While we're all waiting for the bean counters to come up with next year's salary cap, mid-level exception and other numbers we cannot possibly relate to, we can also suggest that the wait might be longer than anticipated for some free agents.

	Patrick Ewing would seem to be a logical choice for a $4.5 million exception, but will any teams use it?

We're not talking about the big-time guys like Chris Webber, Antonio Davis and Dikembe Mutombo. They should get theirs. Or, at least, most of what they want.

The problem this summer is for the lower rung guys who have their eye on the mid-level exception. That figure is expected to be around $4.5 million, which is nice money if you can get it. It might be hard to find anyone other than the usual, deep-pocketed suspects, to give it away.

Ted Turner owns the Atlanta Hawks. He is, by most accounts, a wealthy guy. But Jane must have taken him to the cleaners in the settlement because the Hawks are, in all likelihood, not going to use their $4.5 million exception this summer.

"I have real cash limitations," Hawks president and Turner henchman Stan Kasten said. "My anticipation is that we won't be using it at all."

Last summer, Rick Pitino dined Austin Croshere in a Beverly Hills Italian restaurant. He worked out Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Jacque Vaughn, and played golf with Bimbo Coles. It was all part of the free agency courtship process. The Celtics have closed the door this summer, content to add their three first-round picks to their existing roster.

The Hawks, Celtics and most everyone else are keeping both eyes on their payroll. The reason is the dreaded luxury tax, which kicks in, dollar-for-dollar, next season. If your payroll is above a certain number, and the current thinking is that the figure will be in the mid-$50 million range, then you pay. If your payroll is $5 million over the cap, that's also your tax.

"We're in a business," said Celtics coach Jim O'Brien. "We're not going to pay that tax."

And this is where the big hurt could come for those free agents who've been eyeballing the $4.5 million figure. If a team's payroll is close to the luxury tax figure, the $4.5 million could be the difference. Or it could be the difference in the second year, when the contract would be close to $5 million. Teams simply are not going to pay the full amount if it means they could be looking at a tax. Obviously, Paul Allen, Mark Cuban and the Cablevision Knicks don't apply here.

"I hope some team doesn't give it to a guy just because it's his turn," Kasten said. "It's double what it was a year ago ($2.25 million). That's a big increase."

It gets even bigger at 10 percent raises. A team like the Celtics, already paying out $45 million, has to watch out because, in 2002-2003, Paul Pierce will vault into big numbers with a new extension. So they won't be using it next summer, either.

The Raptors have three big free agents to consider in Davis, Jerome Williams and Alvin Williams. Those three alone, if re-signed, could add another $20 million to the Toronto payroll. That would put the Raptors at around $50 million. Think they're going to be offering the $4.5 million on top of that with the luxury tax looming as well as a big-number extension starting in 2002 for Vince Carter (assuming he takes it)? The 76ers have to re-sign Mutombo and the valuable Aaron McKie. Those two signings could push them into the mid-$50 million range. The $4.5 million would push them into tax land.

So if teams avoid the exception, who does this impact? It might impact someone like the Celtics' Bryant Stith, who has no hope of re-signing with Boston for anything close to the $5.9 million he made last year. If he were looking to catch on with a winning team, the logical place would be the $4.5 million slot. Leaving aside the rather mundane issue of whether he's worth the money, what are his options?

Same with Mitch Richmond, now a free agent as well. He can only hope that some team, perhaps Miami, would be willing to go as high as $4.5 million. But the Heat have other issues, such as Alonzo Mourning's health and a bevy of free agents (Anthony Mason, Tim Hardaway, Bruce Bowen, Dan Majerle, Anthony Carter.) Meanwhile, the bottomless pit days are over in southern Florida. Even Micky Arison doesn't want to pay the tax and he's someone who could afford it.

Someone like Patrick Ewing would seem to be a logical guy for a $4.5 million exception. He might have trouble finding a home as well for the same reason. Half-year wonders Mark Jackson, Eddie Robinson and Nazr Mohammed all seem candidates for the $4.5 million slot if they want to leave their present employer. In the cases of Jackson and Robinson, their present teams can offer only as much as $4.5 million.

Teams may not use the exception, but that's not to insinuate there won't be player movement. There will be. There always is.

It may not be as simple as the mid-level signings last summer (Mo Taylor, Derek Anderson among others) because of the increased amount and the luxury tax. You could have teams willing to sign and trade a free agent for that amount, or even more, because an incoming salary would balance it. But you have to have two to make a deal and, if you're the Raptors, a signed and traded Antonio Davis has to bring in just about the same amount of money. Ditto for the Sacramento Kings and Webber.

The players association rightly pointed to this summer and the big increase in the mid-level exception (the figure will be the average player salary, now about $4 million). They saw it as yet another way for an average player to be well compensated.

But it's only a figure now unless someone actually wants to go out and use it. Right now, most teams are determined to stay away from it, which means it could be a long, hot summer for those non-marquee free agents simply looking for a new home and a (NBA-style) living wage.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.