[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
SIXE26.htm
[Philadelphia Online] THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS Sports
Thursday, June 26, 1997
Surgical procedure
Sixers on hold after making monster deal
[INLINE]
by Phil Jasner
Daily News Sports Writer
We won't know for several months whether Larry Brown's first 76ers
team will be any better than its recent predecessors, but at least it
will be his.
It tentatively includes at least two different starters than last
season, has a bigger, more qualified center and the promise of more
things to come.
Brown spent all day yesterday performing massive surgery on a team
that won 22 games, that has not won more than 26 in the last five
seasons, that has considered the NBA playoffs an event to watch in the
offseason.
The patient appears to be resting comfortably.
Brown said it all without really saying anything. The Sixers' sixth
coach in the last seven seasons pulled the trigger on a blockbuster
trade with New Jersey but was forbidden by NBA rules to even mention
it.
This is what Brown could not say: The Sixers are awaiting league
clearance to announce a trade that will send last night's No. 2 pick
(Utah forward Keith Van Horn), forward Don MacLean, forward-center
Michael Cage and guard Lucious Harris to New Jersey for guard Jim
Jackson, 7-1 center Eric Montross, the No. 7 pick (Villanova forward
Tim Thomas) and the No. 21 pick (Bradley guard-forward Anthony
Parker).
The Sixers essentially selected Van Horn for the Nets; the Nets, in
turn, picked Thomas and Parker for delivery to the Sixers.
The deal remains in limbo because the Boston Celtics believe
forward-center Dino Radja should have passed his extensive physical
examination with the Sixers Tuesday. The Sixers had acquired Radja in
a trade for Cage and forward Clarence Weatherspoon, only to hear him
mention he had a sore left knee that had not sufficiently responded to
arthroscopic surgery in January. Celtics president-coach-emperor Rick
Pitino has taken the case to arbitration, with a ruling due by
tomorrow from commissioner David Stern.
``I feel confident [ about the arbitration ] ,'' Sixers president Pat
Croce said. ``I don't believe it's necessary. We did everything to the
letter of the law.
``We wanted [ Radja ] , we did everything necessary. He didn't pass.
That limits our immediate opportunities, but I believe it'll all work
out. Does it bother me? Yes.''
It seemed to bother Pitino even more.
``Philadelphia approached us on Dino,'' Pitino said. `` [ The trade ]
allowed us to have tremendous cap room down the road. When he left us,
he was in great shape working out. He was not under the influence of
pain to our knowledge, and when he arrived in Philadelphia he had a
lot more pain and did not test out as well as our tests showed, and
he's seen other doctors that we had no knowledge of. If we had known
all of that, we would not have made the trade. We think he is fit, we
think he is ready to play for the 76ers.''
If Stern agrees with the Sixers, Radja's rights revert to the Celtics;
the rights of Weatherspoon and Cage revert to the Sixers.
``This doesn't involve my client,'' said Marc Fleisher, Radja's agent.
``It involves the Sixers and the Celtics. My client put his body in
the [ magnetic resonance imaging chamber ] , the rest is up to the
doctors.
``I'm not a doctor, but that appeared to be one of the most thorough
physicals I've ever witnessed. They did every test they possibly
could. When it was over, they didn't share their conclusions with me,
other than to say he flunked.''
It is believed Radja's real desire is to obtain a contract with a team
in Europe, obtaining some type of offset from the Celtics that would
still bring them a measure of cap relief. It is not known whether the
Celtics would agree to such a move.
``If the league tells us we have to take Dino back, we'll do it,''
Brown said. ``Whatever happens with Boston won't affect anything we've
done.''
Pitino's move stopped the Sixers and Nets from making a formal
announcement because Cage's rights are included in the arbitration.
Brown, however, was free to say the Sixers had traded Florida State
guard James Collins, their third pick in the second round, to the Los
Angeles Clippers for a second-round pick next season. At the same
time, Brown said the Sixers had failed in a bid to obtain 7-foot
Australian center Chris Antsey, taken No. 18 by Portland.
When the smoke clears, the Sixers will be looking at a prospective
starting lineup of guards Allen Iverson and Jackson, Montross in the
middle and Jerry Stackhouse at small forward and (shudder) Derrick
Coleman at power forward. That would allow a substitution rotation of
Thomas, Weatherspoon, forward-center Scott Williams and guard Rex
Walters.
Clearing out the salaries of MacLean ($2.120 million) and Harris ($1.4
million) might help create precious cap space to re-sign free agent
Mark Davis, who could be a valuable wild card. If the Sixers remain
capped for next season, they would not be able to offer Davis more
than $290,000, a 20 percent increase over this season's salary of
$247,500. At the same time, the Sixers will be picking up the final
season of Jackson's contract at $4.6 million, and the six remaining
seasons of Montross' deal, worth $1.52 million next season.
All of this still would leave the Sixers with deficiencies in
shot-blocking, perimeter shooting, frontcourt size and depth, but it's
a start.
``It's important to change,'' Croce said. ``We changed the logo [
Tuesday ] , now we're changing the face of the team. I'd say that's
perfect timing. We changed as much as we could, and didn't change for
change's sake.''
Nobody's perfect. They were not able to find a suitor for Coleman, who
clearly has stated that he wants to leave. The Sixers desperately want
to accommodate him.
``We got a lot done,'' said Billy King, the Sixers' vice president of
basketball administration. ``We'll address [ Coleman ] after the
draft.''
Brown, though, was more than willing -- in a rambling statement -- to
address Pitino.
``Can you imagine this?'' Brown said. `` [ King ] makes his first
trade in the league and this guy [ Pitino ] with choir eyes is telling
everybody he can't believe how [ Radja ] can play tennis with a
45-year-old orthopedic surgeon [ the Celtics' Arnold Scheller ] who
can't run up and down, and saying he's physically fit to play 82 games
in our league, and that he's a non-defender who can't play in a
running game.''
If Brown is getting exactly what he wants, so is Van Horn, who had
refused to visit the Sixers.
``I talked to him twice,'' Brown said. ``I said, `Congratulations,'
and he said, `Thank you.' Tuesday, I told him we were going to take
him regardless of how he felt, if he were the best player. He didn't
have a problem with that. I just told him he should enjoy the moment,
that things have a way of working out for the best. I think he's
pretty pleased with the fact that it's going to work out for the best
. . . He was perfectly happy to hear that from me.
``This has been a great experience for all of us. I'm proud of the way
we handled all of this. I don't regret anything that has happened. I
think it's going to be a good situation for us. We just feel very
confident we tried to do what was right.''
---
Philadelphia Online -- Philadelphia Daily News -- Sports
Copyright Thursday, June 26, 1997