FanHouse DavidLee

NEW YORK -- It felt like a recruiting trip, the one he never had when he bypassed college for the NBA. Only this process involved the world's most glamorous arena, a 10-story Nike billboard out on Seventh Avenue and a hip-hop mogul like no other, ready to tell LeBron James that New York is a "concrete jungle where dreams are made of ... there's nothing you can't do.'' Every time James plays Madison Square Garden, with rapper homeboy Jay-Z sitting in the front row with other celebrities, the scene transcends sports and becomes an entertainment blowout.

After a long summer filled with contract negotiations, David Lee can finally focus on playing basketball. Lee recently signed a new one-year contract with the New York Knicks, and while he was hoping to get a mutli-year deal from the organization, Lee told FanHouse on Tuesday that he was fine putting his long-term plans on hold for the betterment of the team.

FanHouse spoke to Lee at the NBA LIve 10 launch event in New York City about how close he was to signing with the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason and the Knicks chances of making the playoffs in the spring. Check out the video interview below.

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FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Knicks have slowly climbed their way out of salary cap hell -- but all that got them is a season in NBA purgatory.

Instead of making moves toward actual improvement, the Knicks are blatantly looking past this season to next summer when they hope to strike it rich with the famed free agent class of 2010. But while Donnie Walsh's long-term strategy may eventually pay dividends, it offers little hope in the interim that the Knicks might rise above last year's fifth-place finish in the Atlantic.

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The Knicks finally came to contract terms with their two marquee restricted free agents on Thursday, signing both David Lee and Nate Robinson to one-year deals.

If there are any Knicks' fans out there who are worried that Lee and Robinson may be looking to eschew team play in order to put up big personal numbers, thereby increasing their free agent value for next summer, fear not! Donnie Walsh had your back when he handed out these contracts, because they contain a million dollar bonus for each player if the Knicks manage to make it to the playoffs.

Nate Robinson will remain a Knick, reports Alan Hahn of Newsday, and this is hardly a surprise. Robinson's agent Aaron Goodwin told FanHouse last week that the guard would certainly be in Knickerbocker blue next season. Hahn reports Nate will sign a one-year deal at some amount above the $3 million qualifying offer which has been on the table since July 1. Fellow restricted free agent David Lee is expected to follow with a similar deal.

One item that might get some attention in the coming days is that Robinson can veto any trade involving him this season. No-trade clauses in the NBA are extremely rare -- only Kobe Bryant has a full-blown no-trade negotiated into his contract. But Nate isn't unique, and this clause hasn't been specially negotiated into his contract. All restricted free agents who sign a one-year contract with their incumbent teams (qualifying offer or otherwise) receive the same veto power.

This much is said to be certain: Nate Robinson will play for the New York Knicks this season.

"Yes, I'm 100 percent sure of that,'' his agent, Aaron Goodwin, said Tuesday in an interview with FanHouse. "Where else is he going to go?''

Well, the 5-foot-9 guard is a restricted free agent. And, while it's highly unlikely a team would put an offer down on him at this late stage and in this economy, isn't that still a possibility?

"No,'' Goodwin said. "Nate has made it clear from the start that he only wants to play for New York. After July 1, we didn't talk to any other teams.''

Marc Berman of the New York Post pumped up the shrill in today's reset of Situation David Lee. Berman reported that Lee could be a "hold-out" when Knicks camp ends this month, and primes the pump by noting that "it is almost unheard-of for players of Lee's stature to be camp holdouts."

Well, yeah. But I can guarantee it is far more unheard-of for players who are not under contract with a team to show up for training camp. Lee has no contract with the Knicks. As such, he has no obligation to show up for camp. Similarly, I am not employed by my local Applebee's, so I don't believe I am expected to show up in non-slip shoes and black Dickies for the lunch shift.

To imply Lee is playing hardball by not committing to show up for a camp he won't be paid for is absurd. NBA players don't work for free. This isn't like the NFL, where players seeking an adjustment to their extant contracts skip camp as a form of protest. Lee is planning on skipping camp because he has no obligation -- contractual or moral -- to be there.

The Oregonian's Jason Quick reports the Blazers will sign 33-year-old point guard Andre Miller to a deal. The terms look like $22 million over three years, with only the first two guaranteed. By the numbers, it's a good deal for Portland and Miller -- the PG wasn't getting more elsewhere, and the Blazers get away with a good playmaker at a fair rate for a short time.

But the opportunity cost of signing Miller is quite high for the Blazers.

As has been rumored for the better part of a week, Portland has thrown its cap space at Jazz restricted free agent Paul Millsap, a burly forward who has come off Utah's bench behind Carlos Boozer much of his career. Millsap's rep has grown over the last few years, and a big platform created by Boozer's injuries this season have made a substantial payday -- four years, $32-34 million -- possible.

The question now is whether Portland's offer sheet (signed by Millsap Friday) is big enough to keep Utah from matching. I don't think it is.

David Lee has always been a productive energy player but he's flourished in Mike D'Antoni's system, leading the league in double-doubles while posting career numbers across the board. But does that mean he's a permanent piece of New York's future?

Maybe not. According to HOOPSWORLD's Travis Heath, the Knicks not only listened to offers for him at the trade deadline but also nearly dealt him to the Nuggets. In fact, the potential trade was so close to being consummated that several members of the Nuggets actually spoke to him about it before the Knicks played the Nuggets in Denver on Tuesday.