Monday Insider

[Guest]

Breaking down Week 5

by Chad Ford

Send an Email to Chad Ford

Also Below: Kidd to the Sonics? Payton doesn't see it | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | Will the Cavs show Ricky Davis the door? | Give Yao the [censored] ball | Peep Show

Insider Fantasy File: Nov. 26

NBA Sixth Man: Miller belongs in different category

Are the NBA's two best point guards, Jason Kidd and Gary Payton, gearing up for a turf war? The clock is ticking on Knicks GM Scott Layden. Can he use their $4.5 disabled player exception before it turns into a pumpkin at midnight? With the sudden emergence of Dajuan Wagner, are Ricky Davis' days in Cleveland numbered? Now that we know Yao Ming can play, why aren't the Rockets throwing him the ball?

Kidd to the Sonics? Payton doesn't see it

Jason Kidd

Point Guard

New Jersey Nets

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

18 21.9 6.5 8.4 .460 .887

For the time being, we'll put the Jason Kidd-to-the-Spurs rumors behind us. With Kidd in Seattle on Sunday night, all eyes focused on the other Kidd rumor that seems to have some legs. Will Kidd spur San Antonio and New Jersey and sign with long-time friend Howard Schultz next summer?

The rumors about Schultz's infatuation with Kidd have caused their fair share of problems in Seattle, where the league's second-best point guard, Gary Payton, happens to play. Both Kidd and Payton will be unrestricted free agents next summer and speculation persists that the Sonics have put off a Payton extension, in part, to clear the way for a run at Kidd in the summer of 2003.

Tensions have mounted to the point that Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, has said Payton won't re-sign with the Sonics. Payton has been more low key, but he still isn't speaking with Schultz.

Still, Payton doesn't see Kidd wearing green in 2003.

Gary Payton

Point Guard

Seattle SuperSonics

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

18 21.3 4.8 10.3 .470 .750

"I don't care about that stuff," Payton told the Seattle Times. "That's talk and it doesn't bother me at all. If he does replace me here, more power to him, and I'll be happy with that. If that's what's going to happen, I'm going to be happy wherever I go.

"It's his choice and he's going to make up his own mind, but I don't think he'll do that. That's hard to see. To come here. I don't see it. But I don't get into all of that. I'm going to let Aaron and Eric [Payton's agents Aaron and Eric Goodwin] handle that. If I go somewhere else, more power to that.

"Things are going good for him right now and he'd be crazy to leave that. They are one of the better teams in their conference and that's all that you can ask for. That's all anybody wants, to win games and compete for a championship."

Strangely enough, Nets GM Rod Thorn didn't sound as optimistic that Kidd would stay in New Jersey.

"From the time he got with us, he has steadfastly maintained that he is going to become a free agent," Thorn told the Tacoma News Tribune. "I think that because of the success we had last year ... if he feels we have a chance to do well, our chances are better that he will be with us."

Thorn then left open the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal, though he said it was not New Jersey's first option.

"At this time, we are not interested in a sign-and-trade," Thorn said. "But you never know what is going to happen. We have only played 17 games, we have a long ways to go this year, and strange things happen."

While owners and GMs haggle over the league's two best point guards, Payton and Kidd tried to settle the score on the court Sunday. The contest between the two guards was basically a draw. Payton's Sonics won, 96-95. Payton scored 28 points, grabbed 10 boards and handed out four assists. Kidd scored 27 points, grabbed eight boards and dished out another eight dimes.

Jason Kidd: The apprentice is now the best

Percy Allen / Seattle Times

Nets mum on Kidd's future

Frank Hughes / Tacoma News Tribune

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Scott Layden is working the phones. Don Chaney is pacing the sidelines. Knicks fans comb headlines searching for hope or, if nothing else, a little change. At midnight tonight, the phones will stop ringing, the final rites will be read and we can finally lay the Knicks to rest in the same LeBron James junk heap alongside the Cavs, Bulls, Heat, Grizzlies and Nuggets.

The Knicks' $4.5 million disabled player exception is little more than symbolic at this point. The word around the league is that Layden is unlikely to make a serious trade before tonight's deadline. He's insisted that any players he takes on in return are young, talented and don't own ridiculous contracts. When you consider that the players he's offering are old, marginally talented and make more money than most all-stars, it isn't difficult to see why the Knicks aren't going anywhere.

Sure, there's still a thread of hope. Chaney told N.Y. reporters on Sunday that Layden was unavailable to meet with the press because he was working the phones. But for the most part, it's all false hope.

A report out of San Francisco this weekend claiming that the Warriors and Knicks were talking about swapping Danny Fortson for the Knicks' exception are bogus. Fortson makes more than the disabled exception, meaning the Knicks couldn't fit Fortson into the exception. The two teams would have to work out a multi-player deal to get anything to work.

Folks are so desperate for change, the N.Y. Daily News was remorseful that the Knicks seem unable to pry Shawn Bradley away from the Mavs.

Sack cloth and ashes over the inability to land Bradley? Is it really that bad? Yes it is. Right now, the hottest thing going in New York is a growing point guard controversy between Charlie Ward and Howard Eisley. That's as good as it's going to get folks.

Seeking help now & later for lottery

Frank Isola / New York Daily News

Don: Ward Not Ready To Start

Dan Martin / New York Post

Will the Cavs show Ricky Davis the door?

Hello Dajuan Wagner. Bye, bye Ricky Davis?

In this era of prep hype, what a shock it is to find a player coming off one year of college ball who may actually be better than advertised. Wagner is getting the Allen Iverson comparisons but with a caveat. He's a much better shooter.

Now that's scary. In just four games, Wagner now leads the team in scoring, is second in assists, first in steals and is shooting a sizzling 45 percent from behind the arc. His teammates love him. His coach loves him. So everything's cool, right?

Ummmm, we're talking about the Cavs here. It's no surprise that Wagner's quick start happens to coincide with yet another Davis episode. A shouting match on Friday between Davis and Tyrone Hill forced the Cavs to suspend Davis for two games.

It's just the latest in a long line of transgressions. Since Davis emerged as a player in the second half of last season, his agent has tried to force a trade. Davis skipped media day without an explanation. He criticized the Cavs' point guards and said management should have signed veteran Rod Strickland. He clashed with Bimbo Coles in Indiana Nov. 12 and sat out the last three quarters of the game. (He was also held out of the starting lineup the following game.)

Davis' latest transgression has the Cavs worried. Some believe his six-year, $35 million contract has gone to his head. Others believe that he knows ultimately that Wagner and Darius Miles are more talented and he'll be forced, once again, into a supporting role, possibly coming off the bench. His teammates don't like him. His coach is sick of him. Have the Cavs had enough?

The answer is probably yes, but like everything in Cleveland, it's complicated. Davis is a base-year compensation player, making him very difficult to trade. If the Cavs were to move him and his $4.5 million salary this year, they'd only be able to take back $2.7 million in a trade. Given that only one team, the Clippers, is under the cap right now, the only way the Cavs can move him is to put together a much larger trade that makes up for the differences in salary.

That's why John Lucas is going out of his way to try to fix some nasty chemistry in Cleveland.

"This isn't a matter that goes away lightly," Lucas told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "There's been some broken chemistry between him and the team and we have to get the chemistry back. I want to help Ricky, the team and the organization."

"I love Ricky Davis," Lucas said. "He and I haven't had any problems. The problem is with Ricky and the team. It's got to be about the team and once that gets resolved, we'll move forward."

Wagner quickly gains respect of opponents

Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer

Davis needs to get the message and change his ways

Bob Finnan / Lorain Morning Journal

Hill, Cavaliers eager for Davis' return despite arguments

Branson Wright / Cleveland Plain Dealer

Trading Cavs' Davis might be a plausible option

Roger Brown / Cleveland Plain Dealer

Give Yao the [censored] ball

He's the No. 1 pick in the draft. He's 7-foot-6. And we know he's capable of dropping 30 points and 16 rebounds on just about anyone.

So can anyone explain why Yao Ming, over the last five games, is averaging 5.2 shots per game?

With the exception of Steve Francis, who's playing at an all-star level, should anyone on the Rockets be shooting the ball more than Yao right now?

Eddie Griffin, Maurice Taylor, Kenny Thomas, Glen Rice, Moochie Norris and Juaquin Hawkins are all averaging more shots than Yao over that stretch, despite the fact that those six are shooting a combined 39 percent from the field. The Rockets are just 2-3.

What is it about Yao's 67 percent shooting percentage that seems to be scaring his teammates away?

"That's experience," coach Rudy Tomjanovich told the Houston Chronicle. "Our lineup is changing. And, you know, it's tough to get the ball inside. Ask Hakeem [Olajuwon]."

Let's ask Hakeem, who averaged 6.8 shots per game last season with the Raptors despite the fact that he could barely play.

The Rockets' problem is that their offense the last few years has centered around the run-and-gun style of Francis and Cuttino Mobley. How many times a game do you think they slowed things down and ran a play for Kelvin Cato in the post? Exactly. But Yao is a different story. He's already proved that given the opportunity, he can be unstoppable in the paint. Francis and Mobley are excellent players. But they're rarely unstoppable.

If the Rockets are going to make it to the postseason, the big fella needs the ball.

Yao, as always, is the consummate diplomat.

"It's not that I feel that I have to touch the ball all of the time," he told the Chronicle. "But I want to see more effective passes from all of our team. Tonight, I didn't think many of our passes were effective enough."

Leave it to the big guy to give the understatement of the night.

Yao can't do his thing if he doesn't get the ball

Dale Robertson / Houston Chronicle

All Kings men not necessary

Jonathan Feigen / Houston Chronicle

Peep Show

Wizards: Michael Jordan is back in the starting line-up. Is anyone surprised? "My personal opinion is having him coming in so early [off the bench] kind of disrupted things if we had something going," Jerry Stackhouse told the Washington Post. "If Michael's in the game and we're rolling, we don't have to worry about subbing [him] in. If we need to make a change, then we can bring guys off the bench. But there's not that sense of urgency [to make player substitutions] if Michael's already in the game. There was a sense of urgency when he's on the bench to get him in the game."

Grizzlies: Hubie Brown loves Jason Williams. Seriously. "It's hard to explain," Jerry West told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "It's like a love affair. In eight games under Brown, Williams has turned into the player the Grizzlies didn't even dare dream he might become. He's been poised. Unselfish. A leader on both ends. "He's accepted everything 100 percent," Brown said. "He keeps us totally under control. He runs the stuff and then he has the courage to take the big shots."

Bulls: The team is on the pace to lose 61 games for the fifth straight season, prompting coach Bill Cartwright to replace Eddy Curry and Trenton Hassell with veterans Donyell Marshall and Eddie Robinson in the starting line-up. Curry is miffed by the demotion. ''I want the coaches to tell me exactly what I was doing wrong to go to the bench,'' he told the Sun Times. ''I want to improve as a player and I'm going to work hard to get my starting position back.''

Pistons: Coach Rick Carlisle blasted his team's defensive effort the last few games. "To make believe everything is rosy is foolish," Carlisle told the Detroit News. "I am just not seeing the effort plays that I am accustomed to seeing out of this team. I am so tired of seeing guys jog back defensively and getting their butts kicked under the basket. It's a disgrace." The Pistons, despite giving up 302 points the last three games, still rank as the league's stingiest defense.

Clippers: More bad news for L.A. The team was forced to put starting center Michael Olowokandi on the injured list with tendinitis in his left knee. Starting point guard Andre Miller is also out indefinately with a sprained left ankle. With Lamar Odom and Corey Maggette also on the shelf, the team has only one starter, Elton Brand, healthy enough to play.

Magic: The good news is Horace Grant is ready to return to the team on Wednesday. "It's been pretty tough," Grant told the Orlando Sentinel. "I've never been in this situation in 16 years, and now I'm in this predicament. I never anticipated that with a scope I'd be out this long. It's a weird thing. Very weird. They tell you four-to-six weeks, and it passes and you're not out there. You start to second-guess yourself." The bad news is Grant Hill seems like he's on permanent day-to-day status with tendinitis."He's going to warm up and we're planning on having him play, but I don't know if he will," coach Doc Rivers said. "That's how it is and that's how it's going to be for some time."

Mavs: The team got Raef LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel back this weekend, but may have lost Eduardo Najera to a knee injury. Najera didn't dress for Saturday's game. "When he stops taking his medication [anti-inflammatories], his knee gives him trouble," Mavs coach Don Nelson told the Dallas Morning News. "He'll have an MRI to make sure there's nothing structurally wrong. But we missed him, no question. We don't have anybody else who can do that job he does."

Celtics: Kedrick Brown's recovery from a severely sprained right ankle and turf toe is going well. Brown was back practicing with the Celtics yesterday, earlier than either he or coach Jim O'Brien expected. Still, he is not expected to see action tonight at Orlando. ''I got done working in the weight room and I felt pretty good,'' Brown told the Boston Globe. ''I've got to get back in game condition.''

Warriors: The team's pick-up of point guard Earl Boykins isn't meant as a slight to incumbent Gilbert Arenas. "As an outsider coming in here," coach Eric Musselman told the San Francisco Chronicle, "Gilbert was thought of as a guy who could really score the ball when he didn't have it as the primary handler. We understand long term that Gilbert is our point guard. But what this does is alleviate the fact that if another one of our off-guards is struggling, we can throw him over there and get point production."

Nuggets: Forward Chris Andersen, who suffered a broken right thumb in Friday's 92-82 loss to Golden State, underwent surgery Saturday. He is expected to be out from six to eight weeks. "Chris was playing very well," Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe told the Rocky Mountain News. "Obviously, he's extremely athletic and very active. I thought Chris added a lot, but now other guys will have to step up and try to fill his spot with energy. It hurts to lose him, but it means more time for our younger players."

Wizards Go With Plan B

Steve Wyche / Washington Post

Brown instructing J-Willing student

Geoff Calkins / Memphis Commercial Appeal

Changes won't be easy for Cartwright

Lacy J. Banks / Chicago Sun-Times

Carlisle's blast surprises players

Chris McCosky / Detroit News

Clippers in Limp Sync

Elliott Teaford / Los Angeles Times

Magic expect Horace Grant back on Wednesday

Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel

Hill day-to-day with tendinitis

Jeffrey Denberg / Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Van Exel, LaFrentz back in, but Najera is out

Eddie Sefko / Dallas Morning News

Brown dips a toe back in the water

Shira Springer / Boston Globe

Boykins packs big punch

Brad Weinstein / San Francisco Chronicle

Nuggets' Andersen out 6-8 weeks

Chris Tomasson / Rocky Mountain News