That Elton Brand trade didn’t quite work out for the Bulls. But it turns out the Jalen Rose deal wasn’t so bad. Yes, Ron Artest is at it again, telling the Indianapolis Star he wants to be traded. And it’s just in time because Thursday marks the first day that players signed as free agents last summer can be dealt.
Artest, the master of bad timing, loused it up for the Pacers, who had been hoping to reclaim some value after his 73-game suspension last season. They’ve quietly been ready to trade Artest–a rumor leaked out last week of the long-discussed Artest for Peja Stojakovic deal with the Kings–but now face the prospect of getting less for the supposedly new Artest we’ve heard all about.
Even teammate Jermaine O’Neal said Sunday it’s probably time Artest moved on. Of course, that’s no secret around the Pacers, who have been slogging along below their talent level all season. Last week, O’Neal, who has feuded openly with Stephen Jackson and Austin Croshere, said, “Maybe management needs to think about retooling.” General manager Larry Bird conceded, “I’m like everybody else. I’m confused on what’s going on with this team. We’re not meshing right now. We have the talent to get the job done, but we’ve got guys on different pages.”
Jackson is in a different book. He continues to explode over a lack of shots. And teammates grumble about O’Neal’s regular failure to practice as he condemns others.
When you look for trades, you seek out the desperate. Those are the teams we all expected to be better than they are. Which is how you end up with an Artest.
Here are the teams most likely to be active from Thursday until the Feb. 23 trading deadline:
Denver: It’s hanging around .500 with crowds diminishing and no sign of any carryover from last season’s hot finish. Coach George Karl loves tough-guy players. Artest could be his Anthony Mason and play shooting guard. Just what makes sense is unclear, though Denver is anxious to deal Voshon Lenard and Earl Watson or Andre Miller. One possibility would be a larger deal with the erratic Jamaal Tinsley going along for Miller and perhaps Eduardo Najera.
Atlanta: Al Harrington back to the Pacers? Hey, small forward is open. Hard to see putting Artest in a losing situation. It’s why the Bulls dealt him. But don’t count out Atlanta dealing Harrington. The Bulls long have had interest and are desperate for inside size. How about Andres Nocioni, Eric Piatkowski and a No. 1? Could the Hawks not do that?
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Sacramento: The Stojakovic-Artest deal makes some sense, at least as much as any deal involving Artest makes sense. But the Kings are a slow, poor defensive team looking for new life. Coach Rick Adelman, much underrated, is under fire and Stojakovic is a free agent who might not even re-sign. Perhaps Shareef Abdur-Rahim? Can’t we get the poor guy into the playoffs once? As assistant Elston Turner said, “No new coach is going to come in and change how athletic we are. No new coach is going to make some guys quick enough to stick their nose in a crowd and dive on the floor. No new coach is going to make someone jump to the square on the backboard and block a shot and give us some resistance.” Yes, it’s a bad team now.
Houston: Another underachieving mess. They’d probably like to move Stromile Swift. “I would think the only people I can be sure they won’t change would be Tracy [McGrady] and Yao [Ming],” David Wesley said. “Other than that, it could be anybody.”
Utah: Carlos Boozer now has sat out as many games hurt as he has played since signing for $68 million over six years. You get the feeling a new team could cure him.
Portland: Ruben Patterson is always available, but you have to figure at some point they’ll have had it with Zach Randolph, benched again last week for being late for a shootaround for the third time this season. They started the youngest backcourt in history last week with Martell Webster and Sebastian Telfair, plus they’re last in attendance.
Boston: There was once talk of an Artest deal for Paul Pierce, so don’t be surprised if they deal Pierce at some point. He just doesn’t fit with their youth movement and is in recovery mode trying to be a good teammate and nice guy. And he can score.
New York: Jerome James, for sure, will go. Probably Jamal Crawford. Plus Mo Taylor, Malik Rose, Quentin Richardson. The Knicks will be looking for takers for probably all of them as Larry Brown seeks to remake the roster around Eddy Curry, Channing Frye, Nate Robinson and Stephon Marbury.
Toronto: Chris Bosh’s agent, Henry Thomas, on his client: “He’s extremely popular up there. But it’s not L.A., it’s not Chicago, it’s not New York.” Bosh probably would be the most sought-after player because most around the NBA don’t believe he’ll re-sign after his contract is up in 2007. Lakers coach Phil Jackson last week even wondered aloud about Bosh, said to be a Lakers’ target when he’s a free agent. But Toronto needs players on contracts, not cap room. Wonder if they’d take a No. 1, Tyson Chandler and Ben Gordon? It would be worth it also to take back Rose or any of their Williamses to get Bosh, who’s going to be a major star. That’s the guy I’d go for.
And don’t forget the free agents still available, including Glenn Robinson, Latrell Sprewell, Rodney Rogers, Tom Gugliotta, Erick Strickland, George Lynch, Wes Person, Darvin Ham, Christian Laettner, Andrew DeClercq, Clarence Weatherspoon and Ron Mercer. Plus there’s Roy Tarpley in the CBA trying to make a comeback and have his lifetime NBA suspension dropped.
Yes, underachieving makes for a more entertaining winter in the NBA.
Uniform police hit Chicago
The Bulls have been warned, but not fined. Yes, even the clean-cut, good-guy Bulls don’t dress well enough in the eyes of the NBA. The Bulls have received several warnings in the NBA’s continuing crackdown on shorts that exceed knee length. Kirk Hinrich, for one, was warned. The problem is the shorts from the manufacturer come low cut and Hinrich already gets the smallest size. He has had to fold the waistband in to make them higher. Also, crack Bulls seamstress/equipment man John Ligmanowski took an inch out of Michael Sweetney’s pants to make them conform.
Attendance clause
The Pistons and Bulls are one-two in the NBA … in attendance. It’s not so happy elsewhere. Four of the five smallest crowds ever in the Delta Center in Salt Lake City have come this season. Once basketball crazy Boston ranks 24th in attendance. General manager Jerry West recently berated fans for low attendance in Memphis, ranked 25th despite a good start. Memphis always was a questionable site for an NBA team, which is also why no one should expect the Hornets to return to New Orleans. The move never made sense for a team with a limited corporate base. Plus Oklahoma City is turning out big time for the team. The Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News polled readers about the reasons for the declining attendance of the 76ers, ranked 27th. The most votes: “Can’t Afford It.”
Double dribbles
Get a little taste of St. Charles in Memphis. Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has opened a Heisley’s Golden Nuggets donut stand in the FedEx Forum where his Grizzlies play to sell a dessert of his from a favorite restaurant in suburban St. Charles near his home. The concoction from the Sellas brothers is a sweet fried donut dipped in honey or chocolate. Sounds perfect with barbecue. … Quietly becoming the next Scottie Pippen, says Phil Jackson, is Phoenix’s Boris Diaw, the throw-in on the Joe Johnson deal with Atlanta. He plays just about every position plus he’s third on the team in rebounds, second in assists and guards Yao and Tim Duncan.
Final shots
What if you came to an NBA game and a basketball experience broke out? What if you could actually discuss the game without screaming to the person next to you? NBA Commissioner David Stern said the league will experiment with a “silent night” game without all the piped in music and sound in timeouts and even during possessions. … The NBA said it doesn’t discuss its drug plan, but then added, anyway, that what happened in Seattle last week won’t happen again. That was starter Reggie Evans missing the start of the second half while taking a random drug test. Evans shared fault for declining the test pregame and requesting the test at halftime while not realizing the paperwork involved. . . . And in Jeff Van Gundy’s rant of the week after losing to Memphis: “I’m not here to bash the group other than I can’t remember a worse collective effort.”
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