With Tuesday's passing, free-agents can finally officially sign with the team of their choosing. Who will go where is on the topic of all debate in the NBA world and will they make a difference?

On Wednesday's first day of action, guard Sam Cassell resigned with the Los Angeles Clippers. Cassell is averaging 16.3 points and 6.2 assists per game in his 13 year career, and he helped the Clippers advance to the second round of the playoffs last season. Playing along side all-star Elton Brand, Cassell is promising to show that L.A. is more than just Kobe Bryant's town.

The Hawks are hoping to end the embarrassing play that they have become accustomed to, starting with drafting Sheldon Williams as their first pick, fifth overall back on June 28th. To add on to the Duke star's superb talent, Atlanta signed free-agent guard Speedy Claxton, who averaged 12.3 points and 4.3 assists last season for the Hornets. Atlanta also signed their second-round pick of this past draft Solomon Jones out of South Florida.

There have also been some very significant trades on this first day of action, the first involving Indiana and New Orleans/Oklahoma City. Indiana first re-signed free-agent guard Peja Stojakovic, and then traded him to the Hornets in exchange for the draft rights to Andrew Betts. The Hornets obviously got the better end of this deal, obtaining one of the best, if not the best, shooting guards in the league. Peja has a career average of 18.4 points per game. Last season, he was second in the league in free-throw shooting at 91.5%, and shot an impressive 40.1% beyond the arc. Peja is one of the purest shooters in the NBA and with teammate Chris Paul, the 2006 Rookie of the Year, the Hornets will surely make the playoffs and be a strong competitor in this league.

After a disappointing sixth game series loss in the NBA finals, the Dallas Mavericks are hoping to find that little something extra to bring home a championship. Apparently, they felt guard Marquis Daniels was the player to be voted off the island, and shipped him to Indiana for forward Austin Croshere. Whoever got the better end of this deal is, at this time, unknown and the public will have to wait until the season begins to find out the answer.

Another large trade dealt with Golden State and Utah. Both teams have much potential to be strong competitors in the league, but still fail to make an impression in the score boards. Eager to find whatever is missing, the two teams participated in the largest transaction on this first day of eligibility. The Warriors acquired Devin Brown, Keith McLeod and Andre Owens from the Jazz for Derek Fisher. This large trade throwing down impressive players, with be beneficial for both teams. Also, expect many other moves in the off-season with these teams as they prepare optimistically for a strong season.

Another transaction came between Memphis and Houston. With Houston having a poor 2005-2006 season due to injuries and a short bench, they needed to make drastic changes in order to have players backup all-stars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. So, Houston traded Stromile Swift and the draft rights of Rudy Gay for Shane Battier of Memphis. Memphis then signed Rudy Gay, a UConn alum.

Both 2003 draft members LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony re-signed with Cleveland and Denver respectively for long-term extensions worth the maximum of just around $80 million.
Other first day transactions include: Utah re-signing unrestricted free agent Matt Harpring, New Jersey signing first-round picks Marcus Williams and Josh Boone, Philadelphia re-signing restricted free agents Willie Green and Shavlik Randolph, San Antonio signing free agent Jacque Vaughn, Seattle signing 2005 second-round pick Mickael Gelabale, and New Orleans/Oklahoma City waiving Arvydas Macijuaskas.

Keep a look out for blockbuster trades, deals, and steals as free-agent signing gets under way. If you want to check out the continuing action go to the site listed below for all your transaction information.

http://www.nba.com/transactions/current_month_transactions.html