Webber

	Sprewell

Spree has been telling anyone who'll listen that he hopes that Chris Webber will come to the Knicks this summer when he becomes a free agent.

"I'm doing all I can," Sprewell said.

Since Spree can't do anything but fantasize, it's all wishful thinking. But the league is treating it like Sprewell is seriously tampering. Which is why he was called in on Stern's carpet Monday morning.

If anything, the whole episode exposes Sprewell as totally oblivious to something called the salary cap.

Because they're capped out through Scott Layden's lifetime, the Knicks have a better chance of winning the championship this season than they have of signing Webber.

The Kings already have told Webber they'll give him the maximum, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that he'll stay. However, if he does decide to leave, he's only going to go to a team that he thinks can win the championship. That eliminates the Knicks right there.

Unlike Eddie Jones, who put the screws to Charlotte and forced them into a sign-and-trade deal with Miami by seriously flirting with the Bulls and their millions, Webber won't have that leverage. What's he going to tell the Kings, "If you don't trade me to New York, I'll go to Detroit"?

Here's how utterly ridiculous that is: The Pistons, who could be from $10 million to $12 million under the cap, don't think they have a shot at Webber. And they're only his hometown team and desperately need him to rebuild.

	Houston

Sacramento also has absolutely no interest in dealing Webber, least of all to New York. From a Knicks standpoint, they don't have the assets to get him, anyway. In a sign-and-trade deal, Allan Houston would almost certainly have to be part of it, meaning he'd need to agree to re-sign to play for the Kings. "No way," said a person close to Houston, who has an early-termination option this summer. "He doesn't want to play in Sacramento."

So what's the difference if Sprewell keeps talking about wanting to play with Webber?

It can't happen.

Magic still have a shot
With Grant Hill out indefinitely, that could put a major dent in Doc Rivers' plans to get the Magic homecourt advantage in the first round.

"I want to break into the top four," Rivers said. "We have the athletes. It's just that the problem is Grant's ankle."

	McGrady

The Magic say they knew the full extent of Hill's condition when they signed him to a $93-million contract last summer. They had their doctors check him out and knew that he was coming to Orlando with five pins in the left ankle as a result of offseason surgery.

"At some point, he'll be 100 percent," Rivers said. "The problem is, when? If he's healthy by midseason and we can just keep our heads above water -- or even if we can't ... but if we still have a chance at the end of the season to be healthy, we can do it."

They still can, because the East is that bad.

"If we can get Grant healthy, early enough, we could make a run at a top-four finish," said Rivers, who thinks getting the homecourt edge is imperative because he doesn't have anyone who's ever been out of the first round. "But if he's not healthy all year, then it's going to be very difficult. Then we'll have to lean on a 21-year-old guy (Tracy McGrady) who's never been the guy."

McGrady's ejection from the Magic's loss to Philly over the weekend is exactly what Rivers is talking about. The lead guy can never hurt his own team by getting tossed from a game. But McGrady lost his cool, even if Eric Snow took a page out of Charlie Ward's notebook by going at McGrady's knees.

Rim Shots

	Smith

The league isn't expected to keep Smith in limbo if he chooses to go to Miami. But if he insists on rejoining the Wolves, expect Stern to keep throwing up legal roadblocks.

The systems arbitrator will soon rule whether the league was wrong in stripping Smith of his Bird rights. The Players Association expects that if the league loses, the league will then appeal the case to an appeals panel. However, the union also thinks in that case, Smith still could sign with the T-Wolves or a new team and begin playing immediately.

Right now, the appeals panel hasn't even been assembled. One league source said that Stern won't drag the case out if Smith decides to play elsewhere. But since Smith's first choice is still Minnesota, Stern intends to keep him off the court as long as he can, as punishment for entering into the secret agreement with the T-Wolves.