Anyone crossing off the days separating them from an opportunity to see Landry Fields in a Phoenix Suns uniform might want to consider buying stock in marking pens.
Fields, a restricted-free-agent swingman widely regarded as a potential sign-and-trade chip that the New York Knicks might use in their attempt to pay the going-away rate for Steve Nash, shook things up Tuesday by agreeing to an offer sheet with the Toronto Raptors.
The Raptors, of course, are perceived as the Knicks' main challengers in the derby to hire Nash. It should be noted that right now deals only can be agreed to. They can't be made official until July 11.
The offer sheet reportedly is worth almost $20 million for three years, a pretty steep price tag for a guy who has averaged 9.3 points in his first two NBA seasons. The final year of this potential deal would require Fields' employer to cough up (based on various reports) from $8.5 million to $9.8 million.
According to the player efficiency rating listed on basketball-reference.com, Fields' number dropped from 13.5 during his rookie season to 12.0 on a 2011-12 Knicks team with a mismatched roster that offered him fewer opportunities to shine.
Further complicating the issue for the Knicks is a pesky rule that forbids them from using Fields in a trade elsewhere if they choose to keep him my matching another team's offer sheet. A source close to the Knicks' side of this predicament told FOXSportsArizona.com that matching the Raptors' largesse "seems like a long shot."
The source was asked whether the Knicks would use second-year guard Iman Shumpert as the impetus to keep a sign-and-trade deal alive with Phoenix.
"From a basketball perspective, I don't think there would be any support for that in the organization," the source said. "But you never know what the big boss (chairman James Dolan) might decide."
Shumpert, you may recall, was high on the Suns' 2011 NBA Draft priority list at pick 13. They selected Markieff Morris but reportedly attempted to acquire another pick just to get the defensive-oriented star from Georgia Tech.
No deal could be made, the Knicks picked Shumpert and the kid from Chicago delivered a first-team, All-Rookie effort that ended with a knee injury during the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
With Shumpert facing a recovery time line that might keep him out of action until January (if not later), the Suns' current interest in him would be a matter of conjecture. With a contract that pays a measly $1.6 million next season, Shumpert would have to be joined by Toney Douglas ($2 million) and a parade of low-earning Knicks teammates to reach a dollar level sufficient to make Nash prefer New York over Toronto.
If Nash ends up anywhere other than Canada, the Raptors — who already have wing hotshot DeMar DeRozan and just drafted swingman Terrence Ross with the eighth overall pick — would have added the duplicate Fields in vain.
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A source close to Raptors restricted free-agent guard Jerryd Bayless said the former St. Mary's High and University of Arizona star has been told the team would like to keep him even if Nash comes aboard.
Bayless, the 11th pick in the 2008 draft, averaged 11.4 points in 31 games last season, with most of his production occurring while Jose Calderon was out because of an injury. The season highlight for Bayless came when poured in 28 points against Memphis on March 16 and 29 against Charlotte the following night.
He suffered a partially torn left oblique muscle a few days later and missed the rest of the season.
If Nash signs with Toronto, the Raptors would attempt to move the capable Calderon, who has one year at $10 million left on his contract.
