With a lineup ready-made for ESPN Classic, the Los Angeles Lakers spent the early part of the summer being crowned, by the media and fans alike, as the 2004 NBA champions.
But don't fit the Lakers for rings just yet.
NBA insiders argue that their splashy free-agent signings guarantee nothing. Aside from having to concoct the right chemistry for a lineup that includes Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and Karl Malone, the Lakers will have to deal with Bryant's pending sexual assault trial.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, thrust into the national consciousness for his remarks about Bryant's legal concerns and how they could benefit the league, says forecasts of the Lakers winning it all for the fourth time in five years are premature.
"Ask the (Miami) Heat about their acquisition of Brian Grant after he played a huge part in almost beating the Lakers in the (2000) Western Conference finals," Cuban said. "Or the Raptors after acquiring Hakeem (Olajuwon) after coming up just short in their playoff run the year before.
"Gary and Karl are unquestionably stars in this league. However, we still have to play the games and see what happens."
Slow construction
The Mavericks and Golden State Warriors will complete an eight-player move on Monday that involves Nick Van Exel and Antawn Jamison, among others.
Yet a month after the free-agent signing period began, activity from the deep pool has virtually ground to a halt.
It's clear not much has changed from last season. The West is still clearly the dominant conference.
New Jersey point guard Jason Kidd and Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal, the summer's top two unrestricted free agents, both decided to stay put, signing lucrative long-term contracts. Kidd made sure to bring Mourning with him, but beyond that, the East actually lost some of its star power.
Latrell Sprewell (Minnesota) and Payton left for the West. Much closer to home for Pacers fans was the departure of All-Star center Brad Miller, who went to Sacramento in a sign-and-trade deal that landed Scot Pollard in Indiana.
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said the summer has played out largely to script. With a financial system that's structured to allow teams to keep their best players, that's basically what has happened. Other teams have been more wary of the projected luxury tax for 2004 before signing free agents.
"It's like fighting off the hordes," Walsh said of the roster tweaking that takes place throughout the league every summer. "If you can keep your own guys, you feel good about that. There were some teams in position to make their teams a lot better. But nobody really did that. Utah didn't. Denver did a little, but otherwise I don't think anybody drastically changed their makeup."
In the West, the slightest tweaking of the rosters by the Lakers and the world champion San Antonio Spurs sends ripples throughout the rest of the conference. For Denver and Golden State, franchises fighting to get into playoff contention, that task has become tougher.
Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said moves by other teams are basically irrelevant when you're building a team from the ground up. Even with an estimated $18 million to $20 million at his disposal to woo free agents, the Nuggets' biggest acquisition was restricted free-agent point guard Andre Miller.
"We've taken kind of a three-pronged approach," said Vandeweghe, whose first order of business when he took over the day-to-day operation in August 2001 was clearing out all of the Nuggets' long-term contracts. "We've tried to improve through the draft, through free agency and with trades. And I think we've been true to that philosophy.
"When you maintain your cap space and you're patient with it, you're going to be able to make some good trades."
Weighty money issues
Vandeweghe said the Nuggets could be in a similar cap position next summer. But continuous building won't put fans in the seats, and it certainly won't entice free agents to come to Denver.
"It's hard to be patient," Vandeweghe said. "I want to improve this team as soon as possible. But you want to be competitive for a long time. And we looked at it in terms of 'Are we going to be competitive with the best teams in the West?' The answer was no, not last year, not with the type of young team we had.
"We were trying to create an identity for the Nuggets and trying to teach our young kids how to play defense in the NBA. Now our goal is much different. We won't be satisfied until we're competitive with the best teams in the West."
Cuban wants the same for his Mavericks. Fresh off the best season in franchise history, the Mavericks have basically been shut out this summer. They were unsuccessful in getting Kidd, O'Neal and Mourning to even visit Dallas. They also whiffed in the Brad Miller sweepstakes.
Being in direct competition with the Lakers, Spurs and Kings would appear to bring added pressure for president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.
"There's always that pressure to make moves big or small," Nelson said. "That's just a part of being in management. You're always up against it, with those sleepless nights and burning the phone lines, anything to get some advantage. It could be some minimum free agent or some mega-deal. It's like a player stepping up to the free-throw line; you're trying to make shots all the time. Not just in clutch situations or during playoff time, but all the time.
"Things have not gotten any easier in the West; there's no question about that. But our commitment to having a championship-caliber team is not affected by any other team."
The move to get the 6-9 Jamison would give the Mavericks more size while maintaining scoring power. He's also more than four years younger than Van Exel, who turns 32 in November.
Jamison was the Warriors' leading scorer last season, averaging more than 22 points. Van Exel, who came to Dallas from Denver in a seven-player trade in February 2002, was the Mavericks' leading scorer off the bench last season.
"We don't feel pressure to make a deal because other teams around us are active," Nelson said. "We're not making deals just to make deals."
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/3/065964-9803-036.html
But don't fit the Lakers for rings just yet.
NBA insiders argue that their splashy free-agent signings guarantee nothing. Aside from having to concoct the right chemistry for a lineup that includes Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and Karl Malone, the Lakers will have to deal with Bryant's pending sexual assault trial.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, thrust into the national consciousness for his remarks about Bryant's legal concerns and how they could benefit the league, says forecasts of the Lakers winning it all for the fourth time in five years are premature.
"Ask the (Miami) Heat about their acquisition of Brian Grant after he played a huge part in almost beating the Lakers in the (2000) Western Conference finals," Cuban said. "Or the Raptors after acquiring Hakeem (Olajuwon) after coming up just short in their playoff run the year before.
"Gary and Karl are unquestionably stars in this league. However, we still have to play the games and see what happens."
Slow construction
The Mavericks and Golden State Warriors will complete an eight-player move on Monday that involves Nick Van Exel and Antawn Jamison, among others.
Yet a month after the free-agent signing period began, activity from the deep pool has virtually ground to a halt.
It's clear not much has changed from last season. The West is still clearly the dominant conference.
New Jersey point guard Jason Kidd and Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal, the summer's top two unrestricted free agents, both decided to stay put, signing lucrative long-term contracts. Kidd made sure to bring Mourning with him, but beyond that, the East actually lost some of its star power.
Latrell Sprewell (Minnesota) and Payton left for the West. Much closer to home for Pacers fans was the departure of All-Star center Brad Miller, who went to Sacramento in a sign-and-trade deal that landed Scot Pollard in Indiana.
Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said the summer has played out largely to script. With a financial system that's structured to allow teams to keep their best players, that's basically what has happened. Other teams have been more wary of the projected luxury tax for 2004 before signing free agents.
"It's like fighting off the hordes," Walsh said of the roster tweaking that takes place throughout the league every summer. "If you can keep your own guys, you feel good about that. There were some teams in position to make their teams a lot better. But nobody really did that. Utah didn't. Denver did a little, but otherwise I don't think anybody drastically changed their makeup."
In the West, the slightest tweaking of the rosters by the Lakers and the world champion San Antonio Spurs sends ripples throughout the rest of the conference. For Denver and Golden State, franchises fighting to get into playoff contention, that task has become tougher.
Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said moves by other teams are basically irrelevant when you're building a team from the ground up. Even with an estimated $18 million to $20 million at his disposal to woo free agents, the Nuggets' biggest acquisition was restricted free-agent point guard Andre Miller.
"We've taken kind of a three-pronged approach," said Vandeweghe, whose first order of business when he took over the day-to-day operation in August 2001 was clearing out all of the Nuggets' long-term contracts. "We've tried to improve through the draft, through free agency and with trades. And I think we've been true to that philosophy.
"When you maintain your cap space and you're patient with it, you're going to be able to make some good trades."
Weighty money issues
Vandeweghe said the Nuggets could be in a similar cap position next summer. But continuous building won't put fans in the seats, and it certainly won't entice free agents to come to Denver.
"It's hard to be patient," Vandeweghe said. "I want to improve this team as soon as possible. But you want to be competitive for a long time. And we looked at it in terms of 'Are we going to be competitive with the best teams in the West?' The answer was no, not last year, not with the type of young team we had.
"We were trying to create an identity for the Nuggets and trying to teach our young kids how to play defense in the NBA. Now our goal is much different. We won't be satisfied until we're competitive with the best teams in the West."
Cuban wants the same for his Mavericks. Fresh off the best season in franchise history, the Mavericks have basically been shut out this summer. They were unsuccessful in getting Kidd, O'Neal and Mourning to even visit Dallas. They also whiffed in the Brad Miller sweepstakes.
Being in direct competition with the Lakers, Spurs and Kings would appear to bring added pressure for president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.
"There's always that pressure to make moves big or small," Nelson said. "That's just a part of being in management. You're always up against it, with those sleepless nights and burning the phone lines, anything to get some advantage. It could be some minimum free agent or some mega-deal. It's like a player stepping up to the free-throw line; you're trying to make shots all the time. Not just in clutch situations or during playoff time, but all the time.
"Things have not gotten any easier in the West; there's no question about that. But our commitment to having a championship-caliber team is not affected by any other team."
The move to get the 6-9 Jamison would give the Mavericks more size while maintaining scoring power. He's also more than four years younger than Van Exel, who turns 32 in November.
Jamison was the Warriors' leading scorer last season, averaging more than 22 points. Van Exel, who came to Dallas from Denver in a seven-player trade in February 2002, was the Mavericks' leading scorer off the bench last season.
"We don't feel pressure to make a deal because other teams around us are active," Nelson said. "We're not making deals just to make deals."
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/3/065964-9803-036.html
