Bibby to the Wizards?
It's been
rumored that
Michael Jordan wants young point guard
Mike Bibby to captain his Wizards next, but first he's going to
add his dad and USC head coach
Henry Bibby to the Wizards happy
family first. sportsTALK has learned from a NBA source that the Wizards
are talking to Bibby about becoming an assistant coach with the Wizards.
New Wizards' coach
Doug Collins has a long history with Bibby
and needs to fill out his coaching staff.
According to the source, with the departure of Sam Clancy, Jeff
Trepagnier and Brian Scalabrine from the Trojans,
Bibby is ready to move on. Will he get to coach his son in
Washington? We could find out real soon.
Pistons Want Houston Back?Would
Knicks free-agent
Allan Houston return home? That's the
question the Detroit Pistons are asking according to the
New York
Post. In what would seem like an inconceivable move just a few years
ago after Houston spurned the Pistons and went to New York, the
Pistons are positioning
themselves to have a shot at Houston this summer.
Though Houston has stated that he'd like to return to the Knicks, the
Pistons are hoping that the Knicks make a serious run at Chris Webber
and need a third team to facilitate a sign-and-trade with Detroit the
Post reported. The Pistons have enough room to absorb a big
salary and may be able to ship off a player and a pick to Sacramento and
land Houston in return.
Any interest in Houston signals one of the worst kept secrets in the league
-- the Pistons are begging someone, anyone, to take Jerry Stackhouse
off their hands. A league source told sportsTALK last night that
the Pistons have been shopping Stackhouse for a month, but so far have had very
little interest. Stackhouse was second in the league in scoring this year,
but has had problems getting teammates involved in the offense and getting
himself involved on defense.
Mohammed Ready to Cash In?
Hawks
free-agent Nazr Mohammed sure knows how to turn lemons into
lemonade. It was just six months ago when Mohammed found out that the
76ers would not exercise their team option for a fourth year on his rookie
contract. 26 out of the 29 players in Mohammed's rookie class had their contract
extended. It was just three months ago that Mohammed found out that he had
been traded from a contender to the lowly Hawks for salary cap purposes.
But Mohammed isn't sitting at home crying about what could have been.
No, he's in Chicago working out with -- you guessed it -- Michael Jordan's
trainer Tim Grover, and the buzz is that he may be one of the hottest
free-agents around this summer. Given an injury to Theo
Ratliff, Mohammed was able to get some minutes for the Hawks, and he
finally began to have some breakout games. His scoring average increased
from 3.2 to 12.3. And his rebounding average went from 1.8 per game to nine.
"The day of the trade, I called him on the phone and said, 'We don't play games
with people's lives. We're up front with everybody,'" Hawks general manager Pete
Babcock told the Chicago Tribune. "I told him he was in the deal for
salary-cap purposes, but that we'd give him a fair look. He dramatically
exceeded our expectations."
Now Mohammed, one of the few free-agent centers available, figures to cash
in. According to the
Tribune, Atlanta remains his first choice,
but
he
also wouldn't mind returning home to Chicago. "Of course I'd consider the
Bulls," Mohammed said. "It's Chicago. I'm from here. I'm friends with
Elton Brand and
Ron Mercer. Ron and I played
together at Kentucky. I wouldn't cancel them out just because they're losing. I
just want an opportunity to play. That's my biggest thing. I want an opportunity
to keep getting better and show what I can do."