The Nets may need to do better than the midlevel exception to get Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

Al Iannazzone writes that Aaron Goodwin, Abdur-Rahim's agent, said the Nets must convince Portland to take their $4.9 million trade exception in a sign-and-trade if they want to land the free agent forward.

"It has to be a sign-and-trade," Goodwin said. "There are quite a few teams offering the midlevel. For Shareef to come, he definitely would have to get that trade exception, and get the full extent of that trade exception."

The full extent would be a six-year, $38 million deal, as opposed to a five-year, $28 million pact via the midlevel. Abdur-Rahim already turned down a five-year, $47 million offer from the Bucks, who then gave it to Bobby Simmons.