While watching the waves crash the beach, there is plenty of time to contemplate the past week in the NBA and the impact it will have on next season.
With the addition of the Charlotte Bobcats into the Atlantic Division, there now are 30 teams separated into six divisions, with the New Orleans Hornets moving into the Southwest Division in the Western Conference.
 | |
| Keeping Rasheed Wallace was the latest great move for Detroit GM Joe Dumars.(AP) |
1. Item: Hall of Fame coach Cotton Fitzsimmons suffered a stroke this past week, further complicating the lung cancer he has been battling in recent months. He died Saturday in the Valley of the Sun.
What it really means: The NBA will never replace the gregarious personality and love of basketball the Midwest native brought to the game. Nothing better reflected his self-deprecating approach to life than when he retired as coach to move into the front office of the Phoenix Suns. On his desk sat a nameplate that read, "Executive vice president of nothing." Thanks for the memories Cotton, and Godspeed to the Mark Twain of the NBA and his family.
2. Item: Shaquille O'Neal has already promised the Miami Heat, all of South Florida and anyone else who listened to the Diesel in his first press conference, that he will bring a title to the franchise for the first time in its 16-year history.
What it really means: Shaq already has everyone in the palm of his enormous hands, with the excitement and confidence level higher than it has ever been before in this market of transplanted fans. And he refuses to admit it, but he's still going to need plenty of help before they usurp the defending champion Detroit Pistons, and very likely the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference pecking order. Signing Michael Doleac and Keyon Dooling is a start, but president Pat Riley still has a long way to go to make them championship material.
3. Item: Pistons president Joe Dumars finally got the commitment from Rasheed Wallace for a five-year deal worth about $57 million -- which happens to be the most sensible money any of the free agents have signed since the July 14 free-for-all began. It followed his signing of Antonio McDyess and Carlos Delfino after Mehmet Okur left for an absurd $50 million package from Utah.
What it really means: Dumars has everything under control. Unlike other rosters, he has just tweaked the Pistons while so many other teams are going through major transitions. Consequently, this championship team that was already tight should be better than last year -- when they finished out the season 36-13 after the acquisition of Wallace. Kudos to Dumars, who is becoming the standard of excellence among executives.
4. Item: The Lakers brought back center Vlade Divac after an eight-year absence to replace O'Neal at center. So that means they now have Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and Caron Butler to go along with Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and whatever else is left from the team that made it to the Finals four times over the past five seasons.
What it really means: Provided he is exonerated in his sexual assault trial, Bryant will have his work cut out for him to prove he is capable of taking the Lakers very far without O'Neal. He lost a lot of supporters with the way he played in the Finals, and the subsequent exit of O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson. And it's not presumptuous to believe it was at his behest. The Lakers will still be formidable, and Divac will help. They will likely be in the middle of the playoff hunt in the West ... but the conference finals? Noooo way!
5. Item: Even before his purchase of the team has been finalized, prospective New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner is catching a lot of heat for allowing All-Star forward Kenyon Martin to leave for the Denver Nuggets in a $92.5 million sign-and-trade deal that brought the Nets back three future first-round picks.
What it really means: There's no way Martin is worth all of that money, and because no team besides the Nuggets would pay the freight, Rod Thorn had no choice, short of letting him go for nothing. And because Ratner is so determined to move the team to Brooklyn, the Nets will lose whatever semblance of fans they have left and might very well trade Jason Kidd before the summer is over. After all, Ratner's major concern is what the team will be like in its new digs, not the next few years as a lame-duck team in the Meadowlands.
6. Item: Granted, Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke signed off on the deal that brought Martin. The move now gives them a four-man frontcourt of Martin, Marcus Camby, Nene and Carmelo Anthony, with Anthony a candidate to slide to shooting guard. That should put them in position as dangerous sleepers in the West. Kiki Vandeweghe is still trying to tie up free-agent guard Trenton Hassell, but has only $2.3 million to start, which isn't enough to bring back Jon Barry as well.
What it really means: Vandeweghe has done a remarkable job of rebuilding this team in less than three years and they should be very solid contenders after their shaky first trip last spring. He has hardly shown much confidence in coach Jeff Bzdelik, who is entering the final year of his contract. A slow start will mean trouble. Then again, Kroenke isn't likely to be patient considering the money he just tied up in Martin and Camby. The term expectations is new in the Mile High City, but certainly healthy with the All-Star Game coming in February.
7. Item: Nick Van Exel is coming off a rough year. His knee has pretty much used up all of its cartilage. He went from leading the Dallas Mavericks into the conference finals in 2003 to a year of injuries with the hapless Golden State Warriors. The Warriors didn't need him anymore with the signing of Derek Fisher to play the point with Speedy Claxton. So they dealt his inflated contract to Portland for Dale Davis and Dan Dickau.
What it really means: The Blazers are taking a decent gamble on a guy who is very capable of taking them into the playoffs. In fact, this probably is Van Exel's last chance to prove he has some skills left. He always has had All-Star qualities, but never sustained it. Now he's on a team that might actually be good enough that he can be the guy to put them back in the playoff race. The Blazers have been interested in Van Exel for years, and this will be a situation worth watching.
8. Item: Cleveland Cavaliers president Jim Paxson got up off the canvas early in the week and acquired Eric Snow for Kevin Ollie and Kedric Brown. Now they've got a playoff-tested player in Snow who was superb as a setup man for Allen Iverson, and will likewise make LeBron James better. And just to prove they're willing to gamble, Friday they dealt backup center Tony Battie and two second-round picks to the Orlando Magic for disappointing power forward Drew Gooden, backup center Steven Hunter and rookie forward Anderson Varejao.
What it really means: The Cavs and their fan base are still in shock over the loss of blossoming power forward Carlos Boozer, who jumped ship for Utah and a shocking $68 million. Gooden, the fourth pick of the 2002 draft by the Memphis Grizzlies after a consensus first team All-America career at Kansas, ostensibly will replace Boozer in the starting lineup. A natural scorer lost between the three and four positions, the Grizzlies didn't like him and sent him to Orlando in the deal for Mike Miller midway through his rookie season. Obviously, the Magic didn't like him either as solid numbers on both teams belie his inability to become a solid starter. But the move for Snow will give the team more leadership and a sense of how to win big games, hopefully helping Gooden, too.
9. Item: When Billy King and Jim O'Brien decided to trade Snow, it was a tacit announcement that Iverson was going back to point guard after exploding as a shooting guard under Larry Brown. Sure, they want to get Willie Green some shots and he has some promise, but the big news is putting the ball in the hands of A.I., as they attempt to get rid of Glenn Robinson and turn him into Antoine Walker.
What it really means: It's about time Iverson was moved back to point guard. When asked about it before the All-Star Game in February, he went into detail about how and why Brown moved him to shooting guard, to better utilize his scoring skills. But it was also a slap at Iverson, who still believed he was better with the ball in his hands and that he is mature enough to make those around him better. He is every bit the special ball-handler and passer, and is far more mature now. If they can dump Robinson and get Walker -- still young enough to get on the same page with All-Star talent to prove himself -- the Sixers will become factors again in the East.
10. Item: Karl Malone told the Lakers to give Divac the $4.9 million, that he wasn't sure if he was going to play this season or not. What he didn't add was -- if he actually does return after his 41st birthday -- if it will be with the Lakers, Spurs or Heat.
What it really means: The best power forward perhaps in NBA history still realizes the impact he has and is very likely to play a significant role with one of those three playoff-bound teams. But after 18 seasons of virtually no injuries, the knee injury he suffered a year ago -- compounded by the death of his mother -- brought to light his family and life after basketball. No longer is this about catching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA scoring record. Instead, the second-leading scorer of all-time really would like one last shot at a title and he should go the Spurs if that is his intention, and do one more tour to wish the teams and the fans goodbye. If not, thanks Karl for 19 years of delivery ... through rain, sleet and snow.
