It will be interesting to see if Mitch Richmond or Juwan Howard screams that management is just trying to get a better draft pick.
Fans of Bulls history will remember 1986 as the beginning of Michael Jordan’s feud with management. Jordan, who broke his foot in the third game of the 1985-86 season, missed 64 games. He was anxious to play. Team doctors said Jordan had about a 20 percent chance of a permanent injury if he returned.
The Bulls said he should sit out the rest of the season. Jordan screamed management merely was trying to have a poorer record to get a better draft pick, and he didn’t want to be associated with that kind of team. Eventually, Jordan returned to limited playing time, which only ensured that Jordan’s feud with General Manager Jerry Krause wouldn’t end.
Now, Jordan runs the Washington Wizards. Jordan’s magic touch and practicing with Laron Profit isn’t having much effect thus far. Going into Sunday’s game in Golden State, the Wizards have yet to win on the road since Jordan took over and are 1-6 under interim coach Darrell Walker. They have been passed in the standings by Vancouver and appear ready to fall behind the Warriors.
And now reports out of Washington are that if the team cannot improve by Thursday’s trading deadline, Jordan wants youngsters Richard Hamilton, Gerald King and Profit playing considerably more.
Which would only insure that the Wizards will lose more games and have a better chance of holding on to their No. 1 draft pick in 2000, which goes to the Bulls as part of the Toni Kukoc trade unless it winds up being one of the first three picks in the draft.
And the hottest trade rumor regarding the Wizards has the team in a three-way deal sending backup center Isaac Austin to the Jazz. Austin remains close friends with Karl Malone and might work himself back into shape under Malone’s prodding. The Detroit Pistons would get Greg Ostertag and the Wizards would get the Pistons’ No. 1 draft pick, a move that only weakens the Wizards for this season since it takes away a player in the rotation for a draft pick. The Wizards also would get the rights to the retired Bison Dele in the deal to equalize salaries.
Wonder what the Washington players think about an executive who doesn’t give them the best chance to win now? Or perhaps Jordan is discovering there’s another side to this management thing.
Atlanta burning: The big name that keeps coming out of Atlanta is Dikembe Mutombo, who’ll be a free agent after next season. Hawks President Stan Kasten said in January when the team was 12-21 there would be big changes unless there was a turnaround. There hasn’t been.
“It’s been a one-year gamble that hasn’t worked out,” admits Kasten, who also didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement to coach Lenny Wilkens when he said, “One thing I keep hearing is interest in our players. [League executives] like our roster. They don’t understand why we don’t win.”
There’s a two-word reason: Isaiah Rider. The moody one is averaging 16 points and shooting 38 percent in his last 14 games and if he isn’t traded, he could be released.
As for Mutombo, the Suns openly have expressed interest. But as General Manager Pete Babcock said, “What are they going to give me, Luc Longley?”
Trade talk: One player who is getting some interest is the Nets’ Keith Van Horn, regarded as a future star just a year ago. The Nets have been offering him around because with the acquisition of Stephon Marbury, Van Horn has slumped badly all season. He’s at career lows in scoring and shooting and a high in turnovers.
General Manager John Nash admits there is a Marbury factor: “He [Van Horn] was the best player on our team before the arrival of Stephon Marbury. This isn’t Keith Van Horn and the New Jersey Nets anymore. It’s Stephon Marbury and the New Jersey Nets. And I think that’s affected his confidence just a tad.”
The Lakers, in a last-ditch move to get Kukoc, said they’d take Hersey Hawkins from the Bulls. But the Bulls were unable to get any teams interested in Glen Rice and his expected big-contract demands.
Milwaukee trouble: Glenn Robinson is having his best season. He seems finally to be in shape and is quicker. He may be the game’s best midrange shooter and is the Bucks’ leading scorer, which is why their only hope is to trade him.
Milwaukee refuses to consider inquiries about Robinson, but the Bucks have been a huge disappointment this season. They dropped their fifth straight at home Saturday night and were booed, and are yielding almost 103 points per game, fourth poorest in the league.
Coach George Karl, who gained his reputation with defense in Seattle, has been unable to gain any sustained defensive effort from the Bucks, and after Saturday’s loss stated the obvious: “Sam, Ray and Glenn were sieves. They didn’t stop anybody. They got their butts kicked on every possession except maybe 10. We try to do the pretty-boy stuff too much.”
Robinson is hardly fully to blame, but the Bucks have enough scoring with Ray Allen and Sam Cassell. They need defense and interior strength to play Karl’s style, and dealing Robinson is the only way to get it. Said Allen: “The fans have been behind us and that’s all I’ve asked in Milwaukee. But if we can’t satisfy the people who paid money to see us play, it’s not worth coming back. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t support us at all at this point.”
Detroit deals? It’s one thing when management is anxious to deal, but when the players are, you know there’s trouble.
The Pistons have been staggering. Their defense is miserable and forward Jerome Williams said: “We have to shake something up. We keep hearing all this talk about this happening or that happening. Well, the players [think] `OK, do it.’ Do something with the lineup or something. Whatever this thing is here, it ain’t working.”
Coach Alvin Gentry talked about a slowdown game, which Grant Hill objected to, so that was quickly forgotten. And team vice-president Joe Dumars said: “We are ready to pull the trigger.” They tried with Christian Laettner and Dele’s contract for Tyrone Hill and Matt Geiger, but that wouldn’t work. It’s gotten so bad they even tried playing Eric Montross.
Heat changes? Heat coach Pat Riley continues to insist he won’t make a move, though he sees the need as much as anyone after losses to the Bulls and Nets.
There was talk last week of players tuning Riley out, of Tim Hardaway unable to regain his quickness. Opponents have said the Heat is too non-athletic, too inconsistent and too predictable to win anymore. It’s a team that seems, as much as any, to need the kind of kick-start a trade and lineup reshuffling would provide.
But Riley, who oddly values P.J. Brown as if he were Karl Malone, says: “I’m probably one of the most patient coaches around in terms of trying to keep things in perspective. If we’re 19-30, then we’re talking about a different thing. Five years ago, we were 21-17, so the bomb was detonated the next day. But we’re not there.”
The Heat does need an athletic guard and talk has centered on John Starks, Rider and the Nets’ Kendall Gill, who said: “I know they [Miami] want me, but I don’t want to play there. I want to win a championship. I admire Pat Riley and what he’s done. However, I don’t believe his tactics are going to win a championship. He hasn’t won a championship since he had three Hall of Famers on his team [in Los Angeles].” Ouch.
Smith update: Leon Smith had a look-see from the Nets last week and Jayson Williams says he wants to make the King High School product his protg. “I would love to help the kid,” Williams said. “That’s what I’m all about. I had my own things to deal with [at that age] and now here I am. I hope we sign him.” Williams, by the way, takes a strength test on his broken leg Tuesday to see if he can begin practicing. . . . Shaquille O’Neal after stealing an in-bounds pass to save a win over Orlando Friday: “My new nickname is `The Big Felon’ because of my stealing ability.” O’Neal, who also seemed to be stealing since he was such a poor free-throw shooter, had converted 41 of his last 54 (76 percent) going into Sunday. Said O’Neal: “I’m at a point in my life where it’s time to concentrate. The hack-a-Shaq will never work again.”. . . . Players being offered around who don’t seem to be drawing much interest: The Cavs’ Shawn Kemp and Brevin Knight, the Celtics’ Kenny Anderson, the Grizzlies’ Bryant Reeves, the Mavs’ Shawn Bradley, the Sonics’ Greg Foster, the Suns’ Longley and anyone wearing a Wizards’ uniform. And at last, there is interest in Danny Ferry, finally at the end of a 10-year contract.
