Don’t Look for Seismic Shift in 2003

Now for the once eagerly awaited summer of ’03 ...

Once, it looked as if it would rival the summer of 1996, when Shaquille O’Neal went west, reconfiguring the NBA. Now, apparently, the present configuration will hold.

In the new, sober NBA, the salary cap just went down for the first time and it won’t go back up fast, with the new national TV contract increasing by only about 1% a year.

Players are less whimsical, so even if they pine for brighter lights, as Chris Webber did, they may find themselves signing themselves into Sacramento for life.

Then there’s the ballyhooed 1998 draft class, the first on the five-year rookie scale, which was to hit the market next summer. By last summer, prudent ownership had locked up Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Mike Bibby, Raef LaFrentz and Antawn Jamison, so if the Clippers weren’t still dangling Michael Olowokandi, there wouldn’t be much for the rest of the league to look forward to.

Here’s how it shapes up:

* Olowokandi, Clippers -- They still think they can sign him. Of course, what do they ever know?

Futile negotiations hardly increased their chances, nor would a disappointing season. Last summer, they were bidding against themselves and Olowokandi was so eager to stay, he completely forgot about that misunderstanding, in which they fined him a whopping $50,000 for popping off.

By next summer, a disappointed Olowokandi will have expressed his skepticism about Donald T. Sterling a bunch of times, which will make Sterling even less willing to come up with the money.

In other words, as far as the Clippers are considered, we’re talking big longshot.

Everyone else understands that, as the only athletic young 7-footer on the horizon, he’s next summer’s No. 1 free agent. The Clippers can’t go anywhere without some opposing coach, such as Miami’s Pat Riley or Denver’s Jeff Bzdelik, drooling all over Olowokandi, stopping just this side of tampering.

Last week in Denver, the press corps lined up to find out if Olowokandi would deign to play for $100 million in a burg as small (not to mention a hole as deep). Graciously, he noted, “I don’t know if Denver is your typical Middle America. It’s cosmopolitan. I’ve been downtown a couple times. I used to come here when I was in college. There is a lot more here going on.”

Yeah, such as losing basketball games. Of course, he’ll have a lot more suitors (see below).

* Tim Duncan, San Antonio -- When he decided not to go to Orlando in 2000, he got an opt-out, just in case. However, speculation that he’d leave lessened last season, when Tony Parker arrived out of the blue and started an unforeseen youth movement.

The Spurs will be $15 million under the cap when David Robinson retires, so San Antonio, not Denver, is considered the favored hamlet in the race for Olowokandi.

* Jason Kidd, New Jersey -- Still refuses to say he’ll stay. He’s thinking about joining his friend, Duncan. The Spurs will do whatever Duncan says, but as long as Shaq is around, they need two 7-footers, not one.

A lot depends on how the Nets do, but they’re struggling to realize their preseason hype, while Kidd’s strong-willed wife, Joumana, makes no secret of the fact that her opinion will count. This one is up in the air.

* Gary Payton, Seattle -- SuperSonic owner Howard Schultz, the Starbucks magnate, schmoozed Kidd personally while pointedly refusing to extend Payton’s contract, infuriating Payton, who is pals with Kidd. Nevertheless, if Kidd stays in Jersey, Payton may have a hard time finding a better situation.

* Jerry Stackhouse, Washington -- The Pistons didn’t think he was a max player but the Wizards, having acquired him, have committed themselves to paying him.

* Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana -- Team President Donnie Walsh, who braved storms for breaking up the old 2000 finalists, turned them into today’s young comers. Happily for them, O’Neal likes that they’ve re-signed Ron Artest, Jonathan Bender and Al Harrington, and sounds as if he intends to stay.

* Brad Miller, Indiana -- Underrated, solid big man who turned Pacers from marginal to full size. A country type from Purdue, he’s also expected to command a big price, and to stay.

* Reggie Miller, Indiana -- Unhappily for the Pacers, they have only $16 million in annual salary to distribute without triggering the luxury tax. Reggie, the pride of Riverside and Westwood, likes Indy so much, he doesn’t even come back here summers. Walsh insists he can work it out and keep everyone.

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Faces and Figures

Rebuilding, it’s not as much fun as it looks (cont.): Exasperated Bull Coach Bill Cartwright is quick-hooking his big kids, Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. Meanwhile, 6-7 rookie Lonny Baxter, a No. 2 pick with less stature but lots more fight, continues to get time. Said Curry, showing that at least one of the kids doesn’t get it: “It looks to me like we get the first two or three minutes of the game and, depending on how we’re playing, that determines our whole night. You have two minutes to get warm, work out your pregame jitters and really get to playing. I’m just confused. I don’t know what’s going on.”

Comebacks, they’re not as fun as they look, either: Michael Jordan, showing the strain of trying to carry the mediocre Wizards, finally said he was 100% certain he won’t be back next season. Jordan is also junking Coach Doug Collins’ plan to limit his minutes and save him. Said Jordan, after the Wizards became the first team to lose to Memphis: “There’s no reason to save it for next year.”

The Jail Blazers’ last ride: After years of embarrassments and supposed reformations, the program is in flames after the arrests of Damon Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace on misdemeanor drug charges, and Ruben Patterson for spousal abuse. General Manager Bob Whitsitt, who brought in the Wild Bunch, says he’s done gambling on character. Coach Mo Cheeks said, “I’m not necessarily equipped to handle this.”

New Jersey’s Kenyon Martin on reminiscences by the Timberwolves’ Kendall Gill about helping to rebuild the Nets: “Why? Because he left?” ... Never mind: Before his new team began struggling, and his old team, the 76ers, turned into one of the surprises of the young season, New Jersey’s Dikembe Mutombo said the difference was “the enthusiasm we’ve got on this team,” adding, “There’s no player who has come in saying that, ‘Hey guys, you’ve got to make sure I score 20.’ ” ... Said Mutombo’s old coach, Larry Brown: “I love the guy, but he has brain damage.”

Riley, whose Heat will be about $8 million under the salary cap next summer: “It started with Alonzo [Mourning] and ended with him. That’s why we’re starting again. We need to get the anchor.... I can’t be it. I’m a good leader but we need to get a player, an anchor, and create a hope again with the people because a lot of our fans have probably lost hope.” A lot of their fans lost hope years ago, a trend confirmed by attendance figures.

Bull forward and University of Cincinnati alumnus Corie Blount, on college basketball: “Everybody keeps saying, ‘Well, you’re getting an education.’ But a lot of people who play sports aren’t going there for an education. They’re getting recruited to play basketball.”