Flurry Of Deals When Lockout Is Over

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Published Sunday,           
September 20, 1998

When NBA lockout ends, a
flurry of deals will
follow

   By RICK BONNELL and
      LEONARD LAYE
     Staff Writers

The NBA and its players
face two big problems:
How to end this lockout
and how to clean up the
mess that will follow.

The lockout threatens
the start of training
camp in two weeks and
the regular season Nov.
3. There's no solution
in sight and the two
sides have met just once
since the lockout began
July 1.

But there's another
problem that will linger
beyond the lockout.
About 200 free agents --
more than a third of the
league -- sit unsigned.
General managers don't
know when free agency
will start or what rules
will govern the process.

``I have a Plan A, a
Plan B, a Plan C,''
Hornets vice president
Bob Bass said of free
agency. ``But there's no
way to know exactly what
you can do until we see
what happens (with a new
labor agreement).''

Even if there's no
change in the rules,
this will be an odd
signing

Please see NBA / page 7H

This goes on page 7H
When lockout is over, a
flurry
of free-agent deals will
follow
NBA from 1H

period. Free agency
usually starts July 1
and moves at a
deliberate pace. This
year there will be at
most two weeks between
the start of free agency
and the opening of
training camps. That
will make for an anxious
and frantic swap meet.

Bass has a lot of work
to do in those two
weeks. The Hornets
should have well more
than $10 million in room
under the salary cap to
spend on talent. But
three of their top seven
players last season --
Vlade Divac, Matt Geiger
and Dell Curry -- are
free agents. Bass might
have to lose Geiger and
Curry to afford Divac,
who wants $10 million a
season.

What are the Hornets'
chances of keeping
Divac?

``Assuming the (cap)
rules stay the same --
and that's a big
assumption -- it's
Charlotte's to lose,''
said Divac's agent, Marc
Fleisher. ``He likes the
Hornets, likes Charlotte
and loves (coach) Dave
Cowens.''

General managers are
barred by the league
from discussing the
lockout or its eventual
ramifications. So The
Observer surveyed five
agents on how they
project free agency will
play out.

Air of uncertainty

There was distinct
disagreement among those
agents whether a shorter
signing period favors
players or management.
Fleisher said it would
drive up salaries,
particularly for stars.
Dwight Manley and Don
Cronson said the
opposite.

``It helps the
bigger-name free agents
because there will be
much more sense of
competition between
teams with so little
time to complete
business. I expect
almost a panic to set
in,'' said Fleisher.

``Say, somebody needs a
small forward. Scottie
Pippen would be signed
in the first couple of
days whenever free
agency starts. But now
your next two choices
might be signed just
that fast, too.''

But Manley (agent to
Dennis Rodman and Karl
Malone) and Cronson
(Anthony Mason's agent)
say shortening free
agency will lower
salaries. Manley
compared free agency to
an auction, where the
longer it goes the
higher prices climb.
Cronson said players,
not teams, will panic
and grab at the first
offer with training
camps so close.

``Guys are going to say
to themselves, `Hey, I
better get mine now or
it might not be there,'
'' Cronson said.
``There's going to be
pressure there that
wouldn't be there if
they had whole summer to
get the lay of the land,
to see what other guys
are doing.''

Every agent agreed that
uncertainty about new
salary-cap rules makes
it impossible for teams
to plan effectively. If
the NBA eliminates the
Larry Bird rule, which
allows teams to exceed
the cap to re-sign
players, it could
radically change free
agency.

``Teams who are
prepared, who know
exactly who they're most
excited about, are
clearly going to have an
advantage,'' said agent
Mark Bartelstein. ``But
even if you try hard to
do those things, you
won't know the system,
so you can't know for
sure who you'll make an
offer to.''

Tops in the field

Some general managers
excel in any system. The
Observer asked agents
who will best adapt to
change, and the answers
were consistent -- the
Lakers' Jerry West, the
Knicks' Ernie Grunfeld,
the Suns' Jerry and
Bryan Colangelo and the
Hornets' Bass. Several
agents said those GMs
know basketball best and
were the most decisive
about whom to pursue.

The difference between
Bass and the others is
Hornets owner George
Shinn can't afford to
spend what the Knicks,
Lakers or Suns do. Bass
faced a similar problem
when he ran the San
Antonio Spurs for
then-owner Red McCombs.

``Bob Bass is a smart
guy, he's a basketball
guy. But he hasn't
always been able to do
what he'd like to do,''
said Frank Catapano, who
represents the Hornets'
David Wesley.

Which winds back to the
key question -- how will
Bass maintain, and
hopefully improve, the
Hornets' performance?
Bass won't detail his
plans, but many guess
he'll sacrifice Geiger
and Curry to afford
Divac, or to replace
Divac with someone like
free-agent center Isaac
Austin.

``The issue is, do
(other teams in need of
a center) want to spend
the kind of money it's
going to take?'' to sign
Divac or Geiger,
Catapano said.

``There aren't that many
teams that have that
much available under a
(projected) $32 million
cap. Are they the type
of teams that want to
pay that much for a
center?''

Catapano's point is one
team -- maybe Sacramento
-- could focus all its
resources on Divac and
drive up his value. But
if no such team emerges
in the first day or two
of free agency, the
momentum swings back in
the Hornets' favor to
affordably re-sign
Divac.

No one can answer these
questions for sure,
because we don't know
the new rules. And the
way negotiations have
stalled, we may not know
for months.

-------------------------
Rick Bonnell can be
reached at (704)
358-5129 or by e-mail at
rbonnell@charlotte.com.
Reach Leonard Laye at
(704) 358-5117, or by
e-mail at
layenba@aol.com.

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