A source told Ken Berger that he believes David Lee's days as with the Knicks are over.  

Agent Mark Bartelstein will reportedly have Lee sign an offer sheet with the Grizzlies or Thunder that the Knicks will not be willing to match.

"It's a tough loss for New York, but they don't want to screw up their 2010 plan," the source said.

There was speculation on Sunday night that the Thunder might be preparing an offer for Paul Millsap.

Millsap is a restricted free agent, and former Jazz director of player personnel Troy Weaver is now a part of Oklahoma City's front office.

The Thunder are expected to have $11 million in cap space this summer.

The Thunder have cap space, but are unlikely to pursue free agents such as Hedo Turkoglu or Ben Gordon.

"We've been fortunate to create some (salary cap) flexibility," Sam Presti said. "But at the same time, we'll continue to be methodical about decisions on how we build our team.

"We feel good about the position we're in. We think we have a young group of guys that work hard and like playing with each other. But it's our job to explore ways to maximize the group. That's part of the process in free agency."

Players who might interest Presti are restricted free agents, young players with upside. In those cases, that player's current team has the opportunity to match the Thunder's offer.

"You can sign players, but I also think there will be opportunities via trade," Presti said. "But it's not going to be prudent to let restlessness be our nemesis. We need to approach this summer with an eye toward the future as well as the present."

The Thunder used the third overall pick on Arizona State shooting guard James Harden, who has been criticized for a lack of speed.

"I don't think I need to prove anything," Harden told ESPN after being drafted. "I just need to go in there and work hard and try my best to earn a spot on that team. They're young and they're great and they have great chemistry there. So I want to go in there and try to help them out.

"I have different paces to my game. I'm not the fastest guy. I'm not the most explosive guy. But I get from Point A to Point B."

Harden could join Oklahoma City's starting lineup right off the bat.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will trade Rodrigue Beaubois to Dallas in exchange for B.J. Mullens, who was selected one slot ahead of him with the 24th overall pick.

With Wednesday's trade between Portland and Dallas where the teams swapped first round selections, picks 22-28 have all been traded.

Sacramento acquired Houston's 23rd overall pick in the Ron Artest trade last year.

The Spurs traded the 25th overall pick to the Thunder (then Sonics) in 2008 as part of the Kurt Thomas deal.

Chicago acquired Denver's first round choice from Oklahoma City, the 26th overall, in exchange for Thabo Sefolosha.  The Thunder had acquired the pick from the Nuggets in the Chuck Atkins salary dump.

Memphis acquired the 27th overall pick from Orlando as part of the three-way Rafer Alston, Kyle Lowry trade involving the Rockets at the 2009 trade deadline.

The Wolves own Boston's first round pick, the 28th overall, as the final piece of the massive Kevin Garnett trade.

Picks 51-57 of the second round have all changed hands via trade as well.  In total, 29 picks have been traded away from their original owner.

Barring a miracle during the draft, more than half of the picks will have been dealt.

Brandon Hoffman, a frequent contributor to RealGM and author of BallerBlogger.com, transcribed a podcast from Wednesday featuring Chad Ford on the Bill Simmons show.  Ford offered a breakdown of the similar situations happening in Cleveland and Oklahoma City.

?Sam Presti and Danny Ferry both came out of the Spurs GM mill. But they had such different approaches. Danny Ferry felt, ?I have to get a lot of veterans around LeBron and we have to compete for a championship right away.? And he really set himself up because now LeBron doesn?t have anybody young to grow around. There?s pressure on them them every year to win a title or LeBron?s leaving. And now these guys are getting older.

?The Cavs are in real trouble, because it is going to be hard for LeBron to look at Cleveland, and really come up with good reasons to stay there, other than it?s his hometown and he would certainly break the hearts of Cavs fans everywhere if he [left].

?He will have better options.

?Sam Presti seems to kind of understand, ?I need to surround Kevin Durant with young talent that can grow together.? They?ll continue to get better and better gradually, and right when it?s time for Kevin Durant to leave or not to leave is right when they?re going to start to make their run as a real contender. And that?s going to be too alluring for him to walk away from.

?I think the Cavs? formula was all wrong. They should have surrounded LeBron with young guys. I think Presti has got it right.?

ESPN reported late Tuesday night that the Thunder and Phoenix are reportedly discussing a trade that would give Oklahoma City two lottery picks Thursday night in the draft.

The Suns want their unprotected pick in 2010 back that Sam Presti acquired in the Kurt Thomas trade.

According to the report, OKC would get Phoenix?s No. 14 pick while the Suns would get the Thunder?s No. 25 pick late in the first round.

A source with direct knowledge of Oklahoma City's situation told ESPN's Andy Katz that the Thunder are working on the details of Ricky Rubio's buyout.

NBA teams can pay up to a maximum of $500,000 to free players from overseas contracts, but the Thunder want the process to be smooth should they select him.

The Thunder were scheduled to workout five forward prospects on Tuesday.

Oklahoma City has the third and 25th picks in the first round of Thursday's NBA Draft.

They welcomed Antonio Anderson of Memphis, Dwyane Anderson of Villanova, Chase Budinger of Arizona, Dionte Christmas of Temple and Garrett Temple of LSU for the workout.