One week into the NBA's annual free agent carnival, and the Knicks' success rate looks like Eddy Curry's shooting percentage from three.

It ain't pretty.

Jason Kidd passed on the Knicks' offer to re-sign with the Mavs. That was expected... the Mavs' offer exceeded the Knicks' max by about $7 million over three years. But getting a "Thanks, but no thanks" from Grant Hill had to hurt -- New York's offer for Hill was higher than the Suns'. Hill's decision to stay in Phoenix has to be viewed as a vote-of-no-confidence in the Knicks' rebuilding plans... which could take another hit if Phoenix is able to sign two-time MVP Steve Nash to a contract extension.

The Knicks are now reportedly considering making an offer to free agent guard Andre Miller -- or setting up a sign-and-trade that would send Chris Duhon to the Sixers in return for Miller.

General manager Donnie Walsh did get some good news this week... center Eddy Curry has dropped about 30 pounds. Even if healthy, Curry is a bad fit for Mike D'Antoni's system -- but having him in playing shape increases the chance that Walsh will be able to make a deal and clear more cap space for next year's free agent class.

In other news:

• Portland has signed Utah forward Paul Millsap to a four-year, $32 million offer sheet. The Jazz will be hard-pressed to match unless they're able to trade Carlos Boozer. There should be plenty of interest in Boozer, who is a career 17-and-10 guy with a contract that expires after this season. Dwyane Wade is reportedly pushing for the Heat to acquire Boozer -- Wade and Boozer became good friends playing for Team USA last summer.
• The Bulls could also become involved in a Boozer trade. Last week, there were rumors that Chicago would acquire Boozer in a three-way deal that would send Kirk Hinrich to Portland and Tyrus Thomas to Utah. But the Bulls backed out when Portland refused to include Jerryd Bayless.
• Allen Iverson is considering one-year offers from Miami and Memphis.
• The Suns have signed center/forward Channing Frye, Indiana's Jarret Jack signed an offer from Toronto, the Magic signed Brandon Bass, and Antonio McDyess will land in San Antonio.
• The Magic are also considering whether or not to match Dallas' offer to center Marcin Gortat.

The NBA has officially approved a four-team deal between the Magic, Raptors, Mavs and Grizzlies that sends Shawn Marion to Dallas and Hedo Turkoglu to Toronto, ESPN's Mark Stein reports.

You'll want to update your Christmas card lists for these guys:

• To Toronto: Hedo Turkoglu (from Orlando), Devean George and Antoine Wright (from Dallas)
• To Dallas: Shawn Marion, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai (from Toronto) and Greg Buckner (from Memphis)
• To Memphis: Jerry Stackhouse and cash (from Dallas), and a future second-round pick (from Toronto)
• To Orlando: Cash (from Toronto)

The cash that the Grizzlies will receive is designed to pay for a buyout of Stackhouse's contract, only $2 million of which is guaranteed. Look for him to sign a "veteran minimum" deal with a playoff contender.

The big winner in this deal is clearly Marion. A sign-and-trade arrangement like this one is the only way "the Matrix" had a chance of making more than the $5.9 million mid-level exception. He'll get a new deal worth $39 million over five years.

- Charlie Zegers

The basketball blogosphere is astir with stories about Xavier sophomore Jordan Crawford's two-handed slam in the face of LeBron James -- at King James' own skills academy -- Monday night.

The dunk should be a YouTube sensation by now, but for one problem. Nike representatives confiscated the tapes.

In the absence of video, we'll rely on a description of the play as relayed to Fox Sports' Jeff Goodman:

I was on the right wing and went down the middle. I got past Danny Green and LeBron was waiting under the basket. I don’t think he thought I was going to dunk it, so he jumped late. It was two-handed.

Another Stumble for the King

James generally comes off as affable, humble and likeable in the media -- whether its one of his many commercials or in his inteviews on SportsCenter or 60 Minutes. But in recent weeks, we've started to see an edge to his well-crafted public persona... one that isn't particularly flattering. Consider:

• He refused to shake hands with Orlando players after his Cavs lost in the Eastern Conference Finals, and skipped out on the post-game press conference.
• He may-or-may-not have misled Trevor Ariza about his plans for free agency after next season -- while trying to convince Ariza to back out of a deal he'd already reached with the Rockets. (Depends on who you believe...)
• And now his sneaker company minions opt to deny a college kid some YouTube fame -- in order to spare the King some embarassment.

It's probably ridiculous to expect a 24-year-old kid -- even one that's been under intense media scrutiny since high school -- to deal with the expectations we've set for LeBron James. Still can't help being a little disappointed when he comes off as less than perfect.

- Charlie Zegers

The Pistons have reportedly reached an agreement with a new coach; Cavaliers assistant John Kuester will take over for the recently-fired Michael Curry.

The hire makes some economic sense -- a largely unknown assistant like Kuester won't command the same sort of contract that Johnson might have. That makes him a good deal for Detroit; they'll be paying Curry approximately $5 million not to coach the team for the next two seasons.

Kuester become the latest member of the "Carolina Mafia" to earn an NBA head coaching gig. He played for the Tar Heels from 1973-77, helping Dean Smith's teams win two ACC championships and four NCAA Tournament bids. After a brief NBA career with the Kings, Nuggets and Pacers, he launched his coaching career as an assistant to Rick Pitino at Boston University. He took over the Terriers in 1983, then jumped to George Washington, where he coached from 1985-90.

He's been an NBA assistant coach since 1995, with stints on the benches of the Celtics, Sixers, Nets, Magic, Pistons and Cavs on his resume. He was on Larry Brown's staff in both Philly and Detroit, and on the bench for the Pistons' 2004 championship run.

He's regarded as a strong offensive coach -- though that talent wasn't on display much during his most recent coaching stint. The Cavaliers' best (some would say only) play on offense this year was "Give LeBron the ball and get everyone else out of the way." Next season, he'll need to craft an offense using two primary offensive threats -- Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon -- who play the same position and share a distaste for coming off the bench.

Good luck with that, coach.

- Charlie Zegers