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Deep into the night on the NBA grapevine, two juicy tales were being circulated. No. 1: Michael Redd is close to telling the Milwaukee Bucks that, yes, he's coming back to Brewtown to take a contract that goes one year -- and roughly $20 million -- better than the best deal that can be offered by the Cleveland Cavaliers. And ... No. 2: The Portland Trail Blazers increased their offer to $7 million annually -- SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS -- to convince Nate McMillan to leave the only franchise he has ever known and sit on the other bench in the Pacific Northwest. Give or take any embellishment on the Nate number as the news was passed around late Wednesday, it doesn't take too much effort to confirm that money is speaking pretty loudly as Free Agency Season approaches the one-week pole. Redd visited the Cavaliers face-to-face on Wednesday, but not before spending nearly 10 hours Tuesday with the Bucks, who flew the shooting guard into Milwaukee for a round of bonus lobbying. The Cavs did everything they could when it was their turn, but you have to look hard to find a GM out there who thinks Redd will pass up $90-plus million over the next six seasons to take a five-year deal in Cleveland ... and with no guarantee that LeBron James will be there for all five years. Did someone say money? Paul Allen certainly did. Be it the new $7 million figure folks are quoting now, or the mere $6 million a season mentioned over the weekend, McMillan got a five-year offer from the Blazers' free-spending owner than he simply couldn't refuse. Even after a lifetime with the Sonics. Even after receiving an offer the Sonics claimed would have made McMillan one of the five richest coaches in the game. Allen trumped those two factors by apparently moving McMillan up to No. 2 on that list -- trailing only the Lakers' Phil Jackson -- and assuring him that he'll keep spending to overhaul a roster that couldn't compare to Seattle's last season. Getting a verbal commitment Tuesday from Ray Allen, on a five-year deal worth up to $85 million, was thought to be a huge boost to Seattle's chances of keeping their Mr. Sonic. It was a sign the Sonics could be proactive, too, at a time when they have several free agents to deal with. Yet as Ric Bucher pointed out on ESPNEWS, Paul Allen is the owner with the history of move-making. Sonics owner Howard Schultz, not so much. Schultz is the guy who allowed McMillan to start last season as a lame duck thinking he was soon to be fired. The guy who gave no hint of extending McMillan's contract when the Sonics stunned the basketball world by starting 17-3. Add it all up and it obviously wasn't as tough for McMillan to jump as many of us (like me) thought. Perhaps he was also guided by the Seinfeldian principle of Going Out On A High. Nobody expected these Sonics, with all those free agents, to go 52-30 and stretch the Spurs to a tough six games in the second round in spite of numerous late-season injuries. Maybe McMillan realized how hard it would be to duplicate that next season. Especially if, say, Antonio Daniels and Jerome James are allowed to sign elsewhere. Now? Now he has a massive salary and low expectations, because the Blazers are totally starting over. It won't be McMillan's fault if these guys need a season or two to return to playoff contention. If there are questions, frankly, Paul Allen still has to answer them. It was his call to make an astronomical commitment to a coach who's still somewhat unproven. I gave McMillan my Coach of the Year vote this season, which was an undeniably amazing season given where Seattle was forecasted to finish, but I'm still not ready to call him a $7 million coach. Or a $6 million coach. That's Zen Master territory. Larry Brown's level. That's where Gregg Popovich and Rick Carlisle should be. Nate's not there yet after one 50-win season and winning one playoff series. For now, though, Portland can celebrate sticking it to its neighbors, who'll have a tougher time responding to this Nate news than Cleveland will when Redd inevitably says he's staying put. The Cavs can still re-sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas and pursue free agents. Or, better yet, they can save a good chunk of their cap room for a down-the-road signing or trade for a quality shooter in Redd's class ... as opposed to immediately rushing to spend all of their money to whoever wants it. The Sonics? They can't wait. They need a coach immediately, and the obvious replacement is in Minnesota. Dwane Casey, the longtime Sonics assistant, took the Timberwolves' job in mid-June because he couldn't wait on a maybe. He didn't think McMillan would leave his beloved Sonics and risked missing out on two jobs (Minnesota and Portland) by waiting to find out. For Casey, going to Minnesota was the smart business decision. Dare we say McMillan and Redd know the feeling. Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, click here to send a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
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