A different perspective on the draft night dealings

[Chris Littlefield <chrisl@mjr.com>]

Hey, folks,

	I stumbled across this last night.  I do not remember seeing this
one posted on the list, but I thought it might, in the absence of anything
substantive going on recently, pass a little time.  I found it intriguing.
I was particularly happy to see that, according to this, Larry Brown's
interest in Billups was very real, and that his choice of Van Horn was at
least somewhat motivated by caprice.

	Again, here's the article, from the Denver Post:


June 29 - In Chicago, Bulls fans rejoiced Wednesday when Jerry Krause
didn't trade Scottie Pippen to the Boston Celtics,
                           along with Luc Longley.

                           They should have been disappointed, as should
Denver Nuggets fans.

                           The Nuggets were one of four teams involved in
the Pippen deal, with vice president for basketball operations Allan Bristow
                           making one last attempt to get the draft rights
to Utah forward Keith Van Horn, the player Bristow is convinced will be an
                           all-star for years to come, a true franchise
player who will make the Nets, as it turns out, a championship contender.

                           Here's what the Nuggets wanted to do Wednesday
to get Van Horn:
                             Send center Ervin Johnson to Milwaukee for the
10th pick in the first round, along with center Joe Wolf and guard
                           Johnny Newman.
                             Send their fifth spot in the first round,
along with the 10th pick they were to get from the Bucks, to the Bulls, for
the third
                           pick in the first round Chicago was to get from
the Celtics as part of the Pippen deal.
                             Instruct the Bulls to take Van Horn with that
third pick.

                           Here's what happened to botch the deal:

                           The Bulls wanted the Celtics to give them both
the third and sixth picks in the first round, but they also wanted forward
                           Antoine Walker. Depending on whom you believe,
the deal fell apart because Boston president/head coach Rick Pitino didn't
                           want to part with Walker, a young talent to be
sure, but hardly a player who would have played ahead of Pippen at small
                           forward. Or, it exploded because Philadelphia
vice president of basketball operations/head coach Larry Brown wouldn't
                           agree not to take Van Horn with the second pick
in the first round.

                           The reasons for Brown's intransigence had more
to do with spite than basketball sense. After Philadelphia's proposed trade
                           of Clarence Weatherspoon and Michael Cage to
Boston for Dino Radja was called off by the 76ers when their doctors said
                           Radja, who had surgery on his left knee last
season, had failed his physical, Pitino blew a gasket. He accused the 76ers
of
                           forcing their medical staff to fail Radja, and
they filed a protest with the commissioner's office about it, putting a
temporary
                           hold on any trade that would have involved the
three players involved in the team.

                           Brown knew Van Horn was the player Pitino truly
coveted in the first round, and, according to informed sources, vowed he
                           would make sure Pitino didn't get him.

                           Thus, when the Bulls, Nuggets, Bucks and Celtics
were working to get their complicated deal done, Brown would not agree
                           to take Colorado point guard Chauncey Billups, a
player he really wanted, for fear Pitino might call off the trade with the
                           Bulls in order to grab Van Horn with the third
pick. Instead, he engineered an eight-player deal with the Nets he may one
                           day rue.

                           The effect for the Nuggets was the same,
regardless of which sub-plot you choose to read: They didn't get Van Horn,
                           settling, instead, for the Milwaukee portion of
the deal and pulling that trigger to get forward Danny Fortson.

                           And why should Bulls fans have been disappointed?

                           Simply because they missed out on an opportunity
to begin the rebuilding of their post-Michael Jordan team, getting three of
                           the first 10 picks in the draft, plus one of the
best players from last year's draft, in Walker.

                           Ask yourself: Could the Bulls have won a sixth
title next season with Walker stepping into Pippen's spot alongside Jordan,
                           with athletic young big men such as Tony Battie
and Tim Thomas or Tracy McGrady, along with Fortson, filling roles off
                           the bench?

                           Certainly, they should have. Then, when Jordan
finally retired, taking coach Phil Jackson into the sunset with him, the
Bulls
                           would have been left with a nucleus of Toni
Kukoc and three good, young players.

                           As it is, Pippen will be back, knowing the Bulls
aren't going to pay him the $15 million to $20 million a year his agent told
                           the Celtics it is going to take to re-sign him
when he becomes a free agent after next season. And when he and Jordan and
                           Jackson leave, probably after one more title
run, the Bulls are apt to drop into the bottom reaches of the league, just
as the
                           Celtics did when Larry Bird and Kevin McHale
were done with their careers.

                           And the Nuggets are stuck in another rebuilding
program, and Bristow knows he's always going to wonder what might have
                           been.