| | Bulletin: Orlando's John Gabriel trumps Chicago's Jerry Krause with the opening salvo of the free-agent wars.
|  | | Eddie Jones thinks he's worth the max, and if things fall right in Orlando, he could get it. |
Gabriel didn't sign anyone. Can't until August 1. So what did he do? He got down for the double max.
Gabriel unloaded forward Derek Strong and young Corey Maggette to the Clippers at a combined savings of more than $4 million in salary for next season. They moved the 10th pick (also to the Clippers) and got rid of Courtney Alexander and saved another $2.3 million.
Even with No. 5 pick Mike Miller, the Magic will be more than $20 million under the cap, beating the Bulls by close to $2 million.
Here's what it means:
Gabriel has the room to sign two top free agents, and he can do that while holding on to free agents Ben Wallace and Bo Outlaw, two of the hardest-working big men in the business.
That's a win-win situation for the Magic, who learned how to play the game when the Lakers dumped payroll to steal Shaquille O'Neal four years ago. "This puts us right on target with our goals for free agency," Gabriel said, noting, "This isn't a one-step process. It's a two-step process. And now we're looking forward to the weekend."
When Tim Duncan and Grant Hill come to town for the opening of the free agency period, they will know they are dealing with serious people. The Magic have figuratively made a home for them. All Duncan and/or Hill have to do is say yes.
If the insiders are right, they will say no. Hill is expected to give Joe Dumars another year to straighten things out while he advances up the ladder to seven-year veteran status, eligible for more money. Keep this in mind, though: Next year Atlanta will have big cap room and will offer added competition.
Duncan, like Hill an uncommonly loyal guy, might stay as well and give the Spurs another chance to win a title with David Robinson. The future of that franchise is in Duncan's hands. He knows it and isn't likely to duck out on big brother David.
If both Duncan and Hill take a pass, where do the Magic turn? How about Jalen Rose? How about Eddie Jones? But they would be foolish to pay Jones the maximum.
How about Tracy McGrady? With Maggette gone, McGrady's road to stardom is paved. All he has to do is live up to the billing.
The Bulls, on the other hand, didn't do what they wanted to do. Krause's goal is to be more than $19 million under on Aug. 1 so he, too, is eligible to sign two $9 million free agents. Understand that's a misnomer because the price has gone up with salary-cap adjustments. Maximum contracts are now about $9.5 million. A GM caught short by a few hundred thousand looks like a chump. Krause is nobody's chump. He'll get the job done.
It should be noted that neither the Bulls nor the Magic has to spend the money this summer. As long as they protect the cap slots, they will still have them in '01.
The immediate problem here is none of the big guys really want to go to Chicago, not when there are palm trees and soft breezes beckoning.
There remains some hangover from the manner in which the Bulls broke up their team, appearing to force Michael Jordan into retirement, dishonoring the contributions of Scottie Pippen and others. This is total garbage -- we've seen the real Pippen in Houston and Portland -- but athletes in their 20s aren't sophisticates. They hear the whispers, and it's hard to change their minds.
Hill won't go to the Bulls. There's too much lingering antagonism after the wars these two franchises have had. Duncan wouldn't live in Chicago.
But Rose is out there. His ties to the Pacers are not nearly so strong now that Larry Bird has gone. Expect Isiah Thomas to put the rush on Rose, woo him hard as Donnie Walsh tries to hold onto what he's got: Rose, Austin Croshere, Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson and Rik Smits, for at least two more years while the Eastern champs make the transition to their younger players.
If Krause can't land Rose and if McGrady bolts to the Magic, then Krause still has a very nice young team with Elton Brand, Ron Artest, rookie forward Marcus Fizer and rookie point Jamal Crawford, the player whose stock climbed so quickly in the final week before the draft, Atlanta considered him at No. 6 before the Bulls swapped No. 7 (Chris Mihm) to Cleveland for No. 8 (Crawford).
So Krause can go after the second-tier free agents, guys like Eddie Jones, Cuttino Mobley, Derek Anderson, Glen Rice and Rashard Lewis.
Hey, Krausie, want Toni Kukoc back?
Around The League
Listen, this free-agent chasing is so contagious a neophyte like Mark Cuban in Dallas is quick to make a fool of himself.
This actually happened: The Mavs offered Atlanta Hot Rod Williams, Robert Pack and Shawn Bradley for Dikembe Mutombo.
What was Cuban thinking? Well, his guys are on the final year of their contracts. By dealing for them, the Hawks would have more cap room next summer.
Duuuuh, Mark. Mutombo is on the final year of his contract, too. And the Hawks want to keep him.
P.S. to this tale. Cuban denies his involvement. Says it must have been one of his lieutenants who went to a Texas paper and put him in jeopardy of a tampering charge.
Eddie Jones will be disappointed if he thinks he can max money out of Chicago or Orlando. He's not that good. He has that value only in Charlotte, where the symbol of losing another free agent would probably be ruinous to any advantageous arena deal.
Orlando nearly pulled the coup of the night by dealing for Darius Miles. "You have no idea how close we came," Doc Rivers said. "We were very close, very close. I thought we had him."
Not everyone is totally convinced the Bulls will keep Fizer, although now that Tim Floyd has him back (they were together one year at Iowa State) Krause would have to move him in the dark of night or over his coach's body.
Give a nice hand to Ernie Grunfeld and George Karl in Milwaukee. They added Jason Caffey and Joel Przybilla and dumped a couple of slugs, J.R. Reid and Robert Traylor. All they had was the No. 15 pick.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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Stein: Full guide to free agency
Hughes: Rose, Rice lead 'other' free agents
List of NBA free agents
 Denberg: And Zen some
AUDIO/VIDEO
 John Gabriel comments on a possible deal to acquire Tim Duncan and Grant Hill.
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