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Rosy in Portland Blazers' hunger sets mood for championship run
Posted: Wednesday March 01, 2000 08:35 AM
NBA insider Stephen A. Smith of The Philadelphia Inquirer talked about the weeks comings and goings with CNN/Sports Illustrated's Bob Lorenz on This Week in the NBA: Bob Lorenz: The Portland Trail Blazers are cruising along right now. Do you see any potential potholes for them? Stephen A. Smith: When you look at Portland, Mike Dunleavy really doesn't have to do much this year, unlike last year when Jimmy Jackson and Isaiah Rider gave him some problems. This year, he has to be a little concerned with Damon Stoudamire, but basically other than that, his only worry is Jermaine O'Neal, a young guy looking for some playing time. For the most part this is a very experienced roster. Nobody on the roster other than Scottie Pippen has won a title. So these veterans want to win, they've been around long enough to know about winning games and winning championships, and not just about earning dollars and getting playing time. They want to win. BL: Tim Duncan's abdominal injury is not the San Antonio Spurs' biggest worry, is it? SS: No, it isn't. They have to worry about keeping Tim Duncan. Everybody in the league knows he is approaching the option year in his contract. He is a free agent and free to go wherever, so the San Antonio Spurs are very concerned whether they are going to be able to keep this guy. This is an old team and a lot of his friends on it are going to be gone in two years. Why should Duncan look forward to signing a lengthy long-term contract when the guys that he loves playing with aren't going to be around? BL: Stephen, as we all know the trading deadline was Thursday and no big deals went down. For instance, Glen Rice was supposed to be out of Los Angeles, but he isn't, why not? SS: He's not because: No. 1, the players did not want him to leave; No. 2, the Lakers did not get an offer that knocked their socks off; and No. 3 and most importantly, they have all the leverage in the world. They know that he wants money and they know because of the new collective bargaining rule that they are in the position to give him more money than anybody else. Plus, they know that other teams don't have the money to give to him. That is why they kept him. You have a similar situation with Shawn Kemp. The luxury tax is scheduled to kick in in the 2001-2002 season and a lot of teams are extremely reluctant to take on those huge salaries or anybody with the potential to get a huge salary. That's why Rice is still in Los Angeles and Kemp is still in Cleveland. BL: John Starks was supposed to have moved on quickly from Chicago. But nothing happened there, why not? SS: That is mind-boggling to me. Everyone in the league knew that when Chicago GM Jerry Krause acquired John Starks that he was looking to move him, but what are you looking to move him for? They were hoping to get a draft pick for Starks and nobody was really interested in giving that up for a journeyman player who is a sharp shooter, but also inconsistent and is going to be a free agent who somebody could pick up cheap this summer. The Bulls didn't want to give up Starks, given that they have just as good of a chance as anybody to get him in July. BL: The Wizards were supposed to deal a lot of guys but they really wanted to trade Ike Austin. What broke down there? SS: They were talking to the Detroit Pistons at the last possible second about the rights to Bison Dele. Detroit needed to check with Grant Hill to see what his commitment was to the team, which would determine their move. If the Pistons know that Grant Hill is not going to be around, then why bring Ike Austin and his $5 million-a-year salary aboard. Apparently, they did not get that commitment from Hill so the Pistons nixed the deal with Washington and the Wizards are stuck with Austin, who they clearly don't want on their roster anymore. BL: Speaking of the Wizards, this week Wes Unseld signed on for five more years as general manager. Are you surprised by this move, given Michael Jordan's obvious interest in making changes in the franchise? SS: It surprised me, but from what I heard out of Washington this week, Michael Jordan approached Abe Pollin and showed him the salaries of every single general manager in this league. Wes Unseld was clearly the lowest paid by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jordan basically said to Pollin, "If we want to be a first-class organization, we need to take care of the people who need to be taken care of." Unseld is going to be Jordan's point man, he is the guy Jordan will have working the phones and getting done what needs to be done and Jordan wanted him taken care of. Stephen A. Smith covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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