The speculation has had the 76ers involved in a sign-and-trade scenario, sending Miller, their unrestricted free agent, to the New York Knicks for point guard Chris Duhon.

But . . . a highly placed source within the Knicks' organization told the Daily News yesterday that there has been no contact with Miller. Meanwhile, a source familiar with the Sixers' situation told the Daily News that no such offer has been made.

Andy Miller, the agent for Andre Miller, said in a text message that "there is nothing to report."

Kevin Bradbury, the agent for Duhon, said in a text message, "It's not true. I have not had any conversations with Philly in regards to this rumor.''

What is known is that both the Sixers and Andy Miller are open to the idea of a sign-and-trade for Andre Miller.

The Sixers have been willing to re-sign Andre Miller for 1 year at the NBA's $5.85 million midlevel exception; that's the most they can offer without going over the dollar-for-dollar luxury-tax trigger point. Andy Miller is believed to be seeking a 3-year deal, starting at $10.3 million.

The Miller-to-the-Knicks talk appears to be similar to earlier rumors of a projected sign-and-trade with the Portland Trail Blazers that would have netted the Sixers point guard Steve Blake and forward Travis Outlaw. By all accounts, that one never had any legs, either.

Sixers president/general manager Ed Stefanski has not commented publicly on any of the speculation, but was willing to evaluate the results of the Sixers -New Jersey Nets joint venture in the Orlando Summer Pro League. The team finished 0-5, concluding with Friday's 92-79 loss to the Boston Celtics. With several players leaving early to join teams in the Las Vegas Summer League, they had just seven men available. Gary Forbes led the Sixers -Nets with 19 points, while Nick Fazekas had 22 for the Celtics.

Stefanski, though, seemed encouraged with the progress of first-round draft choice Jrue Holiday, the point guard from UCLA, saying: "He got a taste somewhat of what it will be like in the [NBA], a strong dose of five games in 5 days. He also got an idea of what he has to do to take care of his body, how to get his rest, how to eat right. But being with our coaches, he progressed every day, began to feel the games out, get more comfortable."

Holiday averaged 8.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals.

As for second-year big man Marreese Speights, Stefanski said: "He had a strong first game in terms of scoring, getting his shots on pick-and-pop plays. We know he can do that. We need him to try and get comfortable playing down low. That's what he needs to work on.''

Speights averaged 14.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.

Six shotsTemple's Dionte Christmas, who was with the team as an undrafted free agent, has joined the Los Angeles Clippers' entry in Las Vegas. "He did a nice job for us," Ed Stefanski said. "He was grateful to be in anybody's camp after not getting drafted. The one negative we had heard about him was his defense, but he acquitted himself nicely, kept his man in front of him. I think he helped himself with the scouts, and now he'll get some more exposure" . . . Stefanski said both guard Blake Ahearn and forward Rob Kurz are possibilities for invitations to the Sixers' training camp . . . The Las Vegas rosters tend to be fluid, but former Sixer Kareem Rush was listed with the Denver Nuggets, former Saint Joseph's University stars Ahmad Nivins and Dwayne Jones with the Dallas Mavericks and the Detroit Pistons, respectively, and Villanova's Dante Cunningham with the Portland Trail Blazers. *