Doug Smith of the Toronto Star reports that free agency sure has changed. In the past, a big name free agent could expect team officials on his doorstep at midnight trying to woo him. Today, the teams hold all the cards and are in no hurry to play them.

As of now, the most significant free-agent signing that will take place on Wednesday is Chauncey Billups signing with the Pistons. Not exactly earth-shattering.

Smith writes, ?Instead of the likes of Orlando coach Doc Rivers paying prospective signees a visit the second the clock struck midnight on July 1 ? as he did with Antonio Davis last year ? and instead of Krause dangling millions in front of anyone and everyone only to have them all turn him down, we have the prospect of general managers sitting back and waiting to get good players cheap as the summer drags on. In other words, don't expect a flurry of activity on Wednesday.?

The threat of the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax being levied against NBA teams next summer has GM?s unwilling to shell out big bucks for free agents. And for the raptors, the luxury tax gives GM Glen Grunwald all the power in the Keon Clark negotiations.

According to Smith, no other team is going to offer more than the mid-class exception (expected to be about $4.6 million) to Clark, which is less than he?s worth. If Clark accepts an offer from another team, the Raptors can match the offer and keep him, or they can let him go and use the money saved to sign one or two players at a discount rate later on in the summer.

That means if Grunwald saves $4.7 million by not signing Clark, he might be able to get a player of slightly less skill for $3 million later in summer who might do just as well filling the centre role for Toronto.

The loser in this situation is Clark (and the other free agents as well) who will be forced to sign for much less than full market value.