Latest free agency news, rumors Friday, July 2

WADE 'SERIOUS' ABOUT CHICAGO: Dwyane Wade and his agent met with the Chicago Bulls for the second time on Friday night and sources say Wade is "seriously considering" a max offer to join the Bulls, sources told SI.com.

While Heat owner Micky Arison and president Pat Riley have been in Cleveland courting LeBron James, Wade has been traversing the country taking meetings with the Bulls and Knicks. Friday night, Wade and Chris Bosh met with Bulls at agent Henry Thomas' office in Chicago. Bosh, who is also represented by Thomas, is believed to be another top target for Chicago, which has about $30 million in available cap space. While it has long been assumed that Wade would re-sign with the Heat -- and be joined in Miami by a top free agent -- the Bulls' interest has cast some doubt over Wade's commitment to remain in Miami. 
-- Chris Mannix

BULLS KEEPING BUSY: In addition to meeting with Dwyane Wade for a second straight day, Chicago also met with a slew of power forwards on Friday: Utah's Carlos Boozer, New York's David Lee and Toronto's Chris Bosh. To top that, the Bulls have a scheduled meeting with The King on Saturday. [AP]

LAKERS INK BLAKE: With Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar's future with the team unclear, the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to terms with veteran point guard Steve Blake on a four-year, $16 million deal Friday. The pass-first floor general played with the Clippers and Blazers last season and should provide a boost to the team's backcourt. [LA Times]

AMAR'E, KNICKS CLOSE: After spurning the latest offer from the Suns, Stoudemire appears to be working toward a move to New York. As Ian Thomsen confirmed, the Knicks have an offer on the table for at least five years and

million to the All-Star forward. According to the New York Times' Howard Beck, Stoudemire could meet with the team in New York as soon as Sunday to finalize the deal. [SI.com, NY Times]

HAWKS CLOSING IN ON JOHNSON: Joe Johnson and the Hawks are finalizing the details on a six-year, $119 million deal and it's expected to be completed soon, a source told Yahoo! Sports. Hawks GM Rick Sund reportedly received the green light to offer the All-Star guard a max contract. [Yahoo!]

BUCKS FINALIZE DEAL WITH SALMONS
Free agent guard John Salmons has verbally agreed to a five-year, $40 million deal with the Bucks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski. The agreement will include incentives for another $5 million with the Bucks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski. . [ESPN]

MAVS OFFER NOWITZKI THE MAX
Mavs president Donnie Nelson met with Dirk Nowitzki's advisor, Holger Geschwindner, Friday morning in Dallas, where Nelson was expected to offer the former MVP a deal for $96 million over four years, reported Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com. The offer is the most the Mavs can offer Nowitzki, whom the team hopes it can meet with and finalize the deal with on Saturday. [ESPNDallas.com]

WILL SLOW AND STEADY WIN CHILDRESS?
Should the Hawks' pursuit of Johnson be successful, Atlanta likely won't have the money to match any offers restricted free agent Josh Childress receives. And if that is the case, writes the Washington Post's Michael Lee, the Wizards appear to have a strong interest in adding the swingman, who has spent the last two years playing in Greece. "He was among the players the Wizards considered taking in 2004 before dealing the fifth pick to Dallas in a trade for Antawn Jamison," writes Lee. "President Ernie Grunfeld was in Paris for the EuroLeague Final Four and watch[ed] Childress and former All-Met player Linas Kleiza lose to Ricky Rubio and Juan Carlos Navarro of Barcelona in the championship game. Recently, new Wizards owner Ted Leonsis wrote in his blog that Washington "will be the tortoise" in rebuilding, but with Childress perhaps an easy target, Washington might be unable to resist a step or two ahead of pace. [Washington Post]

WARRICK IN, STOUDEMIRE OUT?: Hakim Warrick agreed to a four-year, $18 million deal with forward Hakim Warrick, sources told Yahoo! Sports. Warrick spent last season with the Bucks and Bulls, averaging 9.6 points on 48.2 percent shooting, his lowest marks since his rookie season in 2005-06 with Memphis.

The deal for Warrick may hint toward Amar'e Stoudemire leaving. The team's talks with their All-Star forward stalled as Stoudemire's agent, Happy Walters, told the Suns that his client isn't ready to commit. Phoenix made a last-minute proposal to Stoudemire, offering him a max contract with the first three years worth nearly $71 million guaranteed. Incentives for possible fourth and fifth seasons were offered, but were put in place out of concerns over Stoudemire's previous eye and knee injuries.[Yahoo! Sports]

PIERCE TO STAY A CELTIC: Paul Pierce agreed to a four-year, $61 million deal with the Celtics, according to the Boston Herald. Only the first three years of the contract will be fully guaranteed, with a mutual options for the fourth year. Pierce last week opted out of the final of year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, and though the terms of his new deal weren't immediately available, the Herald claims his 2010-11 salary will be significantly less than the $21.5 million he was scheduled to get. [Boston Herald]

JEFFERSON EXPLAINED: Richard Jefferson's decision to leave $15 million on the table by opting out of the final year of his contract with San Antonio puzzled a lot of people around the league. But there may be a method to Jefferson's perceived madness.

Sources close to Jefferson say that while the veteran forward understands how much risk is involved in leaving such a staggering amount of money on the table, Jefferson, 30, believes he can recoup that money by signing a long-term contract with another team this summer. Sources say Jefferson believes that if he stayed with the San Antonio, where he averaged 12.3 points per game last season, the lowest output since his rookie year, for the final year of his contract he would have decreased his value even more heading into a likely lockout year in 2011.

While Jefferson is open to returning to the Spurs, sources say he would like the opportunity to return to the New York area. Jefferson played seven seasons with the New Jersey Nets.
-