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NBA Brace For Furious Free Agent Signings
Published Sunday, January 10, 1999, in the Miami
Herald
SPORTS
NBA braces for furious dealing
Market opens for 170 free agents
By BARRY JACKSON
Herald Sports Writer
The action is going be fast, furious and frenetic.
And no, we are not talking about Heat coach Pat
Riley's first practice session in another week or
so.
What the NBA is about to experience is the most
frenzied period of signings and trades any
professional league has ever experienced.
And the craziness will begin sooner than expected.
The NBA announced Saturday that teams can
immediately begin negotiating with free agents.
Teams and players are permitted to agree on
contracts, but deals cannot be signed until the
lockout officially ends, no later than Jan. 18. The
lockout will not end until the new labor agreement
has been put in writing and signed by the players.
Teams can continue to discuss possible trades with
other teams -- that had been allowed throughout the
lockout -- but deals cannot be consummated before
the lockout ends.
Saturday's news was greeted favorably by teams and
agents, who had worried about having only 18 days
to negotiate with free agents before the season
begins Feb. 5. Now, teams will have 27 days to mold
their rosters, although there still will be a rush.
More than 170 veteran NBA free agents are seeking
new contracts, in addition to CBA players. More
than 50 draft choices from last June -- and
numerous undrafted free agents -- are eagerly
awaiting their first pro contracts. Several players
likely will be traded.
``It's going to be frantic, just crazy for three or
four days at least,'' said Riley, whose early
priorities are re-signing free agents Mark
Strickland, Keith Askins and Eric Murdock, and
acquiring a veteran free agent (such as Jason
Caffey or Derek Strong) with its $1.75 million
salary cap exception.
``It's going to be madness,'' said Eric Fleisher,
who represents several free agents, including
Philadelphia's Joe Smith and New Jersey's Sherman
Douglas.
``Major hectic,'' said agent Norman Blass, who
represents Askins.
So what will business in the NBA be like in the
next two weeks? Riley and Fleisher predict deals
will be struck rapidly.
``There's not going to be a lot of mulling over,''
Riley said. ``Teams are going to need decisions
from players quickly.''
Will the Heat set take-it-or-leave-it deadlines for
players?
``I don't know yet,'' Riley said. ``[General
manager] Randy Pfund and I spent most of Friday
talking about that.''
Fleisher said teams will feel the pressure of the
clock.
``Teams will more than likely conduct signing free
agents like they handle a draft,'' Fleisher said.
``Teams have a first and second and third choice
among players, and if they are gone, they will
quickly move on to the next choice. It puts more
pressure on everybody. There is no time for games.
Teams have to come in with their best offers
quickly, and agents have to respond quickly.''
Said agent Jeff Blakely, whose clients include free
agent Oliver Miller: ``Teams will have a hit list
and give us just a short time to accept or reject
the offer. It might hurt your leverage to negotiate
a better contract.''
Blass believes the lack of time for negotiations
will hurt marginal players more than stars. ``In
the past, we got an offer from one team and played
it off against another team,'' Blass said. ``Maybe
you did better for your client by sitting and
waiting. Some of the free agents -- especially the
marginal players -- will grab their first offer
fearing there won't be any roster spots left. Of
course, the Scottie Pippens and Charles Barkleys
can come in anytime they want.''
But many players might feel urgency to sign quickly
so they do not miss too much of training camp. For
example, if Strickland misses the first week of
Heat practice, he might not get much playing time
early in the season.
The Heat will have more work to do than some teams,
but less than others.
Verbal agreements with Askins and Strickland could
be done quickly. Murdock, however, will be
difficult to sign. He says he wants Miami's $1.75
million exception, that the Heat might prefer to
spend on a frontcourt free agent from another team.
And Miami might hold on to its $1.75 million
exception for a week or two to see which top free
agents might fall through the cracks.
Although Riley has publicly suggested a trade for
Golden State's Latrell Sprewell is unlikely, it
remains a possibility. (Riley also said a trade for
Alonzo Mourning was unlikely -- 24 hours before the
Heat acquired him.)
Golden State general manager Gary St. Jean said a
Sprewell trade will happen quickly. ``This isn't
going to take a week,'' St. Jean said. ``It won't
take very long.''
With the Heat apparently reluctant to trade P.J.
Brown, Sprewell rumors have centered around a trade
involving Heat free agent Brent Barry and Jamal
Mashburn.
Another trade rumor making the rounds in the Bay
Area would have the Heat re-signing Barry, the
Warriors re-signing Clarence Weatherspoon, and the
teams trading them straight up.
``Teams like Indiana, Seattle, Miami -- they will
have an edge on a lot of other teams because they
have so many players signed,'' Washington Wizards
forward Juwan Howard said.
The Heat has eight players under contract,
Mourning, Mashburn, Brown, Tim Hardaway, Dan
Majerle, Voshon Lenard, Terry Mills and Duane
Causwell.
Agents say Chicago, Phoenix and Atlanta will be
under the most pressure to make personnel moves.
The Bulls and Hawks have the fewest players under
contract with four each.
The Bulls need to know as soon as possible if
Michael Jordan will return. If Jordan retires,
Chicago can renounce his rights, which would free
up a huge amount of salary-cap space for the Bulls
to sign other players.
Chicago also must make quick decisions on
re-signing Pippen, Luc Longley and Dennis Rodman --
and to a lesser extent, Steve Kerr and Scott
Burrell.
Atlanta has just Mookie Blaylock, Dikembe Mutombo,
Steve Smith and Ed Gray under contract. Re-signing
Alan Henderson is a priority.
The Suns, with just five players signed, will try
to keep most of their free agents, including
Antonio McDyess, Rex Chapman and Cliff Robinson.
``The system creates total madness for teams like
Phoenix that have to do everything quickly,''
Fleisher said.
Said Suns owner Jerry Colangelo: ``It's going to be
chaos. We are going to be working around the clock.
It will be a very interesting process for sure.
Teams that have players under contract are way
ahead of the game. We'll be behind in a shortened
training camp.''
Not every team will be in a rush to sign players.
Cleveland and Milwaukee have no impact free agents,
although the Bucks will have an adjustment with
George Karl replacing Chris Ford as coach. Teams
with only one or two significant free agents
include the Lakers (Rick Fox), the Jazz (Chris
Morris, Antoine Carr) and the Trail Blazers (Damon
Stoudamire).
Teams and agents also have to quickly familiarize
themselves with new guidelines. The $1.75 million
exception for every team might be the most
significant immediate change from the last
agreement.
Also new: In the first year of new contracts,
players with five years of experience or less can
earn a maximum salary of $9 million; those with 6
to 9 years experience can earn no more than
$11 million; and those with 11 or more years can
earn as much as $14 million.
Commissioner David Stern smiled when asked if he's
concerned about the looming rush to sign players
and hold training camps.
``I'm sure there will be a mad scramble,'' Stern
said. ``But these things have a way of working
themselves out.''
Herald sports writer Steve Wyche contributed to
this report.
Herald sports writer Barry Jackson can be reached
by e-mail at bjackson@herald.com
Copyright © 1999 The Miami Herald