| | NEW YORK -- Oh, to be young, rich and an NBA rookie -- except if you're
one of the newest members of the Los Angeles Clippers.
|  | | Yo, Quentin: Maybe you think you can turn the sinking Clipper ship around, but you can't. |
Then you have our deepest condolences. Along with Lamar Odom's.
"It's going to be the longest season they ever went through," Odom
said.
Odom delivered those frightening words about his newest teammates, the
much-heralded Darius Miles, and ex-DePaul star Quentin Richardson, as
the three were about to play in a recent charity game in New York.
"I went through my longest year ever last year," Odom said, reflecting
on his disappointing rookie season. "That's what they can look forward
to."
Gulp.
It's not just because Miles and Richardson will be playing an 82-game
schedule for the first time. With Maurice Taylor (now with Houston) and
Derek Anderson (now with San Antonio) fleeing Donald Sterling's infamous
gulag as free agents, the next six months might seem like six years.
Naturally, the kids have no idea what they're about to get into when
training camp starts in less than two weeks.
"I don't think I'll have no adjustments," said Miles, the ex-East St.
Louis, Ill., prep star, sounding like the naive 19-year-old he honestly
is. "I just don't want to hit that brick wall, after 50 games or so.
They say when you hit it, it's hard. I ain't never lost, so this will be
a first for me."
|
“ |
I did learn one thing: When you're a Clipper, you find out where you
stand, mentally. ” |
|
|
— Lamar Odom |
But as he'll probably discover, it'll be business as usual for the
Lakers' co-tenants in Staples Center. Even with Taylor and Anderson,
they won a league-low 15 games last season. New coach Alvin Gentry will
have a roster stocked with young players, including ex-Magic Corey
Maggette. So the losses figure to mount, as always. This is a franchise
that has qualified for the postseason only three times since 1976 -- strictly on merit.
"But all that doesn't matter to me, since we weren't there for those
seasons," said Richardson, who has a power forward's game but stands
about 6-4, tops. "I've never lost. When I got to DePaul, they had won
only seven games. So I know you can turn teams around."
In theory, anyway. But in Clipperland, Sterling prizes constant
turnover over everything else. The sad thing is, his team tolerates
losing more than its own players' criticism of the most hopeless franchise in
all of sports.
Only three months on the job, Odom questioned the organization's
commitment to winning. As if one even exists. He was summarily ordered
to shut up by GM Elgin Baylor, who also threatened a hefty fine. Rather
than wind up with a lighter wallet, Odom decided to stay quiet and bide
his time, which might be four more long years before he can escape.
Miles, Richardson and the team's third first-round pick, Keyon Dooling,
should remember that when they start learning what it's like to be stuck
on Sterling's sinking ship.
| |  | |
| Odom |
"It's hard to know what it's like from the outside," said Odom, who already will be playing for his third coach, in only his second
season. "As a player, there's nothing you can do but go out there
and play. It's hard. Around game 50 and 60, it was hard for me. But
I did learn one thing: When you're a Clipper, you find out where you
stand, mentally."
Perilously close to depression.
No minor crime in Minnesota
Minnesota is going to hammered for entering into a secret
agreement with Joe Smith and brazenly violating the league's salary cap
rules.
According to league sources, the T-Wolves expect to get hit with a
record $3.5 million fine, lose their two draft picks next season, and,
of course, forfeit the right to keep Smith. The Mavs already are ready
to make him a new offer.
| |  | |
| Smith |
Although owner Glen Taylor has chosen to take the hit, VP Kevin McHale
could be subject to a one-year suspension or even termination. Some
league sources say Taylor has stepped forward to take responsibility
merely as a ploy to protect McHale from a suspension. But from what we
hear, McHale could be in serious trouble.
No surprise that Minnesota is getting whacked. When the league announced
that it was going to arbitration against the Wolves, Smith and his
agent at the time of the agreement, Eric Fleisher, NBA executive VP Joel
Litvin termed it "the most serious salary cap offense that can be
committed by teams, players or agents."
True, the league has been rife with wink-wink deals and handshake
agreements over the years. But this particular deal to give Smith a $90
million contract down the road was in writing, if you can believe that. It
only came to light in recent depositions in the on-going lawsuit
involving Fleisher's former associate, Andy Miller.
| |  | |
| Rogers |
Rim Shots
Phoenix's Rodney Rogers is presently fighting his ex-team,
the Clippers, for close to a million dollars in an arbitration
proceeding. The Clippers docked Rogers $970,000 during the lockout season for
violating a weight clause in his contract.
Reluctant Bull: Glen Rice
is hesitating to take the Bulls' $8 million offer in hopes that he can
still get a bigger deal in a sign-and-trade to the Knicks. New York
remains interested, but the Lakers don't want any of their players (L.A.
rejected Chris Dudley, wisely). The Knicks still insist on getting a
big-time forward, along with Rice, in any deal involving Patrick Ewing.
Don't believe those reports about Rice going to Miami for the $2.25 mil
exception. "It's beneath Glen," said one league exec.
Early scouting
report on the Clips' Miles, who hasn't shown much in the way of outside
shooting skills or ballhandling in pre-draft workouts and summer games:
An athletic Jerry "Ice" Reynolds.
Don MacLean's signing by Miami? We
hear that that was the Heat's way of saying "thanks" to agent Mark
Bartelstein for delivering another client, Brian Grant, in three-way
deal with Cleveland and Portland. The joke in Phoenix, where MacLean
played 16 games last season, is that he put in more practice time on the
links than he did in practices with the Suns.
| |  | |
| Mullin |
The Lakers are expected to get
into the bidding for ex-Pacer Chris Mullin. The Knicks also are interested in
the Brooklyn native.
Mark Jackson is figuring his assist total won't be
hurting much when he starts playing with Vince Carter in Toronto this
season. "Watching him during the Olympics with my youngest son, I'm sort
of like a groupie," said the ex-Pacer. "I'm high-fiving my son every
time Vince makes a move."
By the way, Isiah Thomas is still looking for a buyer
for the CBA.
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
ESPN.com grades each team's draft
Lawrence: Ewing rumors worth a good laugh
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