ESPN on Sessions
“…There were strong indications Thursday night that the New York Knicks were assembling the final details of an offer sheet they believe will ultimately land Milwaukee Bucks restricted free agent Ramon Sessions.
Terms of the proposed deal were not immediately available, but NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com that the Bucks were indeed bracing for the offer sheet and also more likely to pool the free-agent cash they’re prepared to spend this summer to try to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers to the signature of athletic power forward Hakim Warrick rather than matching what’s coming to Sessions from the Knicks.
One trusted source insists that the Knicks believe they can extend Sessions far enough to dissuade Milwaukee from matching but without affecting their well-chronicled strategy to leave enough salary-cap space to recruit one maximum-salaried free agent in the summer of 2010. An offer sheet to a restricted free agent must be for at least two years, but it remains unclear how much of New York’s $5.9 million mid-level exception Sessions would receive.
Committing the next two seasons (or more) to Sessions, after fruitless free-agent flirtations with Jason Kidd and Grant Hill earlier this month, becomes easier for the Knicks to stomach if restricted free agents David Lee and Nate Robinson indeed return on one-year contracts bumped into the $6 million range. Lee and Robinson would thus become unrestricted free agents next summer while helping the Knicks maintain maximum flexibility.
ESPN.com reported earlier Thursday evening that Warrick, who was transformed from a restricted free agent to an unrestricted free agent last week when the Grizzlies withdrew their qualifying offer, was deciding between Cleveland, Philadelphia and Milwaukee and preparing to choose his new team as early as Friday.
He averaged 11.6 points and 5.0 rebounds last season for the Grizz. If the Cavs could add Warrick to Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon — with their $2 million bi-annual exception to offer, as Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer helpfully reminds — that would be three interesting bargains to supplement their trade for Shaquille O’Neal and the pricey re-signing of Anderson Varejao.
Outbidding Cleveland for Warrick, though, would still be far cheaper for the Bucks than trying to win the Sessions game. Milwaukee would still have rookie Brandon Jennings and Luke Ridnour at point guard if the Warrick-over-Sessions signals prove true…”
There was a report yesterday that Walsh and Bucks GM John Hammond had talks that were apparently unproductive, It will be a risky play for Walsh, but it seems as if it’s a calculated one.
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