Re: Marc Cofman: Free Agent Shelves Bare

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

I'm sure they were saying the same things about John Elway in Baltimore 
and he certainly turned out to be a stiff.
Ray

Joe Moriarty wrote:
> 
> < A record 11 players changed
>       teams in the trade, prompted by rookie Steve Francis' refusal to play in
>       Canada.  >
> 
> It must be quite an "ego-shot in the butt", for a Francis to know that his jerkwater
> attitude toward going and playing in Vancouver (and Canada)--caused the
> simulataneous movement of 11 NBA players. Did the Lord, while passing that stone on
> to Moses on Sinai, somehow include a law, that each draft in recent memory must
> include a HIGH head case< <sg>. We DO have some knowledge of
> that--because......think about the "draft of  ' 96". Hmm. <sg>.  Well, like "ours",
> he (Francis) will probably go on and play a pretty good game in Houston , but, his
> attitude since draft nite '99, wont be soon forgotten. And, to think, this kid has
> not passed the rock to any NBA player, yet.  Cheers,
> 
> Joe
> 
> Way Of The Ray wrote:
> 
> >       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.
> >
> >