Tuesday Insider

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Insider plays 20 questions

by Chad Ford

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Also Below: Swift, Fizer, Crawford picked up | Dolan takes Layden's checkbook? | Brother, can you spare a roster spot? | Peep Show

The NBA season is here and Insider poses 20 pressing questions for the start of the season. . .

Will the Lakers and Nets keep it up? Shaq is now known as "the Big Toe", Rick Fox is throwing upper cuts and and all Phil Jackson can talk about is coaching the Olympics. The Kings, Mavs, Spurs and Blazers all got better this summer. Can the Lakers say the same thing? Jason Kidd was great, but the Nets' surprising run last season had as much to do with the East as it did the Nets. The Nets will try to do it again with fantastic defense, frantic fast-break basketball and a 58-year-old center.

Can the Kings catch up? Keon Clark is a huge addition but he only gets you to the last two minutes. Someone besides Mike Bibby needs to step up and hit a big shot with the game on the line. Doug Christie is hiding under the bench, Vlade Divac's nicotine patch can't last the whole game and Chris Webber keeps calling time outs. Paging Peja Stojakovic. You killed Team USA, can you do the same thing to the Lakers?

Will the Mavs continue to giddy up? They run, they shoot, they dish and they dazzle. Mark Cuban's Mavs have it all, except a low-post presence to battle the Shaqs and Tim Duncans of the West. Don Nelson claims that he has the answer in a revitalized Shawn Bradley. Insert your punchline here. Even Yao Ming gets the joke. Why can't Nellie?

Will the Spurs get Duncan to re-up? Nothing else really matters right now.

Have the T-Wolves and Celtics screwed it up? It may be time to hop off the bandwagon now before it collides with Vin Baker's enormous backside. Talk about grinding some big momentum to a screeching halt. The Wolves and Celtics had tough, tough offseasons thanks to a stingy owner in Boston and a string of high-profile rejections in Minnesota. Both teams lost their starting point guards and a key player off the bench. Two stars and a thin supporting cast are no longer a recipe for success in the league unless your stars are named Shaq and Kobe.

Will the Bucks make up? George Karl believed selfishness destroyed his team last season. Ray Allen and Sam Cassell believe their coach is crazy. They're both right (just ask Team USA on both counts). Glenn Robinson is out of Karl's dog house for good. Who will be his new whipping boy this season?

Will the real 76ers please stand up? Injuries, a cast of new supporting players and a whole host of expectations toasted Philly last season. This year the Sixers are facing injuries, a cast of new supporting players and and a whole host of low expectations. Will Allen Iverson's reformed practice habits really make a difference?

Will the Blazers be locked up? Things were going relatively smoothly in Portland until word came that they were talking with the Knicks about a trade for Latrell Sprewell. Blazers fans may object to the characterization, but name a more schizophrenic team in the NBA -- and we're not talking about all the inmates on their team? Tensions at point guard, shooting guard and small forward should make for another interesting season. Has Paul Allen ever heard the saying, "Too much of a bad thing." Hear that ticking? Mt. Rasheed is about to blow.

Can the Pistons "Rip" it up? Joe Dumars looked a little crazy when he shipped off team leader Jerry Stackhouse for the still unproven Richard Hamilton. But after an 8-0 preseason the Pistons believe they have the deepest, most versatile and unselfish team in the league. Call them the anti-Blazers.

Will the Hornets and Magic pick it up? The Hornets finally have a home and one of the best starting fives in the league. The Magic will finally sport that Grant Hill-Tracy McGrady tandem we've been dreaming about. There are no more excuses. Both teams have the talent to to make a serious run in the East.

Will the Raptors step it up? Vince Carter has a huge chip on his shoulder, but he'll actually have to take the ball to the hole once and a while if he plans on having it knocked off.

Can the Sonics and Gary Payton suck it up? The team dumped Vin Baker, re-signed Rashard Lewis and pissed Payton off in the process. Payton wants a big extension now, but the Sonics aren't budging. If Gary pouts all season, the Sonics are done. If he plays for one last big contract, the Sonics become the proverbial "team no one wants to play in the first round of the playoffs."

Will the Pacers and Clippers grow up? On paper, the Pacers and the Clippers have the two most talented young teams in the NBA. On paper. In reality numerous off-the-court distractions may keep them from cashing that talent into a playoff run. Combined, the two teams have a whopping 14 players in some form of contract year. Young players never deal well with those type of distractions. The Pacers still have that old sage Reggie Miller, but after that they're helmed by a second-year point guard, have three players who never played a lick of college ball and a coach who still thinks it's all about him. Meanwhile, the Clippers need to figure out how to get paid. Alvin Gentry has been preaching that if they want the big bucks, they need to show the league that they can put the distractions behind them and play as a team. Individual stats are important, but if the Clippers can knock someone out in the first round, they all are going to make lots and lots of money.

Will the Rockets and Hawks heal up? Awash with injuries last season, here are two teams with a lot of talent that have sleeper written all over them.

How long will the Knicks and Heat continue to stink it up? Two proud franchises are in the crapper right now, but their futures look dramatically different. The Heat have upstart rookie Caron Butler and max cap room next summer. The Knicks have marginal first-round pick Frank Williams and about $90 million worth of headaches. Pat Riley and Co. will vacation in lottery land for one more season. Scott Layden and the crew may be exiled for life.

Can the Jazz stay up? Contrary to popular belief, Viagra doesn't improve basketball performance.

Will the Suns continue to muck it up? The roster is loaded with talent, but Frank Johnson will have to find a way to merge the old (Penny Hardaway, Tom Gugliotta, Bo Outlaw) with the young (Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson, Amare Stoudemire).

Should the Warriors, Bulls, Nuggets, Cavs and Grizzlies give it up? Just a suggestion.

Will MJ light it up in the Finals? A year ago it would've been unthinkable. All of it. MJ in All-Star form, the Wizards in the playoff hunt in the East, Doug Collins on the verge of doing something very special in D.C. But with all of the parity in the East, the additions of Jerry Stackhouse and Larry Hughes and the emergence of Kwame Brown, can Jordan do the unthinkable and lead his Wizards to the NBA Finals? One year ago, inconceivable. Now . . .

...Four!

Tim Brown / Los Angeles Times

The feeling here: Season starts on Dec. 25

Mark Kreidler / Sacramento Bee

It's a Free-for-All Until June

Michael Wilbon / Washington Post

League is looking like a Western world

Stephen A. Smith / Philadelphia Inquirer

May's high-fives

Peter May / Boston Globe

Swift, Fizer, Crawford picked up

After weeks of mulling over cap numbers and talking trade, the Grizzlies and Bulls finally decided to pick up their fourth year option on lottery picks Stromile Swift, Marcus Fizer and Jamal Crawford.

The Grizzlies seriously considered passing on Swift. With Pau Gasol and rookie Drew Gooden ahead of him on the depth chart, Swift looked to be the odd man out in Memphis. Swift is scheduled to make $4.6 million next summer, likely more than he could get on the open market. The team has talked seriously with the Magic about a Mike Miller-for-Swift swap, but the Magic aren't ready to pull the trigger.

A strong preseason combined with a renewed work ethic ultimately pushed the Grizzles to pick up the option.

"He's a talented young man," coach Sidney Lowe told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "We want to see that aggressiveness, that fire all the time. That's been the concern. But he's done really well. Hopefully, he's starting to see the light. You just don't know when it clicks in for guys. . . . Right now, he's starting to understand how hard it is and how he has to work in order to be good."

Lowe would not say whether Swift earned the right to start. Lowe, though, shot down any notion that Swift is the odd man out of the team's crowded frontcourt. For now, he's been starting at center in place of the injured Lorenzen Wright.

"He's earned the right to play," Lowe said of Swift. "If you look at his numbers, when he gets minutes his numbers are as good as anyone on our team. He's worked hard in practice and he's played well in the [exhibition] games."

Bulls operations chief Jerry Krause announced Monday that he had picked up Crawford's and Fizer's options.

"It was an easy decision to make, but going along with our practice of not making decisions until we have to, the deadline being tomorrow, we held up with an official announcement," Krause said in a statement. "Jamal has the ability to be an outstanding all around player in the NBA for a long time. Marcus is an outstanding low post scorer and rebounder who has improved in every area of the game. Both Jamal and Marcus would be key starters on a great many NBA teams."

A short time later, coach Bill Cartwright announced (to no one's surprise) that rookie Jay Williams had taken the starting point guard job away from Crawford.

"Just from my heart, I wouldn't say that he beat me out," Crawford told the Chicago Sun Times. "[Cartwright] didn't really tell me why [Williams is starting]. He just said I would be a big part of what we're doing and I'm going to play."

The deadline is today at 6 p.m. ET for teams to exercise their options. DerMarr Johnson, Joel Przybilla, Jerome Moiso, Courtney Alexander, Mateen Cleaves, Jason Collier, Speedy Claxton, Donnell Harvey, DeShawn Stevenson, Mamadou N'diaye, Primoz Brezec and Mark Madsen are still waiting to hear whether their options will be exercised. If teams opt to pass, players become unrestricted free agents.

Swift's deal gets 4th year

Ronald Tillery / Memphis Commercial Appeal

Williams gets point-guard nod

K.C. Johnson / Chicago Tribune

Dolan takes Layden's checkbook?

First the Latrell Sprewell slap down. Now the Scott Layden lock down?

Knicks owner James Dolan is still optimistic that the Knicks can be competitive. But at what price?

"Our goal is to still put a winning team on the court, and would it be worth it for us to spend that much or more money for a winner?" Dolan told the N.Y. Times. "Yeah, it would be. But I don't want to waste the money."

On the other hand, Dolan added, the goal was not necessarily to cut back on salaries.

"The resources are available for the team to use and for Scott to use." he said. "They're not there, though, to waste. We need to be fiscally responsible."

Our goal is to still put a winning team on the court, and would it be worth it for us to spend that much or more money for a winner?" Dolan asked rhetorically. "Yeah, it would be. But I don't want to waste the money."

On the other hand, Dolan added, the goal was not necessarily to cut back on salaries. The Knicks payroll exceeds $90 million this year.

"The resources are available for the team to use and for Scott to use." he said. "They're not there, though, to waste. We need to be fiscally responsible."

Asked if he might attempt to dump salaries in an attempt to rebuild, Dolan added: "You've got to ask Scott that question. He has not said that to me, that it's a rebuilding year, and I certainly wouldn't overstep myself in terms of that question. That's what he's hired for."

As Season Draws Near, Dolan Is Still Optimistic

Steve Popper / New York Times

Brother, can you spare a roster spot?

Teams had until 6 p.m. Eastern Monday to cut their rosters down to 15 players. Several decent players found themselves on the waiver wire as the smoke cleared Monday.

Nuggets swingman George McCloud lasted all of two days in Washington before the Wizards waived him. According to the Washington Post, the Bucks, Celtics and Magic have all expressed interested.

Blazers big man Amal McCaskill may also be a popular man. The team thought it had a deal to acquire 6-foot-11 center Amal McCaskill from Portland on Monday. But at the last minute, the deal fell through. The Pistons were going to give up a future second-round draft pick that wouldn't have to be conveyed until 2009. In addition, the Trail Blazers were going to pay McCaskill's salary ($565,850). But McCaskill balked at going on the Pistons' injured list. "We will keep our eyes open and see if we can bring in another big man," Pistons president Joe Dumars told the Detroit News. "But it has to be the right kind of guy. Right now, we are looking to start the season with the group we have." A team like the Knicks or Heat, who have major holes in the frontcourt, will likely swipe him up."

Veteran Bryant Stith, Rockets point guard Tierre Brown and Wizards small forward Bobby Simmons were among the other surprise cuts on Monday.

Several other top free agents are still out there waiting for the right team to call. Veterans Lee Nailon, Tyrone Nesby, Erick Barkley, Jim Jackson, Danny Manning, John Crotty, Doug Overton, Grant Long, Oscar Torres, Vonteego Cummings, Greg Foster, Eddie Gill and Harold Jamison still don't have a team.

Simmons and McCloud Are Wizards' Final Cuts

Steve Wyche / Washington Post

Deal falls through for Pistons

Chris McCosky / Detroit News

Peep Show

T-Wolves: Will Terrell Brandon ever play again? "Everyone tries to give me a due date this, a due date that," Brandon told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Some say one month, some say two, some say February, some say next year. Only God knows what my body's going to go through. If I play, then I feel like I'm the best point guard for this franchise. And if I don't, I've had 11 years ¡X I can't complain about that." . . . Joe Smith is expected to miss the first month of the season. "He didn't come into camp in great shape, [and] he hasn't gone through any camp," Saunders said. "He'll be two weeks away [from playing] when he really starts practicing."

Clippers: Obviously, the Clippers still haven't gotten over owner Donald Sterling's offseason stiff arm. Elton Brand is the latest Clipper to question whether this team will be together next season. The Clippers have six free agents next summer and Brand is doubtful that his teammates would take less money to stay with the Clippers beyond the 2002-03 season, however. "Some guys might consider it if we have a great season," Brand told the L.A. Times. "I don't see guys taking a 20 percent or 30 percent pay cut just to stay in L.A., though. I feel I should be right up there with those guys who are All-Stars and All-Star-caliber players," he added. "My deal wasn't up, so I wasn't upset at all."

Warriors: Danny Forston isn't MIA after all. A Warriors official told the San Francisco Chronicle that Fortson's father died Sunday and that the team is uncertain when the power forward will return. Fortson has not been with the club since Oct. 19 because of personal reasons.

Rockets: Glen Rice was rushed to an MRI test Monday to determine the extent of a knee injury suffered in practice. The news was relatively good ¡X a strained patella tendon. Rice is questionable to play in the Rockets' season opener Wednesday at Indiana and on Friday at Denver, but the injury was not serious enough to return him to the injured list. Once again, injuries are threatening to suffocate the Rockets. "It's not an ideal situation, and it's getting worse," coach Rudy Tomjanovich told the Houston Chronicle. "Kenny [Thomas] won't play. Of course, Mo [Taylor] can't play the first five games. Terence [Morris] is a ways away. We're really, really, really short at the forward positions. It's not a good way to start the season." Asked how Yao will be used, Tomjanovich said: "I don't even know what my team is. He might be playing the whole front line."

Blazers Scottie Pippen is ready to step aside and let Bonzi Wells and Derek Anderson take over the starting duties. "I don't care if he leaves me on the bench," Pippen told the Oregonian. "I'm trying to talk Maurice into picking me up as another coach." "Yeah, I've still got the pride, but I'm cool. We have a lot of guys out here who have been working hard, so they deserve the opportunity," Pippen said. "I'm cool, either way. I think ultimately, it all boils down to what Maurice wants to do. It doesn't matter."

Hawks: Jason Terry has easily won the the Hawks' starting point guard spot, but GM Pete Babcock knows it's not a perfect fit. "I honestly don't know if it matters," Hawks general manager Pete Babcock told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "He's never been a true point guard. Even in college he wasn't a point guard ¡X he was a great basketball player. I don't think our staff thinks, all of a sudden, that he'll become the prototype point guard. But he's working really hard at playing a position." Coach Lon Kruger says Terry has no choice. "At his size, he's going to have to be a point for his career. He had the opportunity to play 40 games there last year, and he's made progress."

Bucks: Rookie center Dan Gadzuric will be the Bucks' opening night starting center. "He's learning the game. He has to manage his energy," Anthony Mason told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He gets so winded because he wants to do everything fast. But you'd rather he makes mistake that way rather than not playing at all. He's proven he should be a part of the team. He's worked hard and has done what has been asked of him. He's had a good camp."

Cavs: Coach John Lucas gave the starting point guard nod to Bimbo Coles, over Milt Palacio, on Monday. "You could take either one, but I just decided that Bimbo has been here the longest," Lucas told the Akron Beacon Journal. "They both played well during camp."

Nuggets: Coach Jeff Bzdelik claims that rookie Nene Hilario will challenge for Rookie of the Year honors. "I don't think it's too early to say that," Bzdelik told the Denver Post. "I think Nene is as good as any other rookie in this league. He goes to the rim with force, he gets to the free-throw line. A lot of veteran players don't get to the free-throw line as often as he's getting there." Nene has averaged 9.3 points, a team-high 6.5 rebounds and 1.75 steals in 25.3 minutes per game.

Mavs: Owner Mark Cuban on undrafted rookie Adam Harrington making the Mavs' 15-man roster. "It's not like this guy is going to make or break the whole bank," Cuban told the Fort Star Worth Telegram. "He's shown some things, and the guys like him. Somebody's got to get the doughnuts."

Brandon wonders if he'll play again

Robbi Pickeral / St. Paul Pioneer Press

Big Hopes Bring Big Ifs

Elliott Teaford / Los Angeles Times

Warriors are young at heart, and mind

Brad Weinstein / San Francisco Chronicle

Pippen's body has a mind of its own

Jason Quick / The Oregonian

Deal falls through for Pistons

Chris McCosky / Detroit News

Terry's trying to make a point

Michael Lee / Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Bucks rookie to start

Tom Enlund / Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Hilario looks to silence naysayers

Marc J. Spears / Denver Post

Undrafted rookie makes Mavs' roster

Dwain Price / Fort Worth Star-Telegram

[capstone21]

[Admin]

[capstone21]

[Guest]

Did you see how ESPN picks out part of things

to make it fit their arguement?lol

Remember Dickau or Email was supposed to start.

[Hawksfreak]

Man please delete that f***in picture because it's starting to get really annoying and embarrasing! I have done nothing to you at all I don't like to be f***in showed up why did you do that [censored]!

[Gray Mule]

I hope your Mamma reads your post and turns you over

her knee and bursts your tail end for using such

language.

This IS NOT the way to impress people. Please clean

up your mouth.

Gray Mule

[Hawksfreak]

Look at the picture he has made of me and you will understand!!!!!! Would you like a picture of you like that? I thought so! Second I dont get whoopins I'm 13! I get grounded so if your gonna try to insult me do it right!

[capstone21]

I quote from your post in the main forum

________________

I LOVE IT! GREAT PICTURE! ROTFL! HAHAHAHA!

_______________

You also said you liked it in the Yahoo Fantasy bball forum. You just completely contradicted yourself. Hey it is funny, he is just have fun with you, not insulting you.

[Boondocks]

What picture are you going on about?