Around the League
Rasheed Wallace
Small Forward
Portland Trail Blazers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
35 17.0 6.6 2.7 .426 .732
Have the Blazers closed the door to a Rasheed Wallace trade? It depends on who you ask. As my colleague Marc Stein reported this weekend, the folks in Dallas claim they were told by Blazers' owner Paul Allen that 'Sheed was off the block. Several other GMs, who have talked to the Blazers about Wallace since the Don Nelson-John Nash meeting on Saturday, claim Wallace is still in play, but that the price remains unreasonably high for a guy who won't commit to re-signing with anyone this off-season.
A report in the N.Y. Post that the Blazers are holding out for Antoine Walker makes no sense. The report reasons that the Blazers don't want to take on Antawn Jamison's long-term contract but would be interested in Walker's because he can opt out at the end of the season. The problem is that a player with a long-term contract like Eduardo Najera, Tony Delk or Tariq Abdul Wahad would also have to be included to make the numbers work. If the Blazers are just trying to clear cap, aren't they better off clearing $17 million off Wallace's contract than $13.5 million off Walker's and still being stuck with Najera, Delk or Abdul Wahad?
Sources claim the Blazers are holding out hope the Hawks come through with an offer. But with the sale of the team on hold yet again (the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today that it might not be finalized until February) who knows when the Hawks will be ready to make a deal?
Keith Van Horn
Small Forward
New York Knicks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
36 17.0 7.3 1.6 .448 .818
It sure sounds like Keith Van Horn's days in New York are numbered. Isiah Thomas keeps talking about landing an athletic forward to run with Stephon Marbury -- a not so subtle dig at Van Horn. The question is whether Thomas can get someone to take on the last two years, and $30 million of Van Horn's contract. Thomas has tried to convince Portland and Cleveland to take him, to no avail. Is there someone else out there that wants Van Horn? Conventional wisdom says no. The irony, however, is that Van Horn has been money ever since Isiah took over. He's averaging 18.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg on 49 percent shooting in just over 32 mpg since Thomas was hired. Those aren't shabby numbers. With the Knicks on a nice four game winning streak, does Thomas really want to start rocking the boat?
"I still think, ideally, [in a] fantasy world, you would still like to get more athletic and go out and acquire the best talent," Thomas told the N.Y. Daily News. "I would like for us to become a much more athletic team, a quicker team. A better reacting team."
Mehmet Okur
Forward-Center
Detroit Pistons
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
42 9.9 6.8 1.1 .444 .782
Rampant rumors that the Pistons are trying to combine the expiring contracts of Zeljko Rebraca, Bob Sura, Lindsey Hunter and Hubert Davis (totaling about $16 million) to make a trade before the deadline are bogus. The Pistons are counting on those contracts coming off the books so they have a better chance at re-signing Mehmet Okur, a restricted free agent this summer. If the Pistons are over the cap, they will be allowed to match offers only up to the average player salary (around $4.9 million) for Okur, because he has only two years in the league. If Detroit allows all four players to come off the cap, it will be looking at between $5.5 and $6.5 million in cap room to re-sign Okur. The way he's playing lately, that might not be enough, but at least it's a start. Trading any of those four players for a guy with more years left on his contract would virtually eliminate their chances of retaining Okur. The Pistons don't want that to happen.
Eric Snow
Point Guard
Philadelphia 76ers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
41 11.0 3.6 7.2 .398 .784
The Sixers are in a deep funk now, and GM Billy King is rethinking his decision to sign point guard Eric Snow to a lucrative contract extension before the season started. Before the extension, Snow was the team's second-most tradeable asset, behind Allen Iverson. Now? The Sixers quietly have been exploring a Snow trade for the last few weeks, but they aren't finding any takers. While a number of teams love him as a player, the five years remaining on his contract are a killer. If they can't move Snow, they're in a very tough position cap-wise. The team wants to keep young players like John Salmons and Samuel Dalembert. Almost every other player on the team is locked into expensive, long term contracts. Glenn Robinson is probably the most tradeable -- he has only one year remaining on his contract -- but folks aren't really beating down the door to get him either.
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Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Tuesday, January 20
Updated: January 20
8:56 AM ET
Philadelphia 76ers: After losing four of their last five games, the Sixers are beginning to hear voices. "It's not like it's a real big issue," Allen Iverson said in the Philadelphia Inquirer. "You hear a little whispering and talking and stuff you don't hear once we are winning. It's not one individual or two individuals. That's the way things happen when you lose games, and it's just natural for that type of stuff to happen. Me being in the league eight years, I have seen it even the year we went to the [NBA Finals]. You whisper about something and talk about something." But he doesn't expect the backbiting to continue. "Once we get together and get on the dance floor, it's important for us to just be a unit and throw all that out the window," he said. "When things are going bad, you are always going to hear negative stuff. It's important for us to handle things on the basketball court and be accountable for each other."
HudsonMinnesota Timberwolves: Fifteen minutes never felt better for Troy Hudson. "One hundred percent better," Hudson told the Star Tribune after his third attempt to play since severely spraining his right ankle. "Tonight, I had a little tenderness. A couple times I tweaked it. But that was expected. Right after I tweaked it, it hurt for a second. But then as I kept running up and down, it went away."
Orlando Magic: The fans may want Tracy McGrady to dunk the ball every time he gets it. But after shooting nine 3-pointers Monday night, he had a simple explanation. "I'm just letting it go," he said in the Daytona Beach News. "If they're giving it to me, hell, shoot it." McGrady has already taken 276 3-point shots in 40 games after taking only 283 in 76 games during the 2002 season.
Detroit Pistons: Detroit may have won 13 games in a row to tie a franchise record, but tonight they have arch-rival Indiana. "It's going to be a dogfight," said Chucky Atkins in the Detroit Free Press. "We end up going against our old coach for No. 14, which is a good thing for us. We haven't beaten them all year. They're trying to fight us from getting the record of 14 in a row against them. They were in a situation last year with Dallas coming to them and Dallas had won 13 in a row (actually 14), and they popped them. So we have to be ready to compete for 48 minutes and play hard." But Chucky doesn't expect it to get any easier from here. "As the streak continues, the games are going to be tighter and teams are going to play harder and harder against us, which is going to be beneficial to us toward the end of the season, because tonight was like a playoff game," Atkins said. "We stepped up and held our ground and competed."
LampePhoenix Suns: Rookie Maciej Lampe wants to play. His coach Mike D'Antoni wants him to play. But it isn't that easy. "I would like to see how he responds first," D'Antoni said in the Arizona Republic. "We have a good thing going. I don't think we want to go experimenting. But if fouls or the situation warrants it, I'll try him and see how he reacts. Then we can build on it from there." D'Antoni said the rook will get most of his time when the Suns need him least. "We like the rotation, and if anybody is going to get garbage minutes it's going to be this kid," he said.
Chicago Bulls: It's not that Scottie Pippen doesn't want to play. He just doesn't want to lose. "I'm fine," Pippen said in the Chicago Tribune after not entering Monday night's game until the fourth period. "I thought we had been staying in ballgames with some of the other guys. I told [coach Scott Skiles] to not put me in unless he really needed me." Pippen had missed 20 games earlier in the season due to arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
Rasheed Wallace
Small Forward
Portland Trail Blazers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
35 17.0 6.6 2.7 .426 .732
Have the Blazers closed the door to a Rasheed Wallace trade? It depends on who you ask. As my colleague Marc Stein reported this weekend, the folks in Dallas claim they were told by Blazers' owner Paul Allen that 'Sheed was off the block. Several other GMs, who have talked to the Blazers about Wallace since the Don Nelson-John Nash meeting on Saturday, claim Wallace is still in play, but that the price remains unreasonably high for a guy who won't commit to re-signing with anyone this off-season.
A report in the N.Y. Post that the Blazers are holding out for Antoine Walker makes no sense. The report reasons that the Blazers don't want to take on Antawn Jamison's long-term contract but would be interested in Walker's because he can opt out at the end of the season. The problem is that a player with a long-term contract like Eduardo Najera, Tony Delk or Tariq Abdul Wahad would also have to be included to make the numbers work. If the Blazers are just trying to clear cap, aren't they better off clearing $17 million off Wallace's contract than $13.5 million off Walker's and still being stuck with Najera, Delk or Abdul Wahad?
Sources claim the Blazers are holding out hope the Hawks come through with an offer. But with the sale of the team on hold yet again (the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported today that it might not be finalized until February) who knows when the Hawks will be ready to make a deal?
Keith Van Horn
Small Forward
New York Knicks
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
36 17.0 7.3 1.6 .448 .818
It sure sounds like Keith Van Horn's days in New York are numbered. Isiah Thomas keeps talking about landing an athletic forward to run with Stephon Marbury -- a not so subtle dig at Van Horn. The question is whether Thomas can get someone to take on the last two years, and $30 million of Van Horn's contract. Thomas has tried to convince Portland and Cleveland to take him, to no avail. Is there someone else out there that wants Van Horn? Conventional wisdom says no. The irony, however, is that Van Horn has been money ever since Isiah took over. He's averaging 18.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg on 49 percent shooting in just over 32 mpg since Thomas was hired. Those aren't shabby numbers. With the Knicks on a nice four game winning streak, does Thomas really want to start rocking the boat?
"I still think, ideally, [in a] fantasy world, you would still like to get more athletic and go out and acquire the best talent," Thomas told the N.Y. Daily News. "I would like for us to become a much more athletic team, a quicker team. A better reacting team."
Mehmet Okur
Forward-Center
Detroit Pistons
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
42 9.9 6.8 1.1 .444 .782
Rampant rumors that the Pistons are trying to combine the expiring contracts of Zeljko Rebraca, Bob Sura, Lindsey Hunter and Hubert Davis (totaling about $16 million) to make a trade before the deadline are bogus. The Pistons are counting on those contracts coming off the books so they have a better chance at re-signing Mehmet Okur, a restricted free agent this summer. If the Pistons are over the cap, they will be allowed to match offers only up to the average player salary (around $4.9 million) for Okur, because he has only two years in the league. If Detroit allows all four players to come off the cap, it will be looking at between $5.5 and $6.5 million in cap room to re-sign Okur. The way he's playing lately, that might not be enough, but at least it's a start. Trading any of those four players for a guy with more years left on his contract would virtually eliminate their chances of retaining Okur. The Pistons don't want that to happen.
Eric Snow
Point Guard
Philadelphia 76ers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
41 11.0 3.6 7.2 .398 .784
The Sixers are in a deep funk now, and GM Billy King is rethinking his decision to sign point guard Eric Snow to a lucrative contract extension before the season started. Before the extension, Snow was the team's second-most tradeable asset, behind Allen Iverson. Now? The Sixers quietly have been exploring a Snow trade for the last few weeks, but they aren't finding any takers. While a number of teams love him as a player, the five years remaining on his contract are a killer. If they can't move Snow, they're in a very tough position cap-wise. The team wants to keep young players like John Salmons and Samuel Dalembert. Almost every other player on the team is locked into expensive, long term contracts. Glenn Robinson is probably the most tradeable -- he has only one year remaining on his contract -- but folks aren't really beating down the door to get him either.
-------------------------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Tuesday, January 20
Updated: January 20
8:56 AM ET
Philadelphia 76ers: After losing four of their last five games, the Sixers are beginning to hear voices. "It's not like it's a real big issue," Allen Iverson said in the Philadelphia Inquirer. "You hear a little whispering and talking and stuff you don't hear once we are winning. It's not one individual or two individuals. That's the way things happen when you lose games, and it's just natural for that type of stuff to happen. Me being in the league eight years, I have seen it even the year we went to the [NBA Finals]. You whisper about something and talk about something." But he doesn't expect the backbiting to continue. "Once we get together and get on the dance floor, it's important for us to just be a unit and throw all that out the window," he said. "When things are going bad, you are always going to hear negative stuff. It's important for us to handle things on the basketball court and be accountable for each other."
HudsonMinnesota Timberwolves: Fifteen minutes never felt better for Troy Hudson. "One hundred percent better," Hudson told the Star Tribune after his third attempt to play since severely spraining his right ankle. "Tonight, I had a little tenderness. A couple times I tweaked it. But that was expected. Right after I tweaked it, it hurt for a second. But then as I kept running up and down, it went away."
Orlando Magic: The fans may want Tracy McGrady to dunk the ball every time he gets it. But after shooting nine 3-pointers Monday night, he had a simple explanation. "I'm just letting it go," he said in the Daytona Beach News. "If they're giving it to me, hell, shoot it." McGrady has already taken 276 3-point shots in 40 games after taking only 283 in 76 games during the 2002 season.
Detroit Pistons: Detroit may have won 13 games in a row to tie a franchise record, but tonight they have arch-rival Indiana. "It's going to be a dogfight," said Chucky Atkins in the Detroit Free Press. "We end up going against our old coach for No. 14, which is a good thing for us. We haven't beaten them all year. They're trying to fight us from getting the record of 14 in a row against them. They were in a situation last year with Dallas coming to them and Dallas had won 13 in a row (actually 14), and they popped them. So we have to be ready to compete for 48 minutes and play hard." But Chucky doesn't expect it to get any easier from here. "As the streak continues, the games are going to be tighter and teams are going to play harder and harder against us, which is going to be beneficial to us toward the end of the season, because tonight was like a playoff game," Atkins said. "We stepped up and held our ground and competed."
LampePhoenix Suns: Rookie Maciej Lampe wants to play. His coach Mike D'Antoni wants him to play. But it isn't that easy. "I would like to see how he responds first," D'Antoni said in the Arizona Republic. "We have a good thing going. I don't think we want to go experimenting. But if fouls or the situation warrants it, I'll try him and see how he reacts. Then we can build on it from there." D'Antoni said the rook will get most of his time when the Suns need him least. "We like the rotation, and if anybody is going to get garbage minutes it's going to be this kid," he said.
Chicago Bulls: It's not that Scottie Pippen doesn't want to play. He just doesn't want to lose. "I'm fine," Pippen said in the Chicago Tribune after not entering Monday night's game until the fourth period. "I thought we had been staying in ballgames with some of the other guys. I told [coach Scott Skiles] to not put me in unless he really needed me." Pippen had missed 20 games earlier in the season due to arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
