More Bulpett: Nuggets Wants Billups, Isiah Still Playing Well

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

                  Boston Herald

                  Ref shows new stripes
                  The NBA/by Steve Bulpett

                  Sunday, January 17, 1999
                  <snip>
                  Nuggets want Billups
                  The Nuggets are making a strong pitch to keep Chauncey
                  Billups home in Denver. The Celtics' No. 1 pick in 1997,
                  traded last February to Toronto, is being sought for Bobby
                  Jackson or Corey Alexander (a sign-and-trade) and a
                  first-round pick.

                  Scottie Pippen is essentially out of Chicago, and the
                  Bulls are interested in doing a sign-and-trade so he can
                  get the maximum allowable contract (signing with your own
                  team means higher raise percentages). Why would the Bulls
                  be so accommodating for a guy they really don't like?
                  Chicago may have trouble getting up to the $25.5 million
                  team salary minimum, and it would take a few bad contracts
                  if they were just one-year wonders. The Bulls presently
                  have Toni Kukoc ($4.5 million), Ron Harper ($5.28
                  million), Randy Brown ($1.3 million) and Keith Booth
                  ($687,000), with Luc Longley all but gone to Phoenix.

                  The Knicks are still making a strong push for Latrell
                  Sprewell (offering Chris Childs or John Starks and Chris
                  Mills), while Indiana and Miami remain in the hunt.

                  Jeff Van Gundy on Sprewell: ``As a coach, it's best to
                  reserve judgment on a player until they come in.''

                  How happy do you think the Knicks were to have Patrick
                  Ewing bolt town and do his workouts with the Heat in
                  Miami? Van Gundy is bothered, saying, ``If you know my
                  personality, you know it nags at me.''

                  After the labor mess, Ewing said he took off because, ``I
                  wanted to get away for a while and relax. It felt good.''

                  Said Miami's Duane Causwell about the new kid, ``He's out
                  of shape, but if he keeps around us, he'll be in shape.''

                  Isiah still has it

                  Isiah Thomas, 37, has been scrimmaging with the Pistons -
                  and dominating. ``I wish we could sign him up,'' said
                  Jerome Williams after one scrimmage. ``He must of had 10
                  assists just to me.''

                  Thomas said he has no plans for a comeback.

                  Williams also reports that tales about possible
                  retribution for the silence of Grant Hill and Tim Duncan
                  are real. ``I was told that by more than one, more than a
                  few players,'' Williams said. ``I guess we'll have to be
                  looking over our shoulders a little bit.''

                  Here's hoping Chris Ford finds the coaching happiness he
                  deserves in Los Angeles with the Clippers. Alas, the final
                  days of the hiring process came with typical Clipper
                  shakiness. Club sources insist that Jim Brewer was general
                  manager Elgin Baylor's choice and that owner Donald
                  Sterling overruled Baylor. Brewer is now an assistant to
                  Ford.

                  And for a team seeking as much of the spotlight as it can,
                  the decision to announce Ford on Wednesday is
                  mind-boggling. With Michael Jordan's retirement, the Ford
                  story was relegated to page three of the Los Angeles
                  Times.

                  Nobody wins unless everybody wins.