7/16 ESPN Insider - Heat offering Brand $82m

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Heat, Wolves finally get into the action
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Wednesday, July 16
Updated: July 16
8:52 AM ET


BOSTON -- Finally. After two grueling weeks of visits, rumors, defections and betrayals, free agents can finally consummate deals with NBA teams.


The Lakers got the ball rolling at 12:01 a.m. EDT when they inked Gary Payton (2 years, $10.4 mil) and Karl Malone (2 years, $3.2 mil) to deals.

"We drank a toast and Mitch [Kupchak] went home to get some sleep for probably the first time in at least a week," Lakers spokesperson Joe Black said.

After that, things started to get a little wild for the other L.A. team.

Elton Brand
Power Forward
Los Angeles Clippers
Profile


2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
62 18.5 11.3 2.5 .502 .685



The word at the Reebok Summer League Tuesday night was that the Heat were prepared to offer Clippers restricted free agent Elton Brand a six-year, $82 million offer sheet. The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported this morning that Brand was in South Florida on Tuesday night and is expected to accept the offer.

Will the Clippers match? Brand's agent, David Falk, as first reported in Insider on Tuesday, is loading his contract full of clauses that may make Clippers owner Donald Sterling think twice.

According to the Sun Sentinel, the contract will make Brand's expected $10.96 million starting salary payable immediately. It also will include accelerated signing bonuses and a 15 percent trade kicker.

In other words, if the Clippers do match, Sterling's going to have to write Brand an enormous check the minute he signs.

The Clippers have made it clear that they'll wait the entire 15 days before deciding whether they'll match any offers to their free agents, so Miami is taking a pretty big risk. If the Clippers match, most of the other available free agents will likely be gone and the Heat will probably have to wait until next season to add more talent.

Brand's apparent decision to sign with the Heat almost makes the Clippers defection complete. Andre Miller and Corey Maggette are expected to sign offer sheets with the Nuggets and Jazz today. And center Michael Olowokandi (an unrestricted free agent) agreed to a three-year, $16.2 million deal with the T-Wolves late Tuesday night.

Olowokandi made the decision after a meeting with the Nuggets on Monday night failed to produce an offer. Ironically, Olowokandi is represented by the same agent, Bill Duffy, as center Rasho Nesterovic. After Nesterovic decided to sign with the Spurs late Monday, Duffy offered to work out a deal with the Wolves and Olowokandi as compensation. Duffy had been trying to work out a sign-and-trade with the Clippers (possibly for point guard Terrell Brandon) to get Olowokandi more money. However, Duffy said Tuesday night that the Clippers didn't want to do a sign-and-trade.

Olowokandi's decision to play for the mid-level exception must have the Mavs, Knicks and Grizzlies kicking themselves a bit. All three teams needed a center and all would have interested in Olowokandi for that kind of money.

Lamar Odom
Small Forward
Los Angeles Clippers
Profile


2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
49 14.6 6.7 3.6 .439 .777



That leaves Lamar Odom as the only significant Clipper free agent left without a home. The Sun Sentinel reported that if the Clippers match the offer for Brand, the Heat may quickly turn around and give Odom an offer sheet hoping that the Clippers, after spending big money to re-sign Brand, can't afford Odom. Odom is also drawing interest from the Nuggets and Spurs. Both teams still have a lot of cap space to use. Odom would be a great fit in San Antonio because of his ability to play multiple positions on the floor.

With Brand, Olowokandi and Nesterovic now presumably off the market, Odom, Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas, Pacers center Brad Miller, Hawks guard Jason Terry and Pistons swingman Richard Hamilton are the best free agents still available. Only Miller, however, is an unrestricted free agent.

The Wizards were in Los Angeles on Monday (which explains why Eddie Jordan didn't show up until today) wooing Arenas. That's back when they thought they could give him a starting salary of $6.2 million. With the salary cap rising to $43.8 million, the Wizards could now offer him a contract starting at as much as $8.4 million in his first season.

Miller has been drawing interest from Utah and Denver but will probably decide to re-sign with the Pacers. Both the Hawks and Pistons want to re-sign Terry and Hamilton and it doesn't appear that either player has received a significant offer from another team.
Around the League


The salary cap jump to $43.8 million was a nice surprise to everyone in the league. The increase, combined with a projected luxury-tax threshold of $57 million (up from $53 million this year), gives several teams a lot of wiggle room.

To get maximum cap room, teams must renounce the rights to their free agents to dump salary-cap holds on individual salaries.

The Jazz can have as much as $20.2 million in cap space. The Nuggets can get to $19.7 million in cap room. The Spurs could have $15.9 million, assuming they re-sign Tim Duncan. The Heat can get to $12.1 million. The Clippers could have $26 million in cap if they renounce all of their free agents. The Wizards are looking at $8.4 million. The Magic are looking at just a hair over $5 million The Pistons have a little over $4 million.

The higher luxury-tax threshold projection may also encourage several teams to use their mid-level exceptions. The Bulls, Cavs, Grizzlies, Bucks, Hornets and Sonics are far enough under the threshold that they could use their full mid-level exception without incurring the penalty. Several teams over the threshold, including the Mavs, Blazers, Knicks, T-Wolves, Lakers and Nets, are expected to use their exceptions, despite the tax penalty.

Antoine Walker
Forward
Boston Celtics
Profile


2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
78 20.1 7.2 4.8 .388 .615



Celtics GM Danny Ainge told the New York Post that the rumors of an Antoine Walker-to-the-Knicks trade just aren't true. "There's absolutely no truth to any of the rumors," Ainge said. "Anything in the paper today can't be true." The New York Daily News had reported on Monday that the Celtics and Knicks had talked about a swap that would've sent Walker to the Knicks in return for Kurt Thomas, Charlie Ward, Michael Sweetney and Frank Williams.

The Magic suffered a blow on Tuesday when the league denied them a medical exception for Grant Hill. The Magic had hoped to use the extra money to sign another free agent or facilitate a trade to land a veteran to go along with Juwan Howard. The Magic had been looking at free-agent point guards Speedy Claxton and Tyronn Lue.

The Bulls are still holding out hope that Scottie Pippen decides to sign with them. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Bulls are willing to offer Pippen their full $4.91 mid-level exception, but he has yet to commit.