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Second that emotion Dunleavy trying to keep Blazers' emotions, egos in check
Posted: Friday June 02, 2000 07:46 PM
The Blazers entered Friday still in the chase for the Western Conference Crown, but coach Mike Dunleavy isn't too happy these days.
He's been praying that Rasheed Wallace would be able to keep his emotions under control after he was thrown out of Game 1. And he's spent most of this series lamenting the behavior of Scottie Pippen , who's played terrific basketball, but has complained about nearly every call.
Once Portland's season ends, Dunleavy will have to worry about Damon Stoudamire's state of mind. Dunleavy's strategy for the Lakers cut directly into Stoudamire's minutes.
One league personnel official told me "they're going to have to do something with Damon," but there may be ego-massaging rather than a trade.
Philly searching for Iverson optionsThe Sixers are definitely looking to shop Allen Iverson, but it will be very difficult to do.
They opened the playoffs considering Eddie Jones, before immediately recognizing he wasn't the box-office draw that Iverson is. Then, they turned their sights towards Grant Hill -- with Sixers' coach Larry Brown even throwing out the possibility of Hill coming to Philadelphia for the $2.25-million exception.
Forget that!
If Hill came to Philly for the exception, the Sixers wouldn't have his Larry Bird rights until three seasons later. In all likelihood, Hill is not about to wait that long for a big payday.
That leaves the last alternative as a sign-and-trade deal, but a third team with salary cap room is needed to make such a deal work. No wonder everyone's calling the Clippers these days.
Power struggle in Toronto?Butch Carter's act may be getting too old for the Toronto Raptors to bear.
Carter has really exposed himself by asking Raptors president Richard Peddie to wrestle the GM duties from Glen Grunwald, the man Carter repeatedly has called "his friend" on many occasions, so he could have the powers himself.
Numerous league sources have confirmed that Carter wants to rid himself of several players, including forward Charles Oakley, who has openly called for his firing.
Considering the fact that Grunwald was, actually, the guy that brought Carter to Toronto as an assistant, there's no telling what Carter's future holds right now.
Stephen A. Smith covers the NBA for The Philadelphia Inquirer and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com.
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