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LYON24.htm
The Philadelphia Inquirer Sports
Tuesday, June 24, 1997
With luck, Sixers could double their pleasure for the No. 2 pick
[INLINE]
When the 76ers managed, by the fortuitous bounce of a ping pong ball,
to elevate themselves to the second position in tomorrow night's NBA
flesh market, it looked like a typical Sixers victory -- second prize
in a one-prize contest.
This, after all, is the franchise that has always chosen Door No. 2
when it should have taken Door No. 1 or No. 3, and this, after all,
has been decreed the Tim Duncan-and-assorted-other-flotsam-and-jetsam
draft. A flea market offering mostly fleas. So with that No. 2 pick,
the Sixers seem to possess little more than fool's gold.
Ah, but as closing hour ticks closer and desperation sets in,
appearances magically improve. Warts take on the allure of beauty
marks. Viewed in just the right light, that point guard you found so
lacking a few weeks before suddenly looks a whole lot more desirable.
So those same people who were clucking their sympathy to the Sixers
not so long ago suddenly are calling. This time they don't offer
condolences, they offer trades. They offer possibilities.
After all that denigration of the talent that is available in this
draft, it turns out that No. 2 isn't a consolation prize after all.
It has real value. Because now there are other teams pursuing it. And,
of course, what a thing is worth ultimately depends on what someone
else is willing to give you for it.
So it says here that the Sixers, finding themselves in a position to
deal from strength, should do so. They will get more out of this pick
by trading it than by exercising it themselves.
At this point in their reclamation, quantity means as much as quality.
Inquiries and enticements began to pick up last week, Larry Brown
said. Now everybody in the league wants to be his best pal.
Most times in the past when the Sixers have decided not to keep their
pick, they have regretted it. This time, though, it looks as if they
would be better off trading down, for the very reason Brown suggested:
``Right now we need bodies. There isn't an area we don't need to
improve.''
They are not at the plug-one-hole-and-we-have-a-contender stage. Their
whole ship is still taking on water. What they need to find is a team
that thinks it is one player away, and then pounce.
If they can trade down and land a player plus a pick, then they will
have netted what all swappers covet -- that prized two-for: two
players for one.
It is almost always preferable to acquire a proven veteran and an
unknown in exchange for just the unknown. It is not just a matter of
quantity. The draft remains, despite all the efforts to make it a
legitimate science, a most inexact one. As the number of underclassmen
and high school seniors joining the pool increases, the difficulty of
accurate assessment and projection is compounded.
``Half of them don't make it anyway,'' Brown said, referring to draft
choices.
In recent years, roughly 40 percent of those picked leave the game
without having had a measurable impact. Even ''sure things'' have a
way of not working out. The Orlando Magic, with Shaquille O'Neal and
Penny Hardaway as back-to-back No. 1 picks, still have the same number
of championships as the Minnesota Timberwolves.
One sign that Brown may be inclined to trade the pick is the trade he
made last Friday: Clarence Weatherspoon and Michael Cage to Boston for
Dino Radja. A roster vacancy has been created, but the deal looks
shaky now that Radja has told the Sixers he would not be able to pass
his physical.
The Sixers have bit on -- and been bitten by -- damaged goods before,
and to some extent continue to pay for the Jeff Ruland miscalculation
even today.
As the calls to Brown have increased, so have the rumors. One of the
most intriguing was Cleveland's offer of its No. 13 and No. 16 picks
plus small forward Tyrone Hill in exchange for Radja and the No. 2
pick. The first addendum to that rumor had the Sixers saying they
wanted all-star guard Terrell Brandon instead of Hill.
A 13th and 16th pick may seem too far down for Brown. His public
stance is that he wouldn't want to drop below the seventh pick.
``Maybe the eighth,'' he conceded.
But that may be his poker face talking.
This is, after all, a time for smokescreens and red herrings. You're
supposed to lay false trails. But Brown is either a killer at
duplicity and deception or he is what everyone who has been around him
says he is, which is open and forthcoming and never manipulative.
The other day he said he had no qualms at all about naming his top
three preferences in the draft. Accordingly, the names of Chauncey
Billups, Keith Van Horn and Tony Battie became headlines and sound
bites. Was Brown playing a subtle game of liar's poker?
All evidence suggests not. Because if the Sixers trade that No. 2
pick, then whom he might have taken with it becomes irrelevant.
It is rank arrogance to presume to know as much as Brown and those who
make their living at it, but frankly, none of those three players that
he says he would take at No. 2 appear to represent the missing piece
for the Sixers.
If for no other reason than that the Sixers are missing several
pieces.
All the more reason to trade for that two-for.
_________________________________________________________________
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Tuesday, June 24, 1997