What other teams are in a position to give Peja the max next year?
Chicago and Atlanta immediately come to mind. The Bulls are by far the scariest, but with Deng already there and a more glaring need at the PF/C with Nene available (as I said in the NBA forum) you would think they'd be heading in another direction.
ATL, as established this summer, can wreak havoc on the free agent market by throwing around max money. But still, they already have Williams, Harrington, Smith and Childress, not to mention the recently maxed out Johnson, at the swing position. Sure, they'll stick JJ at PG and Harrington or Williams at the 4, but I still don't think they'd drop the max on Peja unless it was some sort of sign and trade and if they had already failed to get Ben Wallace.
The other option is, of course, trade him, but I feel that if it hasn't happened this summer it won't be done. Petrie and the Maloofs saw last year what a midseason deal can do to team chemistry. That's not to say there won't be amicable partners looking for at least expiring contracts in deadline deals--Boston with Paul Pierce comes to mind--but I don't see us doing that unless things are really looking bad and chemistry has already gone to hell anyway.
At any rate, I think next summer will be interesting in a variety of ways, as will the season. But you all know that already.