The search for credibility

If anything, today was a dry run for next summer, when it'll count. But the Knicks rolled out the Madison Square Garden red carpet for Jason Kidd, who was shown the amazing exhibit for the Garden renovation, presented a Knicks jersey with No. 5 and his name on the back and, of course, the Garden court, GardenVision with videos and his name echoing throughout the World's Most Famous. It's been a while since the Knicks have made this kind of effort to recruit a free agent. And it sounds like they'll be doing it again with Grant Hill. According to a source, Hill is expected to make a visit to meet the Knicks next week. These are obviously players in the twilight years of their careers -- Hill more than Kidd -- but at this point the Knicks know they aren't going to lure any of the prime players with the MLE. So the plan is to use the few assets they have to bring in quality, leadership and experience. This is one way to set the table. Yes, Cuban met with Kidd just after midnight. But Kidd still showed up to meet the Knicks at 10 a.m. this morning, which means there still isn't a deal with the Mavs, who can offer Kidd more money than anyone else can. As we've reported several times here (and in the print edition), the Mavs have already approached Kidd with a three-year deal worth $24M. Kidd didn't take it. Is he using the New York angle to get Cuban to sweat out a few more mil? Or does Kidd figure he'll make up the difference in the MLE average by playing in New York? If this truly isn't about the money, the Knicks believe they have a good chance to land him. * * * * - On the David Lee front: Walsh said he was in touch with Lee's agent, Mark Bartelstein, earlier this morning to begin negotiations. Lee has been in Indonesia for an NBA-sponsored function and is expected to be back in the U.S. this weekend. There have been some unconfirmed rumors about Memphis preparing a big offer for Lee, but from what I understand the Grizzlies are under the usual budget constraints and, therefore, likely are not in the position to shovel $8M to $10M at David Lee. Again, we keep hearing OKC is targeting Paul Millsap. And Charlie Villanueva seems to be the target in Detroit. David's options, at least on the open market, may be dwindling. But his best option has been and remains the Knicks, who will likely be willing to pay him up to $8M per. * - So far Walsh hasn't been in touch with Andre Miller's representation, but that really may be a waste of time. Miller, 33, is out of their price range with the MLE. Portland has a strong interest and they're clearly going hard after Hedo Turkoglu as well. * - Not to be overlooked is the summer league roster, which was released today. On it includes the usual suspects, Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas, and Patrick Ewing Jr., as we reported yesterday, and Alex Acker, another player we reported to be in the mix. No one beats us on summer league roster scoops, baby. (sigh) Among the names on the roster is another intriguing player: Morris Almond. The 6-6 sharpshooter from Rice was on the Knicks radar in the 2007 draft, but Isiah Thomas went with Wilson Chandler. Almond was selected by the Jazz with the 25th overall pick and then struggled to break into Jerry Sloan's rotation. He did put up big numbers in the D-League and will get a long look in Vegas. I expect to see him in Saratoga for training camp. * - Programming note: We'll do a LIVE CHAT here tomorrow at 11 a.m. to talk free agency and everything else. Be sure to join in and try to break last week's Newsday.com record. We had over 1,400 people following the chat.