Knicks remain hopeful about James

LeBron James visited his Nike-sponsored basketball camp in Akron, Ohio, Monday and arrived wearing a Yankees cap. At the same time, Amar'e Stoudemire and agent Happy Walters were in New York, completing the details on a five-year, $99.7-million deal to become the first significant piece in the Knicks' long-awaited rebuild.

But while the Knicks can only hope Stoudemire makes them more attractive to James, the sense that continues to project from his inner circle is that he will decide to stay in Cleveland. He is not expected to make an official announcement until later this week. A person close to James' inner circle said, "I get the sense he is staying."

Still, the source cautioned that James has not made a decision and, therefore, no one really knows what he will do. The Knicks certainly don't.

"We hope it helps," a high-ranking Knicks official said after the team came to terms with Stoudemire, "but who knows?"

The Knicks would welcome another audience with James, preferably in New York. To follow up their meeting with him Thursday, team president Donnie Walsh sent two officials to Cleveland Saturday morning to sit down with James' agent, Leon Rose, and further explain their plan to rebuild with nearly $35 million in salary-cap space.

"In the general meeting, it was talked in general terms," Walsh said yesterday. "They didn't seem to have an understanding as to how we could do it, so we had to go and show them."

Walsh said "there's always an invitation for him to visit" New York, but "his camp made the decision he wasn't going to visit anybody, so he didn't."

Stoudemire promised to reach out to James, who lobbied in February for the Cavs to obtain him. It is believed, however, that James would prefer Chris Bosh to Stoudemire. Asked when he decided to pass on Bosh, Walsh said, "When Amar'e Stoudemire said he wanted to be here."

There have been reports that the Cavaliers could work a sign-and-trade for Bosh to satisfy James, but according to an NBA source, the Cavs have not met with Bosh. That doesn't mean LeBron hasn't talked to him. Still, for the Cavs to trade for Bosh, it would mean giving up key assets - Mo Williams and J.J. Hickson, to start.

Bosh is more likely to sign with the Heat and join Dwyane Wade. Or he could join James or Wade in Chicago via a sign-and-trade. It's also possible he could accept a sign-and-trade to another team, which could cause a serious problem for the Bulls and Heat. That would leave Wade with Carlos Boozer or David Lee to choose from if he returned to Miami, which gutted its roster to make a run at the top free agents. Wade could view the Heat as a lost cause and consider the Bulls or Knicks as better options.

Said Walsh, "We're keeping track of all this on a minute-by-minute basis." The story certainly seems to change that frequently.

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