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| Friday, February 23 Webber, Finley lead free agent crew this summer By Scott Howard-Cooper Special to ESPN.com |
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Pursuit of the biggest free agent is already well under way.
"More jambalaya, Mr. Heisley?" "Look over here, it's the Arch!" "Oh, and it was nice to meet you too, Mr. Mouse." But for those without the good fortune of having lost tens of millions of dollars, or the equivalent of $1.37 Canadian the way things are going, it's still a waiting game for the questions to be answered. What teams will dive under the salary cap for a serious offseason push? Is it really possible that, for a change, a glut of desirable big men will be available? How many chalupas does it take to screw in an owner? Things like that. The passing of the trade deadline helped a little. The 76ers gained a major advantage for the summer by acquiring Dikembe Mutombo, meaning Philadelphia can go over to re-sign him, and that being this close to New York will torture the Knicks' dreams even more. Michael Finley has to be feeling overwhelmed the way the Mavericks have grown around him, now able to get the megabucks to stay in Dallas and also play on a team with three other potential all-stars after the arrival of Juwan Howard. But more than anything, Thursday evening marked the final flurry before the summer, first with the draft and the trades that come with that, when no one knows who will be available, and then the July 1 start to the free agent period, when everyone knows. So start looking ahead to the next sure thing. For today, that means no What Might Happen with players who can/probably will/definitely will opt out, so commodities like Allan Houston, Derek Anderson, Antonio Davis, Ruben Patterson and the underrated Bruce Bowen will be addressed another time. The same goes for What Definitely Will Happen Unless We Address Him To Afghanistan First, so the expected buyout of Rod Strickland likewise doesn't count yet. But enough others do. In this order, the top free agents this summer are:
His gig at all-star weekend should have included a cover charge. He had a short list, all right. The Rand McNally Atlas. Reporters looking for fresh stories caught on that investigative journalism meant going up to Webber, telling him where you were from and asking "What are the chances you would sign with (insert team name here)?" and the answer would come back with everything but a headline attached. It was a good thing the reporters from Yugoslavia were busy with Vlade Divac or Webber would have done 20 minutes on the likelihood of playing for Partizan. He has been great at handling all the attention, personable and polite as ever, unless you count that little matter of offending people back in Sacramento. No big deal. If he leaves, they will have had a head start on turning on him. If he stays, he will announce at the press conference "This is where I always wanted to be," even though it wasn't, and it will be the media's fault for making a big deal out of nothing. Either way, everyone has got a long ride still ahead.
Or so Philadelphia hopes. As great a move it was for the coming months, with the 76ers now feeling confident they have the true center that can match up against the Redwoods of the West if they reach the Finals, it will be even better if Mutombo stays because that also means he won't be in New York. And let's figure the Sixers would not have moved Theo Ratliff without at least some encouraging words from the Mutombo camp about the future. In Philly, Mutombo gets his max money and the 76ers get a force. It says he is 34 years old, which is a concern when discussing long-term deals. It's just that he doesn't look anything close, which is a concern for 28 other teams.
His meteoric rise from former second-round pick and opening night afterthought to likely landslide winner of Rookie of the Year will carry all the way into the offseason and another difficult challenge for the Warriors. The rules of the salary cap put them in an unenviable position for a bidding war against a team -- like the Bulls -- that will have plenty of room and a spot for players to blossom.
Scott Howard-Cooper covers the NBA for the Sacramento Bee and is a new regular contributor to ESPN.com. |
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