--F David Lee broke his media silence and said on July 23 that he was "frustrated" with the lack of progress in his situation. The Knicks want to keep him, but president Donnie Walsh won't go anywhere near Lee's asking price of $12 million per year. The Knicks would also ask Lee to take a back-loaded deal to have less of a cap hit in 2010. Lee's agent, Mark Bartelstein, has been working the league for sign-and-trade offers. The Knicks would, of course, have to approve of any trade.
--G Nate Robinson was given an offer by the Greek club Olympiakos of two years for about $10 million, but Robinson's agent, Aaron Goodwin, said on July 23 that Robinson declined the offer. Olympiakos is the team that lured restricted free agent Josh Childress overseas last summer. Childress this year announced he was returning for another season. Robinson's hope is to remain with the Knicks, but despite Knicks president Donnie Walsh's desire to re-sign him, there are indications from internal sources that the team would prefer to move on without the effervescent -- and, at times, overly self-involved -- 5-9 guard. The issue is that there is no market for him in a sign-and-trade at the moment. --Coach Mike D'Antoni, as expected, is back with the USA Basketball program through 2012, which is now preparing to defend its gold medal from the Beijing Olympics. D'Antoni is an assistant coach on Mike Krzyzewski's staff.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "With the four years of hard work I've put in, I'm just frustrated this thing hasn't gotten done yet with the Knicks. ... It's been frustrating enough that it has caused us now to kind of look at other options." -- David Lee on his unsettled contract situation.
