LeBron James and David Lee are the last of the top uncommitted free agents on our Top Free Agent list.
Once LeBron announces his intentions tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN, Lee should know pretty quickly where he'll land.
League sources tell me that the Warriors are in the lead to land Lee in a sign-and-trade with the Knicks if New York doesn't win the LeBron Lottery tonight.
However, Lee's agent Mark Bartelstein, told ESPN.com on Thursday that reports out of the Bay Area newspapers that a deal with Golden State is done are premature. "There are a million things going on right now," Bartelstein said. "We are still talking to five different teams about different scenarios. David hasn't made up his mind and nothing has been agreed to. I'm not sure where all of this stuff is coming from."
The proposed deal, according to sources, would send Lee to the Warriors for Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike among others. The deal was first reported by Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times.
Lee is expected to get a 6 year, $80 million dollar deal from the Warriors in the sign-and-trade.
Knicks GM Donnie Walsh has coveted Randolph for years and feels he'd give them another long, athletic forward to pair with Amare Stoudemire and Danilo Gallinari in the front court.
If the Knicks do land LeBron tonight, they'll have to renounce their rights to Lee in order to fit in LeBron under the cap. That will kill any chances of a sign-and-trade.
A number of other teams including the Raptors, Suns, Timberwolves and Nets have made pitches to Lee in the past several days. The Knicks are also engaged in numerous trade talks at the moment and could still decide to go in another direction as well.