National Basketball Association

Now the real NBA excitement begins

Published Jun. 25, 2010 10:13 p.m. ET

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Finally, we're on to the main event.

All the preliminaries - the 82-game NBA season, the interminable playoffs, the Lakers' seven-game win over the Celtics in the Finals and the latest uneventful draft - are thankfully over.

It's on to much more important stuff, namely free agency, which begins July 1 at 12:01 a.m. at an NBA team near you … as if you need to be reminded. This upcoming free-agent period has been more hyped than any other period in NBA history.

"We've had other big free-agency years," said NBA commissioner David Stern on Thursday night, specifically recalling 1996, a year when Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and a host of all-stars went on the open market and when prices for salaries were not fixed, as they are today. "But none this crazy."

And it hasn't even started.

But the draft was hardly crazy. As expected, Kentucky's John Wall went first, Ohio State's Evan Turner second and Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors third. The rest was pretty much a blur, with the Thunder, Grizzlies and Timberwolves making every pick. Or so it seemed. Of all the players who came to the Theater at the Garden to find out where they're going to be playing for the next few seasons, only Wall is seen as a potential superstar, although DeMarcus Cousins, his Kentucky teammate, begged to differ.

"I believe I'm the best player in the draft, it's that simple," he said, prior to going to Sacramento with the No. 5 pick. "I believe I'm the most dominant. I believe out of this draft, I am the biggest game-changer. I believe I am the best talent in the draft."

He was also the best talker, by far, as you might have just figured out.

But the draft was tame, compared to what we'll see in the coming weeks. There was no LeBron James on the board, although Wall could be the latest point guard groomed by John Calipari to make it big on the next level and win Rookie of the Year honors.

But starting July 1, the craziness officially starts, when James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer hit the open market, along with some other talented free agents.

When the Knicks finally went on the clock to make a pick in the second round - their first of the night - the Theater erupted with the chant, "We want LeBron, we want LeBron!"

They've only been saying that around here for the last few years, as the Knicks have been on a course to shed as much salary as possible for this summer, with James and Bosh atop their wish list.

If James were to decide to play in the Garden, that would spell disaster for the Cavs, but immediately turn the Knicks into a relevant team for the first time since Patrick Ewing played in town. If they could land James and Bosh, that would be a start toward a title contender, the first in New York since the mid-90's.

The seismic shock won't be nearly as great if Bosh, Stoudemire or Boozer move on, but those will still be significant events in themselves.

"It's probably going to be one of the wildest years you're going to see," said Terry Davis, father of Ed Davis, the first-round pick of the Toronto Raptors, at No. 13. "It's been a long time since we've had this kind of talent come on the open market."

Terry Davis played 10 years in the league, primarily for the Mavs in the '90's, and came into the league as a free agent for the Heat when Billy Cunningham was in charge. It's a different world now. When Davis played, Michael Jordan commanded $30 million for one season. Other free agents could grab what they could, as well.

"I wish I was LeBron or Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh," Terry Davis said. "Imagine how the recruiting process is going to be for those guys? It's going to be real exciting for the NBA."

The excitement has been building for several seasons, with more than a few teams, besides the Knicks, trying to shed as much salaries as possible, just to get ready for this summer. And the emphasis on clearing cap space continued right into the draft, with Chicago and Miami pulling off deals to get ready to make runs at the marquee players.

The Heat is trying to be able to get far enough under the cap to sign two marquee players - in addition to retaining Wade's service at top dollar. So Pat Riley found a buyer for his No. 18 pick. Oklahoma City took the pick and Daequan Cook off his hands. But that still leaves the Heat around $7 million short of being able to get enough space for two players. If they can somehow get a team to take Michael Beasley off their hands, that would do the trick.

The Bulls have been looking for a while to dump Kirk Hinrich's remaining $17 million so that they can have more money for James and possibly Bosh. They finally found a taker when they moved Hinrich to the Wizards, while they're not going to have to take anything back that will hurt their cap space. They did it at the draft, which served its purpose as a warm-up to the main event.

Read more of Mitch Lawrence's columns at the New York Daily News.