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djsunyc
Posts: 44929
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Joined: 1/16/2004
Member: #536
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What are the bad teams waiting for?
By Chad Ford
Coach on leaving Seattle for Portland
The NBA and Players Association continue to postpone the NBA equivalent of Christmas Day for roughly 35 free agents on the verge of signing a combined $800 million worth of guaranteed contracts.
I'm surprised Michael Redd and company haven't stormed NBA headquarters in New York by now. I can barely keep my kids at bay for 15 seconds -- while I grab the video camera on Christmas morning -- over a Barbie dream house and some Star Wars action figures.
Redd shot 43.8 percent from 3-point land in 2003, but fell off to 35.5 percent in '05.
The latest revision is now targeting Monday as the day when NBA check writing and contract signing can begin. Isn't it just a matter of time before Bucks owner Herb Kohl realizes he might have overpaid a little for an undersized sharp-shooting two guard who shot just 35 percent from 3-point land last season?
You want to know what's even more curious than the procedural delays that keep dragging out the moratorium? The unusual decisions by some of the worst teams in the league to sit back and wait out the free-agent period altogether.
While playoff teams like the Nets keep getting richer, a number of bad teams still have nothing to show for their efforts over the past 25 days. Thirty-five free agents have agreed to terms. The worst five teams in the NBA have landed none of them.
That, in and of itself, isn't surprising. But when three of them have major cap room and the other two have or had valuable trade assets, it makes you wonder … what are they waiting for?
While lottery teams like the Bucks, Knicks and Cavs clearly have gotten stronger, teams like the Hawks, Hornets, Bobcats, Jazz and Blazers clearly have not.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks are way under the cap (to the tune of $23 million) for the second straight year and so far have zero to show for it. We all expect the Hawks to tender Joe Johnson, a restricted free agent, a max five-year, roughly $70 million offer sheet.
Will the Suns match? It depends on whom you talk to. A report in the Arizona Republic today says Suns staffers are worried owner Robert Sarver doesn't want to spend the money.
Sarver might be a little tighter with the purse strings and it's true the Suns think the Hawks way overpaid for Johnson. It's also true if the Suns match the deal, their payroll will be roughly $62 million. When Amare Stoudemire agrees to his max extension this fall, that number will move into the $66 million to $68 million range in 2006-07.
However, it may cost the Suns more to let him walk. While their cap problems would be lessened by not matching Johnson, the team would be without their most lethal shooter and would clearly take a step backward next season. With Steve Nash not getting any younger, that's not the plan in Phoenix.
Suns GM Bryan Colangelo sounds confident the Suns have made the necessary moves to absorb Johnson's huge contract offer. Colangelo already traded Quentin Richardson away, along with their first-round draft pick to clear some long-term cap room. And the Suns intend to use the amnesty rule in conjunction with Howard Eisley's waived contract as a way to dodge the luxury tax next year. In other words, it sounds like the Suns are making every effort to keep him. That, or they're putting up the best smoke screen we've seen in years.
If the Hawks land Johnson, they plan to play him at point guard, with Josh Childress at the two, and Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Harrington (if he isn't traded) at the forward spots. They'd be long and athletic and no starter would be shorter than 6-foot-7.
If they could use the rest of their cash (and Harrington as trade bait) to land a long, athletic shot-blocking center like Jamaal Magloire via trade, they would be much improved this season.
However, if the Hawks lose Johnson, they'll likely spend another summer without a marquee free agent. They could still throw a max offer Tyson Chandler's or Eddy Curry's way. However, the Bulls would likely match any offer for Chandler. Curry they could probably have in a sign-and-trade. But be careful what you wish for.
If the Hawks walk away for the second summer with nothing, Billy Knight might as well pack his bags. It won't totally be his fault the Hawks couldn't lure a top unrestricted free agent to Atlanta. But it was his idea to trade away all their assets two years ago in order to get the cap room, so that excuse won't go very far.
Ripping down a team to build it up again works some of the time (see the Nuggets). But much of the time, GMs find it impossible to lure top free agents to a losing situation (see Jerry Krause's Bulls). It takes good decisions, a little luck and a lot of planning to get it right. We'll see in the next few weeks if the Hawks have any of the above.
New Orleans Hornets
The Hornets have done something. They came to terms with two of their own free agents, Chris Andersen and Bostjan Nachbar, and they agreed to a deal with the top shooter in Europe, Arvydas Macijauskas.
That's a ripple in the ocean compared with what the Hornets really need to do. First-round pick Chris Paul will make a major impact. But the team still needs a real small forward and has to address the Magloire situation.
The Hornets have been working hard to address the latter. They've talked with the Raptors, Knicks, Pacers and even the Sixers about cutting a deal. However, the talk hasn't gone anywhere.
Meanwhile, most of the top free agents have signed without the Hornets even noticing. Most of the agents for the top 25 free agents on the market claim they haven't even heard from the Hornets this summer. Why they didn't make a strong push for Samuel Dalembert, Stromile Swift or a small forward like Vladimir Radmanovic isn't a mystery. They were all asking for too much money, and tight owner George Shinn doesn't want to pay.
You can't fault the Hornets for not overspending, but at the same time, you have to wonder whether the Hornets will ever get out of the Western Conference cellar now that it's clear Shinn isn't going to spend any money.
Charlotte Bobcats
The Bobcats have a ton of money, but are content to sit this one out. Unlike the Hawks and Hornets, the Bobcats have time on their side. They're still in the honeymoon period and have a well thought-out plan that they're sticking to.
GM Bernie Bickerstaff wants to continue building through the draft. The Bobcats are still stinging over their slip to No. 5 in the draft lottery -- missing out on two players, Marvin Williams and Paul, who they believed could be franchise players.
The Bobcats had the money to go after a guy like Johnson in free agency, but felt they were better off being bad for another year and taking another swipe at getting the No. 1 pick in the draft in 2006. If they could add a player like Rudy Gay next season, all their patience will be worth it.
They'll have a nice core of young players and will be able to spend their free-agent money to augment them with solid veterans.
In this case, it's hard to fault them for their plan.
That doesn't mean the Bobcats will do nothing this summer. They want to re-sign Gerald Wallace and Kareem Rush and will try to use the rest of the money on one-year deals for intriguing players with upside.
Utah Jazz
The Jazz got their man, Deron Williams, on draft night, but they've been unable to do much else during the free-agency period.
After landing (and overpaying) two big free agents (Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur) last season, perhaps they're being more conservative this year.
They've already lost Raja Bell, and three former No. 1 picks in Kirk Snyder, Curtis Borchardt and Raul Lopez, while only adding Greg Ostertag to the roster.
They've made hard pushes for players like Sarunas Jasikevicius, Antonio Daniels, Earl Watson and Mark Madsen, but haven't been able to seal the deal.
Their backcourt is seriously thin right now and they need some help. Why they haven't made a stronger push to land a local kid like Travis Hansen (who played very well in Spain last year) is a head scratcher.
Even if they don't go in that direction, with guys like Matt Harpring as trade bait, you'd hope they could get a decent player back in return.
Portland Trail Blazers
The good news for Blazers fans is that this is one of the brightest young teams in the NBA. Travis Outlaw, Sebastian Telfair and Martell Webster all had good summers. Russian swingman Sergei Monia is coming over for his rookie season. Jarrett Jack (the Blazers' other first-round pick), Viktor Khryapa and Ha Seung Jin round out a talented, albeit extremely young, core.
The problem is the Blazers now need a few veterans who can show them how to win. The Blazers were surprisingly hard line in their Shareef Abdur-Rahim sign-and-trade negotiations and got nothing that can help in the short term.
They own another valuable contract (Nick Van Exel's) that they've been unable to trade. Because Van Exel's contract is not guaranteed this season, it means they can trade his $12 million deal and give a team instant cap room if they decide to waive him.
So far, the Blazers have struck out. They've made pitches for Daniels and Jasikevicius but are still looking for the leadership, toughness and experience that Nate McMillan needs to turn the Blazers into a winner.
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7/26/2005 2:39 PM
