| Monday, December 6
By Mitch Lawrence
Special to ESPN.com |
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|  | | With Kobe back, the Lakers really want to move Glen Rice. |
NEW YORK -- Look for league-wide trade talks to start heating up this
week, as we get closer to Dec. 15. That's the first day teams that
signed free agents last summer can start dealing those players.
With about half the players in the league signed in the off-season, that
could mean a lot of activity before the Feb. 24 trading deadline.
What's hot? Knicks GM Scott Layden is trying to work a
three-way deal in which the Knicks would end up with Glen Rice. "They do
have interest," said an L.A. source. "That's a fact."
Problem is, the Knicks don't have anything the Lakers want, namely a
power forward. So Layden has been trying to find a third party with a
power player to make it work.
Who leaves the Knicks? In any deal, Charlie Ward is at the front of the
line. The Knicks are very concerned, and rightfully so, that he's lost
his passion since signing a six-year, $31 million deal before last season.
It's no coincidence that Rick Brunson has been getting some minutes
lately. With Ward playing poorly, this gives Jeff Van Gundy the chance
to see what Brunson, a hard worker, can do.
The Nets' Kendall Gill has also been involved in a ton of trade rumors,
the latest of which has him going to Cleveland for Wesley Person.
Rim Shots I
The NBA took note of the recent drop-off in scores and took some action. According to referee sources, crews recently received memos from the league, reminding them that the new rules prohibiting hand-checking and other physical play have to be enforced.
"There was some slippage," said one whistle-blower. "Guys were getting
lax on the hand-checking calls and what guys were getting away with in
the post. Also, cutters were starting to get bumped around again. We
were told to remember the new rules."
It's still way too early to say if the new rules will have an impact in
the long term. But so far, they've had the desired effect, other than
the fact that John Stockton still gets away with setting more illegal screens than any other player in NBA history. One more reason you've got to love Utah's future Hall of Famer.
Last season, the Kings were the only team to average at least 100 points per game. Nine teams finished the season averaging below 90 ppg. Entering last weekend, 11 of the 29 teams were at or above the century mark, with only the Bulls averaging below 90 ppg.
Rim Shots II
Sean Elliott received flowers and fruit baskets from many
of his peers, including Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and Kobe Bryant,
when he underwent a kidney transplant this past summer.
"I don't remember getting anything from the guys in Portland," said
Elliott, whose Memorial Day Miracle shot helped put away the Blazers
last June. "I guess they don't want to see me come back."
Elliott smiled when he said it, because he knows everyone is rooting for
him to make what would be a landmark comeback. He's started to practice, but it's been a slow go so far.
"A month after both of my knee surgeries, I was out there dunking the
ball," he said. "Now, if I do something for 10 seconds hard, I'm toast
after that."
Elliott hopes to be playing by early February. If he can't, he's already
decided to retire.
Rim Shots III
Golden State ownership recently told GM Garry St. Jean
that he will be taking over the coaching duties for P.J. Carlesimo, and
in an ultimatum, told St. Jean that the roster he put together had
better work, or else he'll be out after the season.
When handicapping
the Grant Hill free-agent sweepstakes, don't forget to figure mom Janet
into the mix. According to persons close to Hill, she has considerable
influence on G-man.
For a while, we didn't know who was going to make
it back first, Sean Elliott or Marcus Camby.
Look for Hakeem Olajuwon to take eight weeks off following hernia surgery, if not many more. He's never hustled back from injuries and won't this time, the way the season is going in Houston. "Without Hakeem, we can do more things," said one Rocket voice. Yeah, like run.
Privately, Shaquille O'Neal calls Kobe Bryant "Baby Jordan," more in derision than anything else. Shaq's big fear is that Kobe, back this past week after wrist injury, will try to be just like Mike in Phil Jackson's triangle.
Turns out, Chuck Daly was approached by both the Lakers and Nets before they filled their coaching vacancies with Phil Jackson and Don Casey, respectively. Daly still consults for the Magic, most of which takes place from the golf course.
If Stephon Marbury writes another message on his ankle tape,
let's see if it can't be "All NBA 33."
Terry Porter knows the Heat could be in trouble, with Tim Hardaway out with knee injury and Porter playing now for Spurs. "It could be a big problem," Porter said last week from the Meadowlands. "But if it's only a short-term thing, they should survive it." But the pressure's on rookie Anthony Carter and Pat Riley,
who didn't offer Porter the $2 million exception to stay.
Coaching fodder: Who wants to be the next Doc Rivers,
going right from TV work to a head-coaching position? We hear it's TNT's
Kenny Smith, who no doubt has heard that Doc scored an $8 million deal over four years from Orlando.
John Starks, subject of trade rumors, returns to New York tomorrow for the first time since his trade to Golden State for Latrell Sprewell. In this case, we don't think the NBA has to
worry about Starks spewing profanities at the fans.
Spurs' Chucky
Brown on what Charles Barkley can look forward to getting from Philly fans when he makes his final appearance in that city Wednesday: "A hard time."
Steve Kerr has noticed a major difference between how the
Spurs are going about trying to repeat as champions and the tack the
Bulls took. "This is a more laid-back team than those Bulls teams,"
Kerr said. "As a result, we struggle at times because we're a little too
relaxed. Sometimes, we don't have enough fire." That never was a
problem with the Bulls. "Michael was Michael," Kerr said of Jordan. "It
didn't matter if he was trying to win the free-throw contest at
practice, or if we were trying to repeat as champions. He was going to
do anything he could to win. That just set the tone. Nothing needed to
be said beyond that. And with Michael, Phil and Scottie, we always had
something brewing. There was plenty of motivation."
Like whenever they laid eyes on Jerry Krause.
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com. |  |
Lawrence: How can Clips screw this up?
