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Knicks, Layden stuck with each other Posted: Friday March 22, 2002 3:07 PM
Vince Carter’s decision to pack it in for the season means the Raptors can now officially begin looking ahead to ‘02-03. Their first order of business should be to decide what to do with coach Lenny Wilkens, whose laid-back style just doesn’t fit this club. Toronto would be wise to make a run at former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, who might be able to at least get the Raptors to play a little defense now and then. After that, the Raptors need to add another scorer to take some pressure off Carter. Toronto is capped out and probably won’t find much help in the draft this year. But the Raps do have a tradable asset in Keon Clark, a free agent-to-be. He might be able to fetch a decent veteran scorer in return. Now onto the ‘bag: Is there any truth to the rumors about either Magic Johnson or Jerry West taking over as GM in New York? Scott Layden has brought the Knicks down with big contracts for average players and horrible draft choices. -- Rick, Washington, D.C. Sorry, Rick, but it’s doubtful Jerry West would want to take on the headache of trying to extricate the Knicks from their present situation. Magic Johnson might be desperate enough to take the job, but he has no track record of building a team from scratch. Besides, Layden still has a reported four years left on a contract worth some $18 million with incentives, so it’s unclear whether Cablevision, which owns the Knicks, would even be willing to fire him. What's your opinion of the Hornets' potential move to New Orleans? Charlotte has a new arena plan, a deep-pocketed prospective new owner, and a history (although not recent) of fervent support and attendance. Would the league side with its own, or have serious reservations about owners who allowed their franchise to be run into the ground? -- Mark Davis, Hunstersville, N.C. The Hornets situation is a disgrace, Mark. Charlotte has proven itself to be a good NBA market in the past, and the fans deserve better than the current ownership. I think there are several NBA owners who are concerned about any possible move to New Orleans, not only because it is a smaller market but also because of the message it sends to fans around the league. As Sonics owner Howard Schultz recently noted, it damages the entire NBA when teams pull up stakes and abandon fans for the sake of a quick buck. George Shinn has nobody to blame but himself for the Hornets’ predicament. If he had agreed to give Michael Jordan controlling interest a few years ago, he would be rolling in dough right now. In light of several teams having disappointing seasons (my hometown Raptors for one) and the void of available coaches ready to assume the helm of a contender, which assistant coaches do you feel are ready to make the next jump to head coach a la Byron Scott, Rick Carlisle, and Mo Cheeks? -- Warren Williams, Toronto Haven’t you been listening to George Karl, Warren? He keeps telling everyone who will listen that his longtime assistant, Terry Stotts, should be at the top of the list. Karl is so convinced he sometimes gets carried away (like in the recent Esquire article) and puts his foot in his pie hole. Anyway, some other frequently-mentioned candidates include Sonics assistant Dwane Casey, Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau, Hawks assistant Rick Mahorn and Mavs assistants Donn Nelson Jr. and Sidney Moncrief. What is up with Larry Hughes at Golden State? He appears to be stuck on the bench after starting all season, but I can't find any news about him. Is he injured or just not in their plans anymore? -- Scot Peterson, Beverly, Mass. The rebuilding Warriors are going with youth, Scot, and they want to take a look at rookies Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson. That doesn’t leave much time for Hughes, who did a decent job running the point most of the season but who is really more a shooting guard. Hughes, a free agent after the season, is getting frustrated; he reportedly exchanged words with coach Brian Winters before Thursday night’s game in Seattle, where he got a DNP-CD. I got to know Hughes a couple years ago when SI assigned me to write a feature story about him, and he seemed like a good guy. Hopefully he will get an opportunity somewhere next year and be able to take advantage. The Lakers sometimes look, well, like the Lakers, and sometimes they look like their 1992 counterparts (enough said about them). Why do you think they are so inconsistent? -- Corey Harrold, Newhall, Calif. Boredom, Corey. After two straight championships, the Lakers don’t have anything left to prove until postseason. The NBA regular season is so long, it’s just too hard for them to play at their top level night in and night out. It’s one of the amazing things about the old Bulls, that they were able to play so well almost each night out during their amazing run of six titles in eight years. But, of course, they had Michael Jordan to keep them focused and on top of their game. What do you think is the best approach for developing a young team like the Hawks -- to tank the rest of the season for a high lottery pick or to concentrate on developing a winning cohesion for next year? This is especially important for the Hawks since they will lose their draft pick to the Clippers if it is not in the top 4. --Matt Freeman, Atlanta As tempting as it might be to tank games, Matt, it’s a bad idea. Losing clubs like the Hawks need to change their entire culture, and the first step is to make winning the first priority. Besides, the draft is always a crap shoot, never more so than now with all the young unproven players in the lottery. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.
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