Rumors flying, swirling and crawling about Mavericks' free agency

As we wrote in the Sunday edition of The News, the Mavericks
are lining up their options for any and all free agents who might be out there.
 
But don’t get too hot and bothered by anything you
might here in the next 36 hours, including the idea that Joe Johnson is No. 1
on their list.
 
He’s on the Mavericks’ list, yes. But not
necessarily at the top.
 
Our good buddy at Yahoo Sports suggested that the Mavericks
will target Atlanta’s shooting guard, and they may do so. Adrian Wojnarowski
is usually pretty dialed in.
 
But so many of these kind of stories come from agents who
have ulterior motives. If they can get the word out that one team is hot for
their client, then the destination that is more desirable in the free-agent’s
eyes might take notice and ramp up its conviction to get said superstar.
 
That may or may not be going on here, but New York is
believed to be No. 1 on Johnson’s list. And indeed the rumor is that he
will meet with the Knicks Thursday afternoon.
 
Of course, this can’t possibly be true yet because it
would be tampering, right?
 
At any rate, if the Knicks were to offer, say, David Lee in a
sign-and-trade for Johnson, that’s a better asset for Atlanta than
anything the Mavericks can offer.
 
Still, it’s making for good barstool banter the next
couple of days.