Free Agents Sports

The Lakers had a near-perfect June, breezing through the NBA Finals in five games and capping it off with a victory parade and championship rally under sunny Southern California skies. The first day of July, however, wasn't as picturesque. The Lakers remained far apart on negotiations Wednesday with their two main free-agent pieces, forwards Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza. In particular, Ariza and his agent weren't thrilled by the Lakers' annual offer of $5.

Less than three weeks after the parade, the NBA champion Lakers have already met the biggest threat to their throne. Themselves. What are they thinking? What are they doing? They just won a title that would not have been possible without the strong defense and stunning shooting of a 24-year-old kid with a limitless ceiling. Yet they send the kid packing for an aging nut whose greatest hits have occurred on the heads of fans.

The Lakers will officially close the books on their championship season with Wednesday's victory parade and a few days' worth of individual exit meetings, but one question won't be answered amid all the confetti and congratulations. What's next? The Lakers will experience a flurry of activity between now and mid-July, starting with the draft June 25, in which they have the 29th, 42nd and 59th picks. Then the real decisions begin with free agency.

This was supposed to be the appetizer for the highly awaited main course of NBA free agency next summer. But if it wasn't already obvious to interested parties, it became painfully clear on Thursday that the eventful last nine days around the league have expanded well beyond a mere first course. And if you want to keep the food analogy going -- and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with Shaquille O'Neal's draft-day trade to Cleveland -- just look at the latest bloated deal.

The second phase of the off-season begins tonight for the Lakers and Clippers, with the latter facing many more decisions than the former. An off-season loaded with question marks begins to take shape -- for better or worse -- for the Clippers on the first night that teams and free agents can begin discussions. Leading scorer Corey Maggette is expected to officially become an unrestricted free agent when he opts out of the final year of his contract, a year in which he is owed $7 million.

Suddenly and swiftly, the question in Clipperland on Wednesday became: What will Elton Brand do? In a whirlwind that amounted to "who has the salary cap space now?" the Golden State Warriors reached deep down the coastline and even deeper into their pocketbooks, offering free-agent forward Brand a five-year, $90-million contract, according to multiple NBA sources who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about player movements.

If Baron Davis is still dreaming, at least he'll be doing it in his home bed from now on. The kid who sneaked into Clippers games at the Sports Arena and the teenager who played at UCLA is now the adult who found his meandering way back to Los Angeles, introduced by the Clippers on Thursday, a day after signing a five-year, $65-million contract. Calling it a dream come true, Davis, a two-time All-Star, immediately becomes the new face of the Clippers franchise.

Luckily for the Clippers, there was still ink left in their pen Monday, when they capped a frenetic free-agency period by signing swingman Ricky Davis. Davis, 28, has averaged 14.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 10 seasons. He was the only Miami Heat player to play in all 82 games last season. He is considered a gifted scorer, but has also butted heads with coaches. "There are things Ricky can do very well," said Elgin Baylor, Clippers vice president of basketball operations.

Scott Boras, who holds the winter fate of the Dodgers and Angels in his hands, stepped off the elevator and into the hallway of the Bellagio Hotel. Reporters surrounded him by the dozens, so crowding the hallway that hotel security ordered baseball's most powerful agent to move along, and to take his entourage with him. Boras found his way into a ballroom and onto a stage, saying a lot, revealing a little.

The Lakers can breathe easier. They are no longer paying Brian Grant. His contract finally expires tonight, but so does the one belonging to Luke Walton, who will be thrust into the open market at 9:01 p.m. while ushering in another phase of the Lakers' off-season -- and more questions -- with the beginning of the free-agency period. Will the Lakers retain Walton by perhaps tripling the $1.4 million he made last season? They hope so. Will they re-sign Chris Mihm at a substantial pay cut?