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ESPN.com: NBA Preview 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
Updated: October 26, 10:38 AM ET
Blockbuster moves look great ... on paper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
With huge offseason moves come great expectations.

The Lakers chose Kobe Bryant over the most dominant player in the
league over the past decade, Shaquille O'Neal.

The Heat traded away three starters, including two young, up-and-coming
stars who had led them to an improbable playoff berth, in return for
Shaq. But can one player, no matter how great he is, really make up for
the loss of three?

The Mavericks overhauled their roster in yet another effort to turn a
good playoff team into a championship contender. Will perennial losers
Erick Dampier and Jason Terry really be the guys that lead Dallas to a
title?

The Rockets, just one year into the Jeff Van Gundy experiment,
jettisoned their backcourt when superstar Tracy McGrady became
available on the trade market. The tandem of Yao Ming and T-Mac looks
great on paper, but can the chemistry develop quickly enough to bridge
that huge East-West divide?

On Monday, Marc Stein broke down the pressures the Lakers are going to
feel this season. Here's Insider's season preview of three other teams
that will be under the gun to make good on their dramatic offseason
makeovers.

MIAMI HEAT

Starting Five: Dwyane Wade, Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler, Udonis Haslem,
Shaquille O'Neal.
Key Subs: Damon Jones, Michael Doleac, Wesley Person, Christian
Laettner.
Outlook: Shaq changes everything. Forget for a second about who the
Heat had to give up to get him. Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian
Grant are all nice players. Together they have zero All-Star
selections, zero NBA titles and just one postseason appearance. Shaq?
Three NBA titles and an MVP award.

The Lakers added three starters while subtracting one and immediately
dropped from championship contenders to playoff bubble boys.

But here's what's interesting. No one, other than the people who sell
season tickets, are calling the Shaq trade a slam dunk in Miami,
either. Whenever you subtract three starters and replace him with one,
you've got some major holes to fill.

The Heat haven't had the money to do it, putting as much or more weight
on Shaq's shoulders as Kobe is carrying in Los Angeles. Shaq appears
ready for the challenge. He's in the best shape of his career and looks
as sharp in the preseason as we've seen him in quite a while.

Can the rest of his supporting cast do enough to make it work it?

Last season, Dwyane Wade averaged 16.2 ppg in the regular season and
18.0 in the playoffs.Second-year guard Dwyane Wade comes into the
season with enormous expectations. Wade was brilliant in the playoffs,
averaging 21 ppg, 5.7 apg and 4 rpg on 49 percent shooting against
Indiana. But he did it by relentlessly attacking the basket. With Shaq
in the paint, Wade is going to have to work on that jumper. He didn't
make one in the Indiana series. That's going to be a major adjustment.

The rest of the Heat's supporting cast is average, at best. Eddie Jones
should flourish with Shaq back. Jones recorded the best shooting year
of his career in L.A. with Shaq and should get plenty of good looks.
The rest of the team is a question mark. Rasual Butler and Udonis
Haslem will start at the three and the four, respectively. They've
started a combined 23 games in their careers. Both will be asked to
play defense and stay out of Shaq and Wade's way.

The bench has a few bright spots. Damon Jones has looked solid as
Wade's backup. Head coach Stan Van Gundy is hoping to use a lot of sets
that have Jones at the point, Wade at the two and Eddie Jones playing
the three this year. Shaq is calling Michael Doleac the first real
backup center he's ever played with (no offense, Elden Campbell).
Wesley Person and Christian Laettner have enough experience to help, if
their bodies hold up.

While team president Pat Riley says this season can be a success even
if the Heat don't win the title, let's get real. Shaq is 32 years old.
His body seems to break down a little more every year. The Heat's
window to get this done is probably three years at the max. After that,
Riley will be looking longingly out his office window at American
Airlines arena wondering what Odom and Butler are doing these days.

The Heat mortgaged their future for one reason – to bring home a
championship now. If it works, no one will remember the sacrifices the
team made to make it happen. If Shaq can't deliver the goods, on the
other hand, the Heat could be headed for the ice age.

DALLAS MAVERICKS

Starting Five: Jason Terry, Marquis Daniels, Michael Finley,Dirk
Nowitzki, Erick Dampier.
Key Subs: Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard, Devin Harris, Calvin Booth.
Outlook: Mark Cuban made two bold predictions this summer. First, he
claimed his new reality series, The Benefactor, would be a big hit.
Second, he claimed the new version of the Mavericks he pieced together
is the "best team we've ever had."

The first prediction was completely off the mark. The Benefactor stunk
and ended up being canceled prematurely by ABC.

Jason Terry averaged 5.4 apg last season; Steve Nash, now with the
Suns, averaged 8.8.Let's hope his fortune-telling skills are a little
better when it comes to basketball. Cuban likes to gamble, and this
summer was no different. He let the heart and soul of the Mavericks,
Steve Nash, walk away.

He traded away the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Antawn Jamison, for
a guy, Jerry Stackhouse, that has been labeled a cancer on the last two
teams he's played for and a rookie point guard (Devin Harris) with big
upside, but without the physical strength to contribute right away.

He swapped Antoine Walker for a point guard that most league coaches
believe is much closer to a shooting guard than a playmaker. Then Cuban
capped his offseason by paying more than $70 million to Erick Dampier –
an inconsistent, injury-prone center coming off a stellar 2003-04
campaign.

On paper, Cuban's prediction doesn't seem farfetched. The Mavericks got
much better defensively – their Achilles' heel in the playoffs the past
two years. Terry is a much better defender than Nash at the point;
Stackhouse can be a physical perimeter defender when he wants to be;
and Dampier gives the Mavs a legitimate bruiser – a dominant rebounder
and shotblocker – in the paint.

The Mavs added all of that without sacrificing offensive firepower.
Terry and Stackhouse can score at will. Harris has the potential to be
a big-time playmaker and also can fill it up when called upon. Dampier
isn't a dominant scorer in the paint, but he's a bigger threat
offensively than anyone the Mavs have put in that position the past
decade.

Scoring and defense. Athleticism and basketball savvy. Youth and
experience. So why are some NBA folks predicting a Benefactor-esque
apocalypse for the Mavericks this season?

One rival GM breaks it down:

"The team is talented and deep. They'll be able to score the same clip
that they did last year, and they are much better equipped to defend.
But two things really bother me about this team. First, I think they
are going to miss Nash more than (they) think. He was a perfect fit in
Nellie's offense. I don't think Terry pushes it or creates as many
opportunities for his teammates as Nash did.

"Second, when you're adding missing pieces to the puzzle, you really
want to add veteran guys who know what it takes to win. They added
three guys who've been stuck on losing teams for most, if not all, of
their careers. Guys like Terry, Dampier and even Stack don't have a
clue what it takes to win. Just because all of the guys on your team
can fill up a stat sheet doesn't necessarily translate into wins in the
NBA."

So far the reviews out of the preseason have been justifiably mixed.
It's going to take a team like this a while to jell together. Will
Terry pass the ball? Will Damp bog down their uptempo game? Will Jerry
blow his stack coming off the bench?

When I talked to Dirk Nowitzki last week on the road in Orlando, he
didn't sound like a man confident that this version of the Mavs was the
best ever.

"We still have a long way to go to be a good team," Nowitzki told
Insider just hours before the winless Magic ran them out of the gym.
"We miss him [Nash] a lot. To me he was always our motor. He got us
going every night. I thought he was a top-three or four point guard in
the league. The two guards we got are solid. They have to get used to
Nellie. It takes a while to get used to, I hope."

If Cuban's right, the Mavericks couldn't have picked a better time to
make their move. The top of the Western Conference isn't a strong as it
used to be. The Spurs, Timberwolves and Kings are still good, but
they're all beatable.

If he's wrong and the Mavs actually sink deeper into the Western
Conference quicksand, it's probably time to cancel this version of the
Mavericks and start from scratch again next season.

HOUSTON ROCKETS

Starting Five: Charlie Ward, Tracy McGrady, Jim Jackson, Juwan Howard,
Yao Ming.
Key Subs: Maurice Taylor, Bob Sura, Dikembe Mutombo, Tyronn Lue.
Outlook: With Yao and McGrady, the Rockets now own, on paper, the best
one-two punch in the NBA. But before you pencil them into the Finals,
Magic GM John Weisbrod suggests you understand why he traded away
McGrady in the first place.

"He's arguably the most talented player in the game right now,"
Weisbrod told Insider last week. "If he ever gets his work ethic and
mental game up to his physical skills, the sky is the limit. So you
don't just give guys like that away without thinking about it.

"But, I wanted people who respect the organization and the game. You
accomplish that when you get guys who care about winning and the team
more than themselves or their numbers. We tried to build this team with
guys that care about winning,"

Will T-Mac play ball with Yao?Weisbrod wasn't just implying that
McGrady cared more about himself than winning. He said a few minutes
later: "One of the things we had last year and one of the reasons we
lost so often was because people left the building feeling fine with
themselves. Tracy would say, you know, 'I had my 35, what else did you
want me to do?' The other guys would say, 'Hey, I'm just a role player,
this is Tracy's team.' "

Those are harsh words for a player many believe might be the best small
forward in the game. They're also strong enough that the folks in
Houston might start sweating things a little bit.

McGrady's new head coach, Jeff Van Gundy, is a no-nonsense guy. He
cracked down hard on Francis, a three-time all-star, last season, and
Francis slipped into a funk, producing the worst stats of his career.

Francis' take on the whole ordeal?

"It was a tough, tough year," Francis said. "It's tough when a coach
asks you not to use your strengths to help your team win. … I'm not
saying Jeff's offense didn't feature me, but it didn't feature me
enough."

Put together Weisbrod's scouting report on McGrady with Francis' take
on Van Gundy, and it's not a stretch to wonder how well the two are
going to get along this season.

For better or worse, the Rockets are going to be about Yao. T-Mac will
be a sidekick.

Van Gundy is still going to want the offense to run through Yao, taking
away some of the offensive freedom McGrady enjoyed in Orlando. He's
also going to ask McGrady to give the team a consistent defensive
effort every night, something neither Doc Rivers nor Johnny Davis
seemed able to get out of him.

"What Tracy has to do, and do it more consistently, is play with the
intensity of Kobe," said Rivers, who coached McGrady in Orlando for
three seasons. "Just the intensity question all the time, defensively
and offensively. He has to do it right all the time."

If T-Mac responds to Van Gundy's tough tactics with a career year on
both ends of the floor, the Rockets will be the sleeper in the West.

"I think obviously coming off the year that Tracy had last year … I
think this is the perfect time to coach Tracy," Rivers said.

If McGrady doesn't respond, he and the Rockets could be in for a
high-profile divorce before the honeymoon even ends.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

ESPN.com: NBA Preview 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Updated: October 27, 12:29 PM ET
Breaking the mold in creative ways
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Think outside of the box. That's what John Weisbrod, Danny Ainge, Ernie
Grunfeld, Billy Knight and Bernie Bickerstaff have to do if they are
going to turn alsoran franchises into contenders.

Each GM has an enormously different task in front of him.

Weisbrod, who was sick of the soft, prima donna culture in Orlando, has
brought in 10 new players.

Ainge believed the Celtics needed more athletes and over the course of
the past 12 months has almost completely gutted a team that, two years
ago, competed in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Grunfeld inherited the team that Michael Jordan built and ultimately
destroyed by returning to the court and stifling the development of his
young players. With a new, hotshot coach and a smorgasbord of young,
inexperienced talent, Grunfeld's hoping that the new roots will start
to take hold.

Knight is following Denver GM Kiki Vandweghe's lead, trading away
high-priced players for cap room in an effort to build the team from
the ground up. Only three players remain from last year's squad, and
only six players have contracts that extend beyond this season.

Bickerstaff has had the most difficult (or easiest, depending on who
you ask) task of all. He started with a blank slate and $30 million in
cap space this summer. The team he put together is the youngest, most
inexperienced unit the league has seen in recent memory. They're going
to lose more games than anyone in the league this year, but their
future couldn't look brighter.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein says that Suns' Steve Nash could turn the Suns
from lottery fodder into a playoff contender. Here's Insider's season
preview of five other teams in the process of redefining themselves.

ORLANDO MAGIC

Starting Five: Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard
, Kelvin Cato
Key Subs: Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, Jameer Nelson, Pat Garrity
Outlook: Out with the soft, in with the prickly. That's new GM
Weisbrod's rebuilding philosophy and, by the way, also his personal
M.O.

Want to know what was wrong with last season's bottom feeding Magic?
Weisbrod's pointing fingers.

"We didn't have the personnel to win but we also didn't have the right
attitude to win," Weisbrod said. "I want people who respect the
organization and the game. You accomplish that when you get guys who
care about winning and the team more than themselves or their numbers.
We tried to build this team with guys that care about winning."

Weisbrod shipped out Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Drew Gooden and
anyone else who cried, whined or held something back last season.

Fair enough. As talented as those players are, none of them has a rep
as a team-first, ultra-competitive player.Weisbrod (far left) welcomed
the Magic's new additions this past summer.

But who did he replace them with? Francis, Mobley, Howard, Cato and
Turkoglu are the core guys expected to replace those exorcised from
last year's team.

Ironically, some of them have similar reps to those that have haunted
McGrady, Howard and Gooden the past few years.

Francis was the guy who refused to report to the team that drafted him,
pouted through much of last season when Rockets head coach Jeff Van
Gundy began asking him to run the offense through Yao and then openly
campaigned against the trade that brought him to Orlando.

Cato has been one of the most underperforming players in the league the
past five years. Turkoglu, despite showing promise early in his career,
was erratic enough that the Spurs decided not to match the Magic's
offer. Howard, despite all his upside, earned a rep during the draft as
a kid who was a little on the soft side.

The new players on the Magic might not fit exactly into Weisbrod's
vision, but they do represent a serious upgrade in talent. How exactly
is this group supposed to trump last year's version?

Start with the return of Hill, who changes everything in Orlando. His
leadership ability combined with his versatility gives the team instant
credibility – whether his skills ever fully return or not.

Then factor in that players like Francis, Mobley, Howard and rookie
Nelson are each playing with a rather large chip on his shoulder this
season.

Francis, who carried the nickname "Franchise" in Houston, is still
hurting over how he was treated last year. In the preseason he looks
poised to rebound from what turned into the worst season of his career
this year.

Mobley, too, was stunned with the Rockets' decision to trade him. He
also knows that the Magic explored trading him shortly after the T-Mac
trade went down. As a player who slipped to the second round in the
draft and went on to average 17 points per game, he feels like he gets
no respect.

Howard went No. 1 overall, but not without controversy. A number of
people, Insider included, chastised the Magic for passing on Emeka
Okafor with the first pick in the draft. Howard put on 22 pounds of
muscle this summer, proving to the team that he's focused and willing
to work hard.

Nelson also is seething. After winning every award imaginable in
college, he slipped the 20th overall selection on draft night and then
was traded minutes later.

Put all of them together with a healthy Hill and Garrity and you have a
team with not only the talent to make a run in the East, but also the
motivation.

They're sore losers, every one of them. That's exactly what Weisbrod
was looking for.

BOSTON CELTICS

Starting Five: Gary Payton, Paul Pierce, Ricky Davis, Raef LaFrentz,
Mark Blount
Key Subs: Jiri Welsch, Tom Gugliotta, Tony Allen, Delonte West
Outlook: When Danny Ainge took over the as the head guy for the Celtics
more than a year ago, he had a vision of what type of players he wanted
on the Celtics.

The crew he inherited, just one year removed from a trip to the Eastern
Conference Finals, didn't fit the mold.

Ainge wanted young, athletic, mentally tough players who pushed the
ball up the floor on every occasion. Over the past year he's cleaned
house to the point that just three players – Pierce, Blount and Walter
McCarty – remain from the team that Jim O'Brien coached.

Celtics fans, and Insider, have heaped a fair amount of criticism
Ainge's way.

He traded Antoine Walker for an injured LaFrentz and unknown European
player Welsch. He swapped hardworking, blue-collar players like Tony
Battie and Eric Williams for a known troublemaker, Davis.

Then he sent Chucky Atkins, Chris Mihm and Jumaine Jones for an even
more notorious troublemaker, Payton, and a retiring Rick Fox this
summer. When Payton claimed that he wouldn't report, it looked like the
luck of the leprechaun was gone.

“ Last year we didn't show any of that mental toughness. With Gary it's
not an act. It's who he is. The other guys are loving it. ”
— New C's coach Glenn 'Doc' Rivers on new G Gary Payton's attitude

Pierce and Blount were furious with the moves. However, in every case,
Ainge just asked for a little patience, claiming that his new, talented
players just needed a fresh start.

Consistent with that philosophy, he hired former Magic head coach Doc
Rivers. Rivers won Coach of the Year honors during his rookie season as
a head coach, but, as the Magic fell apart, he was fired 11 games into
last season.

Rivers was charged with two things: getting this group of young
athletes to play Danny's way and repairing a fractured locker room
where the distrust between players and management was running at an
all-time high.

"One of the things I thought we had to do as a group was get every one
reconnected with each other," Rivers told Insider recently. "Everyone
from the front office to the players to the coaching staff had to get
reconnected with each other."

That included extending the olive branch to Payton, who was vocal this
summer that he didn't want to play in Boston. Payton showed up for camp
and, according to Rivers, has become a huge asset to the team.

"He's been great," Rivers said. "Great leadership, know-how. He gives
us a swagger. I think it helps our other guys. He just doesn't take a
lot of stuff. I think that's good for our team.

"Last year we didn't show any of that mental toughness. With Gary it's
not an act. It's who he is. The other guys are loving it. You don't
know a guy until you coach a guy. So far he's been very good and
refreshing."

While the starting five of Payton, Pierce, Davis, LaFrentz and Blount
looks to be among the most solid in the league, the bench is a huge
question mark for Boston.

Both Payton and LaFrentz are limited to 30 minutes or so per game,
meaning someone else is going to have to step up.

It's not easy being Green, Payton seems to be thinking.With the
exception of Welsch, who will be the team's sixth man this year,
everyone else is a pretty big question mark.

Rivers has three rookies and feels that only one of them, Allen, is
ready to handle any sort of minutes right now. The Celtics two
second-year players, Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins, are struggling.

He also has Gugliotta at his disposal, but no one is sure how much he
really has left. McCarty is a fan favorite, but that's about it.

"We can run," Rivers said. "We're athletic defensively. It's refreshing
to see your team playing a young team and your team is more athletic.
But some of our young guys are going to have to step up this year. If
they do we'll be OK."

If they don't . . . it could be the tale of two teams in Boston this
year.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Starting Five: Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, Jarvis Hayes, Antawn
Jamison, Brendan Haywood
Key Subs: Kwame Brown, Etan Thomas, Jared Jeffries, Juan Dixon
Outlook: First, Michael Jordan built the Wizards from the dust by his
sheer presence in the owner's box.

Then he destroyed them when he donned a jersey and started
systematically picking apart teammates.

Now it's up to another Jordan, Eddie Jordan, to rebuild them from the
rubble.

Last year was a feeling-out process as Eddie Jordan and new GM Grunfeld
got a feel for the pieces that MJ had assembled and tried to work their
one big offseason signing, Arenas, into the group.

This year, Jordan and Grunfeld are no longer evaluating. They've taken
charge. Leery of adding another young player to the roster, the team
shipped off two headaches (Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner) and
the No. 5 pick in the draft to Dallas in return for proven low-post
scorer Jamison.

Last year Arenas, Hughes and Dixon provided plenty of backcourt
firepower, but the frontcourt often fizzled. The team is hoping Jamison
brings some balance to the equation.

The key word here, however, is hope.Jordan is hoping a team built
around three former Warriors transforms into a winner. Good luck.

Jordan has his hands full. His nucleus consists of three former
Warriors who didn't exactly win a lot of games when they played
together two seasons ago in Oakland. That can't be good.

Jordan desperately is trying to implement the same Princeton offense
that worked wonderfully in New Jersey the past several years. To get it
to work he needs players to cut, pass and move without the ball. The
problem is that his best players – Hughes, Arenas and Jamison – all
prefer to go it alone. There's a reason that the Wizards ranked last in
assists and first in turnovers last season.

The Wizards believe Jamison, who has a rep as being unselfish
regardless of what his stats may say, will buy into the system and
become the leader this team desperately needs both on the floor and in
the locker room.

The team also hopes that Jamison will light a fire under Brown. Trading
for Jamison sent a clear message to Brown that the team isn't going to
wait around for him anymore. Could it be just what Brown needs to get
his career back on track?

Brown is already showing signs of life, despite the fact that he still
hasn't been cleared to play after he broke his foot in a pickup game
this summer. He's been outspoken for the first time in his career and
appears to be angry at the Wizards. It couldn't come at a better time.

For all the talk about Jamison and Arenas, the Wizards know as well as
anyone that if they have any shot of breaking this vicious cycle of
lottery appearances they have to find a way to turn on Brown.

Remaking the offense, swapping a few player here and there, and
changing the front office are all good. But if the Wizards can reinvent
Brown this season, they'll be on to something.

ATLANTA HAWKS

Starting Five: Kenny Anderson, Josh Childress, Al Harrington, Antoine
Walker, Jason Collier
Key Subs: Jon Barry, Peja Drobjnak, Boris Diaw, Kevin Willis
Outlook: Patience, Hawks fans.

Your team looks awful.

Your two first-round picks, Childress and Smith, have struggled
mightily this preseason.

Your key off-season acquisition, Harrington, is shooting 37 percent
from the field.

Your sixth man, 35-year-old Barry, leads the team in assists at 3.3 apg.

Your starting center, Collier, is averaging 3.8 rebounds per game.

And your leading scorer, Antoine Walker, is out of there at 12:01 a.m
on July 1.

A new group of owners along with GM Knight are trying to reinvent the
Hawks. So why do they look a lot like the same team that reeked the
last couple of seasons?

Patience, Hawks fans. Three seasons ago, the Nuggets were in a similar
position. They jettisoned all of their high-priced talent in an effort
to get under the cap. They fielded a team of young players and veterans
with expiring contracts and lost more games than any team in the
league.

Two years later they were in the playoffs in the ultra-tough Western
Conference.

That's the plan the Hawks are following and, so far, things are moving
ahead sublimely.

The Hawks are on pace to be more than $20 million under the cap next
season. Young players like Childress, Harrington, Diaw and Smith should
get plenty of hands-on experience this season.

With the exception of the Bobcats, no team in the league is likely to
rack up more losses, giving your team a great shot a top three pick in
the upcoming draft.

Draft the right rookie next season. Sign the right young free agent or
two. Use your cap flexibility to make a blockbuster trade and the Hawks
have a chance to be good again in two or three more seasons.

For this season? Keep cheering on Michael Vick and then head down to
Florida early for spring training.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

Starting Five: Jason Hart, Gerald Wallace, Tamar Slay, Emeka Okafor,
Primoz Brezec
Key Subs: Melvin Ely, Eddie House, Jason Kapono, Brevin Knight
Outlook: While other teams have complicated rebuilding plans fully
underway, GM and head coach Bickerstaff plans to keep things simple
during the Bobcats' inaugural season in Charlotte.

"Our goal is to get better," Bickerstaff told Insider. "To find a
group
that we can build around. We're an expansion team and everywhere we
turn it's something we have to surmount. People say, 'Well they're not
going to be very good.' I don't think it's malicious. I think that's
been the norm for expansion teams. So, we don't take it personal.

But that doesn't mean we have to submit to it. We're going to get
better."

Getting better is about all the Bobcats fans have to look forward to at
the moment. The team is going to be bad, especially at first as this
group of no names with a combined 19 career starts between the starting
five take the floor.

It's tough enough to try to create chemistry amidst a group of veterans
playing together for the first time. When you get 12 youngsters and
three veterans together, it's almost impossible.

But this team won't be judged by how many games it wins. Bobcats fans
will be looking between the lines for signs of hope this season.

That starts with the No. 2 pick in the draft, Okafor. The former UConn
titan has looked solid, averaging 10.4 ppg and 5.4 rpg on 51 percent
shooting from the field in his first five games.Okafor is the poster
child for the Bobcats' campaign to build a winner.

Newly-resigned center Brezec has been even better, leading the team in
both scoring (13.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 ppg) so far. Brezec has
quickly become a favorite of Bickerstaff because of his work ethic and
basketball IQ. He's usually the first guy in practice to pick up and be
able to execute what Bickerstaff is trying to teach.

Swingman Wallace is also off to a promising start. He ranks second in
the team in scoring, rebounds and assists. Most importantly, he's been
a terror on the defensive end for the Bobcats, averaging an impressive
4.4 steals per game.

If the Bobcats can just get solid performances from those three players
this season, they'll have a solid core to add to next summer. Factor in
another high lottery pick, more than $20 million in cap space and a new
arena and the Bobcats have no where to go but up.

With an expansion team, that's all you can ask for.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
The glory days have faded. The future has never been more uncertain.

That's the fate of a number of once-proud teams as they embark on the
2004-05 season.

Just one year ago, the Nets were the two-time defending Eastern
Conference champs. But after losing both Kenyon Martin and Kerry
Kittles this summer, there are legitimate questions concerning whether
they'll even make the playoffs.

The Knicks, too, used to be a surefire pick to go deep in the playoffs
until the team hit trouble the past couple of seasons. Isiah Thomas
took over the team last season and made enormous changes. The faces are
all new, but are Isiah's kids really an improvement?

New Sixers head coach Jim O'Brien becomes Allen Iverson's fourth coach
in little over a year. Can he help the Sixers regain the glory that
they once enjoyed under Larry Brown or is he just presiding over the
end of the Iverson Era in Philly?

The Hornets were a perennial playoff contender in the East the past
five years. But can new head coach Byron Scott save this sinking ship?
Now that they're stuck in the Western Conference, the prospects don't
look too good.

ESPN the Magazine's Ric Bucher believes that the Sacramento Kings'
window may have finally closed. Here's Insider's season preview of four
other once proud teams that seem to have lost their luster.

NEW JERSEY NETS

Starting Five: Jason Kidd, Ron Mercer, Richard Jefferson, Eric
Williams, Jason Collins
Key Subs: Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning, Jacque Vaughn, Nenad Kristic
Outlook: Team president Rod Thorn can be candid now that he's just
signed a five-year, $20 million extension with the Nets. The Nets blew
it this summer.

First, the team underestimated the market value of Kenyon Martin. Its
six-year, $66 million offer paled in comparison to what he eventually
got, a seven-year, $92 million contract in Denver.

Thorn isn't really to blame. He was just following orders from new
owner Bruce Ratner to cut payroll in anticipation of a move to
Brooklyn. In almost every imaginable way, the deal backfired.

After losing Martin, the Nets – still over the cap and in luxury-tax
territory – also ended up parting with Kerry Kittles for a future draft
pick.

Their replacements, free agents Williams and Mercer, might be solid
role players, but neither is close to Martin or Kittles.

From there, things got really out of hand. In an effort to calm down
investors and season-ticket holders, Ratner then went out and overpaid
Jefferson, giving him a six-year, $76 million extension that no one
believes he deserved.

Whatever money the Nets saved by dumping Martin and Kittles was
partially eradicated by Jefferson's lucrative extension.

That's not the worst of it. With Martin and Kittles out of the picture
and Jefferson's new deal strangling the Nets' cap room, Kidd did the
same thing any of us would do – he let it be known, politely, that he
wants out.

Kidd signed a six-year deal with the Nets last summer with a promise
from Thorn that he would keep the team intact and, in fact, add to it
to keep the Nets in contention for an NBA title.

Once new owner Ratner started blowing things up, Kidd started looking
westward again. If he gets himself rehabilitated from microfracture
surgery in a timely fashion and proves to teams that, at the age of 30,
he still has plenty of miles left in those knees, the Nets likely will
grant him his wish.

"He made it known to you guys that he would like to be with a team he
considers to be a championship-type," Thorn said. "He realizes that in
order to enhance his value, he needs to play and show people he can
still be Jason Kidd. [If he asks to be traded] I'll tell him exactly
what I tell any player: 'If we can make a deal that makes sense for us,
then we'll look at it. If it doesn't make sense for us, then we don't
do it.' "

Thorn knows, however, that it does make sense for the Nets to let him
go if they can get any sort of reasonable offer. With Kidd and
Jefferson's contracts on the books, the team has no cap flexibility to
rebuild the franchise. Kidd isn't young enough to wait around while all
those draft picks the team acquired this summer turn into credible NBA
players.

League sources tell Insider that if Kidd comes back and can play up to
his potential by around Christmas time, you can expect a trade to a
team like the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Mavs or even the Lakers before the
February trade deadline.

The Nets are looking for more cap room and/or young players who can
develop along with their young nucleus of Jefferson, Collins and rookie
Kristic in return.

If that happens, you can pretty much kiss the Nets' playoff chances
this year goodbye now. Even with a healthy Kidd playing out the season
in New Jersey, their chances, without a low-post scorer or strong
perimeter shooter, look shaky at best.

It took Thorn just a couple of years to turn the Nets from a league
embarrassment into a contender. It took Ratner just a few months to
dismantle the whole thing. It's a good thing Thorn got a five-year
contract extension this time around. He's probably going to need all
five years to get this team back to where it was just a year ago.

NEW YORK KNICKS

Starting Five: Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Tim Thomas, Kurt
Thomas, Nazr Mohammed
Key Subs: Allan Houston, Vin Baker, Penny Hardaway, Mike Sweetney
Outlook: One hundred million dollars sure doesn't get you what it used
to anymore.

Houston has become a $17-million-dollar-a-year role player. Marbury
makes $14 million despite never having lead a team out of the first
round of the playoffs.

Hardaway gets his $14 million reminiscing about the good old days.
Thomas receives $13 million to be the fourth option. Shandon Anderson
gets $7.3 million to sit at the end of the bench. Jerome Williams makes
his $6.3 million to waive towels and get the crowd rolling.

Crawford? After leading the Bulls to dismal records the past few
seasons, the Knicks are playing him almost $7 million to duplicate the
effort in New York.

When the Knicks take the court on opening night at the MSG,
expectations couldn't be higher. Isiah Thomas has spent hundreds of
millions of dollars to bring you this version of the Knicks – a team
many feel is capable of winning the Atlantic Division, thus securing a
No. 3 seed in the East come playoff time.

That's a pretty big upgrade over the version of the Knicks we've come
to know the past few seasons. But Isiah's promised much more. He said
he'd deliver a championship to New York.

What has his huge wallet really gotten him? A group of talented players
who can put up big stats, but when it comes to winning playoff games …
forget about it.

The Knicks are a paper team – and we're not just talking about the
green backs. In theory, they look pretty tough. Marbury, Crawford and
Houston (if he ever gets healthy) are capable of averaging 20 points a
night. Kurt Thomas will pull down rebounds. Tim Thomas will run the
floor and compete as long as no one pushes him back.

Back in the day, Baker and Hardaway used to be all-stars. But when it
comes to the elusive things like chemistry, teamwork and basketball
savvy, is there a veteran team in the league more lacking?

The Knicks will win enough games, based on their depth and talent, to
probably make the playoffs. They might even win their division when you
consider the competition (Boston, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Toronto
round out the Atlantic).

Shouldn't $100 million buy you more than 45 victories and playoff
berth? Eventually, Knicks fans are going to ask for more. Will Isiah be
able to deliver?

Probably not. He's traded away, over the course of the past season, all
of his tradeable contracts. Next year their payroll is already at $110
million. In 2006 it will be around $77 million. It's not until 2008,
assuming he re-signs no one and doesn't add free agents with the
mid-level exception each summer, that he has money to work with again.

Marbury, Houston and the rest of the crew have virtually untradeable
contracts. Yes, Isiah might convince some GM to take one or two of them
off his hands. But he'll have to take back even bigger contracts from
less-talented players to do it. That's how these things work.

So hunker down, Knicks fans. A few more victories, a better playoff
seed and some false hope may be enough to hold off the wolves. But not
for long.

Philadelphia 76ERS

Starting Five: Allen Iverson, Aaron McKie, Andre Iguodala, Kenny
Thomas, Marc Jackson
Key Subs: Glenn Robinson, Samuel Dalembert, Corliss Williamson, Willie
Green
Outlook: Are the Sixers moving on up or are they heading for a long
frosty stint in the lottery?

Depending on what you focus on, both conclusions are justifiable.

Start with the good. The hiring of new head coach Jim O'Brien was a
coup. O'Brien was able to get marginally-talented Celtics team into the
Eastern Conference finals by employing a tough defense (with the help
of assistant coach Dick Harter) and a free-flowing offense that was
tailormade to his players' strengths.

O'Brien's philosophy is an easy sell among veterans. Do what I ask on
defense and I'll let you do what you want on offense.

Iverson perked up upon hearing that O'Brien was taking charge. Iverson
is an excellent defender when he wants to be and prefers to be left
alone on offense. In that regard, the O'Brien-Iverson marriage might
actually work.

He also has plenty of other tools to work with. Thomas, Dalembert,
Green, John Salmons and rookie Iguodala are all young players who have
proven, to varying degrees, that they deserve to be in the league.

O'Brien likes young athletes who can defend and Dalembert, Green and
Iguodala, in particular, fit that mold.

He also has veteran depth just about everywhere but point guard.
Veterans like McKie, Kevin Ollie, Robinson, Williamson, Brian Skinner
and Jackson are all capable of contributing to the Sixers.

So what's not to like?

Iverson playing point guard? The decision to ship Eric Snow to
Cleveland could end up backfiring big time this season. Snow was the
glue who often held the Sixers together the past few years. Yes, his
contract was awful and he didn't quite fit into O'Brien's system, but
still … his loss could really hurt.

Will Iverson pass the ball? He showed he could do it during the
Olympics, when he trusted that his teammates could finish the play. But
this team? He's averaging 2.8 apg in the preseason, which isn't
spectacular.

Iverson's age is also a pretty huge factor. It's clear that all of the
wear and tear is taking its toll. How will his body respond after
playing in the Olympics? The past two years his skills have started to
erode slightly. The minute he loses his quickness, he's going to fall
off the map.

The Sixers should be very solid defensively, but they're going to have
to find another scorer to complement Iverson. Thomas is the most likely
candidate – though he's looked awful in the preseason.

Robinson was another potential scorer who had his lunch handed to him
by Iguodala in training camp. Robinson's defense was so poor and
Iguodala's so good, that O'Brien had no choice but to give the rookie
the starting nod. It's probably only a matter of time before the Sixers
start talking buyout with the Big Dog.

O'Brien had tagged Green to take the role as second gunner, but after a
great summer league, he was unable to beat out McKie for the starting
two guard position.

Depth could also turn into a negative if players like Robinson,
Dalembert, Skinner and Williamson begin complaining about minutes.

Weigh the pros and the cons and you probably have a team that's capable
of winning the Atlantic, maybe even a first-round playoff series. But
glory days? Those probably won't come again until one of their young
studs turns into a star.

NEW ORLEANS HORNETS

Starting Five: Baron Davis, J.R. Smith, George Lynch, P.J. Brown,
Jamaal Magloire
Key Subs: Rodney Rogers, Darrell Armstrong, David Wesley, Chris Andersen
Outlook: Does anyone even really care anymore?

Of all the concerns that the Hornets are faced with this summer,
nothing is more pressing than finding some way, any way, to stay
relevant.

The Hornets have talent, lots of it. But nothing else is going their
way.

The move to the Western Conference couldn't come at a worse time. On
paper the Hornets would be, hands down, the fourth seed in the East
coming into the season. In the West? We think 12th or 13th sounds about
right.

The best player, Davis, wants a trade. Their second-best player,
Magloire, would like one, too.

Their third-best player, Jamal Mashburn, is facing a career-ending
injury. Their starting power forward, Brown, just celebrated his 35th
birthday. And their starting two guard graduated from high school four
months ago.

Their third head coach in as many seasons, Byron Scott, is also under
the gun. He left New Jersey after his players openly revolted against
him, claiming that it was his assistants, not Scott himself, doing the
heavy lifting for the Nets.

Of most concern is the fact that no one in New Orleans seems to care.
Interest is at an all-time low. Last season the Hornets ranked 28th in
the league in home attendance. Their season-ticket holders are fleeing.
All of the promises that George Shinn and company made when they moved
to New Orleans two years ago haven't come to pass.

For a team nicknamed after a stinging, flying insect … they sure seem
to have lost their buzz.

What are the Hornets going to do to turn things around? Short of hiring
North American Van Lines to pack up the team and move them to St.
Louis, Kansas City or another city that would actually support them –
the Hornets really have one option.

Pray that the rookie Smith can live up to the hype.

Before the draft, some scouts believed that Smith was Vince Carter with
a jump shot. Carter almost singled handedly drove interest toward the
NBA up in Canada. Can Smith have the same effect in New Orleans?

He's off to a solid start. Smith already has the body and athleticism
combined with deadly range from the perimeter. He's a highlight reel
waiting to happen.

So far in the preseason he's ranked third in the team in scoring (12
ppg) and leads the team in three- point shooting at an impressive 43
percent clip (12-for-28 from the field).

"I see a lot of talent," Scott said about his 18-year-old swingman. "He
is a young kid who's going to be a very exciting player in this league
for a long time. He has gifts that very few players have, and he's a
very quick learner. But I think he's probably the most athletic guy
I've seen in a long, long time."

If Scott can produce this season, the Hornets – along with 12 other
teams in the West – have a shot at making the playoff and regaining the
buzz they once owned.

If he struggles, and the Hornets falter once again, start calling the
moving vans.

Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

People who criticize Isiah for putting together only a 45 win team despite spending $100 mil fail to realize that he inherited a $90 mil team winning 30 games a year. The fair judgment of Isiah would be that *intelligently* spending an extra $10 mil should give the team about 15 more wins.