefferson apparently has some interest in the Knicks or Nets. There's no reason to believe that it's mutual.
More as it comes.
3:30 PM: The meeting has ended. Alan Hahn just twat the following:Meeting with LeBron ends after over 3 hours. Best part? D'Antoni said, "I can say it, finally: 'LeBron James' and no one can fine me."
Walsh, D'Antoni leave feeling "cautiously optimistic". Walsh called it a "non-committal" meeting and said he expects another.
1:56 PM: The Knicks are reportedly making their pitch to LeBron James as I write this. Meanwhile, Chris Broussard has this to say about Donnie Walsh's intentions:
It seems like a pipe dream, but the Knicks hope to sell James, Johnson and Stoudemire on the idea of taking far less money to come to New York. They will offer each player a five-year deal that averages $15.7 million with an opt-out after three years. Then, the Knicks would pay the players more since they'd have their Bird rights. Another big part of this plan is the Knicks' ability to sign another max-salary player in the summer of 2011 after Eddy Curry's contract expires. The Knicks have targeted Carmelo Anthony, assuming he doesn't accept Denver's three-year, $65 million contract extension offer.
If James doesn't go for that scenario, which is very likely, the Knicks will offer both Johnson and Stoudemire the max. Of course, if James is willing to go to New York with one of those two players, they'll max James and choose between the other two.
Remember that Johnson's already ruminating on a max deal from Atlanta. Take Broussard's hypotheses as you please.
11:12 AM:
- The Knicks will meet with LeBron James at 1:30.
- Amar'e Stoudemire's face-to-face will wait until Monday.
10:29 AM: Morning, fishes! Here's what's up at the moment, as far as I can tell:
- The Knicks are in Cleveland. Lord knows why.
- Joe Johnson is looking at a max contract from the Hawks. That doesn't mean it's over for the Knicks, though (for better or worse). How are we feeling about Johnson, guys? What about Rudy Gay?
- David Lee is letting those filthy people in Miami, Chicago, Minnesota, and New Jersey put their grimy little paws all over him.
- I've got to head out. I'll likely keep updating and commenting from work, but in the meantime, I'd recommend reading this article by ESPN's Johnette Howard and this all-day live free agency broadcast by our favorite Canadians. General free agency updates can be found here.
For the rest of the day, I think I'm going to keep new updates above the jump and tuck all the previous updates below the jump. That work? Cool. I'll check back soon enough. Let me know if you hear or read anything.
Mini-update (11:09 AM): Another place to follow along is at SBNNY, where Rodger Sherman (a member of the P&T Society of Exemplary Gentlemen (we have pizza parties)) is updating.
12:40 AM: Here we are. So far, we know that the Knicks are in L.A. to meet with Joe Johnson and Mike Miller, with Cleveland and Chicago up next. David Lee is headed to the Midwest to be courted, which makes me super uncomfortable.
I'm going to bed.