September 10 08:16 PM EDT Trade for Ewing hangs over three big teams By Dave D'Alessandro - The Sporting News Seattle and New York have resurrected trade talks involving center Patrick Ewing, this time with Sonics center Horace Grant (to LA) and Lakers small forward Glen Rice (to New York) as dance partners. At the end of last week, it was unclear whether the Knicks were stupid enough to settle for that, but this much was clear: agent David Falk was starting to squeeze, and Ewing has given more signals that he won't settle for a return to the Garden. . . . Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, who has lost some major players to larger markets in the past, admitted he signed an illegal, written agreement with free-agent Joe Smith, which promised the forward a larger payday down the road -- an unprecedented violation of salary cap rules that could result in substantial penalties. His explanation: "I thought that was the spirit of the collective bargaining agreement. If anyone did anything wrong, it was me. My intent was to help the team and resurrect Joe's career here and keep him here." Expect the Wolves to get hit with a heavy fine, Smith's $2.35 million contract to be voided, and a possible suspension for Taylor. . . . Some billionaires have this timing thing down, however: Shortly after trading for forward Dale Davis, Portland's Paul Allen asked the league to void the extension Davis had recently received from Indiana (two years, $19 million), just so he can bump Davis' salary even higher. . . . Did the Bulls overpay for restricted free-agent center Brad Miller (three years, $12 million) to lure him away from Charlotte? Not really. Only two of the years are said to be guaranteed, and he is probably going to start for Chicago ------------------ In order to be a success in life, you need 2 things: 1. Don't tell everything you know.
Well if NY pulls the trigger on this trade then they will still have to move one of the three of Rice, Houston, or Spree. Better than nothing(Ewing) though, I suppose. ------------------ I am so exasperated that I could expectorate.
YIKES!! Shaq, ho Grant, Kobie, harper and Rider The PF problem solved. . but then again one should attack the sh*t out of their backcourt HOW ARE RIDER'S DEFENSIVE Skills? rocket river ------------------
RR, Rider is actually a pretty good defender. He does have problems with quicker guards though. I would have to assume he would be the one to attack, also because of his hot temper. The Lakers don't really seem to have a weakness other than back up center if this trade goes through. DAMN IT!!!!!! ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
How many years does Ho Grant have left on his contract? I doubt he is good for more than 2 decent seasons at this point of his career. LA will be better by getting Grant. He is a "chemistry" fit. He has experience with Jackson (3 titles) and experience with O'Neal (finals appearance). He is a solid if not incredible player, defensively and offensively (and a good mid-range jump shooter). My doubt remains about LA - they'll still be outclassed in every playoff series at the 4, and I'm not sure about a team starting 3 shooting guards (Kobe, Harper, J.R.). Obviously, Seattle is better with Ewing than Grant. Ewing is more talented and fits a need (center) that Grant is poorly equipped to perform on a night-to-night basis. Obviously, Patrick's contract demands and health concerns make him somewhat of a risk. But not much of one (Sea can always dump him at the end of the year). Seattle still isn't an elite team - they need another star to take some of the pressure off of Payton (can Ewing or Baker fill this need like Kemp used to?) and probably another good swing player. NY is fooling themselves if they think Rice is their answer. He is both too old and too selfish to complement a lineup already heavy on shooters and scorers (isn't that the situation they are trying to avoid with Ewing?) and I'm not sure he even deserves to start on that team. If this deal goes down, they will have no real post presence (LJ? Camby? hahahaha!) and not alot of rebounding. Maybe they could trade Rice to Charlotte for one of their PFs? Wouldn't that be ironic. ------------------
I know Horace used to be a nice player, but he is 35 yrs old and is coming off a season where he averaged 8.1 ppg with a .444 fg%. Is he really all that much of an improvement over A.C. "The Iron Man" Green? Even if he is really better, he is still not the answer at PF and only shows how desperate the Lakers are to get something (anything) for Rice. ------------------
