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Michael Holley on Francis Trade; C's Being Better Because Everyone Else Worse
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
PRO BASKETBALL NOTES
11 divided by three multiplies the fun
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 08/29/99
It was a day for novelists,
screenwriters, comedians, lawyers,
and basketball fans. A press conference
was canceled. Two teams showed their
proposed trade to the NBA and, basically,
had it sent back to them so it could be
rewritten. Two players exchanged small
talk during an international
teleconference. And 11 players - 11
players - learned that they would have to
move immediately.
The NBA has been in business for more than
a half-century, but you could argue that
the league never has seen a day like
Friday. That was when 6-foot-3-inch Steve
Francis, the Vancouver Grizzlies' most
recent first-round pick, became a Houston
Rocket. Francis was about to call a press
conference in his hometown of Takoma Park,
Md., presumably to blast the Grizzlies.
But he canceled it when he learned the
biggest trade in league history was going
to happen. Obviously the swap took place.
It didn't develop easily. Or quickly.
Late Thursday night, the Grizzlies and
Rockets thought they could deal 10 players
between them, the principals being Francis
and new Grizzlies Michael Dickerson and
Othella Harrington. Since both teams had
scant salary cap space, they knew they
would have to be precise traders. The
contracts being traded didn't have to fit
perfectly, but there was only a margin of
error of 15 percent plus $100,000. In
other words, the league allows you to
trade a $2 million player for one who
makes $2.3 million. But if you try to fit
$2 million into $3.3 million, you've got
problems.
These teams had problems, the NBA's
lawyers concluded.
Lawyers study each contract before a trade
can go through. They noticed that the
numbers didn't fit. Another team was
needed. So in came the addicted-to-dealing
Orlando Magic, who must respond to any
news of a trade with, ''What about us?''
The Magic had the flexibility to make the
trade work. So ...
The Grizzlies sent Francis and Tony
Massenburg to the Rockets;
The Rockets sent Dickerson, Harrington,
Antoine Carr, Brent Price, and a
first-round pick to the Grizzlies;
The Magic sent Don MacLean and a
first-rounder to the Rockets and received
Michael Smith, Lee Mayberry, Rodrick
Rhodes, and Makhtar Ndiaye (who?) from the
Grizzlies. The Magic also threw in a
second-rounder for the Grizzlies.
Add it up and you have an outrageous
11-player deal. You also have the
inevitable debate: Who won?
Francis is a true dunk artist, a point
guard who will be virtually unguardable if
the new, don't-touch-'em NBA rules are
enforced next season. Put the rookie on
the same team as Charles Barkley, Scottie
Pippen, and Hakeem Olajuwon and you could
have something dangerous. Last season,
Cuttino Mobley and Price led the offense.
Now that job goes to Francis, who didn't
think he'd get the opportunity in
Vancouver with Mike Bibby already there.
So that's why people in Houston are
excited.
''We definitely got better with the
trade,'' countered Grizzlies forward
Shareef Abdur-Rahim during Friday's
teleconference. The small forward said the
''bad vibes'' Francis sent off about
Vancouver were ''bad for our team and bad
for our city.'' Rahim, 22, reminded
everyone that Francis ''hasn't done
anything in this league.''
Dickerson played with Bibby at Arizona and
is a fine outside shooter. Harrington said
he is ready to emerge from ''the shadow of
so many great players and make a name for
myself.'' He is a dramatic upgrade over
the inside rebounders the Grizzlies had
last season.
Still, you have to wonder what the
Grizzlies were thinking. Teams spend
thousands of dollars on the draft, working
out and interviewing players. The
Grizzlies and president Stu Jackson should
have known Francis didn't want to play in
Western Canada. And they should have known
that long before he forced their hand.
They did OK with their trade, but the
feeling is that they could have had more
for the draft's No. 2 pick. The Rockets
expect Francis to be a star. Soon. That
alone is worth more than a starter, a
reserve, two bodies, and a pick.
There is another haunting element to the
trade. If either team made a huge mistake,
it never will be able to run from the
error. That's because these teams play in
the same division, the Midwest, and see
each other often.
Rahim, who talked with Francis when the
Grizzlies drafted the guard in June,
endorsed the deal. Like Jackson, he
mentioned more than once that Francis has
done nothing in the pros. He also said he
would rather have teammates who want to
play in one of North America's most
breathtaking cities than a man who needed
frequent convincing.
''I wanted to speak to him myself, to see
where his head was at,'' Rahim said,
emphasizing that he did not try to sway
Francis toward Vancouver. ''I wasn't
trying to sell him on anything. It was
going to be hard for me to convince
another man to do something that he didn't
want to do.''
If Francis had played with Bibby and Rahim
(23 points, 7.5 rebounds, 84 percent from
the line last season), the Grizzlies
certainly would improve on their eight-win
1999 season. As for players not wanting to
stay in Canada, Rahim said, ''I'm a
realist. I'm blessed to be in the
situation I'm in. God didn't have to put
me in this situation. I was just happy
once I got in Vancouver.''
Most people were surprised to hear Rahim
speaking at all during the teleconference
because they were holding for coach Brian
Hill. Instead they got Dennis Scott, whom
the Grizzlies signed that day. Then they
got Harrington. When Rahim came on the
line, there was both comedy and confusion.
''Hello? Hello?'' he said.
''Who's this?'' Harrington responded.
''Hey, big fella, it's Shareef.''
''Hey ...''
The two went on to talk about their
offseason workouts and how Bryant ''Big
Country'' Reeves is working out with Rahim
in Atlanta.
''How's he look?'' Harrington asked.
''Good, man,'' Rahim answered.
The day was finally coming to a close.
''I'm looking forward to meeting you,
man,'' Rahim said to Harrington before
hanging up the phone. ''God bless.''
Spurred into leaving?
Since we are speaking of change, many
wonder whether Tim Duncan leaving San
Antonio is realistic. The city plans to
begin building a $175 million arena in six
months. That was thought to be one of the
key issues in retaining Duncan. ''I would
step down as coach, take over as
president, and use my salary to get him
here if I could,'' Celtics coach Rick
Pitino said. ''But there's no way we would
have the salary space to get him.'' But
does Pitino see any scenario in which
Duncan would leave? ''Sure,'' the coach
said. ''He's a young guy, he's won a
championship, and David Robinson is
getting older. He might want to go
somewhere else.'' The leader of the
Somewhere Else cities is still Orlando ...
The Spurs might not repeat as NBA champs,
but should we put the Larry O'Brien Trophy
in the hands of the Western Conference
right now? The best teams now reside
there. ''It has been a good summer for the
Celtics,'' said Chris Wallace, the team's
general manager. ''We got Penny Hardaway
and Steve Smith out of the East and Steve
Francis is staying in the West.'' As
stacked as the West is, from Phoenix to
Sacramento to Los Angeles to San Antonio
to Minnesota, the East has no team that
scares people. It is nearly impossible to
name a great team in the conference.
''That's why I think we'll take a quantum
leap this year,'' Pitino said. ''Last
year, we had three very good players in
Antoine [ Walker], Ron [ Mercer], and Paul
[ Pierce]. We gave up a very good player
in Ron, but we got three players in return
who can help us, plus a potential lottery
pick.''
New camp site
The Celtics trained in Newport, R.I.,
during Pitino's first full camp. This
season, they will hold their October camp
at HealthPoint ... Wallace, a huge
football fan, is taking a couple weeks off
before the start of camp. That will give
him a chance to see his beloved West
Virginia Mountaineers twice ... Harrington
acknowledged that he didn't know much
about Vancouver while he was at
Georgetown. That explains why, in the
middle of the summer, he brought a parka
to town when the team wanted to work him
out in 1996. ''True story,'' Harrington
said with a laugh ... It was a busy week
for the Canadian teams. There was the huge
Francis trade in the West and a
significant signing in the East. The
Raptors re-signed Charles Oakley and can
now boast a frontcourt with redwoods
Oakley and Antonio Davis. You know how
general managers always speak mystically
about the effect of veterans on young
teams? Rahim proved their point when he
enthusiastically said of new teammates
Harrington, Carr, and Price, ''I've
watched them play since I was little.''
Carr is 38, Price is 30, and old man
Harrington is 25 ... My apologies to the
Clippers. Last week, I wrote that they
overpaid for Tyrone Nesby and Eric
Piatkowski. But they did not create the
market for Nesby. They extended a
qualifying offer to him at the end of the
season. The offer was well under $1
million. Nesby, loved by Western
Conference GMs because of his energy, did
not accept. The Spurs, desperate for a
small forward, then made a significant
offer to the 23-year-old player. So it's
not their fault. The same cannot be said
for Piatkowski, a good shooter whom the
Clippers overpaid by a million dollars ...
Ask yourself if your boss would ever do
this for you: Don Nelson, trying to woo
free agent Gary Trent, treated the
player's fiancee, future mother-in-law,
infant son, and parents to a vacation in
Hawaii. Soon after, Trent signed a
two-year, $4.2 million contract. He could
have made three times that with the
Sonics. The league fined Nelson $25,000
for his Pacific Tour Guide episode ...
Sixers coach Larry Brown had an
interesting vacation last week. He spent
part of it in North Carolina, playing golf
with fellow Tar Heels such as Dean Smith
and Michael Jordan... Knicks general
manager Scott Layden was told that Jerry
Sloan believes the Jazz will suffer
without him. ''I have a great relationship
with Jerry,'' Layden said, ''but he's
being kind and giving me too much
credit.'' Sloan believed that the Jazz had
a negotiating advantage with Shandon
Anderson with Layden handling talks. The
free agent forward is still unsigned. But,
hey, the Jazz did sign Olden Polynice...
It was a great week for the Spurs. They
began to settle their messy arena
situation and added free agent forward
Samaki Walker (the Celtics were
interested). But most important, Sean
Elliott was released from the hospital
following a kidney transplant.
Material from personal interviews, wire
service reports, other beat writers, and
league and team sources was used in
compiling this report.
This story ran on page D06 of the Boston
Globe on 08/29/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.