TSN's Sean Devaney puts Baker No. 4 on his salary cap chewing tea m

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

As I sat crunching numbers and examining statistics trying to come up with
the second annual Throwin' Elbows All-NBA Salary Cap-Chewing Team (also
known as the Bryant Reeves Memorial Team), a little paradox struck me. 
For one thing, you surely don't want to be a member of the salary-cap
chewers because, after all, it means you are probably not playing
particularly well. 
But, on the other hand, if you are chewing up salary cap space, that means
you are at least being paid very well. 
Thus, we have the team's first motto: "Yes, we stink, but we're stinking
rich." 
Now, to qualify as a salary-cap chewer, a player must be underachieving on
his own accord, not because of an injury or some other circumstance. The
idea behind a cap-chewing player is that somewhere along the line, a team
made a grave error in judgment, giving way too much money for a player who
could not live up to his payday. Players like Maurice Taylor and Grant Hill
are not eligible, because it was injury that kept them out last season, not
general underachievement. That brings us to motto No. 2: "Our DNPs are
strictly CDs." 
 
<http://www.sportingnews.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.sportingnews.com
/voices/sean_deveney/20020711.html/2055657553/Position4/default/empty.gif/38
336137343665353364333834373930> Originally, my plan was to make this a
five-player list. That required far too much decision-making, though, so it
quickly became a 10-player list. Needless to say, it then ballooned to 15.
It could have gone to 20, but how much can you ask of one poor NBA writer?
Which makes for motto No. 3: "We're everywhere!" 
All-NBA Salary Cap-Chewing Team 
1. Shawn Kemp, Portland. Any discussion of overpaid athletes must start with
Kemp. It started with Kemp last season when he was making slightly less than
$13 million. This season, thanks to an extension he signed in 1997 while
with Cleveland, his salary bumps to $22 million. Last season, Kemp averaged
6.1 points on 43 percent shooting in 75 games. 
2. Juwan Howard, Denver. For the Nuggets, the only attractive aspect of
acquiring Howard from the Mavericks in a deadline deal last February was
that the $20.5 million they will have to pay him this season is a one-shot
deal -- he comes off the cap next season. 
3. Damon Stoudamire, Portland. Maurice Cheeks figured out last season what
most NBA observers have known all along: Stoudamire is not much of a point
guard. He is more of a shooting guard. A shooting guard who shoots 40.2
percent from the field and will be paid $13.5 million to do so. Oh, and he
has an Oct. 1 court date set for possession of a controlled substance. 
4. Vin Baker, Seattle. True, Baker showed a bit of improvement from his
recent downward spiral, averaging 14.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. But he still
drives coach Nate McMillan batty and with a $12.4 million salary, is an
impossible guy to trade. (Don't we wish-Mark)
5. Greg Ostertag, Utah. It has been so easy to pick on Ostertag this past
season, but the guy recently gave his sister a kidney. So we won't pick on
him now, other than to say he will make $7.8 million next season. 
6. Kelvin Cato, Houston. Give Cato credit -- it's not his fault that the
Rockets gave him a $42 million contract based on how well he played during
the preseason after Houston acquired him from the Blazers. Of course, it is
his fault that he has taken that contract and essentially sat around since.
This will be Year 3 of the six-year deal, with this one ringing in at $6.6
million. 
7. Toni Kukoc, Atlanta. Kukoc was injured for 23 games last season, but even
when he did play, he showed he is far from ever being the Kukoc of six or
seven years ago. He averaged a career-low 9.9 points per game. The Hawks
will shell out $8.6 million next season for Kukoc. 
8. WardEisleyAnderson, Knicks. There are suspicions in some quarters that
Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley and Shandon Anderson have somehow morphed into
the same player. All three are paid in the $5-6 million range, all three
average 4-5 points per game, all three have difficulty getting onto the
floor, and all three are untradeable. 
9. Chris Mills, Golden State. Yes, Mills does still play for the Warriors,
though we use the term "play" loosely. The Warriors' accountants are sure
aware of his spot on the team -- $6 million, mercifully expiring next
summer. 
10. Shawn Bradley, Dallas. Bradley was injured in the early part of the
season, but even when healthy, he found himself frequently buried on Don
Nelson's bench. The Mavs will give Bradley $4.6 million this year, the
second of a seven-year, $42 million deal. His averages last season: 4.1
points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks. And the Mavs are still looking for a
center. 
11. Tim Thomas, Milwaukee. Thomas is another guy who did have some injury
problems. He did not do badly when filling in for Glenn Robinson, and if he
got more playing time, he probably would produce more. He is a good sixth
man, averaging 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds, but the Bucks will pay him
$10.6 million for that. 
12. Alonzo Mourning, Miami. If you are going to make $20.6 million in one
season, your name better be Shaq. Mourning's return to All-Star status last
year was nice, but he averaged 15.7 points and 8.4 rebounds -- not enough to
avoid an 'overpaid' label. 
13. Penny Hardaway, Phoenix. Maybe it's unfair of us to measure Hardaway
against the player he once was. After all, the guy's knees have more slices
than Domino's. Still, he's getting $12.5 million to sit and complain behind
second-year man Joe Johnson. 
14. Austin Croshere, Indiana. Among the schemes that Pacers coach Isiah
Thomas has cooked up is this: "Tuck Croshere deep on the bench." He has been
very successful. Croshere averages 16.9 minutes per game, and probably gets
the most unpredictable playing time in the league. He would be much better
off elsewhere, if someone would take his $6.7 million salary, and the four
years, $34 million left after this season. 
15. Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia. After trading Theo Ratliff and Nazr
Mohammed as part of the deal with the Hawks to land Mutombo, the Sixers had
little choice last offseason but to give Mutombo a maximum extension.
Mutombo still is a capable center, but last season he looked old for the
first time in his career. He is now 36 and will be paid $15.75 million this
season, with another $36 million over the following two years.