David Lee wooed by Blazers, but was worried about playing time. Portland offered $28 million over four years, but Lee didn’t think there were enough minutes to be had with LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden already on the front line. It looks as if Lee left $21 million in guaranteed money on the table to stay with the Knicks and play out the season. This is a big risk, but it may pay off next summer.

Blazers, Aldridge still talking extension. While it’s good to hear that negotiations aren’t at a standstill, it’s still worrisome that a deal has not yet been finalized. Aldridge is not a no-brainer max-contract guy, so right now, the Blazers are trying to convince his agent that Aldridge is not worth the max. This can be a tough pill to swallow, expecially with all those teams sitting on loads of cap space next summer. If Aldridge becomes a restricted free agent in 2010 and gets a max deal in the form of an offer sheet, then the Blazers will probably match. But it’s their job to get him for what they think he’s worth, and right now the franchise has the leverage.

Monta Ellis warming up to Stephen Curry. Ellis was worried that Curry was just a shooter, but he’s shown the ability to create (specifically the nine assists he had in the Warriors’ first preseason game). I’m not sure why Ellis is so concerned with the team’s front office decisions, as he should be focused on having a bounce-back year after a fairly disastrous 2008-09 season. Curry and Ellis may face some matchup problems on the defensive end, but they have the potential to create as many problems for their opponents on the other end of the court.

LeBron not a fan of the “sit down” rule. I don’t blame him. He doesn’t want to see the emotion sucked out of the game, and that’s what this rule does. The league doesn’t want its players to block the view of the fans that pay thousands and thousands of dollars for premier seats, but there has to be a compromise here. Why not have a rule where the players can stand up to cheer a play but have to sit down within some set amount of time?

The New York Knicks have re-signed David Lee. Nate Robinson is close to a deal as well.

Lee’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, told ESPN.com on Thursday that the sides have an agreement in principle on a one-year contract.

“We’re on the verge of getting this done,” Bartelstein said. “I believe David will sign the contract tomorrow.”

The contract is believed to be worth $7 million for the 2009-10 season with incentives that could take it to $8 million if the Knicks reach the playoffs.

Fellow restricted free agent Nate Robinson has also reached terms with the Knicks on a one-year deal, according to a source with knowledge of the talks, that will pay him a higher salary than Robinson’s $2.9 million qualifying offer.

The Knicks’ stance has been clear all along. They are very reluctant to sign players to contracts that run longer than one year because they want to have as much cap flexibility as possible next season when they hope to woo a big-name free agent to New York.

If Lee’s contract demands were more reasonable, he would have signed a multi-year deal with another team a long time ago. But his camp has demanded $8-$10 million per season this entire time, and the market just won’t bear it. He’s a great rebounder, but he’s just an average defender and his numbers are a bit inflated because the Knicks play at a frenetic pace. By signing a one-year deal, he is risking the financial security of a mid-level deal that he no doubt could have signed had he been willing to reduce his asking price.

Would you rather have a guaranteed $7 million with a shot at a long-term deal averaging $8 million next summer or a mid-level deal that runs five years and a guaranteed $34 million starting this summer? If he suffers a career-ending injury this season, his decision to sign a one-year deal will cost him $27 million.

That’s a lot of risk. After all, 27 million birds in the hand are better than 47 million in the bush, right?

Yes, according to ESPN’s sources.

Knicks president Donnie Walsh said he doesn’t think a Lee sign-and-trade is possible. Even though the Knicks like Lee, Walsh said he is not interested in signing the forward to a long-term contract at this point; he wants to maintain as much payroll flexibility as possible for next summer, when LeBron James, Chris Bosh and other prominent players will be free agents.

“We can’t get a deal” for Lee, Walsh said.

Contract discussions are expected to heat up next week. Many league officials think the deal will fall in the $6 million-to-$8 million range, but the two sides will exchange more concrete numbers soon. Lee could be rewarded more generously since it will be just a one-year contract.

When Walsh says that he “can’t get a deal” for Lee, he means that he can’t get a deal that either 1) brings them a player they covet, like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire, or 2) brings them an asset of value (a first round draft pick, a young cheap player) while still allowing for financial flexibility next summer, when they hope to make a run at LeBron James and/or Dwyane Wade.

This is a nice move by the Knicks, who will reward Lee for his performance thus far while at the same time reserving the right to trade him during the season if a deal comes along that they like. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent next summer, and the Knicks could bring him back or he could sign elsewhere.

Aside from Lamar Odom and his ongoing saga with the Lakers and Heat, all of the big-name unrestricted free agents are off the market.

Restricted free agency is a completely different animal. Since a team still holds a player’s rights for another season, there is no huge rush to get a deal done, especially if the team and the player’s camp are far apart in terms of the player’s value. The deeper into the summer negotiations go, the more likely it is that the player will play out the final year of his rookie deal for the qualifying offer and enter unrestricted free agency in 2010. Here’s an update on the top remaining names on the restricted free agency market.

David Lee
Lee and the Knicks are still at an impasse. The Knicks look to be willing to match any offer up to about $8 million per season, while Lee’s camp is looking for a deal averaging in the $10-$12 million range. There was some talk that the potential one-year deal for Nate Robinson might prompt the Knicks to get moving on a long-term contract for Lee, but even that Robinson deal is just a rumor. Like many restricted free agent negotiations, this looks like a case of the two sides being far apart on the player’s value and given the Knicks’ apparent unwillingness to work out a sign-and-trade, all signs point to Lee playing out the final year of his deal and entering unrestricted free agency next year. Lee is frustrated in no small part because his qualifying offer ($2.3 million) is well below his market value.

Ramon Sessions
The Knicks, Clippers and even the Sixers may be interested, but no one has signed Sessions to an offer sheet yet. The Bucks are likely to match most offers up to the mid-level, but there is still enough uncertainty about Sessions that teams seem unwilling to sign him to a full mid-level deal (five years, $34 million). Based on what I’ve read from Sessions’ agent, Jimmy “Chubby” Wells, he’s not sure what the Bucks are doing. It seems like a four-year deal in the $12-$15 million range would do the trick. That way, Sessions would get some long-term security and would be able to negotiate another contract when he’s 27. On the flip side, the Bucks would get a backup plan if Brandon Jennings doesn’t pan out. But what do I know? I’m just a blogger.

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Per the NY Times…

The Knicks and the sparkplug guard Nate Robinson are nearing an agreement on a one-year contract that will pay Robinson $5 million to $6 million, a person close to the negotiations confirmed Sunday.

The Knicks are attempting to maintain enough wiggle room to land one or two of the potential star free agents expected to be in the 2010 class. The Knicks would have Robinson as a usable asset; they could keep him, trade him, re-sign him or use him in a sign-and-trade next summer.

If Robinson’s deal is finalized, it will almost certainly end the Knicks’ flirtation with the point guard Ramon Sessions, a restricted free agent from the Milwaukee Bucks. And a deal with Robinson could help Lee’s cause for a long-term deal because Robinson’s contract would not tie up any salary past next season.

This isn’t a bad deal for Robinson, because he gets a bigger salary and also gets to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Normally, restricted free agents who can’t come to terms on an extension end up signing a one-year tender that allows them to enter free agency again the following summer. The Knicks are doing Robinson a favor, and even though it’s not the long-term contract that he wants, it should keep him happy for the season. (And, as a Bucks fan, I’d be happy to see the Knicks end their courtship of Ramon Sessions, though I’m not sure why Robinson’s one-year deal means that the team still can’t use their mid-level on Sessions, if they think he’s the long-term answer at the point.)

As for Lee, the Knicks seem more interested in signing him to a long-term deal. And why not? He has proven that he can be productive without needing a lot of touches. But he’s just an average defender, so the Knicks don’t want to pay the $10-$12 million per season that he’s asking. He’d be smart to work out a long-term deal for around $8 million a year and stay in New York, but with some of the strange contracts we’ve seen this summer despite the terrible economy, his camp is still holding out for a big payday.

7/28 Update: The New York Post reports that no deal is imminent for Robinson.