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playa2
Posts: 34922
Alba Posts: 15
Joined: 5/15/2003
Member: #407
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Killing the cap softly (from the sporting news)
It's probably a good thing that, for most of us, salaries remain known only to ourselves, the folks in human resources and the IRS. That way, if anyone asks, we're free to generously add a few grand or adjust the decimal point to our advantage. Alas, when you're pulling down seven figures as an NBA player, your salary often goes public. The league does not announce salaries, but the right combination of loose-lipped front-office employees and agents looking to pump up their reps can make the numbers accessible.
Unfortunately for some players, what they're taking to the bank does not match what they do on the floor. In honor of those players, we bring you our annual list of the guys who do the most damage to the salary cap while doing the least damage on the floor -- also known as the Bryant Reeves Memorial List.
(By way of ground rules, we should point out that in order to qualify for the list, a player must have more than one year left on his contract and that injuries cannot be the primary reason for the player's lack of production -- which gets Vince Carter, Grant Hill and Dikembe Mutombo off the hook.)
1. Vin Baker, Celtics. Remaining contract: Three years, $44 million. It could be argued that Baker's problems with alcohol constitute an injury, but we're not buying it. The Celtics got just 52 games and an average of 5.2 points from Baker in what was supposed to be his renaissance season.
2. Damon Stoudamire, Blazers. Contract: Two years, $30 million. Last season was the worst of Stoudamire's defunct career; he averaged lows in minutes (22.3), shooting (37.6 percent) and scoring (6.9 points). That little metal detector problem doesn't help, either.
3. Austin Croshere, Pacers. Contract: Four years, $34 million. It's shocking that Croshere still is in Indiana, which overpaid him as a free agent after his breakthrough in the 2000 Finals. His contract is indirectly responsible for the Pacers trading Brad Miller.
4. Danny Fortson, Mavericks. Contract: Four years, $25 million. As Fortson earned a reputation as a rebounding machine, he also earned a reputation as a bad teammate, which is why he was shoved aside for all but 17 games with Golden State last season.
5. Tim Thomas, Bucks. Contract: Three years, $39 million. Thomas' numbers were not terrible -- 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 44.3 percent shooting. But last season was supposed to be a showcase for Thomas as a starter. Instead, he proved he's not much of a defender and is best off as a sixth man.
6. Michael Stewart, Cavaliers. Contract: Two years, $9 million. Stewart had a good rookie year and was signed to a six-year, $24 million deal because of it. He's coming off a season in which he averaged (this is no misprint) 0.8 points per game.
7. Kelvin Cato, Rockets. Contract: Three years, $24 million. Cato is big and isn't a bad rebounder. But he moves like a phone booth, and, at $8 million per year, his 4.5 points and 5.9 boards don't hold up.
8. Alan Henderson, Hawks. Contract: Two years, $16 million. Henderson showed some flashes of his old self last year -- he even averaged 12.3 rebounds in three starts. But by midseason, it was all too obvious that he lacks both the stamina and the interest for an 82-game season.
9. Mike Bibby, Kings. Contract: Six years, $72 million. Bibby's foot injury helped limit his production, but he played in 55 games. His regular-season play was not bad, but Bibby was awarded an enormous contract for his playoff production in 2002, and he fizzled in the 2003 postseason.
10. Calvin Booth and Jerome James, SuperSonics. Contracts (respectively): Four years, $25 million; two years, $10 million. Seattle shelled out about $9 million for this two-headed center last season. The combined results: 8.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.9 fouls per game. The Sonics will miss Peja Drobnjak
JAMES DOLAN on Isiah : He's a good friend of mine and of the organization and I will continue to solicit his views. He will always have strong ties to me and the team.
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8/28/2003 4:57 PM
