Sorry, you have to read through a lot of stuff to get to the Baron Davis talk.
For the Hornets, Nowhere to Go but Up
By LIZ ROBBINS
Published: January 9, 2005
Somebody must have had a Sacramento Kings voodoo doll. The New Orleans Hornets claimed the third victory of their meager season last night, an overtime triumph over the Kings.
It might have been cause for celebration, but not optimism. The odds are more favorable that the Hornets will win another game before Jim Jackson reports to the team. Jackson is a 34-year-old guard who began his career 13 years and 10 teams ago with a holdout, a character trait the Hornets apparently did not take into consideration when they traded David Wesley to Houston for what amounts to Bostjan Nachbar.
"We're just hopeful over time we get him in here," New Orleans General Manager Allan Bristow said in a telephone interview from New Orleans last week. So far, Bristow and management have tried to sell Jackson on the franchise only via a conference call.
This, said Bristow, was the pitch: "There are some things that have gone wrong, but the past decade we've always been .500 or better, we don't plan to be down here that long. We got to make some trades.
"It's our job to get this thing turned around."
Forgive Bristow the obvious, which is hard to see when submerged in the bayou of the league. At 3-29, the Hornets are competing against history this season.
The Philadelphia 76ers were 9-73 in 1972-73. They were without Billy Cunningham, who left for the A.B.A. before the season. They were five years removed from the Wilt Chamberlain trade that started the franchise's downward spiral.
Bristow, tired of the Philadelphia comparisons, said: "We'd like to get in double-digit wins. We'd like to put that to rest."
With victories over Utah and Golden State before last night, the Hornets were the fifth team in N.B.A. history with 28 or more losses before their third victory, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The team that holds the record for the worst start? Dallas, which began 2-39 in the 1993-94 season. The leading scorer for those Mavericks? Jackson, a year after he sat out the first 54 games of his rookie season in a contract dispute.
Jackson informed the Hornets that he did not want to go through a rebuilding experience again, and the Hornets suspended him Dec. 29 when he refused to report.
With the Hornets ridding themselves of Wesley's $9.4 million salary over the next two years and still hoping Jackson would report, Bristow did not void the deal, which he could have done within 48 hours of the trade. Although Bristow has received offers, according to several people within the league, he has not traded Jackson.
"I was disappointed when this trade went down that there was any public discussion of our past conversations," Jackson's agent, Mark Termini, said of the Hornets, who had spoken about the suspension. "Beyond that, there is no change on Jimmy's status, and I do not want to comment further."
Meanwhile, the Hornets are exploring deals for the disgruntled point guard Baron Davis. Center Jamaal Magloire, who is at least another month from returning from a broken and dislocated right finger, had also expressed his desire to be traded.
Davis had a triple-double - the fourth of his career - in the Hornets' victory last night in his best game since returning from a back injury that sidelined him Nov. 12. Health issues and his $58 million contract for four more years make him difficult to trade.
If there is a plan, the Hornets seem to be edging toward a younger and more athletic style. The Wesley trade has enabled the rookie guard J. R. Smith from St. Benedict's High School in Newark to play more.
Bristow insisted that Byron Scott, the third coach in the three years since the Hornets moved to New Orleans from Charlotte, was safe. "He's at ground zero," Bristow said. "We're trying to keep things positive, and they are, as positive as they can be."
Million-Dollar Relief
The N.B.A. and the players union combined to donate $1 million to the victims of the tsunami in south Asia when the league granted a request from the union to match a $500,000 donation to Unicef.
"To a man, every member of our union has expressed concern for the victims of the tragedy of Dec. 26," said Billy Hunter, the executive director of the union.
Teams are collecting donations at games or matching donations through the Red Cross or Unicef. In addition to the union's gift, players have contributed individually.
1 | 2 | Next>>
Baron Davis could cure what ails Timberwolves
BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MIAMI - (KRT) - It's difficult to gauge who is unhappier at the moment, Baron Davis, the best player on the worst team in basketball, or Kevin Garnett, arguably the best player in basketball on a team that, for the first time since he has been on it, is terribly underachieving.
There is one way to perk both of them up immediately: Bring them together. And it's a lot easier than it sounds.
The Hornets could ship Davis, the injured Jamal Mashburn and, say, Lee Nailon to the Timberwolves for Latrell Sprewell and his expiring contract and the aging Sam Cassell, who only has one year left on his deal.
The Hornets are fielding offers for anyone on their roster because they are already flirting with worst-team-ever status and have been rejected by mid-level players like Jim Jackson.
The most recent talk was of a possible trade with Memphis that would send Jason Williams and Shane Battier to New Orleans for Davis.
But teaming Davis with Pau Gasol doesn't create the type of excitement that a Davis-Garnett pairing would - two of the most emotional personalities and dynamic players at their position.
Right now, there is nothing dynamic about the Timberwolves. Since complaining this preseason about Minnesota's offer for a contract extension, Sprewell has offered career lows in scoring, rebounds and assists, making him worth about half of the $7 million-a-year extension he turned down prior to the season.
Cassell's scoring numbers have also dropped slightly, but what's more disconcerting about the 35-year-old guard is his decrease in minutes played (less than 30 a night), even though the Timberwolves don't have a backup who they feel very good about at the moment. This comes after Cassell finished last year's playoffs on the bench with an injured hip.
The combination of Cassell and Sprewell has not been the complement to Garnett that it was last year, when a healthy Cassell could have led Minnesota to the NBA Finals. Case in point: Garnett scored an efficient 47 points and grabbed 17 rebounds at home against the Phoenix Suns, and the Timberwolves still lost, 122-115.
Granted, everyone seems to be losing to the Suns this season, but Sprewell offered six points in 33 minutes.
Cassell had 24 points and nine assists against Phoenix, but that came one game after a four-point effort in a loss to the Grizzlies.
They are simply not the same team, and General Manager Kevin McHale needs to address it before Garnett starts another streak of first-round playoff exits.
Assuming the Timberwolves don't trade Wally Szczerbiak, which is a possibility every year at this time, moving Sprewell would put him back at the shooting guard position, where Szczerbiak has had his best seasons.
What would the Hornets gain from getting rid of their best player? Nothing in the short term other than two bitter guards who want to get paid more than they're already making. But with Sprewell's contract expiring, and getting rid of Mashburn's contract, the team would have plenty of salary-cap space to begin building anew, possibly in a new city (Kansas City) with new owners.
Cassell still has another year left on his deal, but at a relatively small number (about $6.1 million). The Hornets could likely find a suitor for Cassell, or just buy out the guard's contract so he can sign with the team of his choice and lessen the damage on the Hornets payroll.
Davis and Garnett would be the closest the Western Conference has to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal since the two parted ways. And Davis would be a better fit for the Timberwolves than Jason Kidd because Davis can carry the scoring load more often than Kidd, taking some of the pressure off Garnett.
It might never happen, but it would make two superstars a lot happier if it did.
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For the Hornets, Nowhere to Go but Up
By LIZ ROBBINS
Published: January 9, 2005
Somebody must have had a Sacramento Kings voodoo doll. The New Orleans Hornets claimed the third victory of their meager season last night, an overtime triumph over the Kings.
It might have been cause for celebration, but not optimism. The odds are more favorable that the Hornets will win another game before Jim Jackson reports to the team. Jackson is a 34-year-old guard who began his career 13 years and 10 teams ago with a holdout, a character trait the Hornets apparently did not take into consideration when they traded David Wesley to Houston for what amounts to Bostjan Nachbar.
"We're just hopeful over time we get him in here," New Orleans General Manager Allan Bristow said in a telephone interview from New Orleans last week. So far, Bristow and management have tried to sell Jackson on the franchise only via a conference call.
This, said Bristow, was the pitch: "There are some things that have gone wrong, but the past decade we've always been .500 or better, we don't plan to be down here that long. We got to make some trades.
"It's our job to get this thing turned around."
Forgive Bristow the obvious, which is hard to see when submerged in the bayou of the league. At 3-29, the Hornets are competing against history this season.
The Philadelphia 76ers were 9-73 in 1972-73. They were without Billy Cunningham, who left for the A.B.A. before the season. They were five years removed from the Wilt Chamberlain trade that started the franchise's downward spiral.
Bristow, tired of the Philadelphia comparisons, said: "We'd like to get in double-digit wins. We'd like to put that to rest."
With victories over Utah and Golden State before last night, the Hornets were the fifth team in N.B.A. history with 28 or more losses before their third victory, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The team that holds the record for the worst start? Dallas, which began 2-39 in the 1993-94 season. The leading scorer for those Mavericks? Jackson, a year after he sat out the first 54 games of his rookie season in a contract dispute.
Jackson informed the Hornets that he did not want to go through a rebuilding experience again, and the Hornets suspended him Dec. 29 when he refused to report.
With the Hornets ridding themselves of Wesley's $9.4 million salary over the next two years and still hoping Jackson would report, Bristow did not void the deal, which he could have done within 48 hours of the trade. Although Bristow has received offers, according to several people within the league, he has not traded Jackson.
"I was disappointed when this trade went down that there was any public discussion of our past conversations," Jackson's agent, Mark Termini, said of the Hornets, who had spoken about the suspension. "Beyond that, there is no change on Jimmy's status, and I do not want to comment further."
Meanwhile, the Hornets are exploring deals for the disgruntled point guard Baron Davis. Center Jamaal Magloire, who is at least another month from returning from a broken and dislocated right finger, had also expressed his desire to be traded.
Davis had a triple-double - the fourth of his career - in the Hornets' victory last night in his best game since returning from a back injury that sidelined him Nov. 12. Health issues and his $58 million contract for four more years make him difficult to trade.
If there is a plan, the Hornets seem to be edging toward a younger and more athletic style. The Wesley trade has enabled the rookie guard J. R. Smith from St. Benedict's High School in Newark to play more.
Bristow insisted that Byron Scott, the third coach in the three years since the Hornets moved to New Orleans from Charlotte, was safe. "He's at ground zero," Bristow said. "We're trying to keep things positive, and they are, as positive as they can be."
Million-Dollar Relief
The N.B.A. and the players union combined to donate $1 million to the victims of the tsunami in south Asia when the league granted a request from the union to match a $500,000 donation to Unicef.
"To a man, every member of our union has expressed concern for the victims of the tragedy of Dec. 26," said Billy Hunter, the executive director of the union.
Teams are collecting donations at games or matching donations through the Red Cross or Unicef. In addition to the union's gift, players have contributed individually.
1 | 2 | Next>>
Baron Davis could cure what ails Timberwolves
BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MIAMI - (KRT) - It's difficult to gauge who is unhappier at the moment, Baron Davis, the best player on the worst team in basketball, or Kevin Garnett, arguably the best player in basketball on a team that, for the first time since he has been on it, is terribly underachieving.
There is one way to perk both of them up immediately: Bring them together. And it's a lot easier than it sounds.
The Hornets could ship Davis, the injured Jamal Mashburn and, say, Lee Nailon to the Timberwolves for Latrell Sprewell and his expiring contract and the aging Sam Cassell, who only has one year left on his deal.
The Hornets are fielding offers for anyone on their roster because they are already flirting with worst-team-ever status and have been rejected by mid-level players like Jim Jackson.
The most recent talk was of a possible trade with Memphis that would send Jason Williams and Shane Battier to New Orleans for Davis.
But teaming Davis with Pau Gasol doesn't create the type of excitement that a Davis-Garnett pairing would - two of the most emotional personalities and dynamic players at their position.
Right now, there is nothing dynamic about the Timberwolves. Since complaining this preseason about Minnesota's offer for a contract extension, Sprewell has offered career lows in scoring, rebounds and assists, making him worth about half of the $7 million-a-year extension he turned down prior to the season.
Cassell's scoring numbers have also dropped slightly, but what's more disconcerting about the 35-year-old guard is his decrease in minutes played (less than 30 a night), even though the Timberwolves don't have a backup who they feel very good about at the moment. This comes after Cassell finished last year's playoffs on the bench with an injured hip.
The combination of Cassell and Sprewell has not been the complement to Garnett that it was last year, when a healthy Cassell could have led Minnesota to the NBA Finals. Case in point: Garnett scored an efficient 47 points and grabbed 17 rebounds at home against the Phoenix Suns, and the Timberwolves still lost, 122-115.
Granted, everyone seems to be losing to the Suns this season, but Sprewell offered six points in 33 minutes.
Cassell had 24 points and nine assists against Phoenix, but that came one game after a four-point effort in a loss to the Grizzlies.
They are simply not the same team, and General Manager Kevin McHale needs to address it before Garnett starts another streak of first-round playoff exits.
Assuming the Timberwolves don't trade Wally Szczerbiak, which is a possibility every year at this time, moving Sprewell would put him back at the shooting guard position, where Szczerbiak has had his best seasons.
What would the Hornets gain from getting rid of their best player? Nothing in the short term other than two bitter guards who want to get paid more than they're already making. But with Sprewell's contract expiring, and getting rid of Mashburn's contract, the team would have plenty of salary-cap space to begin building anew, possibly in a new city (Kansas City) with new owners.
Cassell still has another year left on his deal, but at a relatively small number (about $6.1 million). The Hornets could likely find a suitor for Cassell, or just buy out the guard's contract so he can sign with the team of his choice and lessen the damage on the Hornets payroll.
Davis and Garnett would be the closest the Western Conference has to Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal since the two parted ways. And Davis would be a better fit for the Timberwolves than Jason Kidd because Davis can carry the scoring load more often than Kidd, taking some of the pressure off Garnett.
It might never happen, but it would make two superstars a lot happier if it did.
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