The dollars will be stacked to the stratosphere for the Michael Jordans and Shaquille O'Neals and the handful of others whose celebrity extends far beyond the game itself.

Or at least they would, but for that which makes free agency not quite so free: the cap.

No use trying to figure out the fine points, since great minds now make a specialization of capology.

Last summer, the Magic restructured the contracts of six players and traded Sam Vincent before signing O'Neal to a 7-year, $40 million contract. His first-year salary was about $3.1 million. Vander Weide said he hopes the first-round pick this year can be signed for some amount between $1.7 million and $2.3 million. But various player agents said it would take between $2 million and $3 million to sign a player such as Webber. O'Neal commanded more because of his talent.

"We wade into another interesting and intricate summer of 'capology,' " Magic General Manager Pat Williams said.

You don't need a PhD in salary capology to understand why. New York's good current position stems from a combination of good cap management, talent acquisition, player cooperation and luck.