Double Dealing

When Sterling had come back on the line and told Gund that it was too late to do the deal, that was clearly not true: There were still about 90 seconds on the clock, plenty of time to complete the trade. Did the Clippers stall and then pretend to botch the deal in order to back away, believing they could make a better trade later this summer? It's hard to imagine. They had continued to behave as if a mistake had been made and they wanted to rectify it. Barry Hecker, the Clippers' player personnel director, called Bratz to say they were trying to trade Wilcox to Phoenix for the No. 9 pick or to Miami for No. 10 so the Cavs could get Butler, but Paxson was sure that neither deal would go through. He told the Clippers the only way they could get Miller now was to hand over Miles and the 12th pick. But that wasn't going to happen.

With the No. 10 pick, the Miami Heat selected Butler. "We're out," Paxson said.

FOUR HOURS LATER

So close. Paxson and Lucas sat behind a table at a press conference for the media in the basement of Gund Arena. They had drafted the player they wanted, but they knew how close they had come to the one bold move that changes everything. "Butler is, I mean Wagner is, a guy who can really help us," Lucas said.

They answered a lot of questions about Miller. Then Paxson rode the elevator upstairs. He went into his office and sat at his desk. "Jim had the whole thing planned perfectly," Bratz said, waiting in the office next door. "We were so close."

Near midnight an exhausted Paxson reappeared from his office with bottles of beer, which he passed around. Looking out a window at the darkness, he nodded slowly and said, "DaJuan is going to bring us a lot of energy next year."