Vince Carter will not be able to sign his $61.8 million deal with the Nets on the first day of the signing period because he will be in Los Angeles shooting a commercial for Gatorade, according to a report in the Newark Star-Ledger.

The commercial shoot is expected to be wrapped up by tomorrow or Thursday, however, which means the official signing will probably take place before the week is out.

As for the Nets' other free agents, Rod Thorn sounded as though the team and Mikki Moore are drifting apart. The Nets' initial offer to Mikki Moore -- roughly $10 million over three years, according to a player agent who required anonymity because he doesn't represent the forward -- was rejected by Mark Bartelstein.

"We have a different idea of where the market place is, basically," Thorn said last night. "So he's running around looking for what he's looking for. And if he finds it, I'm sure he'll take it."

Bartelstein called Thorn's statement "an unfair characterization," and suggested that Moore was merely exercising his right to shop around.

"Mikki made it clear he wants to be with the Nets, but (after the initial negotiation) they said they're looking at other things," Bartelstein said. "We had told the Nets that Mikki had a couple of visits, and that he wanted the opportunity to hear what teams had to say, and the Nets said they're basically moving on and will try something else.

"I just want the fans in New Jersey to know it's not true Mikki is demanding a certain amount of money. That's not the case. He just wanted a chance to finish some meetings, that's it. We're not demanding it has to be X amount."