No Mention Of Antoine In Charlotte Article

["Witch Craft" <witchcraft1998@hotmail.com>]

Here's the article from the Charlotte paper; it's the same one I
posted to the Celtics news group a few days back.  Believe me,
if there were any mention of Walker deals in the article, we'd still
be talking about it at the news group.
WC

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

                          [Image]
[Babynamer]
[Image]

[charlotte.com]                                    [Image]

                          [Image]

         [Image]          [Image]
Published Sunday,                          [Image]
September 20, 1998
         [Image]                  [Tony McGee Photography]
                                           [Image]

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.

 NEWS           FEATURES                      SERVICES