Ellis is a great talent, and should go back to the Warriors unless a sign-and-trade is done.
No news on Felton yet, but now that the Knicks are out of the hunt, he could go to Miami for about half the MLE. The Knicks came to terms with Duhon from the Bulls for the full MLE.
Mikael Pietrus and Matt Barnes
Both of these guys are available, and are right in that mid-level exception area. They are both restricted, but will probably not be matched by Golden State. Pietrus may be a poor man's James Posey, and teams who miss out on Posey may go after Mikael.
He is available and should be a solid defensive addition to a team with front court need. He will get a three-year deal around $9-12 million, and it will probably be late in the summer.
He is restricted, but with the signing of Baron Davis, he is gone, because the Clippers will be forced to renounce his rights. The Magic are said to be the team that will sign him, but they are a MLE-team too.
Teams with money could court Maggette, but it just does not match up. Memphis? Yes, if Corey is ready to be on a terrible team. They have young pieces who play his position. If the Sixers choose to let Iguodala go, and have to trade for a big man, then they could use the extra cap room on Maggette.
Golden State? They don't know what to do with their own free agents at this point. The latest has Maggette going wherever Posey does not, which means Boston or San Antonio. Maggette may have to settle for the MLE, but he will wait as long as possible to see if Golden State, Memphis, or Philadelphia will use their cap on him.
LA Clippers: Are they trying to be this years Boston Celtics? They could be, but they only have two pieces. Kaman is a good big man but Mobley, Rookie Eric Gordon and the disappointing Tim Thomas just do not add up. But they will be playoff bound—and that is huge for you Clipper fans.
Right now the Heat are pretty happy with the results of the draft. But they are a couple of pieces short of a full team. Lacking real starters at center and point guard, the Heat are poised to go after Monta Ellis. They are also trying to add Diop, the former Maverick and Net.
The Heat may have to ask the Nets to sign and trade Diop, because he wants to go to Dallas. Ellis wants to play in Miami, and the Heat may try and get him for more than the Warriors can afford.
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