Happy Independence Day, America! Now where’s the Canadian going?

The Knicks and Phoenix aren’t taking today off to celebrate America’s independence, as they’re trying to hammer out a sign-and-trade deal for Canadian Steve Nash that – if completed – would make the Toronto Raptors folks want to shove a flaming fountain up James Dolan’s backside.

The Knicks owner is the one hoping for this, yearning to land another money-making star for the Garden scene even if it might mean losing one of your best young players in Iman Shumpert. As I wrote last night, the Suns love Shumpert and including him in a deal would likely be enough to get the approval on their end. There are some Knicks folks who wish he wasn’t in play and that Nash would just take the Raptors’ three-year, $36 million offer and be done with it, but I have to admit that I’m torn as to how I see the Knicks’ view here.

Free Agency, Day 2 (even if it feels like Day 20)

Welcome to the NBA “off”season, where it’s clear that no one in the media will be getting days off anytime soon. Too much action. Too much drama. And we’re two days – I repeat, two days – into the free agency period.

I joined ESPN New York’s Bill Daughtry on Monday night to break down the latest. Move the sliding timer to the 40-minute mark for our chat. – Interview here.

I joined SI.com’s Maggie Gray to chat it up as well – Interview here (VIDEO)

If you missed the news of the day, it started with Anthony Davis becoming the latest Team USA candidate to fall and ended – at least on my end – with a source telling me that the Clippers are the clear frontrunners in their pursuit of free agent shooting guard Jamal Crawford (though the source said he is looking for more than the three-year, $15 million midlevel deal that, according to the LA Times, the Clippers are prepared to offer and that the two sides continued to exchange ideas leading up to his Tuesday visit in Los Angeles).

In between, of course, new Atlanta GM Danny Ferry traded a seemingly-untradeable contract (four years, $89 million remaining for the 31-year-old) by agreeing to send Joe Johnson to the Nets while likely ruining Orlando center Dwight Howard’s grand plan of becoming Brooklyn’s biggest star (though Chris Sheridan is hearing there’s still a scenario in play that could bring him there). Don’t say I didn’t try to warn you that Ferry wasn’t going to waste any time shaking up one of the league’s most stagnant, though competitive, rosters.

Day No. 3 of free agency is technically here already, meaning it’s time for me to turn in. Belated props to NetsDaily.com for breaking the Hawks-Nets story. Thanks for reading, following, and caring folks.