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CNNSI.com Analysis SI's Phil Taylor breaks down the Kukoc trade
Posted: Wednesday February 16, 2000 07:53 PM
Sports Illustrated NBA writer Phil Taylor analyzed Wednesday's three-way trade between the Bulls, 76ers and Warriors with CNN/Sports Illustrated anchor Johnny Phelps. Johnny Phelps: Sixers owner Pat Croce said that he's now ready to win a championship. Does this put Philadelphia into that upper echelon in the East? Phil Taylor: I think it puts them higher -- it certainly raises them in the East -- but it doesn't get them into the echelon with New York and Indiana, which I believe are the top teams in the East. Toni Kukoc can really help the Sixers, both with his shooting -- being another guy who can take some of that offensive burden off of Allen Iverson -- and his passing, which shouldn't be overlooked. He's like having a second point guard on the floor. He makes them a better team; he makes them a dark-horse contender to get to the conference finals. He may even put them in the same category as Miami, which is a team I think is fading in the East, but I don't think he makes them an elite team, not quite. JP: Larry Hughes never really fit in Philly, especially once Iverson was moved to shooting guard. But might we get an idea of his terrific talents now that he's with the Warriors? Penny Hardaway, for one, has said that with the right situation Hughes could be another Iverson. PT: I'm not sure I would go quite that far, but I do agree that Hughes is a major talent. This is a guy who almost every other GM in the league called the Sixers about once they heard he was on the block after his problems with Larry Brown. He's going to play 40 minutes a night; he's going to start; he's going to be one of the main guys for the Warriors. We're going to find out exactly how good he is. My guess is that he's going to be awfully good. I think he's up to this challenge. I think this is a guy who could be a future All-Star. With Hughes and Antawn Jamison, Golden State has a nice nucleus, and the Warriors may be on their way back to respectability. JP: The Bulls continue to shed salaries as they rebuild. What does this move mean for their future, especially in the free-agent market next year? PT: It certainly helps them. They'll create even more salary-cap room when John Starks, who's in the last year of his contract, leaves at the end of the season. They'll certainly let him walk away and take the cap space. But, really, the Bulls had all sorts of salary-cap space even before making this trade. This particular deal doesn't really help Chicago as much as a lot of people thought trading Kukoc would. Kukoc was rumored to go for Larry Hughes, for players of that caliber. And the Bulls, in my opinion and in the opinion of some people around the league, did not get as much for Kukoc as they could have. JP: The trading deadline isn't until Feb. 24. What does this deal do? Is there any sort of ripple effect on other teams who need to bolster their rosters as they face the playoff run? PT: One thing to keep in mind is that this trade makes it much less likely that Glen Rice will be moved by the Lakers. Kukoc and Hughes were two of the players rumored to go for Glen Rice. Now that they've been dealt, they're not likely to be dealt again. It really narrows the field of possibilities for the Lakers in terms of dealing Rice. There's still a possibility: Juwan Howard's out there, and P.J. Brown of Miami has been talked about in a possible Rice deal. But now it's a longshot, not a likelihood, that Rice will be dealt. I also think that a team like Miami may be more spurred to go make a deal because of what they've seen the Sixers do in getting better. The Heat might be more interested in going out and looking for another scorer like Glen Rice.
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