With less than two weeks left to use his nearly $5 million trade exception before it expires on July 29, Nets president Rod Thorn would like to strike a sign-and-trade with Portland for Shareef Abdur-Rahim this week or else move on to Stromile Swift.
The Blazers want one of the Nets' two first-round draft picks to go with the trade exception and Thorn is unwilling to part with any. Abdur-Rahim - who has drawn interest from the Kings, Spurs, Heat, Wizards, Clippers and Magic - wants a sign-and-trade because it would give him an extra year and $10 million more than he could get by accepting the roughly $5 million mid-level exception from a team.

"Portland knows what (it takes) to get a deal done. New Jersey knows," Abdur-Rahim's agent Aaron Goodwin said. "The mid-level is what we will take as a last resort."