Hardaway free

[DJessen33@aol.com]

Hardaway's free agency gives Suns opening
Analysis By Bob Young
The Arizona Republic
June 12, 1999 
The Penny Hardaway sweepstakes officially is under way. 

Hardaway notified the NBA Friday that he has exercised an early 
termination option clause in his contract with the Orlando Magic and 
will be a free agent July 1, able to negotiate with any club in the NBA. 


The 6-foot-7 guard, who will turn 28 next month, tore up the remaining 
three years on his contract and is expected to seek a seven-year, $85 
million contract from Orlando. 

General Manager John Gabriel repeated the team's desire to re-sign 
Hardaway, but the club reportedly is not willing to meet Hardaway's 
asking price. 

Thus, the Magic likely will seek a sign-and-trade deal. 

That's where the Suns come in. They, along with several other NBA clubs, 
want to make that deal. And Hardaway apparently is interested in the 
Suns. 

Now the question becomes whether Hardaway has enough leverage to force a 
deal with the team he wants to play for next season, and whether the 
Suns are willing to give up enough to make it happen. 

One player the Suns appear unwilling to give up is forward Tom 
Gugliotta. 

If Gugliotta is not included, the Suns may offer a package that includes 
the first-round draft pick the club obtained from Dallas for Steve Nash 
(the No. 9 choice of the first round), along with second-year forward 
Pat Garrity. 

The Magic needs a scoring forward, and Garrity has toughness and 
shooting range that goes to the three-point line. He should be a 
productive player in the league for many years, barring injuries. 

But a much larger contract must be included to make the deal work under 
the league's complicated salary cap restrictions, which require that the 
contracts on each side of a deal come within 15 percent, plus $100,000, 
of each other. 

The only other player the Suns have under contract who could make that 
deal work -- assuming Jason Kidd is off limits -- is veteran forward 
Danny Manning. If Manning isn't included, then the deal becomes very 
complicated and probably would have to wait until right before the 
season. 

That's because the Suns would have to bundle several players, might be 
forced to include a third team and would have to wait at least three 
months -- if the rules are changed as expected -- to include in a 
multiplayer package any of their own free agents who are re-signed. 

Would the Magic settle for a No. 1 pick, Garrity and Manning, who has 
had three reconstructive knee surgeries? 

Manning played in all 50 games in a compacted season in 1999 and played 
his best basketball in April and during the playoffs, demonstrating that 
his knees will hold up. And his contract is up at the end of next 
season, meaning the Magic could clear about $7 million from its salary 
cap at that time. 

But a deal with the Suns ultimately will depend on how much Hardaway 
pressures the Magic to make it, and how the Magic reacts if Hardaway 
threatens to sign with another club as a free agent and leave Orlando 
with nothing in return. 

The Magic knows that no other team can pay Hardaway $85 million. Chicago 
can come the closest, but few other teams have salary cap space to be in 
Hardaway's desired ballpark. 

Orlando also must find a suitor willing to take on the contract Hardaway 
is seeking, or something close to it. No team is going to want mortgage 
its future and then empty the bank account on the same deal. 

The Magic knows this, and it knows Hardaway doesn't have the same value 
around the league he had three years ago, when he was a first-team 
All-NBA choice and an All-Star Game starter. 

Knee injuries that limited him to 19 games in 1997-98 and 59 in 1996-97 
have raised questions about his durability and explosiveness. 

And Hardaway's reported run-ins with former coaches Brian Hill, who was 
fired, and Chuck Daly, who retired, will give a lot of clubs reason for 
pause. 

But the Suns learned when they acquired Rex Chapman and Jason Kidd that 
perceptions don't always reflect reality. 

Sometimes, players just need a change of scenery. The Suns need another 
player with star quality who can score. Hardaway wants a new start in 
the West. And the Magic needs to get something of value for Hardaway and 
move on. 

Sounds like a good deal for all concerned.