5:00 PM ET: With my last entry in my last running diary of the 2010 free agency period,  I’ll announce that Carlos Boozer has signed with the Bulls for five years and $80 million, as reported by Ric Bucher on ESPN. Considering they got him for $20 million cheaper than the Knicks paid for Amar’e Stoudemire, this is a nice signing. Best of all, the Bulls still have room to sign another max contract player (whoever THAT would be).

I’m not going to bother with any more running diaries since we’re all just waiting for LeBron’s announcement Thursday night, so what else is there to say? I hope you’ve enjoyed these. Time to go induce myself into a coma until 9PM ET tomorrow.

4:10 PM ET: Here’s a tidbit from an Adrian Wojnarowski column that makes it even less likely that LeBron James will join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami — Wade and Bosh believe that LeBron’s camp was the source of the leak that they would sign with the Heat today. Would LeBron do that if he was planning on joining them? Doubt it.

2:45 PM ET: Here’s an interesting development — Suns forward Jared Dudley just tweeted that his sources tell him that LeBron James will announce he’s signing with the Knicks tomorrow. We can probably assume that one of his sources is Amar’e Stoudemire. It would be pretty damn funny if Jared “JMZ” Dudley was the first person to leak this news.

2:40 PM ET: Now that Chris Bosh is off the market, the Bulls, Nets and Cavaliers have “intensified negotiations” with Carlos Boozer, according to Chad Ford. The thought process is that Boozer could help attract LeBron James. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Boozer returned to Cleveland, where he screwed over that franchise six years ago?

1:45 PM ET: Michael Grange tweets: “Bryan Colangelo is still working to see if something can be done with Miami.” So a sign-and-trade might still be in the cards, but I’m not counting on it.

1:15 PM ET: Gotta love Magic coach Stan Van Gundy’s reaction to Bosh signing in Miami. Orlando reporter Tania Ganguli asked Stan his opinion and she tweeted his response: “He’s been following him around for 2 weeks like his lapdog, so I’m not surprised.” Stan Van is the man.

12:50 PM ET: Now that they have Wade and Bosh in the fold, Ken Berger reports that the Heat are going after the biggest fish of all — they’re still trying to get LeBron James to join them and create a superteam that everyone outside of Miami will envy and despise. OK, they’re not trying to be despised, but it’s safe to say that would be the general reaction.

12:30 PM ET: As expected, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are on ESPN right now to announce that they will sign maximum contracts with the Miami Heat. As it stands, there doesn’t appear to be a sign-and-trade on the horizon for the Raptors, although Bosh and Wade can’t officially sign their new contracts until tomorrow.

11:40 AM ET: Just because LeBron James is announcing where he’s signing Thursday night, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s made up his mind yet. While Cleveland is still considered to be the frontrunner, ESPN reports that LeBron is still considering the opportunity to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Obviously, today’s anticipated announcement about the Heat  could influence LeBron’s choice.

11:35 AM ET: Kevin Durant just tweeted that he signed a five-year extension with the Thunder. No details yet on the amount, but we can safely assume that it’s for the max, which should earn him in the range of $85 million through the 2015-16 season. Congrats to OKC fans and here’s hoping Durant continues to show more class than some of the other superstars in this league.

11:30 AM ET: Chris Bosh continues to tease and taunt the masses (particularly Raptors fans) on Twitter. About half an hour ago, he tweeted this…

Cute, right? Yeah, about as cute as a pus-filled boil. Luckily, Leafs blogger Down Goes Brown had a killer response…

Plus-one to you, good sir. Plus-one.

11:15 AM ET: While we all wait for this Wade-Bosh situation to finally play out and cause an Internet meltdown, the New York Post reports that Amar’e Stoudemire is trying to make things happen for his new team by pushing them to sign free agent point guard Luke Ridnour, who he sees as “Steve Nash Lite”. Yeah, I laughed too. But then I looked at Ridnour’s numbers and he was actually pretty good last season in Milwaukee: in just 21.5 minutes per game as Brandon Jennings’ backup, he averaged 10.4 points and 4.0 assists with .478/.381/.907 for his FG%/3P%/FT%. Those are pretty solid numbers, and he’s certainly an upgrade over last year’s starting point guard for the Knicks, Chris Duhon.

11:00 AM ET: The announcement about Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade signing in Miami could happen as soon as 12:30PM ET today — Brian Windhorst reports that ESPN is expected to break the news.

10:30 AM ET: It looks like things are about to get real on the NBA free agency front. LeBron James is going to announce his decision in an hour-long special on Thursday night at 9PM ET, and Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are reportedly very close to joining forces in Miami. The only real question with Bosh is whether or not he’ll simply sign with them at the maximum amount for five years, or whether the Raptors will agree to a sign-and-trade with Miami that will enable Bosh to have a six-year max contract and also give the Heat the salary cap room to potentiall sign LeBron as well. The drama! The intrigue! The indigestion! Stay tuned…

Follow “Nothing Easy” on Twitter @Nothing_Easy.

5:20 PM ET: It was only a matter of time, but the Heat have grown weary of waiting for Chris Bosh to make up his mind and the Dallas Morning News reports that they’re talking to the Utah Jazz about a sign-and-trade for Carlos Boozer. The longer Bosh waffles about his decision, the more team options that will be removed from his list.

This concludes our running diary for Day Four of the 2010 Free Agency LeBronapalooza. As I sign off, @KingJames has reached over 116,000 followers in just over five hours. By the end of the day, he’ll probably pass @ChrisBosh and his 170,000 followers.

4:15 PM ET: Interesting theory from Doug Thonus at Bulls Confidential: The big free agents might be waiting for the 2010-11 salary cap amount to be officially announced on Wednesday because that will affect which teams will be able to sign two max players without trading any more of their players.

4:00 PM ET: Breaking! Sources tell The Basketball Jones that LeBron James will sign with… “The View”?

3:25 PM ET: According to AOL Fanhouse, free agent point guard Raymond Felton will meet with Knicks and Heat management this week. I wonder if he’ll wait to see where LeBron and D-Wade end up before he makes his decision.

2:20 PM ET: Ken Berger of CBS Sports claims that Chris Bosh is “decidedly unenthusiastic about joining James in Cleveland.” I can’t imagine why…

1:10 PM ET: With the leverage they hope to have gained from the Amar’e Stoudemire signing, the Knicks are now “zeroing in” on Dwyane Wade, according to the New York Daily News. Wade has reportedly become the Knicks’ primary focus since it’s no longer considered an automatic that Wade will re-sign with Miami.

12:35 PM ET: A site called Chicago Breaking Sports claims that the Bulls have offered Taj Gibson, multiple first round picks and a trade exception to the Raptors in return for a signed-and-traded Chris Bosh. Joakim Noah is conspicuously absent from the proposal.

12:15 AM ET: Chris Paul (@Oneandonlycp3) convinced LeBron James (@kingjames) to get on Twitter, so I guess we can expect a tweet linking to his website when he announces his decision.

11:45 AM ET: The Denver Post reports that Carmelo Anthony will accept the Denver Nuggets’ three-year, $65 million extension offer at some point after he gets married on Saturday. Carmelo didn’t have a player option until after next season, but the Nuggets are obviously smart to try and lock him up now.

11:10 AM ET: Chris Broussard from ESPN reports that the Cavaliers and LeBron James are trying to get the Raptors to agree to a Chris Bosh sign-and-trade. I assume Anderson Varejao would be the centerpiece of the return players, although Maurice Williams and J.J. Hickson could also be involved. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that Raptors president Bryan Colangelo wants nothing to do with Delonte “Thunderdome” West.

10:30 AM ET: Yesterday’s running diary ended a little earlier than anticipated because of a massive power outage in downtown Toronto which included The Score’s building. So what happened after the lights went out in T-dot? Well, the Magic signed Chris Duhon to a four-year, $15 million contract. Also, this happened…

Justin Tuck, John Starks, Chris Rock, Allan Houston, Mike D'Antoni, Spike Lee, Fat Joe, Amar'e Stoudemire and some other dude celebrate Stoudemire's five-year, $100 million deal with the New York Knicks. Photo credit: AllanHouston.com

Whether or not you think Stoudemire will prove to be worth his contract, I think this was a smart move by the Knicks because it sends a clear message to LeBron James that they’re not messing around. Who have the Heat, Bulls or Nets signed yet? Exactly.

Follow “Nothing Easy” on Twitter @Nothing_Easy.

On the same day that they will introduce rookies Ed Davis and Solomon Alabi to the Toronto media, the Toronto Raptors announced their summer league roster for the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League.

Not surprisingly, Bobby Brown is on the roster after tweeting with DeMar DeRozan about flying to Toronto for the better part of yesterday. Of course, the team will be headlined by DeRozan, Sonny Weems and rookie Davis, but there are some other interesting guys who made the cut.

I was surprised to see UCLA guard Michael Roll after he was in town for one of the predraft workouts leading up to the draft. I am really looking forward to seeing what Alabi can do out there. I think he may end up being a steal for the Raptors in the second round. After spending the last few weeks of the season in the locker room and working out, Joey Dorsey will finally get a chance to show the Raptors coaching staff what he’s got to offer and after seeing a slimmed down –but still rock solid– physique when he was working out during predraft workouts, I’m anxious to see him in action, too.

The summer league head coach for the Raptors will once again be Eric Hughes. Micah Nori and Alvin Williams will assist Hughes with coaching duties during the week while the rest of the coaching staff will be in the stands observing their guys.

Since I can’t be in Toronto for the rookie presser at noon, here’s the rest of the Raptors roster for their time in Las Vegas:
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birth Date College/Country NBA Exp.

3 Bobby Brown G 6-2 175 09/24/1984 Cal State-Fullerton 2 Years

5 Curtis Stinson G 6-3 215 02/15/1983 Iowa State Rookie

8 Michael Roll G 6-5 200 04/12/1987 UCLA Rookie

9 Joey Dorsey F/C 6-8 268 12/16/1983 Memphis 2Years

10 DeMar DeRozan G/F 6-7 220 08/07/1989 USC 1 Year

21 Ronald Dupree G/F 6-7 210 01/26/1981 LSU 5 Years

24 Sonny Weems G/F 6-6 203 07/08/1986 Arkansas 2 Years

31 Cheikh Samb C 7-1 245 10/22/1984 Senegal 2 Years

32 Ed Davis F 6-10 227 06/05/1989 North Carolina Rookie

33 James Mays F 6-9 230 03/08/1986 Clemson Rookie

50 Solomon Alabi C 7-1 237 03/21/1988 Florida State Rookie

4:30 PM ET: Eric Koreen reports that Bryan Colangelo sent his assistant, Marc Eversley, to meet with Chris Bosh in Dallas on July 1st. Kinda interesting that Colangelo didn’t go himself, don’t you think?

3:20 PM ET: After giving it some thought, this “Bosh-for-Noah” scenario doesn’t add up. Even if the Bulls were willing to do this, I don’t think Bosh would do it because he doesn’t want to play center and the Bulls won’t have a center if they give up Noah. I really don’t see this happening.

2:45 PM ET: Raptors president Bryan Colangelo is playing hardball in the Chris Bosh sign-and-trade negotiations. Chris Broussard from ESPN reports that Colangelo is insisting on Joakim Noah in return for any Bosh-to-Chicago scenario.

2:35 PM ET: Excellent tweet from Score producer @LeighEllis: “If Amar’e’s agent gets 4% of his $100m, Steve Nash should get a 25% cut.”

2:15 PM ET: Joe Johnson’s agent, Arn Tellem, wrote a column for The Huffington Post about why Joe re-signed and says that Joe is going to try to convince other top free agents — including LeBron James — to join him in Atlanta.

1:35 PM ET: Hello! Jack Armstrong put Chris Bosh on blast in this column for TSN.ca: “Shut up!!  No more goofy tweets and acting like an attention starved teenager. Make up your mind and carry yourself with class… At the end of the day, if Glen Grunwald drafts Dwyane Wade instead of Bosh the history of the franchise is probably different for the better as well as arguably in Bosh’s case.”

1:00 PM ET: Still nothing doing today, but here’s an interesting tidbit from National Post reporter Eric Koreen: The Bulls sent their radio play-by-play guy and former Raptors announcer Chuck Swirsky to start their Chris Bosh courtship at midnight on July 1st. I bet that really made Bosh feel wanted. When do you think Bosh crossed the Bulls off his list? 12:05?

12:20 PM ET: The Raptors are having a press conference right now to welcome their draft picks, Ed Davis and Solomon Alabi to the team. Click here to check it out.

12:00 PM ET: Holly just emailed me to let me know that Knicks president Donnie Walsh is meeting with Amare Stoudemire in New York today, presumably to discuss the five-year, $100 million deal that the Knicks are rumoured to have offered him. It’s increasingly looking like Stoudemire could be the next top free agent to commit.

11:00 AM ET: Chad Ford claims that Dwyane Wade is starting to have second thoughts about the Miami Heat’s ability to build a winner around him, since Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers are the only Heat players currently under contract for the 2010-11 season and none of the big free agents have committed to join him yet. Chicago is becoming more appealing to him because it’s his hometown and he likes to idea of playing with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.

10:00 AM ET: The big dogs are still loose, so I’m going to continue my running diary series every day until enough major players have signed that it’s not worth doing anymore. Here are the latest news and rumours from the NBA grapevine:

• The Bulls have told LeBron James that there will be no special privileges in Chicago for his inner circle of friends and advisors. While I admire their restraint, it seems like that means we can pretty much eliminate the Bulls from these sweepstakes, don’t you think?
• Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is reportedly trying very hard to get J.J. Redick re-signed because he believes J.J. is the only player on his roster who truly cares about the game of basketball. Hmmm, I’m sure Dwight Howard will enjoy hearing about that.
• Doug Smith reports that the Raptors are close to signing an unknown player with some or all of the team’s mid-level exception. In similarly groundbreaking news, I’m about to open an unknown flavour of yogurt cup for my breakfast.
• @SekouSmithNBA reports that Joe Johnson has finally agreed to re-sign with the Hawks for six years, $119 million. Was it that hard of a decision, Joe?

All right, let’s hope something big happens today.

Follow “Nothing Easy” on Twitter @Nothing_Easy.

As I said earlier, I’ve been MIA for most of this weekend’s action. Despite not being as up on my game as I’d like to be, I’ve got some thoughts on everything that’s been going on and will share them here since I’ve been asked about them as the days have passed.

Let’s look at some of the deals that have gone down:

- Joe Johnson, $119, six-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks – When I heard about this deal, I couldn’t help but shake my head. I laughed when I found out Johnson was taking him time, mulling the offer. I’m all for wanting to win, but he’ d have a better chance at lightning striking twice than finding a better offer than this. With this deal, the Hawks are crippling themselves in the future. Giving max money to a player who has proven he cannot be the #1 option on a championship team. Sure, the Hawks have become contenders in the Eastern Conference, but they will not get out of their conference with Joe Johnson as their go-to guy. If I were a Hawks fan, I’d be feeling very unhappy about this deal.

- Rudy Gay, $81.6 million, five-year deal with the Memphis Grizzlies - This deal is one that I’ve judged a little differently than most because I think it’s a deal based not solely on production, but on trying to create an identity. While Rudy Gay is a great NBA player, this is a big contract for the guy. I think the Grizzlies knew they needed to lock a guy up to try and give their fans something concrete, a sense of continuity as the team tries to continue to move forward into becoming a legitimate opponent and contender in the league. With Gay on the books for the next five years, if nothing else, Memphis has their face for the franchise decided. Let’s see if Gay produces.

- Amir Johnson, $34 million, five-year deal with the Toronto Raptors – For a guy who hasn’t ever started an entire season and averages 6.5 fouls per 36 minutes over his professional career, this is a hefty, hefty salary. It’s also a necessary one in this offseason where guys much older than Johnson are getting paid as much (look at Drew Gooden who was given a $32 million, five-year deal from the Milwaukee Bucks). While Johnson is a five-year NBA vet, he is still just 23 years old. For an athletic big-man, the Raptors needed to pay, particularly with Chris Bosh on his way out of town. Add in Johnson’s camaraderie with DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems and this was a no-brainer for the Raptors just as signing on the dotted line is going to be a no-brainer for Johnson.

- Paul Pierce, $61 million, four-year deal with the Boston Celtics – In a league where so many superstars end up getting traded or leaving their teams in free agency, when Paul Pierce opted out of the final year of his contract, it was more of a formality than anyone really being worried he may leave the Celtics. After finally winning a ring with the green after the franchise made moves to get him the help he needed to be a champion, Pierce will retire a Celtics great, an important part of the storied franchise’s history. With the deal, the Celtics will have a little more flexibility next season as they try to fill out an aging roster with some fresh talent to suround Rajon Rondo, rookie guard Avery Bradley and the big three (assuming of course, Ray Allen stays in Boston).

- With each of the trades that have gone down, I’m most excited for Chris Douglas-Roberts. I like people (and players) who are a little different. CDR is definitely an oddball in the league. He’s outspoken and connects with his fans and somehow remains very down to earth while keeping his confidence in his game throughout a disastrous season with the New Jersey Nets this season. A member of the Nets staff told me earlier this year that CDR would need to be moved to recover from the year. He said the losing took a toll on him and that he hoped he would get a fresh start. When I heard of the move to Milwaukee for CDR, I was thrilled. With Scott Skiles on his tail and new teammates like Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut and vet John Salmons, perhaps CDR will finally get a chance to blossom into a scorer in this league. The tools and dedication are all there. Let’s see if this is the golden opportunity.

I’ll be back with more thoughts on the first week of free agency as I get to catch up myself. What are you thinking about each of these moves?

The past four days have been the biggest days of the 2010 NBA season that didn’t involve crowning a champion.

Biggest days of the NBA offseason and I have been completely and entirely off the grid. Missing in action. I know some people have wondered where I’ve been, because I’ve gotten some texts, emails and direct messages on Twitter. Funny that when you’re not online, people kind of know something is up. Because I’ve grown accustomed to being in the middle of all things NBA, I wanted to give you a heads up as to why I’ve been away. Late last week my grandfather passed away and I had to fly home to Nova Scotia. Flying home last minute on Canada Day was not fun or cheap, but I’m here with my family and that’s all that matters.

Earlier this year I lost my uncle to a battle with cancer and wrote about it for my The Post Up column over at SLAMonline. While the piece was from January 2010, it feels appropriate today. I thought I’d post it here as a reflection of what this game and job has given me, in terms of a support system, friends and family.

Thank you to everyone that reads this and to each of you who read this blog each day. You mean everything.

Originally posted on SLAMonline.com, January 5th, 2010:

The Post Up: Life Happens

I didn’t watch much basketball last night. The Raptors were out of town, my plan was to settle in from the cold and catch up on some teams I haven’t gotten to watch as closely as I’d like, but it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen and I’m quite alright with that.

It didn’t happen because yesterday morning, my mother called and told me that my uncle had passed away, ending his battle with cancer. My brain was a little bit scattered for the remainder of the day (I called Reggie Evans “Reggie Miller” in a piece), and I had about six convos with my mom before the night was through, just because I felt the need to talk to her.

Toronto to Nova Scotia always seems farther when you are feeling helpless.

The day also made me realize how much this game (and this site/magazine), has given to me in terms of people. Support. Friends. And also, friends who have become family.

Because this happened while I was in work mode at a coffeeshop writing, the people who were “around me” were fellow writers who were Tweeting, G-Chatting and emailing. They were the ones who heard the news, made sure I was cool and then checked in as the day went on. Or, stayed up way late, talking with me about books and ball, music and other things, keeping me distracted.

It hit me that while I’ve only hung out with some of these people in person once or twice, through our love of basketball and our respective jobs, these beautiful, amazing people get me more than some of the people I’ve known for years.

They understand that I stay in on Fridays and Saturdays to watch basketball because I just know the basketball Gods will punish me if I go out instead and that they reward me by allowing Kobe Bryant to hit ridiculous buzzer beaters while most of the world is out. They get that it is freaking news when Roko Ukic is waived and goes overseas to play and that it makes me happy to see our cover boy Brandon Jennings Tweeting to him. They know that Michael Beasley in a fro makes me smile and that digging up footage of the 1997 rookie game is only a quick Google search away.

They’ll discuss the ins and outs of this Gilbert Arenas/Javaris Crittenton mess with me, even though we really don’t know much of anything for sure, they’ll listen to me wax poetic about Omri Casspi and they’ll talk about the second, third, fourth and fifth options on the Blazers (not that they’ve got fourth and fifth options when they have about six guys dressing on any given night). Of course, they will also share everything they know about former Blazer and current Raptor, Jarrett Jack.

They share photos of their family, well wishes on holidays (and not just mass “Happy New Year,” “Merry Christmas” texts, either), lament over being sick during vacation when we’re supposed to be living it up since we spend every other night in. They pass along contacts, agent names, writing tips, feedback and encouragement and more of their time than I could express here. They email transcribed audio that didn’t make their story because they know I want to hear it and remember when Stephen Jackson is coming through town.

When Shaun Livingston is let go, they hit me up because they know he is my guy.

What’s more, they’re no longer just limited to the basketball portion of my life.

Somewhere along the way, the line between ball and reality got blurred because for us, ball IS life. Truly.

And now, we talk about family and friends. Hopes and dreams, in addition to Hoop Dreams.

Real life involving real losses. “Real talk” stuff.

These people make the so-called “drawbacks” of this job –crazy lifestyle, complete lack of a social life and these ridiculous hours– worth it a million times over.

As do each and every one of you all, with respect to this column. Even when I’m not commenting, I’m here reading and appreciating. Thank you for every comment, email, Twitter message, facebook inbox message, etc. For the support, suggestions and shared basketball love. On game days, it usually isn’t until late afternoon in between shootaround and game time that I get to check out your thoughts, long after everyone has moved on to the next column, but I’m here. Always.

Yes, even if someone’s gonna get pissed at me today for not talking about the Blazers losing to the Clips or the Hawks falling to the Heat. I love it all.

Thanks for being a part of my basketball journey and for making me who I am today, who I was trying to be yesterday and who I hope to become tomorrow. When I went home for Christmas and people asked about work, I realized that work is everything I’ve dreamed of and more than I had imagined. Basketball began giving me happiness many years ago, but for an only child from a single-parent household from a teeny town in Nova Scotia, it’s also given me an extended family that’s lovelier and zanier than any I could have dreamed up.

With every piece of a heart that’s feeling just a little heavy today, I thank you for being part of that.

5:15 PM ET: In the last post of today’s diary… some LeBron news! Well, sort of. Turns out earlier reports that he’s promised to make a decision by Monday may have been false, according to Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Ah, jeez.

4:00 PM ET: Here’s my RaptorBlog post on why I don’t think the Raptors overpaid to keep Amir Johnson in the fold.

3:05 PM ET: ESPN reports that Mark Cuban dug under the cushions of his javan rhino-skinned couch to offer Dirk Nowitzki a four-year, $96 million contract. This deal could be closed as soon as tomorrow, and I don’t think anyone expects Dirk to seriously explore other options.

2:45PM ET: Since things have slowed down, have you seen Charles Oakley’s personal website yet? Assuming “Oak in the Kitchen” is what I think it is, can we agree that would be the greatest cooking show ever? Imagine Oak and MJ playing poker, smoking cigars and shooting the shit while they slow-cook his beef short ribs in cinnamon wine sauce. Would you miss a single minute of that show? That’s what I thought.

1:25 PM ET: According to Jeff Goodman from FOX Sports, the Lakers have offered Mike Miller a five-year, $30 million contract and have given him until Tuesday to make a decision.

1:15 PM ET: Ric Bucher from ESPN reported that the Heat might be souring on offering Chris Bosh a max contract because they fear he’s more interested in promoting himself than in winning on the court. Bosh responds on Twitter: “I don’t film my meetings. I am a professional. Having control of your own media is a distraction, but when other networks do it, it’s not?”

12:35 PM ET: The Knicks are preparing a five-year max offer to Amare Stoudemire, according to Yahoo! Sports. It’s pretty clear that Amare will be wearing either a Knicks or Heat jersey next season.

12:15 PM ET: This has been rumored to be in the works for a while, but Real Madrid announced that they’ve signed former Knicks point guard Sergio Rodriguez to a contract that runs through the 2012-13 season.

11:45 AM ET: Interesting tweet from @WojYahooNBA: “Says official in LeBron chase: ‘If D-Wade wants to make this big play happen in Miami, he needs to stop taking meetings and commit to Heat’.”

11:30 AM ET: Marc Spears from Yahoo! Sports reports that the Suns have signed Hakim Warrick to a four-year, $18 million deal, which basically confirms that Amare Stoudemire is finished in Phoenix. This certainly complicates things for Chris Bosh in terms of his options.

10:30 AM ET: I did a running diary yesterday for the first day of the 2010 free agency period, and I figure I should keep doing these every day as long as there as some big fish still in the water. Here’s what has transpired since I signed off yesterday.

• Paul Pierce signed a four-year, $61 million deal with Boston, likely ensuring that he’ll end his career as a Celtic — as he should.
• Amir Johnson signed a five-year, $34 million contract to remain with the Raptors. Most people think that’s too much for him. I’m going to explain why they’re wrong on RaptorBlog later today.
• Channing Frye re-signed with the Suns for five years, $30 million. Unless he can continue shooting over 40 percent from three-point land throughout the length of the contract, I think this one could be a mistake.

Follow “Nothing Easy” on Twitter @Nothing_Easy.

See that smile in the upper left-hand corner of Amir Johnson’s Twitter background? I think it’s safe to say he was sporting that same grin today after agreeing to a five-year, $34-million deal with the Toronto Raptors. News of the deal was first reported by Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

That’s a lot of money.

Enough money to make a guy break into a Trey Songz, uh, song.

Money that you would expect to be spent on a starter. With Chris Bosh’s future as a Raptor looking bleaker by the day/meeting/tweet, Bryan Colangelo and the Raptors wasted little time getting Johnson resigned, hardly a surprise after Johnson himself told us that Colangelo was, “100 percent committed” to bringing him back. The amount of the deal was more of a surprise, because if Johnson is going to slide into a starting role he will have to learn how to cut down his fouls — averaging 6.5 personal fouls per 36 minutes of burn over his career isn’t going to cut it.

For now though, Raptors fans, join Amir and put your best smile on. While Bosh continues his free agent tour your beloved #YungGunz movement is safe.