[Minneapolis Star Tribune] Houston interests in Mark Madsen?

http://www.startribune.com/stories/511/5487495.html

Last update: July 2, 2005 at 6:54 AM
Timberwolves: Mark Madsen bides his time
Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune
July 2, 2005 WOLF0702


Other free agents get the midnight calls. Mark Madsen sleeps like a baby.

Madsen knows his place in the NBA's pecking order of desirability: Big dogs eat first, medium-sized dogs eat next and "Mad Dogs" wait.

Coming off a minimum- salary contract and a season that ended prematurely because of wrist surgery, Madsen knew he wouldn't be the first player NBA general managers called when the market for free agents officially opened Friday. To his credit, though, he wasn't the last.

In the first 24 hours, Madsen's agent, Arn Tellum, had heard from Atlanta, Houston, Portland and Utah, in addition to the Wolves. More calls likely would come. Rather than a let's-get-this-done pitch, though, teams wanted to express interest in the 6-9 forward, then put him on the back burner while they addressed other needs.

Madsen is a role player, a hustle guy and hardly anyone's top priority. And he knows it.Jim GehrzStar TribuneMadsen is a role player, a hustle guy and hardly anyone's top priority. And he knows it.

"Right now, as a third-tier free agent, I just have to wait," he said by phone Friday. "My thing is going to be patience. I know how this works.

"When I went through it with L.A., Phil [Jackson] called and told me, 'You're our No. 2 choice.' They were talking to Horace Grant. And if [Wolves VP] Kevin McHale calls me and says the same thing because they've got a chance to get Elton Brand or Kenyon Martin, I'll understand.

"He wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't," Madsen said.

That said, he would love to return. Primarily a defender and an energy guy, he played power forward and center in two seasons in Minnesota. In 2003-04, the Wolves were 22-7 when he played at least 20 minutes, and they were 10-4 in his starts last season.

A blue-collar player despite his degree in economics from Stanford, Madsen owns a house in the Twin Cities. "It's foolish not to go through the [free-agent] process," he said, "but I absolutely love Minnesota. I think we could have a lot more great teams together with Kevin Garnett leading the charge. I really love the draft picks. It's a great locker room. We've got the pieces there."

Madsen said that his wrist rehab is nearly done and that his surgeon told him he could play again after Aug. 1.

"If we had a playoff game today, he said he'd leave it up to me," Madsen said.

Madsen is one of six Wolves free agents, along with Eddie Griffin, Latrell Sprewell, Ervin Johnson, Anthony Carter and John Thomas. All are unrestricted, which means the Wolves have no right of first refusal.

The team holds "Bird" rights on Sprewell, enabling them to pay him up to the league's maximum salary without regard for the salary cap and without tapping into their cap exceptions. Madsen qualifies as an "early Bird," making him eligible for a deal of at least two years in length, again without tapping exception money.

The others would have to be paid via: a) the mid-level exception of about $5 million, which can be used for one or more players; b) the "million-dollar exception," a misnomer that was worth $1.6 million last season; or c) veteran's minimum salaries.

New coach Dwane Casey mentioned Griffin and Madsen specifically when discussing the Wolves free agents. General Manager Jim Stack said Friday: "Hopefully we'll get Eddie Griffin resigned, and we're in conversation with some of the others like Mark Madsen and John Thomas."

Griffin, the seventh pick in the 2001 draft, and the Wolves were a good deal for each other last season. The 23-year-old forward played for the minimum salary ($720,046) while salvaging a promising career that had been derailed by alcohol and legal trouble. He averaged 7.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in only 21.3 minutes, missing nine games because of a broken bone in his left hand.

That was enough production, over a full season, to create a market again for Griffin. Every team has at least $5 million, the mid-level amount, to spend on free agents, and several teams under the salary cap (Cleveland, Atlanta, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans, Charlotte) have more.

"We need to address our perimeter defense," Stack said. "We'd like to add some more playmaking to this team, not necessarily even from the point guard position. ... You can never have too many big guys, either."

But if Griffin gobbles up most or all of the mid-level, the Wolves won't have much to offer possible targets such as Stromile Swift, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Bobby Simmons, Marko Jaric or Udonis Haslem.

Then there's Sprewell, whose name has been conspicuously absent from most Wolves' executives' comments. Wolves vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale still likes Sprewell's game, although the veteran swingman averaged a career-low 12.8 points last year. His contract squabble last fall, going AWOL at a team function, his one-game suspension for cursing at a fan and the club's decision to draft two shooting guards didn't help Sprewell's case, either.

"We're looking at all our options, and whether Latrell is back here or not remains to be seen," Stack said, diplomatically. "I think Latrell wants to continue to play. I think he's got some life left in him. It just remains to be seen whether it's going to be here in Minnesota or with another franchise."

Steve Aschburner is at saschburner@startribune.com.