Sure, Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler haven’t performed as the Bulls had hoped and expected. One coaching change later, the question remains whether the Bulls can reach their stated goal of the playoffs this season.
But there’s another key issue in the belated development of the Nos. 2 and 4 overall picks in the 2001 draft. Curry and Chandler become eligible for contract extensions after this season for the first time. Because the two once were thought of as so-called maximum-contract players, the Bulls have been adjusting their future payroll to accommodate their expected annual salaries of $10 million-plus.
But with their indifferent play and Chandler’s injuries, the Bulls are unlikely to offer either an extension. The belief is both will be allowed to become restricted free agents after next season, when the Bulls could match any offer for either.
But neither figures to have the contract security he has sought, and the Bulls run the risk of some team concocting a creative financing deal that could limit their ability to re-sign one or both.
Here’s a look at the Bulls’ current payroll:
– Antonio Davis $12,000,000
– Eddie Robinson $6,204,000
– Jerome Williams $5,400,000
– Scottie Pippen $4,917,000
– Tyson Chandler $3,804,360
– Marcus Fizer $3,726,994
– Jay Williams $3,710,880
– Eddy Curry $3,080,160
– Jamal Crawford $2,577,937
– Kirk Hinrich $2,185,920
– Corie Blount $1,680,000
– Chris Jefferies $840,360
– Kendall Gill $688,679
– Roger Mason $563,679
– Linton Johnson $366,000
– Total $51,745,969
That total is important for the Bulls because of the luxury tax that is triggered if total salaries to the NBA’s players exceed 61.1 percent of league income. Last season players’ salaries (averaging $4.55 million) and benefits totaled $1.74 billion, which came to more than 65 percent of income.
As a result, the luxury tax went into effect. It taxes teams $1 on every $1 spent above the luxury-tax level, which was a $52.8 million payroll last season. Also because of the salary level, the 10 percent of the players’ salaries held in escrow as part of the collective-bargaining agreement was redistributed to teams last season.
Seven teams paid a total of almost $100 million in “taxes,” which was distributed to teams that didn’t exceed the luxury-tax threshold of $52.8 million. The result this season is that several of those tax-paying teams, some of which didn’t even make the playoffs, are trying to cut salaries after seeing their taxes distributed to competitors.
Here’s a look at the biggest losers in the NBA’s escrow and tax system from last season:
– Trail Blazers $45,226,000
– Knicks $17,626,000
– Mavericks $11,754,000
– Kings $10,631,000
– 76ers $6,013,000
– Lakers $3,004,000
– Grizzlies $808,000
Also paying taxes because of their high payrolls were the Timberwolves, Nets, Heat, Bucks, Hawks, Raptors, Suns, Pacers and Spurs. But their payments were offset by league distributions, and they netted receipts from the escrow and tax system.
The big winners were teams not paying taxes and getting receipts. Thirteen teams received distributions, mostly coming from other teams, of $14,435,000 per team. They were the Bulls, Celtics, SuperSonics, Magic, Rockets, Cavaliers, Jazz, Nuggets, Pistons, Warriors, Wizards, Hornets and Clippers.
As salaries are reduced, the likelihood of a luxury tax decreases, meaning salaries throughout the NBA are likely to drag. As a result, teams will find it difficult to justify big maximum contracts for young players.
The uneven play of Curry and Chandler and the lack of team success raise questions of just what the Bulls would be willing to commit to those two. The team instead might be inclined to troll a growing free-agent market for talent.
Draft class: Chandler and Curry aren’t the only members of the high school class of 2001 having trouble. Washington’s Kwame Brown, the No. 1 overall pick who is out from under what he said were the difficulties of playing for Doug Collins and Michael Jordan, is averaging 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in 27 minutes. Plus he’s unhappy.
“I just need to stop getting frustrated when I don’t get shots and try to do the little things,” Brown said. “Most big men do better when they get the ball. In preseason I did better when I got touches. I was excited and I was energized. Sometimes I do jumping jacks in the lane, and I still don’t get the ball. I’ve been running the floor, but I haven’t been getting noticed.”
Curry is averaging 13.4 points and 6.5 rebounds. Chandler, with back problems, averages 13.0 points and 10.3 rebounds. So by comparison in their class, they’re at the top.
DaSagana Diop, the No. 8 pick by the Cavs, is averaging 2.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. Eddie Griffin, the No. 7 pick after only one year at Seton Hall, has been suspended all season by the Rockets. Rodney White, picked No. 9 after one season at North Carolina-Charlotte, was traded by Detroit to Denver last season and is averaging 6.6 points.
Draft class, Part II: The draft of 2000 doesn’t look much better:
No. 1 pick Kenyon Martin wasn’t offered an extension by the Nets. No. 2 pick Stromile Swift is in and out of the rotation in Memphis and is expected to be traded. No. 3 pick Darius Miles has gone from starter to last off the bench in Cleveland. No. 4 pick Marcus Fizer has barely played for the Bulls since getting hurt last year. No. 5 pick Mike Miller is having difficulties shooting with the Grizzlies. No. 6 pick DerMarr Johnson is out of the NBA. No. 7 pick Chris Mihm is a backup in Cleveland. No. 8 pick Jamal Crawford has been at the center of trade rumors with the Bulls. No. 9 pick Joel Przybilla has been hurt and rarely plays for the Bucks. No. 10 pick Keyon Dooling is a backup for the Clippers. No. 11 pick Jerome Moiso is out of the rotation in Toronto.
So much for building through the draft.
But there’s hope for the Bulls. Noted Mavericks coach Don Nelson, when asked about Chandler and Curry: “Usually they mature a little slower than guards. The bigger guys take the second year, the third year and maybe some of them even the fourth year and then round into shape. Most coaches get fired in between.
“You get together in the draft with your GM and the GM says, `Hey, let’s draft these two high school kids and they’ll grow into our team in four years.’ And you know darn well you’ll never see the fourth year.”
Two Bulls coaches didn’t.
Name that quote: OK, who said these things last week?
“I’ve never coached or played basketball for a compliment. I don’t give a [hoot]. It’s been a part of my life every day. I get a lot of fun out of watching guys play and compete.”
“He was not happy here. If a guy’s not happy here, the best thing is for him to be somewhere else. Life goes on. It’s too short to be unhappy for 82 games. We wish him nothing but the best.”
“Sometimes guys don’t like the substitution pattern that I use. If you can’t do what we want you to do, I’ll play somebody else. I don’t think we have anybody that can’t be substituted for.”
The speaker is Jerry Sloan, doing a masterful job with the Jazz this season. You can imagine the same things being said by new Bulls coach Scott Skiles. Skiles has a lot of Sloan in him, an overachiever who demands excellence, enjoys the work and isn’t out for personal glory.
Sloan, the former Bull, is as good a coach as there is in the NBA. He, too, left his first job, which was coaching the Bulls, and “experts” said he was too tough and didn’t have the disposition for NBA coaching. Sloan is in his 16th season coaching the Jazz.
Wallace’s world: Looks like Portland’s Rasheed Wallace has checked out. He scored three points and grabbed one rebound in a loss to Washington on Tuesday and then was benched Friday against New Jersey for allegedly oversleeping and missing the pregame practice. Portland, though, is reluctant to trade Wallace because his contract expires after this season and the franchise just wants to save the money.
Webber’s rap: Interesting observation by injured Chris Webber when old pal Jason Williams, in the top five in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio this season, returned to Sacramento last week. Said Webber of Williams: “Any coach could have gotten [Williams’ game] out of him if they really cared for him and wanted him to succeed. All he wanted to do is be coached, and he’s being coached. He’s definitely a better player and he’s still playing his style of ball. He’s the best ballhandler I’ve seen in the NBA, and I’ve played with some great point guards.”
Another rap at Rick Adelman, but few teams play as unselfishly and entertainingly as the Kings even without Webber, and there must be some reason for that.
The quote: Indiana’s Ron Artest, having his best season, after being told about Keyshawn Johnson’s release by the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers: “So he was basically like Ron Artest from last season.” Understanding time off, Artest added: “He’s got his Super Bowl ring, right? They gave him all his money, right? Now he can use the time off to go get his attitude right.”
The quote II: Houston’s Yao Ming, sitting in the nearly empty Rockets locker room Friday, offered this to American reporters: “Thanksgiving just passed, so you should probably know what I’m thankful for. LeBron James.”
