Dallas: Williams probably won't play again

["Josh Farber" <nbaj2k@home.com>]

So I guess there is no Bruno.
I'm with Way of Ray about the 3mil will be packaged with picks in a deal,
we've got to wait and see on that!

It says Williams isn't expected to play again with a degenerative disk in
his back.

Maybe he'll either retire or the Celts will renounce him with the 3mil.

Josh

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Mavericks working deal to acquire Jazz guard Eisley
08/15/2000

By Jodie Valade / The Dallas Morning News

The Mavericks would still get the man they want: Utah point guard Howard
Eisley. It just won't be at the price they expected, and a few other
components would be included upon his arrival.

A trade for Eisley is part of a complicated four-team swap that all sides
have been working on feverishly since Friday. The teams agreed to the deal
Monday afternoon but are awaiting NBA approval, said Mavericks owner Mark
Cuban. He expects the deal to come Tuesday.

Eisley's acquisition would jump-start a nine-player trade that also would
land guard Dana Barros (from Boston) and forward Bill Curley (from Golden
State) in Dallas, Cuban said Monday. Eisley, a free agent, would join the
Mavericks in a multi-year, sign-and-trade deal instead of coming to Dallas
for the $2.25 million salary-cap exception, Cuban said.

The Mavericks would surrender guard Robert Pack and forward Hot Rod Williams
to Boston, and free-agent center Bruno Sundov to Utah. In addition, Cuban
would send the maximum-allowable $3 million to the Celtics to sweeten the
deal.

Also as part of the four-way trade, free agent Danny Fortson would go to
Golden State from Boston, and Donyell Marshall would go to Utah from Golden
State. Utah also would send Adam Keefe to Golden State, and a protected
first-round pick to Boston.

And though the deal has plenty of player movement ­ including the send-off
of a couple players Dallas has been shopping for months - it still leaves
the Mavericks with 17 players on their roster, including seven guards and no
true backup center.

"The idea is to add as many good players as possible and pick the best 12,"
Cuban said.

The immediate result is that the Mavericks would get the player they
wanted ­ Eisley ­ for more than just the one year that the
over-the-salary-cap Mavericks could offer with the mid-level exception.
Eisley is expected to sign for $4.25 million for next year, with the length
of his contract still being hammered out Monday night, Cuban said.

"We want him for more [than one] year," Cuban said. "This way he can't have
a great year and bolt for more money. It saves our [$2.25 million
salary-cap] exception for this year, just in case."

That is, just in case the Mavericks have more deals to come.

In fact, with a roster overloaded with guards, the Mavericks would begin
trying to move Barros as soon as they receive him, Cuban said. According to
league rules, Dallas can trade Barros within 48 hours of acquiring him, or
then must wait 60 days. Barros is in the last year of a contract that pays
him $3.7 million.

The 6-9 Curley would sign for the league minimum and might be able to
provide some backup center minutes, Cuban said.

The player exchange relieves the Mavericks of several players they have been
trying to move all summer. The oft-injured Pack fell out of the rotation in
the final months of last season, and has been on the trading block for
months. Williams is not expected to play again with a degenerative disk
problem in his back.

And the Mavericks will somewhat reluctantly give up the 7-2 Sundov, who was
selected in the second round of the 1998 draft. The Mavericks have seen the
Croatian center, who is the youngest player to play for Dallas, at 19 years,
2 months, 11 days, as a player with potential.

"It's very hard to give him up," Cuban said. "One year of bulking up and
Bruno could be back."