Kori Ellis
07-05-2005, 02:17 PM
Will Larry jump, be pushed or neither?
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2100641&num=0
After three full days of courting and a one-day holiday for barbecuing, free-agent fireworks resume in earnest Tuesday.
For both coaches and players.
To help you navigate where we are so far, and what's coming next in the wake of Ray Allen's commitment to stay in Seattle, here's a quick Stein Line tour of a few hot spots on the NBA map.
Detroit
This might be a big, big day in the everlasting Larry Brown saga. Then again, it might not.
All we can say for sure is that Joe Glass, Brown's agent, is scheduled to speak Tuesday with Pistons president Joe Dumars now that Brown has been discharged from the Mayo Clinic. So be ready for any of the following scenarios.
1) Glass could tell Dumars that Brown doesn't think he'll be healthy enough to coach next season, which would bring a sad end to a short, tumultuous but wildly successful Larry Era in Motown.
2) Glass could tell Dumars that Brown does think he'll be healthy enough to keep coaching, which would prompt the Pistons to formally recommit to Brown for next season … or initiate a costly (and controversial) separation process if they'd rather have a less willful coach who doesn't drag so much drama into the workplace.
3) Glass could tell Dumars that Brown and his doctors need more time to determine whether he'll be healthy enough to coach, which would only make a tricky situation even more complex.
Why so tricky? It wouldn't be if Brown could finally convince the Pistons that, health permitting, he really wants to coach them. According to team insiders, Brown hasn't been convincing enough. The Pistons have invited him back repeatedly, which didn't seem possible just a few weeks ago, but be advised that health isn't the only holdup. No matter what you've heard.
Brown will also have to reconcile with owner Bill Davidson, who is still said to be fuming after months of Larry links to the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. For $6 million a season, Davidson wants firm promises that the Pistons won't keep hearing those kinds of stories.
Brown has further irritated Davidson with his oft-recited "if" comment. As in, "If the Pistons want me back." Dumars has told Brown they do and has said so publicly dozens of times, even after a season that would have been plenty stressful – thanks to the Indiana brawl and Brown's physical struggles after hip surgery – without the endless speculation about Larry's future.
The bet here remains that Brown will be coaching next season. His three-day stay at the Mayo Clinic last week apparently didn't provide a clear course of treatment, and there are no doctors here at Stein Line HQ, but betting on Brown's condition to improve enough between now and October to allow him to coach seems safe … given that Brown managed to coach through considerable, unprintable bladder difficulties for much of this past season.
The trickier part is where he'll coach. One theory in circulation suggests that Brown wants to drag this out as long as possible, by saying he needs more time to sort out his bladder issues, to coerce the Pistons into firing him. That would not only guarantee a hefty buyout of the $18 million left on Brown's original five-year contract, but it would also make Brown more of a sympathetic figure after the scathing criticism he absorbed in the wake of his negotiations with Cleveland.
Dumars knows, though, that there isn't a better X-and-O coach out there. Replacing Brown threatens to be tougher than living with him for one more playoff ride.
It's tempting to consider alternatives like Flip Saunders or Nate McMillan or Tom Izzo, especially since the next coach might actually try to get something out of Darko Milicic. It's also appealing because it would spare the Pistons' gritty veterans another draining season of Brown's famously dour moods and wandering eyes.
Yet it's likewise true that Brown and his players have a magical, love-hate chemistry that, after all the drama, kicked in again in Game 3 of last month's Finals and left the Pistons just one win short of back-to-back championships. So there's a very strong case to be made against letting Larry go, which undoubtedly explains why Dumars was quoted in Friday's Detroit Free-Press as saying: "That door is wide open. If he's ready to come back, let's go. … It would be foolish to want to break that up."
Little wonder Isiah Thomas sounds less than optimistic about signing Larry to his "dream job."
"People like talking about ," Thomas told Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio. "But [Brown] said he's going back to coach the Detroit Pistons and Joe has said that he wants him back. We should quit talking about it."
Who knows? After Tuesday, maybe we can.
Milwaukee
It has to give Bucks fans fresh hope when they hear that Michael Redd was offered a max contract Friday afternoon, on top of the lucrative coaching offer owner Herb Kohl had already made to Flip Saunders.
It would be even better for Bucks fans, of course, to hear that someone has agreed to take Milwaukee's bucks.
Fresh off drafting and signing Andrew Bogut in a span of 72 hours, Milwaukee is on the verge of hitting a Redd-Flip exacta. With Bogut's arrival and the possible comeback of T.J. Ford, Bucks fans would suddenly be awash in hope.
Yet there's also the possibility that Milwaukee gets neither one of its targets. Redd and Saunders, according to NBA front-office sources, are trying to delay their decisions until later this week to keep their options open.
Redd wants as much time as he can accrue to decide whether to stay put or go to his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers, as LeBron James' sidekick, for a lot less money. The Cavs are limited to offering Redd a five-year deal. Milwaukee's six-year offer, at an estimated $80-90 million, will be worth roughly $20 million more than Cleveland's best pitch.
Saunders, meanwhile, wants to see what happens in Detroit with Brown.
What happens if the Bucks can't re-sign Redd or score Saunders?
Doug Collins had actually pulled out of Kohl's coaching search by the time his name started circulating in the Milwaukee media. Golden State assistant Terry Stotts, a Kohl favorite after serving under George Karl, is the leading contender if Saunders isn't hired.
And Redd? Bucks alumnus Allen was their top choice as a fallback plan if Redd were to go to Cleveland, but now Allen is off the board. Throwing cash at Phoenix restricted free agent Joe Johnson and Washington's unrestricted Larry Hughes are also options, but the Bucks acknowledge that a more realistic target is the NBA's reigning Most Improved Player: Bobby Simmons of the L.A. Clippers.
Pacific Northwest
NBA coaching sources say we should know by Wednesday whether Nate McMillan will accept the Portland Trail Blazers' lucrative offer (reportedly $6 million annually) or return to the only franchise he has ever known to coach the Seattle SuperSonics for a reported $18 million over the next four seasons.
The news that Allen has decided to stay certainly boosts Seattle's hopes. You suspect McMillan and Allen had at least one chat before Allen decided to spurn offers from the Hawks and Clippers.
So ...
If McMillan stays, as expected, Portland will choose between ex-Blazer Terry Porter (fired June 22 by Milwaukee) and Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni to fill its coaching vacancy.
Line Items ...
• Numerous teams have told the Stein Line that the Suns' Joe Johnson would be a clear-cut No. 1 on the free-agent board – ahead of Redd and Allen – if Johnson were an unrestricted free agent. Even after reaching an oral agreement Friday with Raja Bell, Phoenix has the bulk of the league convinced that it will match any offer for Johnson.
• Larry Hughes, as mentioned, is unrestricted, but he's getting the Johnson treatment, too. Washington is considered such a lock to re-sign Hughes in the $60 million range that you scarcely hear Hughes' name mentioned by teams with the resources to sign a perimeter stud.
• In a lively interview with Dan Patrick, Isiah Thomas insisted he would have taken No. 8 overall pick Channing Frye over Bogut even if New York held the No. 1 selection. Thomas also said he feels no need to rush to hire a replacement for Herb Williams or remove Williams' interim tag because "training camp starts in October." As for naming himself Knicks coach someday, Thomas said: "You never say never, but that's not in the plans right now."
[B]• I'm told Maccabi Tel-Aviv point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, whose teams have won the past three Euroleague championships, wants a three-year deal to finally leap to the NBA … for $5 million annually. The 29-year-old, in other words, wants the full mid-level exception. The Cavs, though, are hoping Jasikevicius would accept less to play alongside countryman and close pal Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Cleveland's A-scenario remains signing Redd, re-signing Ilgauskas and then adding a third free agent from the Jasikevicius-Antonio Daniels tier. Don't forget that new Cavs general manager Danny Ferry was working in San Antonio when the Spurs tried in vain to sign Jasikevicius two summers ago.
• Shareef Abdur-Rahim, one of the prized frontcourt commodities on the market, will make visits to New Jersey and Sacramento this week.
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&id=2100641&num=0
After three full days of courting and a one-day holiday for barbecuing, free-agent fireworks resume in earnest Tuesday.
For both coaches and players.
To help you navigate where we are so far, and what's coming next in the wake of Ray Allen's commitment to stay in Seattle, here's a quick Stein Line tour of a few hot spots on the NBA map.
Detroit
This might be a big, big day in the everlasting Larry Brown saga. Then again, it might not.
All we can say for sure is that Joe Glass, Brown's agent, is scheduled to speak Tuesday with Pistons president Joe Dumars now that Brown has been discharged from the Mayo Clinic. So be ready for any of the following scenarios.
1) Glass could tell Dumars that Brown doesn't think he'll be healthy enough to coach next season, which would bring a sad end to a short, tumultuous but wildly successful Larry Era in Motown.
2) Glass could tell Dumars that Brown does think he'll be healthy enough to keep coaching, which would prompt the Pistons to formally recommit to Brown for next season … or initiate a costly (and controversial) separation process if they'd rather have a less willful coach who doesn't drag so much drama into the workplace.
3) Glass could tell Dumars that Brown and his doctors need more time to determine whether he'll be healthy enough to coach, which would only make a tricky situation even more complex.
Why so tricky? It wouldn't be if Brown could finally convince the Pistons that, health permitting, he really wants to coach them. According to team insiders, Brown hasn't been convincing enough. The Pistons have invited him back repeatedly, which didn't seem possible just a few weeks ago, but be advised that health isn't the only holdup. No matter what you've heard.
Brown will also have to reconcile with owner Bill Davidson, who is still said to be fuming after months of Larry links to the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. For $6 million a season, Davidson wants firm promises that the Pistons won't keep hearing those kinds of stories.
Brown has further irritated Davidson with his oft-recited "if" comment. As in, "If the Pistons want me back." Dumars has told Brown they do and has said so publicly dozens of times, even after a season that would have been plenty stressful – thanks to the Indiana brawl and Brown's physical struggles after hip surgery – without the endless speculation about Larry's future.
The bet here remains that Brown will be coaching next season. His three-day stay at the Mayo Clinic last week apparently didn't provide a clear course of treatment, and there are no doctors here at Stein Line HQ, but betting on Brown's condition to improve enough between now and October to allow him to coach seems safe … given that Brown managed to coach through considerable, unprintable bladder difficulties for much of this past season.
The trickier part is where he'll coach. One theory in circulation suggests that Brown wants to drag this out as long as possible, by saying he needs more time to sort out his bladder issues, to coerce the Pistons into firing him. That would not only guarantee a hefty buyout of the $18 million left on Brown's original five-year contract, but it would also make Brown more of a sympathetic figure after the scathing criticism he absorbed in the wake of his negotiations with Cleveland.
Dumars knows, though, that there isn't a better X-and-O coach out there. Replacing Brown threatens to be tougher than living with him for one more playoff ride.
It's tempting to consider alternatives like Flip Saunders or Nate McMillan or Tom Izzo, especially since the next coach might actually try to get something out of Darko Milicic. It's also appealing because it would spare the Pistons' gritty veterans another draining season of Brown's famously dour moods and wandering eyes.
Yet it's likewise true that Brown and his players have a magical, love-hate chemistry that, after all the drama, kicked in again in Game 3 of last month's Finals and left the Pistons just one win short of back-to-back championships. So there's a very strong case to be made against letting Larry go, which undoubtedly explains why Dumars was quoted in Friday's Detroit Free-Press as saying: "That door is wide open. If he's ready to come back, let's go. … It would be foolish to want to break that up."
Little wonder Isiah Thomas sounds less than optimistic about signing Larry to his "dream job."
"People like talking about ," Thomas told Dan Patrick on ESPN Radio. "But [Brown] said he's going back to coach the Detroit Pistons and Joe has said that he wants him back. We should quit talking about it."
Who knows? After Tuesday, maybe we can.
Milwaukee
It has to give Bucks fans fresh hope when they hear that Michael Redd was offered a max contract Friday afternoon, on top of the lucrative coaching offer owner Herb Kohl had already made to Flip Saunders.
It would be even better for Bucks fans, of course, to hear that someone has agreed to take Milwaukee's bucks.
Fresh off drafting and signing Andrew Bogut in a span of 72 hours, Milwaukee is on the verge of hitting a Redd-Flip exacta. With Bogut's arrival and the possible comeback of T.J. Ford, Bucks fans would suddenly be awash in hope.
Yet there's also the possibility that Milwaukee gets neither one of its targets. Redd and Saunders, according to NBA front-office sources, are trying to delay their decisions until later this week to keep their options open.
Redd wants as much time as he can accrue to decide whether to stay put or go to his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers, as LeBron James' sidekick, for a lot less money. The Cavs are limited to offering Redd a five-year deal. Milwaukee's six-year offer, at an estimated $80-90 million, will be worth roughly $20 million more than Cleveland's best pitch.
Saunders, meanwhile, wants to see what happens in Detroit with Brown.
What happens if the Bucks can't re-sign Redd or score Saunders?
Doug Collins had actually pulled out of Kohl's coaching search by the time his name started circulating in the Milwaukee media. Golden State assistant Terry Stotts, a Kohl favorite after serving under George Karl, is the leading contender if Saunders isn't hired.
And Redd? Bucks alumnus Allen was their top choice as a fallback plan if Redd were to go to Cleveland, but now Allen is off the board. Throwing cash at Phoenix restricted free agent Joe Johnson and Washington's unrestricted Larry Hughes are also options, but the Bucks acknowledge that a more realistic target is the NBA's reigning Most Improved Player: Bobby Simmons of the L.A. Clippers.
Pacific Northwest
NBA coaching sources say we should know by Wednesday whether Nate McMillan will accept the Portland Trail Blazers' lucrative offer (reportedly $6 million annually) or return to the only franchise he has ever known to coach the Seattle SuperSonics for a reported $18 million over the next four seasons.
The news that Allen has decided to stay certainly boosts Seattle's hopes. You suspect McMillan and Allen had at least one chat before Allen decided to spurn offers from the Hawks and Clippers.
So ...
If McMillan stays, as expected, Portland will choose between ex-Blazer Terry Porter (fired June 22 by Milwaukee) and Phoenix assistant Marc Iavaroni to fill its coaching vacancy.
Line Items ...
• Numerous teams have told the Stein Line that the Suns' Joe Johnson would be a clear-cut No. 1 on the free-agent board – ahead of Redd and Allen – if Johnson were an unrestricted free agent. Even after reaching an oral agreement Friday with Raja Bell, Phoenix has the bulk of the league convinced that it will match any offer for Johnson.
• Larry Hughes, as mentioned, is unrestricted, but he's getting the Johnson treatment, too. Washington is considered such a lock to re-sign Hughes in the $60 million range that you scarcely hear Hughes' name mentioned by teams with the resources to sign a perimeter stud.
• In a lively interview with Dan Patrick, Isiah Thomas insisted he would have taken No. 8 overall pick Channing Frye over Bogut even if New York held the No. 1 selection. Thomas also said he feels no need to rush to hire a replacement for Herb Williams or remove Williams' interim tag because "training camp starts in October." As for naming himself Knicks coach someday, Thomas said: "You never say never, but that's not in the plans right now."
[B]• I'm told Maccabi Tel-Aviv point guard Sarunas Jasikevicius, whose teams have won the past three Euroleague championships, wants a three-year deal to finally leap to the NBA … for $5 million annually. The 29-year-old, in other words, wants the full mid-level exception. The Cavs, though, are hoping Jasikevicius would accept less to play alongside countryman and close pal Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Cleveland's A-scenario remains signing Redd, re-signing Ilgauskas and then adding a third free agent from the Jasikevicius-Antonio Daniels tier. Don't forget that new Cavs general manager Danny Ferry was working in San Antonio when the Spurs tried in vain to sign Jasikevicius two summers ago.
• Shareef Abdur-Rahim, one of the prized frontcourt commodities on the market, will make visits to New Jersey and Sacramento this week.