Guest Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 NBA Loserville By Chad Ford NBA Insider Send an Email to Chad Ford Thursday, August 14 Updated: August 14 1:35 PM ET You know we've finally hit the doldrums of the NBA offseason when we're reduced to this: The Nuggets wavering between Stephen Jackson, Dion Glover and Predrag Drobjnak as the final piece to their offseason puzzle. The Grizzlies pondering whether a player like Erick Dampier or Nazr Mohammed will be the piece that keeps them on life support in the wild, Western Conference. Hawks center Theo Ratliff begging GM Billy Knight to actually sign someone, anyone to keep them out of the cellar this year. The Warriors planning their big offseason move -- a potential trade of Bobby Sura. The Heat waiting breathlessly by the phone to hear if Lamar Odom will be joining them this year. The Knicks finally jumping into the NBA offseason scrum and using their mid-level exception on . . . their second-round pick Maciej Lampe. The Jazz signing . . . well . . . you get the picture. With LeBron James, the Cavs should no longer be one of the NBA's doormats. A lot has been made about the teams we know will be good this season. The Lakers look like a dream team. The Kings, Mavericks, Spurs and T-Wolves are just a half step behind. In the East, the Nets and Pistons appear poised to duke it out for the conference crown. The Hornets, Pacers and Magic don't seem too far behind. But little has been done to identify the bottom feeders. For the first time in awhile, it appears that Bulls, Cavs and Clippers won't be among them. The Baby Bulls are maturing to the point that, if they stay healthy and keep up the learning curve, they should challenge for the eighth playoff seed this year. The Cavs won't be a playoff team, but the addition of LeBron James should be enough to catapult them to respectability. The Clippers, especially if they match the Heat's offer for Lamar Odom, will finally have stability. After all the excuses about being distracted last season, will Elton Brand, Corey Maggette and Odom now step up and earn the dollars they so desperately wanted. Take those three usual suspects out of the picture and we're left with seven teams that should compete for the NBA's ultimate consolation prize -- 250 ping pong balls in the 2004 NBA lottery. The prize will likely be a big man as UConn's Emeka Okafor, Serbia's Peja Samardziski, Siberia's Pavel Podkolzine and high school phenom Dwight Howard duke it out for the top spot in the 2004 NBA Draft. Who will take it home? Here's our early handicap in the 2004 race for some lottery balls. 1. Utah Jazz Projected record: 18-64 Projected starting five: PG- Raul Lopez, SG - Matt Harpring, SF - Andrei Kirilenko, PF - Keon Clark, C - Greg Ostertag What happened?: The team took four major hits this summer. First, John Stockton announced that he was retiring. Shortly thereafter, Karl Malone decided to bolt Salt Lake for the Lakers. And then disaster hit in free agency. The Jazz lost out on the primary target, Andre Miller, after Miller decided that Salt Lake would provide too many distractions for his career (when's the last time you've heard that?). Then the Clippers thwarted the Jazz's back-up plan when they matched Utah's offer for Corey Maggette. Since then, the only significant move the Jazz have been able to make is the acquisition of Keon Clark. Clark is an upgrade over the Jazz's other power forwards, Jarron Collins and John Amaechi, but that's not saying much. The Jazz have been talking to Hawks restricted free agent Jason Terry, who would be a big upgrade at point guard, but they've yet to make an offer. Even if they do, chances are the Hawks will match. What will happen?: Assuming the Jazz don't make another major addition to the roster, they're in big trouble, especially in the super-competitive Western Conference. Lopez has enormous talent, but he's a rookie point guard coming offer major ACL reconstructive surgery. Right now rookie Maurice Williams and journeyman Carlos Arroyo are his only backups. Harpring was a revelation for the Jazz last season, but let's see how he fares when he becomes the focus of opposing team defenses. Fourth-year guard DeShawn Stevenson looked great in the summer leagues, but he drives coach Jerry Sloan crazy. Alexsandar Pavlovic, the teams' first-round pick this year, is still a year or two away. At small forward, Kirilenko should be ready for a breakout season, but he'll have to average 20 and 10 to keep the Jazz in contention -- that's asking a lot. Clark showed in Toronto that he could be a force offensively when given the minutes, but how long will it take Sloan to choke Clark after getting a taste of his lackadaisical work habits? And Ostertag . . . please. 2. Milwaukee Bucks Projected record: 19-63 Projected starting five: PG- T.J. Ford, SG - Michael Redd, SF - Desmond Mason, PF - Tim Thomas, C - Joel Przybilla What happened?: The Big 3 became a Big Zero overnight. In just over a season, the Bucks went from title contenders to arguably, the worst team in the East. This summer they made the transition to stinkers complete when they let Gary Payton walk away in free agency and then shipped Sam Cassell to the T-Wolves for Joe Smith. This team is a tragic luxury-tax victim. What will happen?: Lots of losing. The best players on the team are now Mason and Redd. Unfortunately, they both play the same position, meaning that Mason must play out of position at the three. Ford may turn into a great NBA point guard, but it's going to take him awhile to adjust to the physical nature of the NBA. Thomas isn't really a power forward, but he isn't really a small forward or a shooting guard either. Przybilla has only shown sporadic signs of life and their bench includes such has-beens as Anthony Mason, Joe Smith, Jason Caffey and Erick Strickland. It won't be long for the one veteran on this team with any pride, Toni Kukoc, to be begging for a trade. Since he's in the last year of his contract, it's always a possibility. 3. Miami Heat Projected record: 20-62 Projected starting five: PG- Dwyane Wade, SG - Eddie Jones, SF - Caron Butler, PF - Samaki Walker, C - Brian Grant What happened?: It was ugly. The Heat started the offseason with a huge windfall after learning that point guard Anthony Carter forgot to exercise his $4 million option. But after that, things turned for the worse. The Clippers quickly matched an offer sheet for Elton Brand. A Samaki Walker signing here, a Loren Woods signing there, didn't do much to excite the fan base. The Heat finally got bold when they offered Lamar Odom a six-year, $65 million deal, but the word out of L.A. right now is that the Clippers are inclined to match. If they do, Wade, Walker and Woods will be the main additions to a team that went 25-57 last season. What will happen?: If the Heat don't land Odom, it won't be pretty. Wade has a lot of potential, but he isn't a point guard. At least not yet. Walker has to be the worst power forward in the East, and Grant is too undersized to be a legit center. Jones and Butler will handle the bulk of the scoring, but with zero depth on this team, the Heat are a major injury away from a 10-win season. 4. Atlanta Hawks Projected record: 24-58 Projected starting five: PG- Jason Terry, SG - Boris Diaw, SF - Shareef Abdur Rahim, PF - Theo Ratliff, C - Nazr Mohammed What happened?: Nothing much. And that's the problem. The team did trade away its leading scorer last season -- Glenn Robinson -- for a guy who's expected to retire. But with the sale of the Hawks still dragging on the lottery-bound Hawks were basically forced to sit out this season. With so many needs -- big starting point guard, legit small forward -- that hurts. There has been talk that they are in the running for Stephen Jackson, but unless the sale of the team happens fast, it probably won't happen. What will happen?: On paper, the Hawks aren't terrible. Rahim and Terry can both put up 20 points a night. Ratliff is one of the premier shot blockers in the league. And Diaw, after a solid summer league performance, may prove to be a steal at No. 21. However, on the court, the teams has too many issues. Despite Terry's improved numbers at the point last season, he's still a two guard in a point guard's body. Rahim will have to play out of position at small forward if the Hawks can find a replacement. Mohammed isn't the ideal candidate to be your starting center. And there's no telling how long the brittle Ratliff will last. This team could be much better if all of the pieces fall into place, but given the Hawks' shaky history, it's difficult to see that happening. 5. Golden State Warriors Projected record: 25-57 Projected starting five: PG- Speedy Claxton, SG - Jason Richardson, SF - Antawn Jamison, PF - Troy Murphy, C - Erick Dampier What happened?: The loss of Gilbert Arenas has been devastating. Without him, there's no way that the Warriors repeat their effort last year when they were second in the league in scoring at 102 ppg. Considering that they also gave up a league-leading 103.6 ppg, that can't be a good thing. They lost the jockey who made their offense hum and didn't replace him with a great defender who can slow things down on the other end. To make matters worse, the team has also been exploring several cap-cutting trades that could ultimately cost them either Dampier or Foyle for guys in the last year of their contracts. What will happen?: Rookie head coach Eric Musselman got his Warriors to over achieve last year, can he do it again this year? It's unlikely. Jamison will still put up big numbers, Richardson is capable of upping his scoring average and Murphy, Dampier and Foyle will continue to do a good job on the boards. But in a tight Western Conference race, that should leave the Warriors about five points shy of a win most nights. 6. Denver Nuggets Projected record: 27-55 Projected starting five: PG- Andre Miller, SG - Rodney White, SF - Carmelo Anthony, PF - Nene, C - Marcus Camby What happened?: At least the Nuggets are moving in the right direction. Drafting Anthony with the No. 3 pick in the draft was huge. Landing Miller in free agency was also a coup. Remember, last season undrafted rookie Junior Harrington did the bulk of the heavy lifting at point guard. Adding back-up point guard Earl Boykins to the mix also is a nice upgrade. And the Nuggets are also expected to add at least one more free agent from a pool that includes Stephen Jackson, Dion Glover and Predrag Drobjnak. What will happen?: The Nuggets will win a lot more games next season. Anthony is capable of averaging 18 ppg his rookie season. Miller should resort back to his all-star-caliber play in Denver. Coach Jeff Bzdelik plans on putting the ball in Miller's hands and letting him penetrate. Strong summer league performances by Nene, White and second-year forward Nikoloz Tskitishvili also bode well for the team. Camby claims that he's healthy again, but given his history, "healthy" merely means that he's not on crutches for the moment. All of the positives should translate into respectability, but let's not kid ourselves. The Nuggets are young and inexperienced. The best-case scenario has Camby returning to his 1999 form and White turning into the player he's capable of becoming. Worst-case scenario has Camby sitting out 42 games, White shooting airballs and playing matador on defense and the rest of the group struggling just to keep things from getting out of hand. 7. New York Knicks Projected record: 28-54 Projected starting five: PG- Charlie Ward, SG - Allan Houston, SF - Keith Van Horn, PF - Antonio McDyess, C - Kurt Thomas What happened?: After years (literally) of speculation, the Knicks finally traded the heart and soul of their team, Latrell Sprewell, for Van Horn. After that, the Knicks have been surprisingly quiet. They did hit the jackpot in the draft when they got Polish big man Maciej Lampe in the second round. But as good as Lampe is, he's still a few years away from contributing. The Knicks' first-round pick, Michael Sweetney, may be pressed into service this year if McDyess doesn't heal from knee surgery. What will happen?: This is a tough team to get a read on. If McDyess is healthy and if Van Horn returns to the form he showed during his sophomore season in the league, the Knicks could challenge for a playoff spot. But those are two very big ifs. The truth is that no one is sure if McDyess will even be ready to test his knee by training camp. Van Horn will be under tremendous pressue to produce in New York, but if he comes out of the gate slow (a Van Horn hallmark) he may never be able to recover. Without Spree, will this team have enough passion to beat even the mediocre teams in the East? Around the League Grizzlies president Jerry West claims that he isn't done remaking the Grizzlies. "Our roster isn't going to look like it looks right now," West told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "If we're able to do one more thing, I think we'll have two or three players at every position." That one more thing is adding a tough, defensive-minded center. West, apparently, has the goods to get one. Wesley Person and Brevin Knight, both in the last year of their contracts, are the trade bait. Can the Grizzlies get a team like the Warriors (Erick Dampier) or the Hawks (Nazr Mohammed) to give up a big guy for more cap space next summer? If they don't, they'll be stuck with some serious logjams in the backcourt. West told the Commercial Appeal on Wednesday that Michael Dickerson is recovering nicely from his two year sports hernia injury. Michael Dickerson Shooting Guard Memphis Grizzlies Profile 2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT% 6 4.8 1.0 1.3 .417 1.000 "He's been doing really well," West said of Dickerson. West said that Posey will be the starting two guard for the team. That means that Dickerson, Person and rookie Dahntay Jones will have to fight it out for minutes. The team also has four point guards in Knight, Jason Williams, Earl Watson and rookie Troy Bell. The Nuggets are still trying to add depth to their backcourt. According to the Rocky Mountain News, their decision may boil down to either Stephen Jackson or Hawks guard Dion Glover. Jackson has already made a visit to Denver, and Glover is expected to visit later this week. Agent David Bauman also claims that the Nuggets have strong interest in forward Predrag Drobjnak. However, they aren't the only ones. "The Nuggets have identified (Drobnjak) as one of their top guys," Bauman said. "I know they're trying to get their shooting guard done. But there is Portland, with (Arvydas) Sabonis having retired, and some other teams that could gobble (Drobnjak) up." The Knicks finally got a European to sign a contract with them. After the Frederic Weis and Milos Vujanic disasters, everyone breathed a sigh of relief with Maciej Lampe worked out a buyout with Real Madrid, paving the way for the Knicks to sign him to a three-year, $2.9 million deal. Lampe's buyout with Real Madrid was reportedly lowered from $2 million down to $900,000. The Knicks will pay $350,000 of that, Lampe will be responsible for the rest. The Knicks had to use a portion of their mid-level exception to fit Lampe in under their cap. A Match That's Not Made in Heaven Mark Heisler / Los Angeles Times Griz's hunt for center not over Ronald Tillery / Memphis Commercial Appeal Nuggets eye Glover, Drobnjak Chris Tomasson / Rocky Mountain News Lampe Inks Knicks Deal Fred Kerber / New York Post Peep Show By Terry Brown NBA Insider Thursday, August 14 Updated: August 14 11:24 AM ET Atlanta Hawks: David McDavid wants to buy the Hawks as well as the Thrashers and Phillips Arena from AOL Time Warner. AOL Time Warner wants to sell to Mr. McDavid. Too bad it isn't that easy. "I woke up the other day and thought, 'Why in the world is this taking so long?' " McDavid told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "I can't figure it out, either. I don't know how many times I've talked to my attorneys and accountants and people, and they say it's almost done, and then it doesn't get done, and for the life of me I don't know why. . . . And I don't know that it's anybody's fault." So far, it's taken 107 days for the two parties just to get to this point. July 15 was the original projected complete date, but legal experts point out that a similar deal involving the Knicks, Rangers and Madison Square took 103 days. Milwaukee Bucks: Terry Porter, recently named the head coach of the Bucks, has chosen one of his former coaches, Mike Schuler, to be his assistant. "I do remember him always being prepared, always running an organized practice," Porter said in the Journal Sentinel. "When I was still playing in San Antonio, he was scouting for some teams in the league, and we stayed in contact." Schuler has spent 16 years in the NBA as a coach and scout, being named the Coach of the Year in 1987 as head coach of te Portland Blazers. Minnesota Timberwolves: Former head coach Sidney Lowe was named an assistant coach on the team, reports the Star Tribune. Lowe previously coached the team to a 33-92 record between 1993 and 1994 before becoming head coach of the Grizzlies in 2000. McDavid no fan of waiting game Tim Tucker and David Markiewicz / Atlanta Journal-Constitution Schuler joins Bucks' staff Charles F. Gardner / Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Minn. Scene: Lowe hired as Timberwolves assistant Staff / Minneapolis Star-Tribune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyman3 Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 "Projected starting five: PG- Jason Terry, SG - Boris Diaw, SF - Shareef Abdur Rahim, PF - Theo Ratliff, C - Nazr Mohammed" - i really doubt that will happen. Reef at PF and Ratliff at Center. Diaw will most likely play SF but who knows he might play SG. Hansen could start at SG if we dont sign anyone thats an improvement over Hansen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double_Dribble Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 it's funny to me that terry is not a good pg here, but would be a major upgrade in utah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTFan31 Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 I find that funny as well, that they JT is a sg in a pg's body, but yet if he goes to Utah or Miami they will say that Riley or Sloan will make him a legitimate pg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traceman Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 Isiah Thomas and if Theo played there, he'd be the next Bill Russell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Mule Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 WHY ?? WHY?? Why does everyone assume that the Hawks will open and play the entire next season with the present roster, without additions or change??? Just because we haven't filled our roster, just because we haven't shook the rafters, literally, with a huge trade and we didn't sigh a "Big Name" coach, we are pushed to the bottom of the pile and left to die. Is there not players out there, yet unsigned, who would improve the Hawks? Remember the little point guard we signed to a 10 day last season. He came in, set things on fire, wasn't resigned and immediately was gragged by someone else. Where did we get Ira Newble? Seems he signed a pretty decent contract in the off season. What I'm saying, there are free agents out there. There are minor league players out there. There are still a trade idea or two out there. Repeat after me: "The present Hawks roster is not the complete roster that Atlanta will open the season with." Keep repeating this until it sinks in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin capstone21 Posted August 15, 2003 Admin Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 Hansen will not be a starter. If anything the guy will be a 11th or 12th man. He is not ready for hte NBA yet, there is a reason he was a mid second round pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyman3 Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 i agree, Hansen didnt exactly dominate the summer leagues. he had his share of mistakes. and guys that do dominate summer leagues find it hard to start for their respective teams (like Dion Glover). I want Hansen to be our backup SG, maybe 7-8th man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 15, 2003 Report Share Posted August 15, 2003 I mean, we're going to have to sign someone right? we don't even have the required twelve man roster right now do we? I mean honestly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin capstone21 Posted August 16, 2003 Admin Report Share Posted August 16, 2003 They are looking for another swing man...it will be either JJ, Smith, Veshon Lenard, or Glover. I bet they are trying to get the JT thing settled first. I would not be surprised to see us bring DJ back as well. It is obvious that Memphis has no room for him with all the 2/3s they currently have on our roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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