Marc Cofman: Free Agent Shelves Bare

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

      Boston Herald 

      Shelves bare for NBA shoppers
      NBA Notes/by Mark Cofman 
      Sunday, August 29, 1999
      There's a month of shopping left until training camp. But teams hoping to 
      upgrade through the free agent market have seen the pickings get painfully 
      slim in recent days.
      Front offices around the league appear determined to wrap up business 
      early this offseason. In most cases, that's meant taking care of their 
      own. Terrell Brandon re-signed with Minnesota, Mitch Richmond with 
      Washington and Vin Baker with Seattle. Lesser talents have followed their 
      lead.
      ``(Utah off-guard) Shandon Anderson is still out there, but the shelves 
      are definitely not stockpiled at this point,'' said Celtics general 
      manager Chris Wallace, one of the executives who wasted little time 
      operating once the sign-and-trade period began on Aug. 1. ``It's been a 
      very active month.''
      Particularly the past week. Brandon's decision to re-sign with the 
      Timberwolves, and the foregone conclusion John Stockton will follow suit 
      in Utah, means the best point guard in the open market is Sherman Douglas.
      The former Celtic, who spent last season with the Clippers on a second 
      tour of duty for coach Chris Ford, could help somebody off the bench. But 
      Douglas is symbolic of what's left for free agent shoppers. He's hardly an 
      impact player.
      Among shooting guards, Anderson is looking to climb a few tax brackets 
      following a breakthrough season with the Jazz. But he might discover his 
      best option is to remain in Utah. The Jazz also expect to bring back Jeff 
      Hornacek, leaving Ron Harper, Chris Carr and Sam Mack as the available 
      leftovers.
      The best of the free agent small forwards is Sacramento's Corliss 
      Williamson. But like Anderson, Williamson appears destined to remain with 
      his current team. Cedric Henderson re-signed with Cleveland last week, as 
      did high-scoring but oft-injured Cedric Ceballos in Dallas.
      As for power forwards and centers, the well dried up the last three days. 
      Among centers, Will Perdue left defending champion San Antonio to return 
      to Chicago, while Erick Dampier re-signed with Golden State. Olden 
      Polynice agreed to terms with Utah on Friday.
      Power forwards? Charles Oakley has returned to Toronto, while Charles 
      Barkley is on track to do the same in Houston. Otis Thorpe signed with 
      Miami, while Dallas finally secured Gary Trent, confirming they had 
      re-signed him with Ceballos on Friday.
      The Mavericks did lose out on the bidding for another of their free agent 
      forwards. Samaki Walker, who drew considerable interest from the Celtics 
      before the Denver deal that restructured their frontcourt, left the lowly 
      Mavericks for San Antonio. Same state. Different world. Walker is expected 
      to fill the void left by Perdue with the defending champs.
      He didn't get away
      Before re-signing Brandon, Timberwolves vice president of basketball 
      operations Kevin McHale hadn't had much good fortune with free agency. He 
      lost Tom Gugliotta in the open market before last season, then was all but 
      forced to trade Stephon Marbury to New Jersey in March rather than lose 
      him through free agency this summer.
      That left McHale with the task of surrounding Kevin Garnett with talent 
      again. Brandon, acquired from Milwaukee in the three-team Marbury deal, 
      appears a good fit. He knows how to distribute the ball, particularly to 
      the high-flying Garnett.
      ``(Retaining Brandon) is a big step for us going to where we want to go,'' 
      said McHale. ``We're no longer content just making the playoffs. We need 
      to go deep into the playoffs. We feel Terrell is the man who can get us 
      there.''
      McHale has now re-signed four players from last season's roster - Joe 
      Smith, Tom Hammonds, Andrae Patterson and Brandon.
      Burning up phone lines
      Since taking over the Milwaukee Bucks general manager duties two weeks 
      ago, Ernie Grunfeld has been busy.
      Grunfeld has brought in veterans J.R. Reid, Danny Manning and Dale Ellis 
      to join a rotation that features Glenn Robinson and Ray Allen. Reid was 
      signed as a free agent, while Manning and Ellis came via Grunfeld's deal 
      that jettisoned Chris Gatling and Armen Gilliam to the Orlando Magic. 
      Ellis will help offset the defection of Dell Curry, but the loss of 
      Michael Curry will hurt the Bucks.
      The busiest front office has been in Orlando. Housecleanings don't 
      generally occur in organizations with one of the best records from the 
      previous year, but Orlando (33-17) suffered a devastating first-round 
      playoff loss to Philadelphia, setting the wheels in motion.
      General manager John Gabriel, who replaced Chuck Daly with Doc Rivers as 
      coach, has made five major deals this month, including Friday's three-ring 
      circus that included Houston and Vancouver. A record 11 players changed 
      teams in the trade, prompted by rookie Steve Francis' refusal to play in 
      Canada. Francis, the second overall pick in the draft, becomes Houston's 
      starting point guard.
      As for Orlando, now that the dust has settled, it has Gatling, Gilliam, 
      Michael Smith, Tariq Adbul-Wahad, Pat Garrity, Lee Mayberry, Rodrick 
      Rhodes and Duke product Corey Maggette. Even the boisterous O-Rena crowd 
      will have difficulty getting excited about that group.
      Gone are Penny Hardaway (Phoenix), Nick Anderson (Sacramento) and Horace 
      Grant (Seattle), the last of the Magic's nucleus from their only trip to 
      the NBA Finals in 1995.