What do the Hornets signing of Peja Stojakovic and the Warriors trading of Derek Fisher this week have in common? More than you think.

With free agent season in full swing, most of our attention is on the big-money deals like Stojakovic’s $64 million pact with New Orleans/Oklahoma City, or Ben Wallace’s $60 million payday from Chicago.

But there’s a darker side to all this free-agent business, and it’s shown in moves like the one the Warriors made with Fisher. Golden State signed him to a six-year, $41 million deal two summers ago — a contract that even at the time most considered hilariously overvalued.

And after two years of fairly mundane production from the veteran guard, apparently the Warriors agreed. Golden State cut a deal (it won’t become official until July 12) to package the remaining four years of Fisher’s deal to Utah for the more digestible contracts of Devin Brown, Keith McLeod, and Andre Owens. None of the three has much value, but neither do they have contracts running beyond this season.As a result,the Warriors will cut millions from their payroll, likely saving themselves from the luxury tax hammer in the process.

The Fisher deal was the classic “salary dump” — the other, less discussed side of free agency, but one that comes up all too frequently. Too often, teams looking to hit the free-agent jackpot end up doing more harm than good by granting overvalued deals in a desperate measure to “win” the bidding — only to try feverishly to unload the excessive contract just a year or two later.

Another good example was Tyson Chandler, who just a year ago signed a six-year, $60 million to stay with the Bulls.Within months, Chicago realized how absurd that deal was, and two days ago the Bulls pawned him off on the Hornets in return for the expiring contract of P.J. Brown and young guard J.R. Smith.

Nobody is immune — good teams have this problem, too. Dallas, for instance, was two wins away from a championship this year. But that didn’t stop them from jettisoning Michael Finley’s onerous contract before the season. Nor did it keep them from shipping the last four years of Marquis Daniels’s sixyear, $42 million deal to Indiana on Wednesday in return for the less talented but more contract-friendly Austin Croshere. And they’d do the same with Erick Dampier’s preposterous sevenyear, $73 million deal if they could find a buyer — not even Isiah would touch that monstrosity.

Even San Antonio, the league’s shining model of business-like efficiency, had to cut bait on a bad deal. The Spurs rid themselves of center Rasho Nesterovic prior to the draft, sending the final half of his six-year, $42 million deal north of the border for role players Matt Bonner and Eric Williams.

Fisher, Daniels, Chandler and Nesterovic were the first wave of salary dumps this offseason, but they won’t be the last. And with the Knicks no longer being the destination of last resort for all the NBA’s unwanted contracts (we hope), it’s become harder than ever to unload these deals.

So in honor of Stojakovic and his fiveyear, $64 million deal — which the Hornets will be trying to unload sometime around Christmas — here’s my list of the NBA’s most likely salary dumps this off-season. Note that all of these are contracts that were agreed to within the past two years, which should serve as fair warning to overzealous general managers:

KENYON MARTIN (DENVER)
7 Years, $91 million, expires 2011

Remember how upset everybody was at Rod Thorn and Bruce Ratner over KMart’s departure from New Jersey? Uh, mea culpa guys. Sources tell me the Nuggets will even throw in a free toaster if you take Martin off their hands.

TROY MURPHY (GOLDEN STATE)
6 Years, $48 million, expires 2011

Even with Fisher gone, the Warriors still have to cut some salary. Murphy’s deal isn’t as patently ridiculous as the others on this list, but with trading partners running away in fear at the sight of Adonal Foyle’s six-year, $51 million deal, and Mike Dunleavy’s five-year, $45 million being nearly as radioactive, the sweet-shooting Jersey boy is most likely to go.

JAMAAL TINSLEY (INDIANA)
6 Years, $39 million, expires 2011

Hey, this six-year extension seemed like a good at the time.Of course,Tinsley has only been healthy for about a week since then, and he still can’t shoot. Isiah Thomas liked him in Indiana, though, which should make Knicks fans nervous.

CARLOS BOOZER (UTAH) 6 Years, $70 million, expires 2010

With the karma gods pelting him with lightning bolts after the way he back-stabbed Cleveland two years ago, Boozer has been riddled with hamstring injuries. He can still play at a high level when healthy, though, so the Jazz might get some realistic offers.

DARIUS MILES (PORTLAND) 6 Years, $48 million, expires 2010 At least Isiah didn’t trade for this guy — it was under serious consideration a year ago. Miles has talent but has spent more time squabbling with coaches than working on his undeveloped game. The Blazers are offering him far and wide, but so far all they hear back are crickets.

TROY HUDSON 6 Years, $35 million, expires 2010
MARKO JARIC 6 Years, $40 million, expires 2011
MARK BLOUNT 6 Years, $40 million, expires 2010
(MINNESOTA)

If you’re examining why Kevin Garnett can’t get the Timberwolves to the playoffs, start here. I mean, for all the grief we give Isiah, at least the guys he overpays have a modicum of ability. But Kevin McHale has wasted money on nontalents like this trio, not to mention Trenton Hassell (6 years, $26 million), and Mark Madsen (5 years, $10 million). That’s over $150 million, and not one of them can play. Needless to say, if the T’wolves ever try to trade Garnett, they’ll try to include as much of this dead weight as possible.

HONORABLE MENTION: Sam Dalembert, Philadelphia (six years, $60 million), Larry Hughes, Cleveland (five years, $60 million), Brian Cardinal, Memphis (six years, $37 million), and Etan Thomas, Washington (six years, $42 million).

Mr. Hollinger is the author of the 2005-06 Pro Basketball Forecast. He can be reached at jhollinger@nysun.com.