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Can the Heat unload

Jones and Grant?

by Terry Brown

Also Below: What's wrong with the Mavs? | Peep Show

If Eddie Jones and Brian Grant actually deserved to make $12 million each, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Brian Grant

Forward-Center

Miami Heat

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

40 10.0 10.9 1.3 .506 .748

But the fact of the matter is that the Miami Heat, at 14-26, are worst team in the worst division in the NBA, third worse in the Eastern Conference and fifth worse in the entire NBA.

Of course, Pat Riley would dump them and their salaries without thinking twice.

"When you're rebuilding, just like anything else, everything goes," Riley told the Miami Herald. "So players, coaches, you just don't know what's going to happen. If you're a player, you can't worry about it because we're in that mode. As much as we'd like to keep a blueprint in order, keep it consistent by building around Eddie and Brian, you don't know if you can do that. They just have to be realistic about the whole thing. I think they are."

Riley was being nice. And, well, the nice guys are finishing last.

With only a projected $6 million in salary-cap space available for the upcoming offseason, the Heat have very few options unless they are able to trade Jones and Grant by the Feb. 20 deadline.

Eddie Jones

Shooting Guard

Miami Heat

Profile

2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

33 17.9 4.6 3.6 .420 .800

Now, you be the judge.

Eddie Jones

17.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 42% shooting

Jason Kidd

19.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 8.8 apg, 44% shooting

Or ...

Brian Grant

10 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, 50% shooting

Tim Duncan

23.3 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 3.8 apg, 49% shooting

Kidd led his team to the NBA Finals last year. Duncan was the Finals MVP when the Spurs won the 1999 title. And both will be available this summer for starting salaries of about $11 million each as unrestricted free agents.

"I don't really care," Eddie Jones said. "The only thing you can control is what you can do on the court. If it happens, it happens. So what. That's my attitude . . . I want to be here, but that can go in somebody's ear and out the other."

Jermaine O'Neal, at 19.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.3 apg and 48% shooting, will also be available.

"I think we're to that point now where if it happens, it happens," Grant said. "It's not going to be like a major blow to us like it would have been a couple years ago when we were just getting here and just trying to get established here. Or like when I was in Portland, where we were so dug in that we thought we couldn't live anywhere else. We just know it's a part of the game, and I understand that if you put your personal in front of the business side of it, you're going to get hurt."

Seven-foot Michael Olowokandi could be had for less.

"They're out there," one Eastern Conference general manager said of Jones and Grant. "And it's pretty clear to most that [the Heat is] looking for less years in return."

Lamar Odom, at 18.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3.6 apg and 46% shooting, may be the bargain of the lot with his checkered past.

It is no longer a question if the Heat want to trade the Jones and Grant, but if they even can.

"No," the GM said. "Other teams are probably thinking in the same terms as Miami, so they won't take on either of those salaries. The good teams already have quality players at those positions or don't want to pay that much for role players."

Otherwise, with their $6 million in cap space, they'll be left to choose among Juwan Howard, Clifford Robinson, Derrick Coleman and P.J. Brown.

"Next year isn't really a good year for us unless something happens," Riley said. "Rebuilding means being financially flexible, and it might take two years."

Cash-poor Heat puts rebuilding on hold

Israel Gutierrez / Miami Herald

What's wrong with the Mavs?

The team with the best record in the NBA lost to Predrag Drobnjak Sumday night after the backup forward for the Seattle Sonics scored 19 points and grabbed nine boards.

"I don't know why we're playing so poorly," Steve Nash told the Dallas Morning News as the Dallas Mavericks dropped thier third straight game. "This is not what we had in mind on this trip."

Now, they're home to the red-hot Houston Rockets, who have won four striaght and eight of their last 10, then travel to Philly and New York, then back home against the resurgent Portland Blazers, then back on the road against Houston.

"Earlier in the year, everything was fun," Michael Finley said of the team's 14-0 start. "But now everything is a struggle. We have to remain positive, and once we come out of this thing, we're going to learn from it and be better from it."

The team hadn't lost two games in a row all season as it built an NBA-best 30-5 record prior to the four-game road trip in which the Mavs were hammered by the Sacramento Kings, 123-94, with their only victory coming against the lowly Los Angeles Clippers.

"We're struggling as much offensively as we are defensively," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said.

The Sonics had lost four straight to the Mavs before Sunday night and hadn't beaten a team with a winning record in almost six weeks.

"It's a struggle we're going through right now," Nick Van Exel said. "We just have to be men enough to get out of this hole."

The Mavericks are now 31-8, still three games better than the Kings in the loss column but only one game better than the NBA's worst team Cleveland Cavaliers, who own the league's current longest losing streak at four and have won only 8 games on the season.

Mavericks stagger to third straight loss

Eddie Sefko / Dallas Morning News

Peep Show

Iverson

Philadelphia 76ers: Believe it or not, Larry Brown has had enough of Allen Iverson. "I'm playing him a lot of minutes," Brown told the Philadephia Inquirer, "and I've got to find ways to rest him because we need him in the fourth quarter. He commands so much attention. Everybody's trying to win. That's the important thing. I've just got to figure out ways I can help him put him in situations that are a little better for him late in games." Iverson played 42 minutes in their recent victory over the Wizards after playing 43 minutes the game before. "Whatever he says," Iverson said after scoring only three points in the fourth quarter against the Wizards. "Whatever he says. If that's the way he feels, I guess that's the way it is, but I don't feel worn down at all. He's been my coach for going on seven years now, and who knows more than he does? If that's the way he feels, then obviously that's probably what's going on. But, I feel good."

Chicago Bulls: This isn't how Jamal Crawford wants to win the starting point guard position from Jay Williams. "It's like a balloon," Williams told the Chicago Sun-Times after severaly spraining his ankle for the second time this season. "It's even worse than the last time because it keeps happening. So I don't know if I'll be able to play." Said Crawford: "Whether I start or not all depends on Jay. But I've accepted my role on this team. If I start, though, it will help with pacing because I won't be trying to do too much in a short amount of time."

Howard

Denver Nuggets: Three teams and $105 million later, Juwan Howard may have finally found a home. "I've always liked Juwan as a player," Nugget GM Kiki Vandeweghe told the Denver Post. "Now that I've gotten to know him, I like him even more. He's such a professional. I think he's really helped our young players. He embodies a lot of the things that we like here. I'm going to do my best within what we've all talked about ... to keep him here." Howard is averaging team bests of 16.9 points and 8.4 rebounds. The forward is making $20.6 million in the final year of a seven-year deal and will become a free agent his summer.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Wally Szczerbiak is crossing his fingers. "I tell ya, these [coaches] are ridiculous," Szczerbiak told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, smiling. "They're not letting me go out there. I've been back six games now -- that's like a full preseason. I've been rehabbing really hard. It comes to a point where, if the doctors say I'm OK and there's no problems with the toe, let's go already." Szczerbiak, an all-star last season, has missed 30 of team's first 34 games with various injuries to his feet and knees.

Miller

Orlando Magic: Mike Miller, who did not play Sunday night because of an ankle sprain sustained in practice, may return Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavs. "I'm always looking to play in the next game, but we'll see," Miller told the Orlando Sentinel. "If there was something wrong structurally, I'd be concerned. But it's just a sprain."

Boston Celtics: Rookie J.R. Bremer is sitting on top of the world. Well, Boston anyways. "It feels good," Bremer, who was recently named the team's starting point guard over Tony Delk and Shammond Williams, told the Boston Globe. "It's a big confidence-booster to know that the coach has confidence in me to run the team. I'm definitely exited. I'm not nervous. The nerves got out of it a couple games ago." In 10 days, Bremer has gone from third-string to starter as the Celtics have put together a 3-1 record. Over the last five games, Bremer is averaging 12.6 points and 4.8 assists.

Brown looks for way to keep Iverson fresh

Ashley McGeachy Fox / Philadelphia Inquirer

Williams' ankle 'like a balloon'

Roman Modrowski / Chicago Sun-Times

Vandeweghe keeps watchful eye on Howard

Marc J. Spears / Denver Post

Szczerbiak eager for more minutes

Steve Aschburner / Minneapolis Star Tribune

Sprained ankle sidelines Miller

Jerry Brewer / Orlando Sentinel

Based on performance, Bremer gets the starting nod

Shira Springer / Boston Globe