It may be decision time for the Orlando Magic.
The immediate decision is how long to rest Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, who experienced more knee problems last week and was considered doubtful for the weekend’s games.
Hardaway opened the season with 32- and 31-point games, and his expected run at the scoring title was supposed to help keep the Magic in contention in the East. But he averaged 16 points over his last five games. After scoring just 10 in a home loss to Sacramento last week, he acknowledged a recurrence of the knee problems that caused him to miss 23 games last season.
“I can’t jump and shoot like I need to,” Hardaway said.
The larger question facing the Magic–and one it has no doubt considered seriously with the hiring of Chuck Daly as coach and Julius Erving as vice president–is the direction of the franchise.
And that direction might not include Hardaway. He unquestionably is one of the future stars of the NBA. But is he the one to carry the team?
The Magic has to know that because Hardaway’s contract has an escape clause after next season. After losing Shaquille O’Neal to free agency, Orlando cannot afford to lose Hardaway without compensation. But with his history of knee trouble, is he the player the Magic wants to pay more than $100 million and identify as its future?
It’s Daly’s principal job to find out, and there are signs that he has doubts.
Remember, despite the glowing praise for Daly, Hardaway said he wished the Magic had kept Richie Adubato after last season. That was before Hardaway and Daly had a sideline shouting match during the Pistons game last week.
“I think Penny is a bright kid, very direct, but I don’t think he wants to take center stage,” Daly said. “I think he’s a little shy. The responsibility is huge when you’re the franchise player. It’s a terrific weight. I told him I don’t like the process of throwing him the ball every time and saying, `Do it.’ “
Hardaway, however, does.
Which suggests a gap because Daly always has been strongly behind letting his stars dominate–when he believed they could.
It’s clear that with Hardaway already hurting and Daly still unsure, the Magic isn’t likely to be a serious contender this season. Which could open the way for a deal.
Hardaway back with O’Neal?
There has been much talk of the Lakers’ interest in Sacramento’s Mitch Richmond, but they’re hesitant to give up 26-year-old Eddie Jones in exchange because Richmond is 32.
But if the Lakers could get Hardaway . . .
So how would it benefit the Magic?
Consider this possibility: The Lakers already have benched Elden Campbell in favor of Robert Horry and Rick Fox at forward. And Magic center Rony Seikaly, whose contract is not guaranteed after this season, is talking about playing in Greece next year.
So the Magic gets Jones, an All-Star shooting guard and highly regarded defender, and Campbell, a good postup player at 6 feet 11 inches, for Hardaway, Derek Strong and rookie Johnny Taylor to make the deal work for salary-cap purposes.
It probably gives the Lakers the championship this season.
And it gives Orlando the salary-cap space to sign Scottie Pippen to a long-term deal after this season–Pippen privately has said he’d like to play for Orlando or Phoenix. Orlando still has Golden State’s top draft pick in 1998, which could be No. 1. The Magic could keep it or use it in a deal.
Then it’s an Orlando team of Campbell, Pippen, Horace Grant, Jones and another key piece from the high draft pick.
Can the Magic afford not to be considering that?
Pouty Pistons: Call it the Doug Collins revenge tour.
Vancouver, with Otis Thorpe getting 13 points and eight rebounds, beat the Pistons and Thorpe nemesis Collins last week in Vancouver. “They did me a favor by getting me out of there,” Thorpe said, although he’s actually making Collins look good–he has already clashed with coach Brian Hill over starting a rookie point guard and has asked to be traded.
Then the Pistons went to Portland and got beat when Stacey Augmon, another Collins expatriate, had four key points in the last 90 seconds of a four-point Trail Blazers win. He also held Grant Hill to 1-for-4 shooting in the fourth quarter.
“I wouldn’t say it was a revenge thing,” Augmon said. “The problem was between Doug and me, and we’ll leave it at that.”
Also troubling the slumping Pistons is Collins’ lineup-juggling. Grant Long, Theo Ratliff and lately Jerome Williams either have started or barely played at power forward, and Brian Williams was benched late in a loss to Seattle last week after a dispute with Collins that was called minor.
And Grant Hill was shooting less than 40 percent for the season and 31 percent in the five games going into Saturday. “We are not tough, physically or mentally,” Hill said.
Sorry, Spree: No surprise that the Warriors found Latrell Sprewell laughing in the huddle during a blowout loss to the Lakers last week. Sprewell, who then called coach P.J. Carlesimo “a joke,” was benched for the next game and kicked out of the next practice. General Manager Garry St. Jean said: “Some situations have come up which we have to address.”
How they do could also help the Pistons.
St. Jean and Spurs chief Gregg Popovich are close, and Popovich long has coveted Sprewell. Of course, he’s a dangerous influence for a good-guy team, but the Spurs aren’t that far from contending and desperately need a big scoring guard.
The Pistons, meanwhile, still want Will Perdue and might be able to broker a three-way deal.
Quick hits: The Bulls don’t seem so bad when you look around. In Denver, rookies Tony Battie and Danny Fortson were complaining about rotations and veteran players who got steamrolled in Boston. Bryant Stith said: “I think it’s positive becase it shows they care.” Sure. . . . . . . Out of the rotation in New York is 37-year-old Buck Williams. Coach Jeff Van Gundy said: “He’s a Hall of Fame player, but he can’t play 10 (minutes) consistently.” . . . Snippy, as usual, was Lenny Wilkens when asked about coaching against Larry Bird: “Why don’t you ask Larry Bird how it feels to coach against me?”
