Uh oh? New York Times Reports - Davis Likely to Refuse Hornets' Offer
In a story dated July 2 (yep tomorrow's news today) the New York Times seems to believe that Baron won't sign. If accurate, Baron is a bigger coullion than immaginable and Harvey may just get to hold that order of crow.
Davis Likely to Refuse Hornets' Offer
By LIZ ROBBINS
The first day of negotiations began in the N.B.A. yesterday, but it was the case of a player who cannot become a free agent until after next season that made the biggest stir.
Baron Davis, the Hornets' All-Star guard, had declared that he wanted to be traded — preferably to a big-market city like New York, Los Angeles or Chicago — rather than move with the franchise to New Orleans. But Bob Bass, the Hornets' vice president for basketball operations, repeated his intention to keep Davis by offering him a six-year contract extension.
The 23-year-old Davis will earn $3.9 million in the fourth year of his contract and cannot become a free agent until next summer. The contract, determined by the collective bargaining agreement, could be worth about $88 million, depending on where the salary cap is set later this summer.
Bass said yesterday he got no answer from Davis or his agent, Jerome Stanley. "We showed a commitment to New Orleans and the Hornets and an effort to keep the best players available," Bass said.
Despite the Knicks' interest in Davis before the draft and their desire to upgrade the point-guard position, a trade appears unlikely because of the Hornets' hard-line stance. "We have no intention to trade Baron Davis — period," Bass said.
That could put Davis and the Hornets at an impasse. Reached earlier in the day before the Hornets' offer was released, Stanley indicated that Davis did not want to play in New Orleans next season.
"That is correct," Stanley said. He added that Davis would be interested in playing in New York.
Bass said he did not wish to comment on whether the Knicks had contacted him, but said that "three to four teams" contacted him after Davis said he did not want to play in New Orleans. The Knicks are believed to have been one of those teams but were unable to work out a deal. It would probably take Latrell Sprewell to complete a deal but a one-for-one trade is impossibile because of salary-cap restrictions.
Scott Layden, the Knicks' president and general manager, declined to comment yesterday on either the offer for Davis or the Knicks' free-agent plans. In addition to point guard (despite drafting Frank Williams), adding a center to replace Marcus Camby is another need.
Trying to make a trade for Cleveland point guard Andre Miller would be difficult because the Knicks do not seem to have the right players at the right price for the Cavs. The Knicks are still winding down from the excitement of last week's trade for Antonio McDyess and were not yet lining up Broadway tickets for prospective free agents.
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Contributor 
Why would you want a guy on the team who wants to leave so bad he has turned down approximately 85M? How good could he really be for your locker room. Maybe he could hang around just long enough to convince others to follow him too. Why would you let him walk free in two years? If we did not have any alternatives, I would agree, but we have options. We can maximize his value today and score a serious player or two and maybe some draft picks if we traded him now.
