PORTLAND, Ore. -- To paraphrase Slim Pickens in "Blazing
Saddles," what in the Wide World of Sports is Butch Carter doing in Toronto?
|  | | Butch Carter made plenty of headlines last season. |
Committing professional suicide, it says here.
Carter's latest ploy was trying to wrest GM powers from the current
holder of said authority, Glen Grunwald. To his credit, Carter didn't do it
behind closed doors. If what we hear out of the Toronto papers is correct,
he did it right to Grunwald's face, in a meeting with Richard Peddie, the
Raptors' president. Carter apparently argued that he didn't have enough
juice in the organization without having the ultimate say on trades and free
agent signings.
Peddie said no. Leaving Carter with even fewer friends in an
organization that appears to be tiring of his antics.
Carter believes he's the only person that can keep Tracy McGrady in
Toronto. And at least one source close to McGrady backs Carter's assertion
that he never formally asked for the free agent's help in seeking the GM
post. (Not that it matters. McGrady is as gone as a stoner at Cheech and
Chong's house. While everyone has McGrady penciled in to either Orlando or
Chicago, it says here that before it's all said and done, Phoenix and
Portland and maybe Minnesota will make significant sign-and-trade offers for
him. And maybe get him.) But Carter has alienated almost half of his team in
just a few months with contrary statements and strange actions -- Dee Brown,
Doug Christie, Haywoode Workman, Charles Oakley and Antonio Davis, to name a
few.
And that, boys and girls, is why he wanted to be GM. So he could run
those guys off the reservation before they got him. Because even though
Carter got a contract extension last season, the pressure on him to
win -- with or without McGrady -- will be enormous. And even though the Raps
will have cap room galore (only $25.5 million committed for next season), it
will be impossible to get any free agents to come there in the current
environment.
I've tried to understand what Carter's reasoning is for all of these
things that he's doing. Why he insisted there was a league-wide conspiracy
to get Vince Carter out of Canada. Why he fought a civil war with the hockey
powers in Toronto in the local media. Why he chose the eve of the first
playoff appearance in franchise history to sue Marcus Camby.
Why he tried to paint Grunwald, his ex-Indiana teammate and the guy
that brought him to the Raptors as an assistant, into a corner by forcing
Grunwald to publicly support or rebut Carter's charges against Bob Knight.
(In his new book, written with brother Cris, Butch Carter claims that Knight
used a racial slur at an African-American player in the late '70s. Everyone
involved has denied it, including the person believed to be the
African-American player, Isiah Thomas.)
Even people close to Carter now can't figure out why he's doing what
he's doing. One close friend of the family tried, he says, to talk some
sense into Carter last week.
"I said 'Butch, what the hell are you doing?'" the friend said.
Carter's response was the same he gave others during the whole Camby
mess -- that he was trying to keep people from smearing his name.
Unfortunately, he's doing a good job of it himself.
Around The League
Now that Rod Thorn is in New Jersey, we know who's running the show.
It's team president Lewis Katz, who won a power struggle with YankeeNets
head Harvey Schiller. Schiller, those in the know say, couldn't get Katz to
sign off on Michael Jackson, Schiller's pick for team president. And that
spelled doom for the Nets' pursuit of John Thompson, though Thompson would
have pulled out eventually, anyway.
People close to Thompson say that he came away from meetings with Nets
management uncertain about just who was going to have the final say in
basketball matters. Would it be Katz, Schiller or The Boss, George
Steinbrenner? Thompson now knows why certain teams win every year while
others go in the tank. Meanwhile, the Nets free fell as the week went on.
Pacers GM David Kahn pulled out of the sweepstakes on Wednesday, and
contrary to national broadcast reports, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak never had
any kind of discussion with the Nets. Matter of fact, he got ticked off that
the Nets kept leaking his name out there.
Sources confirm reports that Thompson spoke with Clippers owner Donald
Sterling at Sterling's L.A. home about that job. But I'm telling you that
Thompson has no interest in the gig. He quickly found out, I'm told, what
everyone else in the NBA already knew about Sterling's self-promotion and
grandiosity. GM Elgin Baylor is still trying to convince Thompson to take
another look at the Clips, but it will likely be a futile effort unless
Sterling opens up his substantial wallet and makes Thompson a
multi-millionaire. Meanwhile, expect ex-Grizzlies GM Stu Jackson, hired by
the league after his demise in Vancouver last month, to take Thorn's place
in the league office.
Blazers will have two big questions at the end of the playoffs. Will
Brian Grant opt out of his contract? And will they be able to appease Damon
Stoudamire and his diminishing minutes. "They're going to have to deal with
Damon if they lose," a personnel man says. Grant has four years left on his
deal, at $8.7, $9.8, $10.9 and $12 million through 2003-04, but he has opt
outs after this season and next. His agent, Mark Bartlestein, says only that
Grant will look at all his options when the playoffs end. My guess is that
if Grant exercises it, it will be after next season. He could then sign a
one-year deal and be eligible for a seven-to-nine year contract starting at
$9 million in 2002-03.
Stoudamire will be tougher. He's tried to take the high road about
seeing more limited playing time during the Lakers' series, but Mighty
Mouse isn't happy. Trading him? Almost impossible. Even if you could find
someone willing to take on his $80 million salary, he's a base year
compensation player until next January.
Rockets, picking ninth, are
salivating over 7-2 center Iakovos Tsakalidis, playing for the AEK team in
Greece. Whether Tsakalidis will be eligible to play in the NBA next
season -- there are the usual European contract issues -- is one matter. But his
skills and size -- a legit 285 pounds -- are worth waiting for. Problem for the
Rockets is that Cleveland, one spot ahead at eight, also has a need for a
center.
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