Summertime, and the livin' is easy. The hard part, for NBA free agents, is finding teams offering maximum salary slots.

Jason Kidd is almost guaranteed to get "max" money, whether it's from the Nets or Spurs.

But as free agency starts Tuesday for 142 other free agents, including 13 former All-Stars, just about everyone else is going to feel the effects of a league-wide recession.

Only four teams - the Spurs, Nuggets, Jazz and Clippers, who never spend any money - have the potential to offer maximum salaries. A handful of teams, including the Heat, could be anywhere from $4 million to $6 million under the cap.

But the vast majority of teams are either capped out or wary of over-spending because of the luxury tax. So the best they can do is offer the $4.5 million exception. That's not exactly big money, but times are tough all over.