Steve Kerr appeared on the B.S. Report with Bill Simmons and had some interesting things to say. Feel free to head over to ESPN and spend an hour with Bill and Steve or read the highlights below:

On Ron Artest’s game-winning put-back in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals…

I wake up at night still thinking about that rebound — I mean, why didn’t it just hit the rim, and taken a normal bounce. I’ve thought about the game constantly, but as far as how that would have impacted my job, I haven’t looked at it that way.

On Ron Artest…

He was fantastic in the last couple of games of the Finals. I just think that Artest is one of the strangest players in the league because in a normal environment, in a normal game, sometimes he doesn’t look that great. He doesn’t make shots, he takes bad shots, he makes weird decisions, but when the game becomes kind of a street fight, especially like Game 7 of the Finals, there’s nobody you’d rather have. He’s just so strong and physical. And like that play he made against us in Game 6 — or Game 5 I guess it was — he just seems to have a knack for coming up with the loose ball, the rebound, whatever it is. He’s a crafty player, he really is.

On whether or not Amare Stoudemire is worth $100 million…

I was on the same page with Robert [Sarver, the owner of the Suns], with our management. We talked about it all year long. We really wanted him back, but if the price was too much though, then it didn’t make sense. And the main reason was because of the injuries. He’s had four knee surgeries, including a microfracture. You’ve seen what’s happened over the last few years with guys like Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal — the guys who come out of high school and play huge minutes right away. Their clock ticks a lot faster and they get to 29, 30, and they really start to slow down. I think you’ve even seen it a little bit with KG and Kobe last year although both guys really turned it on in the playoffs. But because of that, with Amare, I think he’s got a few really good years left in him. You know, years four, five and six though, if he can’t go and can’t produce, now you’re really tied up and locked down with a bad contract and that can be a major problem.

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Alex Kennedy of HOOPSWORLD reported this yesterday…

Sources close to the situation don’t expect Carmelo Anthony to sign an extension with the Denver Nuggets this summer.

Anthony is leaning towards testing free agency next offseason, said sources on the same day that the Nuggets let go of Warkentien, Chapman.

Sources say that Carmelo isn’t too worried about next season’s potential lockout and he wants to explore his options next summer.

The Nuggets have been pretty good the last few years, but pretty good doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. It’s possible that Anthony saw what LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh did this summer and wants to form a ‘Super Friends’ of his own, potentially hooking up with Amare Stoudemire and Chris Paul in New York. Paul said as much in his toast at Anthony’s wedding a few weeks ago.

With an aging Chauncey Billups as Melo’s sidekick, the Nuggets don’t appear to be on the verge of challenging for a title. If they were serious about contending, they wouldn’t have given Marcus Camby away two summers ago. They did, however, sign 30-year-old Al Harrington to a mid-level deal this summer, which was a curious addition seeing as he’s something of a poor man’s Melo.

While the Nuggets have a couple of expiring salaries — Kenyon Martin ($16.5 M), J.R. Smith ($6.8 M) — they won’t have enough cap space next summer to re-sign Anthony and add another big-name free agent. Their best bet is to try to acquire a good player by dangling Martin’s expiring contract. Perhaps the Sixers would want to unload Andre Iguodala, whose defense and slashing ability would fit well with Melo and Billups.

The bottom line is that if Anthony ends up ‘testing’ free agency, he’s probably leaving. In all likelihood, if he doesn’t sign the extension, the Nuggets have until the February trade deadline to reshape the roster enough to convince him to stay.

You know you’re burned out on NBA news and rumors when you decide to write 10 haiku to summarize the NBA Summer of 2010. Off we go (in the English 5-7-5 syllable format)…

Atlanta spends big
to keep twenty-eight year-old
Here comes the remorse

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Chris Paul apparently would like to get in on some of this ‘Big 3′ action and reportedly said as much in a speech at Carmelo Anthony’s recent wedding.

According to a person who spoke with wedding attendee Amar’e Stoudemire, Paul made the reference during a speech of a potential union of himself, Stoudemire and Anthony, saying, “We’ll form our own Big 3,” Paul allegedly said.

So how do the Knicks pull that off? Barring an unexpected trade, a few things would have to happen…

1. Carmelo Anthony can’t sign an extension with the Nuggets.
There is an offer on the table extending Anthony for three years and $64 million. Most people think that with a new collective bargaining agreement looming, he’d be nuts not to take the guaranteed money. But if winning is truly the most important thing, and he sees a future with the Knicks, he would let his current contract expire and become a free agent next summer.

2. ‘Melo signs a max or near-max deal with the Knicks.
Assuming Ray Felton makes about $8 million and Stoudemire makes around $19 million for the 2011-12 season, the Knicks would be on the hook — barring any new contracts — for around $44 million heading into that season. Assuming the salary cap jumps $2 million to $60 million, the Knicks would have around $16 million in cap space. That would be enough to sign Anthony, assuming he’d be willing to take a bit of a cut.

3. Chris Paul opts out of his contract and signs a max or near-max deal with the Knicks.
Depending on what the Knicks do with Danilo Gallinari, Anthony Randolph and Toney Douglas, they project to be on the hook for $32 million plus Melo’s deal ($16 million), or $48 million total. Assuming the cap jumps another $2 million, the Knicks would have about $14 million in cap space (or as much as $26 million depending on Gallinari, Randolph and Douglas).

Is it probable? No. Is it feasible? It looks like it.

One hangup might be the fact that Stoudemire’s contract is so large (five years, $100 million) that the Knicks won’t be able to afford to pay anyone else that much, so Anthony and Paul would have to agree to play for less when they are both arguably better players. Also, if the salary cap doesn’t rise at least two million a season, there won’t be enough room to sign both players without slashing salary elsewhere, and the Knicks appear to want to hold onto Gallinari, Randolph and Douglas. Lastly, a new collective bargaining agreement could radically change the salary cap and how free agency works.

Now that Knicks fans know that they aren’t going to get LeBron, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, they can start looking forward to the Summer of Melo and the Summer of CP3.

Imagine an Eastern Conference Finals with the Heat (Wade, LeBron, Bosh) and Knicks (Melo, CP3, Amare) battling it out. As we learned last week, anything is possible.

After (justifiably) nickel-and-diming Amare Stoudemire, and watching him sign with the Knicks, the Suns are reportedly about to trade for Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress in two separate deals.

The Suns, according to the Republic, have agreed to send guard Leandro Barbosa and forward Dwayne Jones to the Raptors for Turkoglu, who badly wants a move after a rough first season with Atlanta.

In the second deal, Phoenix will acquire Childress in a sign-and-trade with the Hawks, who still hold Childress’ rights after the restricted free agent spent the last two seasons in Greece. The Republic reported that Childress has agreed to a five-year, $34 million contract with the Suns, who will use a portion of the trade exception created in Friday’s Stoudemire sign-and-trade with New York to absorb Childress’ contract.

The Suns will save about $7 million per season for the next two years by trading away Barbosa, but they’re committing almost $78 million in new money to Turkoglu and Childress, for a net of $64 million. Stoudemire signed for five years and $100 million.

I like Childress a lot, especially in this offense, but trading for Turkoglu? Really? Wouldn’t it be better to hold on to Stoudemire than to ask a 31-year-old small forward to play power forward?

Granted, the Suns options are pretty slim now that the top free agents have already signed, but Amare signed early, so they had time to make a run at Carlos Boozer or David Lee and were either unable or unwilling to land either player.

Now that the top 10 NBA free agents have made up their minds, let’s check in with my list of ‘sure-to-be-wrong’ predictions and see how I fared.

1. Dwyane Wade will re-sign with the Heat.
Check.

2. Chris Bosh will also sign with Miami.
Check.

3. LeBron and Carlos Boozer will sign with Chicago.
I didn’t think that LeBron would join what many consider to be ‘Wade’s Team’ and the Bulls gave him the next-best chance to win a championship, especially if Boozer landed there as well. The Bulls were wise to grab Boozer, who is a very nice fit alongside Joakim Noah.

4. Joe Johnson will sign with the Clippers.
I bought into the report that Johnson was in L.A. leading up to free agency and that he had a good relationship with the Clippers’ GM. The Hawks shocked the league when they offered him a six-year max contract and methinks they’ll be regretting it in 2-3 years. Who would have thought that when everything was said and done, that Joe Johnson would get the biggest contract of this free agent class?

5. Stoudemire will land in the Big Apple.
…”the Knicks will be sure to throw gobs of money to save face after pretty much striking out on the other top free agents.” Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened, though the Knicks were proactive and signed Stoudemire before being shunned by LeBron and Wade. And Amare was happy to lap up the dough after the Suns wanted to negotiate a deal that included incentives related to his health.

6. The Knicks will re-sign David Lee.
Donnie Walsh elected to conserve most of his cap space so that the Knicks can be a player in next summer’s free agency, plus the Lee-for-Randolph trade gives the Knicks a good (and cheap) up-and-coming power forward to replace Lee.

7. The Knicks will trade Eddy Curry for Gilbert Arenas.
This could still happen, but it looks like it won’t, at least not now. The Lee trade signals that the Knicks are going to be careful with their cap space, and trading for Arenas would be a huge risk.

8. The Grizzlies will match a max offer for Rudy Gay.
Technically, this prediction wasn’t correct. The Grizzlies once again raised eyebrows around the league by signing Gay to a max contract without letting the market set his price.

9. Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce re-sign with the Mavs and C’s, respectively.
There were pundits out there that actually thought that Pierce could land with the Nets and that Nowitzki would join LeBron in Chicago, but Boston and Dallas made sure these players stayed put.

Overall, I didn’t do too badly, did I?

We can file these in the ‘for what it’s worth’ category…

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer shared the location of LeBron’s “Decision Show” on his Twitter feed:

Newsday is reporting LeBron will do show from Greenwich, CT. Guess technically it’s not New York, just a suburb.

FWIW, I have been told several times location is not indication of decision. But this whole thing is shades of gray.

CNBC reports MSG (Knicks parent) stock futures way up today. Trading of it has tripled.

It would be strange for LeBron to announce in a NY suburb that he’s going to re-sign with the Cavs. Then he’d miss out on all the adulation from his fans in Ohio. This seems to indicate that he’s headed to New York or New Jersey. The bit about MSG is probably the most compelling sign. Follow the money…follow the money…

From Jared Dudley’s Twitter feed:

Sources tell me LeBron will announce that he will be goin’ to the Knicks tomorrow on ESPN. This is serious.

That’s what I’m hearing.. I don’t care where he goes lol.. I personally thought he would stay in Cleveland..

I wonder if his source is Amare Stoudemire, his former teammate.

And really for what it’s worth, Chad Ochocinco chimes in as well:

*Empire State of Mind* *wink* *wink*only the smart folk will put this together and figure out what i am talking about #6

Then there’s Ric Bucher, who throws some cold water on the idea:

Rumors of NYK having legit shot at LeBron or him going to Mia seem like an attempt by LRMR to create suspense for Thurs show.

An NBA exec: “Who does a 1-hour special on how you just ripped the heart out of your hometown?” Now a 1-hr special on why you stayed…

The Knicks have always been the biggest upside/downside for LeBron. If he’s able to bring a title to New York, he will effectively own the city. With Amare Stoudemire already locked up, he has an All-NBA running mate and in Mike D’Antoni, he has a coach who can make best use of his considerable skills in the open court.

Of course, if Dudley’s source is mistaken, the location of the ESPN announcement and Ochocinco’s tweet could also mean LeBron’s headed to the Nets. (Jay-Z wrote “Empire State of Mind.”) Would LeBron diss good friend Jay-Z and sign with the Knicks?

What are the odds that this is all stays hush hush through tomorrow?

I wrote quite a bit about this possible pairing a few days ago, but after flirting for a few more days, the two sides finally came together on an agreement.

The Knicks said Monday they intend to sign Stoudemire to a contract later this week when the free agent moratorium period ends. Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, said the deal is for the maximum allowed, which would be nearly $100 million over five years.

Wearing a blue Knicks hat, Stoudemire said he looked forward to rebuilding a franchise and bringing the Knicks back to the top — maybe with a player such as LeBron James or Dwyane Wade with him.

Team president Donnie Walsh said the Knicks decided to pull the trigger on the Stoudemire deal because he was the only player that has told the Knicks thus far that he wants to play for them.

The Stoudemire agreement takes the Knicks out of the running for Chris Bosh, but New York has been assured it will not be an impediment to their chances of signing James or Wade, sources told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan and Chris Broussard.

Interesting phrase there — “it will not be an impediment to their chances of signing James or Wade” — which can mean one of three things: 1) James and Wade like Stoudemire as much as Bosh, 2) they’re both willing to play with Stoudemire if push came to shove, or 3) neither guy is going to sign with the Knicks, so it doesn’t matter.

I’m betting on No. 2.

Stoudemire met with head coach Mike D’Antoni to clear the air that apparently became smoggy during the duo’s tenure in Phoenix. Stoudemire apparently admitted that he was a little immature at times during D’Antoni’s reign and the two clashed as a result. I’d expect them to work well together; Stoudemire is the ideal center for D’Antoni’s up tempo system.

The other line that I think is funny is the part about Donnie Walsh saying that the team pulled the trigger on Amare because he was the only one willing to commit. It makes sense — the Knicks are offering him the max and at his age with his injury history, he’s not really a max player. Of course he’s going to jump on all of this guaranteed money.

Now, will his presence get LeBron or Wade to join the Knicks? I doubt it. But there are a few other possibilities out there.

Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Amare Stoudemire is close to finalizing an agreement with the New York Knicks.

Amar’e Stoudemire and the New York Knicks are making progress in talks on a five-year maximum guaranteed contract and a deal could be completed as soon as Friday, league sources told Y! Sports.

The framework of a deal is in place and the two sides are expected to talk again soon, sources said.

The Knicks’ free agency was looking a little gloomy, but this certainly helps. LeBron was reportedly more impressed with the Nets’ presentation, but now that Stoudemire has (almost) committed, the Knicks do have a stronger case to make.

If he can stay healthy, Stoudemire should thrive in Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo system. It’s not clear what this means for David Lee, who could play alongside Stoudemire if D’Antoni elected to run Amare at the five. Neither player is particularly good on the defensive end.

How did things fall apart in Phoenix?

The Suns made a last-ditch proposal to Stoudemire, offering him a five-year contract that guaranteed him $71 million, sources said. The first three seasons were fully guaranteed. The fourth season contained a 50 percent guarantee that could become fully guaranteed based on the number of minutes Stoudemire played in the first three seasons. The fifth season of the contract also could become guaranteed based on a minutes incentive.

The Suns put in the incentives because of concerns over Stoudemire’s past knee and eye injuries. Insurance won’t cover Stoudemire’s salary if he can’t play because of any additional problems to either of his knees or his right eye.

The Suns were wise to proceed with caution with regard to Stoudemire’s injury history. The Knicks are showing a lot of faith in his ability to stay healthy, but they are/were in a tough spot and had to commit guaranteed dollars to get him to sign.

I’m not sure why the Suns aren’t working out a sign-and-trade for Stoudemire to acquire Lee from the Knicks. He seems like he’d be a natural replacement for Amare in that offense.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Here’s where I stop ruminating about rumors and pose a few predictions about what will happen in the NBA over the next couple of weeks. Let’s start with a near-sure thing and work our way around the league.

1. Dwyane Wade will re-sign with the Heat.
He has said all along that Miami is where he wants to be, and even if he strikes out on getting LeBron and/or Chris Bosh to join him, he won’t have a tough time recruiting a couple of other high-priced free agents to join him. Whether it’s Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay, someone will want to play in sunny South Florida with a Top 5 player who has already proven he can take over an NBA Finals.

2. Chris Bosh will also sign with Miami.
I thought the Bulls might have inside track on Bosh, but if we’re to believe Dan LeBatard, a deal is already in place that would bring Bosh to Miami. Even if LeBron doesn’t join them, Bosh and Wade will make an excellent one-two punch.

3. LeBron and Carlos Boozer will sign with Chicago.
It’s the reunion that no one was expecting. I have no earthly idea what LeBron is going to do, but he says that winning is the most important thing, so if that’s true, he’ll either sign with the Bulls or join Wade and Bosh in Miami. With his ego, I think he’d rather play in Chicago in the shadow of Michael Jordan’s legacy than join ‘Wade’s team’ in South Florida. But who really knows? (Remember, I said these were sure-to-be-wrong predictions.) As for Boozer, if the Bulls strike out on Bosh, he’s the next-best fit at the four. The Bulls could take advantage of his strengths (low-post scoring, rebounding) while Joakim Noah could hide his weaknesses (post defense).

4. Joe Johnson will sign with the Clippers.
Think about it Knick fans — would you want to play under the NY microscope after the city missed out on the big-name free agents? Expectations are so high in the Big Apple and Johnson is a quiet guy that has proven in Atlanta that he doesn’t deal well with critical fans. He’s reportedly close with Clipper GM Neil Olshey and would be a nice fit there since he can play small forward alongside Eric Gordon on the wing.

5. Stoudemire will land in the Big Apple.
I almost wrote “land in New Jersey” but I didn’t want to send any Knick fans off the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge. If predictions #1-#4 come to fruition, the Knicks won’t be a very attractive place to play, but Stoudemire thrived under Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix and the Knicks will be sure to throw gobs of money to save face after pretty much striking out on the other top free agents. D’Antoni can run Stoudemire at the five and…

6. The Knicks will re-sign David Lee…
…to play the four. They’ll be defensively challenged, but that’s life. Then…

7. The Knicks will trade Eddy Curry for Gilbert Arenas…
…which will make them even more defensively challenged, but again, that’s life. At least the Knicks will be fun to watch.

8. The Grizzlies will match a max offer for Rudy Gay.
The Nets (and maybe the T-Wolves) will make a strong run at Rudy Gay, but the Grizzlies’ owner Michael Heisley has said all along that he’ll match any offer Gay gets in free agency.

9. Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce re-sign with the Mavs and C’s, respectively.
These guys aren’t going anywhere.

Photo from fOTOGLIF