Fans tired of Blazers' wayward ways
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Tuesday, November 11
Updated: November 11
9:32 AM ET
There are few constants in life. Breathing. Death. Taxes. And a combustible Portland Trail Blazers team.
For the past six or so years, walking into the Blazers locker room was a lot like walking into Mos Eisley space port. You could almost hear Obi Wan Kenobi seethe, "You'll never see a more wretched hive of scum and villainy in all the NBA."
From the arrests, drug busts, confrontations with home fans to the utter disregard for the media and the professional obligations to the game, former GM Bob Whitsitt always found a way to find the colorful characters in the NBA and get them on his team. The joke for years was that Whitsitt wouldn't touch you unless you had a rap sheet.
When new team president Steve Patterson drafted a kid named Outlaw with the Blazers' first-round pick this summer, no one missed the joke.
This season new management, a few new faces and much ballyhooed "Blazer Player Code of Conduct" were supposed to bring a sense or order and harmony to the NBA's most volatile roster.
But just two weeks into the regular season, the new and improved Blazers are back to their old antics. The latest incident involved Bonzi Wells flipping off home fans and then revealing he's never even read the team's new code of conduct. Hey, at least he didn't spit on anyone.
Fans are revolting. Attendance is at historic lows. A frustrated new GM is finding that the rest of the NBA doesn't want his baggage. A frustrated coach claims his hair is turning grey. The Bad News Blazers are back and new GM John Nash sounds like a man ready to concede defeat, at least in the short term.
After spending all summer trying and failing to work out trades for his most troubled players, Nash claims that Blazers fans may have to wait awhile for the team to clean up its image.
"We may have to suck it up until we can get some of these contracts off the books," Nash told Insider on Monday.
Cutting the Cap
If Nash sounds a little frustrated, he should be. Owner Paul Allen, one of the biggest spenders in the league, reversed course this summer and decided that it was time the Blazers had a payroll similar to the rest of the teams in the league. Currently, the Blazers have roughly $82 million in salaries committed this season. If the luxury tax stays at the projected $57 million threshold, they'll owe roughly $38 million in luxury-tax fees to the league at the end of the season. That's a hit Allen no longer wants to swallow.
"It's a fact of life that this team was spending twice as much money on player salaries as most teams in the league and we weren't reaping the benefit," Nash said. "Something had to be done."
In just a few short months, the Blazers lopped off nearly $20 million by letting free agents Scottie Pippen, Antonio Daniels and Arvydas Sabonis walk.
Rasheed Wallace's contract can't run out soon enough for Blazers management.
The plan, according to Nash, is to let some of the team's other free-agent contracts expire over the next two summers. The goal is to become a participant in free agency during the summer of 2005.
That means that the Blazers are going to have to slowly add by subtraction. Rasheed Wallace's $17 million a year comes off the books next summer. While Nash said that no decisions have been made about Wallace's future, it appears the Blazers plan to just let him walk. In 2005, Dale Davis ($10.9 million), Damon Stoudamire ($12.5 million) and potentially Bonzi Wells will also come off the books. In all likelihood, none of them will return to Portland either.
Currently, the Blazers have a projected payroll of $26.3 million in 2005. That number goes down to $18.3 million if they don't pick up their option on Wells. While you have to factor in re-signing Zach Randolph, who becomes a restricted free agent that summer, anyway you slice it, the Blazers should have cap room soon if they stay the course.
"I think in three years, Blazers fans will be looking at a very different roster from the one we have now," Nash told Insider.
Three Years?!?
While the Blazers' plans to cut payroll are pretty straight forward, they often come into conflict with the two other goals of the organization -- continue a streak of 21 consecutive playoff appearances and clean up the character of the team.
Nash claims that he's gotten plenty of offers for players like Wallace and Wells. The problem is that teams want to send back players with similar problems and longer-term deals in return.
"I could've pulled the trigger on a number of deals that brought back players with baggage," Nash said. "But what's the point? It's a self-defeating exercise."
Nash told Insider that he believed the Blazers were close on several occasions to acquiring quality players in trades, but declined to discuss specifics.
"Teams tend not to want to send you a quality player with a short term contract and great character and get back a guy with baggage and a long-term deal in return," Nash said. "It doesn't happen very often."
The rumor floating around last weekend had the Blazers sending Wallace and Wells to the Mavericks for Antawn Jamison and Michael Finley. Both Nash and Mavs owner Mark Cuban have denied that they were engaged in any serious talks about the trade.
Although Jamison and Finley fit the mold the Blazers are looking for on the character end, their long-term contracts are problematic for Nash.
Sources claim that Nash was reportedly also working on another deal earlier last week that could've sent Wells to the Raptors. However, the Raptors' offer of Mo Peterson, Michael Bradley and a retiring Eric Montross was just as problematic. While the move allowed the Blazers to expedite clearing the cap, talent-wise the Blazers were giving up too much.
All of this leads to an obvious question. Is it possible for a team to cut cap, trade away talented but troubled players and remain competitive at the same time?
Nash admits that he's stuck in Catch-22. "Those three aren't really in concert with each other. We have to make some tough decisions."
Preaching Patience
" I'm not anxious to rip this team apart and plummet to the bottom just to have choir boys on the roster. "
-- Blazers GM John Nash
While Nash refuses to prioritize the Blazers' three main goals, it's pretty clear by their actions that cutting payroll and still winning basketball games are the most important things right now in Portland.
Perhaps that's why fans are so disgruntled. A big deal was made when Nash and Patterson were hired about rehabilitating the image of the Blazers. In theory it sounded great. In practice, it's been much more difficult.
Ultimately, Nash believes that the fans in Portland will care more about winning than they do about rebuilding.
"I'm not anxious to rip this team apart and plummet to the bottom just to have choir boys on the roster," Nash told Insider. "As upset as the fans are with player behavior, fans are anxious to see success. All fans want instant gratification. But our fans have enjoyed 21 consecutive appearances in the playoffs. The don't understand the pain of rebuilding. I don't think they want to. . .All of these small problems tend to create a level of angst that is a little unrealistic."
In lieu of trading away the trouble makers, Nash is employing other methods in an attempt to clean up the image of his team.
He hired former player Jerome Kersey as director of player programs. Kersey's job is to change the culture in the locker room, assist players both emotionally and in their day-to-day trials, and to improve the team's image in the community.
"I'm no psychologist. I'm not a professional counselor," Kersey said in an interview on the Blazers web site. "I'm just a person who has been through it: Seventeen years as a player in the NBA gives me insights into most all the problems -- the temptations and the frustrations -- that a player today may face.
"Most of the young players coming into the league aren't prepared to handle the burdens of being a professional athlete cast into a fish bowl," Kersey said. "They come in here having spent hours in front of the tube watching ESPN highlights. They've all got million dollar moves, but can't finish a $2 lay-up."
Nash is hoping that Kersey, along with several other programs the Blazers have developed, will be enough to get the Blazers through the rough spots the next couple of years.
If they don't? Nash claims that he's still diligently working the phones every day looking for trades that make sense for the Blazers. If he's unsuccessful in "radically changing" the roster, Nash claims that he'll resist the temptation to just waive his bad boys the way teams like the Bucks have done.
"I think it sends the wrong message," Nash said. "It's like rewarding a guy for not playing. You don't want that type of thing becoming contagious. I believe suspension is a better vehicle to get our message across."
Perhaps. But to a dwindling fan base that has seen their beloved team wallow in the mud for too long, the perpetuation of the talent over character theme is starting to wear a little thin.
Around the League
Speaking of Blazers trade rumors, the word out of Dallas is that, right now anyway, the Mavs aren't looking to make any more moves -- certainly not for Wallace and Wells. Chemistry already seems to be an issue early on and those two guys are both arsenic. The other concern that Mavs management has is the message all of the wheeling and dealing has on players.
Players, for the most part, like to know that they're safe. With as many moves as the Mavs have made the past two years no one, with the exception of Dirk Nowitzki, can really be sure where he's going to be laying his head down that night. For a team that has tried to build a rep as a player friendly organization -- getting the label of trade happy isn't really a good thing. While there's nothing that current Mavs players can do, it will scare off free agents in the summer who don't want to pick the Mavs only to be traded away to a team like the Warriors.
For all of those reasons, expect the Mavs to sit a little bit and see what they really have.
Derek Anderson
Shooting Guard
Portland Trail Blazers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
1 1.0 0.0 0.0 .000 .500
While we're on the Blazers, coach Mo Cheek's latest fallout with Derek Anderson has given rise to rumors that Anderson, a good solider for the Blazers last season, is also on the block along with Wallace, Wells and Ruben Patterson. While Nash downplayed the incident and claims that Anderson wants to remain a Blazers, moving Anderson makes some sense.
He has one of those bad contracts that Nash has been trying to move. If he can swap Anderson for a player in the last year of his deal, the Blazers could be looking at another $9 million in cap room in 2005. Is there anyone interested?
The talk is that the Knicks have some interest. Anderson is capable of playing the point and, when he's healthy, would give the Knicks some youthful energy in the backcourt. A combo of Charlie Ward and Othella Harrington works under the cap. Ward is in the last year of his deal. Harrington's contract expires after the 2004-05 season. However, with Knicks GM Scott Layden also under orders to cut the payroll, will he really be able to get approval to add another big contract to the mix?
Ricky Davis
Guard-Forward
Cleveland Cavaliers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
7 17.1 7.1 5.7 .450 .609
Cavs coach Paul Silas would love for GM Jim Paxson to find a new home for Ricky Davis. What about the New Orleans Hornets? I don't have any knowledge of talks between the two sides, but I do know what each team is looking for and it makes a lot of sense.
With an injury to Courtney Alexander and with an aging David Wesley, the Hornets could use a full-time two guard with a handle. The Cavs, if they could get Davis' contract off the books, could be as much as $9 million under the cap next season (assuming they don't offer Darius Miles a boatload of cash in free agency). While Cleveland hasn't historically had much luck in the free-agent market, the addition of LeBron and all of the new attention could greatly improve their chances of landing a decent free agent.
A trade of Davis for Stacey Augmon, Alexander and Bryce Drew works under the cap. The Cavs get their cap room, the Hornets get a solid two guard and much more offensive fire power and everyone goes home happy.
We know that Magic coach Doc Rivers and Bulls coach Bill Cartwright are on the hot seat. But what about Knicks head coach Don Chaney? Chaney's Knicks are off to a miserable 2-5 start,and with Antonio McDyess not expected back until December, things don't look good.
Chaney has come under fire the past week for benching Dikembe Mutombo just weeks after begging GM Scott Layden to sign him. Chaney claims that he's discovered that Mutombo can't guard anyone other than other big, lumbering centers. Larry Brown and Byron Scott could've told him that months ago. Considering that most Eastern Conference teams are playing younger power forwards in the middle, that's a big problem.
The frustration in the Knicks locker room is evident. Chaney finally lost his cool at the New York media Monday night after they kept pressing the issue.
"You know it's not a good match up, why should I do it?" Chaney told reporters before the morning practice. "Why should you guys drag it on? It doesn't make sense what you're saying. He can guard just about anyone in the league, but he can't guard a forward who's mobile. You guys are not getting it and it drives me crazy. Let's talk about something else. Every day it's the same thing."
"I study the game, I know the game," Chaney said. "He cannot guard smaller, quicker guys. Next time we play a game, watch the game. Watch him and his match ups. Please do that. And write what you see, not what you hear."
Chaney better be careful. Layden has been looking for a high-profile coach to take the helm ever since Jeff Van Gundy retired. With former Bucks coach George Karl waiting in the wings and telling folks he's ready to coach again, Layden may try to make a move before someone else snatches Karl up.
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider
Send an Email to Chad Ford Tuesday, November 11
Updated: November 11
9:32 AM ET
There are few constants in life. Breathing. Death. Taxes. And a combustible Portland Trail Blazers team.
For the past six or so years, walking into the Blazers locker room was a lot like walking into Mos Eisley space port. You could almost hear Obi Wan Kenobi seethe, "You'll never see a more wretched hive of scum and villainy in all the NBA."
From the arrests, drug busts, confrontations with home fans to the utter disregard for the media and the professional obligations to the game, former GM Bob Whitsitt always found a way to find the colorful characters in the NBA and get them on his team. The joke for years was that Whitsitt wouldn't touch you unless you had a rap sheet.
When new team president Steve Patterson drafted a kid named Outlaw with the Blazers' first-round pick this summer, no one missed the joke.
This season new management, a few new faces and much ballyhooed "Blazer Player Code of Conduct" were supposed to bring a sense or order and harmony to the NBA's most volatile roster.
But just two weeks into the regular season, the new and improved Blazers are back to their old antics. The latest incident involved Bonzi Wells flipping off home fans and then revealing he's never even read the team's new code of conduct. Hey, at least he didn't spit on anyone.
Fans are revolting. Attendance is at historic lows. A frustrated new GM is finding that the rest of the NBA doesn't want his baggage. A frustrated coach claims his hair is turning grey. The Bad News Blazers are back and new GM John Nash sounds like a man ready to concede defeat, at least in the short term.
After spending all summer trying and failing to work out trades for his most troubled players, Nash claims that Blazers fans may have to wait awhile for the team to clean up its image.
"We may have to suck it up until we can get some of these contracts off the books," Nash told Insider on Monday.
Cutting the Cap
If Nash sounds a little frustrated, he should be. Owner Paul Allen, one of the biggest spenders in the league, reversed course this summer and decided that it was time the Blazers had a payroll similar to the rest of the teams in the league. Currently, the Blazers have roughly $82 million in salaries committed this season. If the luxury tax stays at the projected $57 million threshold, they'll owe roughly $38 million in luxury-tax fees to the league at the end of the season. That's a hit Allen no longer wants to swallow.
"It's a fact of life that this team was spending twice as much money on player salaries as most teams in the league and we weren't reaping the benefit," Nash said. "Something had to be done."
In just a few short months, the Blazers lopped off nearly $20 million by letting free agents Scottie Pippen, Antonio Daniels and Arvydas Sabonis walk.
Rasheed Wallace's contract can't run out soon enough for Blazers management.
The plan, according to Nash, is to let some of the team's other free-agent contracts expire over the next two summers. The goal is to become a participant in free agency during the summer of 2005.
That means that the Blazers are going to have to slowly add by subtraction. Rasheed Wallace's $17 million a year comes off the books next summer. While Nash said that no decisions have been made about Wallace's future, it appears the Blazers plan to just let him walk. In 2005, Dale Davis ($10.9 million), Damon Stoudamire ($12.5 million) and potentially Bonzi Wells will also come off the books. In all likelihood, none of them will return to Portland either.
Currently, the Blazers have a projected payroll of $26.3 million in 2005. That number goes down to $18.3 million if they don't pick up their option on Wells. While you have to factor in re-signing Zach Randolph, who becomes a restricted free agent that summer, anyway you slice it, the Blazers should have cap room soon if they stay the course.
"I think in three years, Blazers fans will be looking at a very different roster from the one we have now," Nash told Insider.
Three Years?!?
While the Blazers' plans to cut payroll are pretty straight forward, they often come into conflict with the two other goals of the organization -- continue a streak of 21 consecutive playoff appearances and clean up the character of the team.
Nash claims that he's gotten plenty of offers for players like Wallace and Wells. The problem is that teams want to send back players with similar problems and longer-term deals in return.
"I could've pulled the trigger on a number of deals that brought back players with baggage," Nash said. "But what's the point? It's a self-defeating exercise."
Nash told Insider that he believed the Blazers were close on several occasions to acquiring quality players in trades, but declined to discuss specifics.
"Teams tend not to want to send you a quality player with a short term contract and great character and get back a guy with baggage and a long-term deal in return," Nash said. "It doesn't happen very often."
The rumor floating around last weekend had the Blazers sending Wallace and Wells to the Mavericks for Antawn Jamison and Michael Finley. Both Nash and Mavs owner Mark Cuban have denied that they were engaged in any serious talks about the trade.
Although Jamison and Finley fit the mold the Blazers are looking for on the character end, their long-term contracts are problematic for Nash.
Sources claim that Nash was reportedly also working on another deal earlier last week that could've sent Wells to the Raptors. However, the Raptors' offer of Mo Peterson, Michael Bradley and a retiring Eric Montross was just as problematic. While the move allowed the Blazers to expedite clearing the cap, talent-wise the Blazers were giving up too much.
All of this leads to an obvious question. Is it possible for a team to cut cap, trade away talented but troubled players and remain competitive at the same time?
Nash admits that he's stuck in Catch-22. "Those three aren't really in concert with each other. We have to make some tough decisions."
Preaching Patience
" I'm not anxious to rip this team apart and plummet to the bottom just to have choir boys on the roster. "
-- Blazers GM John Nash
While Nash refuses to prioritize the Blazers' three main goals, it's pretty clear by their actions that cutting payroll and still winning basketball games are the most important things right now in Portland.
Perhaps that's why fans are so disgruntled. A big deal was made when Nash and Patterson were hired about rehabilitating the image of the Blazers. In theory it sounded great. In practice, it's been much more difficult.
Ultimately, Nash believes that the fans in Portland will care more about winning than they do about rebuilding.
"I'm not anxious to rip this team apart and plummet to the bottom just to have choir boys on the roster," Nash told Insider. "As upset as the fans are with player behavior, fans are anxious to see success. All fans want instant gratification. But our fans have enjoyed 21 consecutive appearances in the playoffs. The don't understand the pain of rebuilding. I don't think they want to. . .All of these small problems tend to create a level of angst that is a little unrealistic."
In lieu of trading away the trouble makers, Nash is employing other methods in an attempt to clean up the image of his team.
He hired former player Jerome Kersey as director of player programs. Kersey's job is to change the culture in the locker room, assist players both emotionally and in their day-to-day trials, and to improve the team's image in the community.
"I'm no psychologist. I'm not a professional counselor," Kersey said in an interview on the Blazers web site. "I'm just a person who has been through it: Seventeen years as a player in the NBA gives me insights into most all the problems -- the temptations and the frustrations -- that a player today may face.
"Most of the young players coming into the league aren't prepared to handle the burdens of being a professional athlete cast into a fish bowl," Kersey said. "They come in here having spent hours in front of the tube watching ESPN highlights. They've all got million dollar moves, but can't finish a $2 lay-up."
Nash is hoping that Kersey, along with several other programs the Blazers have developed, will be enough to get the Blazers through the rough spots the next couple of years.
If they don't? Nash claims that he's still diligently working the phones every day looking for trades that make sense for the Blazers. If he's unsuccessful in "radically changing" the roster, Nash claims that he'll resist the temptation to just waive his bad boys the way teams like the Bucks have done.
"I think it sends the wrong message," Nash said. "It's like rewarding a guy for not playing. You don't want that type of thing becoming contagious. I believe suspension is a better vehicle to get our message across."
Perhaps. But to a dwindling fan base that has seen their beloved team wallow in the mud for too long, the perpetuation of the talent over character theme is starting to wear a little thin.
Around the League
Speaking of Blazers trade rumors, the word out of Dallas is that, right now anyway, the Mavs aren't looking to make any more moves -- certainly not for Wallace and Wells. Chemistry already seems to be an issue early on and those two guys are both arsenic. The other concern that Mavs management has is the message all of the wheeling and dealing has on players.
Players, for the most part, like to know that they're safe. With as many moves as the Mavs have made the past two years no one, with the exception of Dirk Nowitzki, can really be sure where he's going to be laying his head down that night. For a team that has tried to build a rep as a player friendly organization -- getting the label of trade happy isn't really a good thing. While there's nothing that current Mavs players can do, it will scare off free agents in the summer who don't want to pick the Mavs only to be traded away to a team like the Warriors.
For all of those reasons, expect the Mavs to sit a little bit and see what they really have.
Derek Anderson
Shooting Guard
Portland Trail Blazers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
1 1.0 0.0 0.0 .000 .500
While we're on the Blazers, coach Mo Cheek's latest fallout with Derek Anderson has given rise to rumors that Anderson, a good solider for the Blazers last season, is also on the block along with Wallace, Wells and Ruben Patterson. While Nash downplayed the incident and claims that Anderson wants to remain a Blazers, moving Anderson makes some sense.
He has one of those bad contracts that Nash has been trying to move. If he can swap Anderson for a player in the last year of his deal, the Blazers could be looking at another $9 million in cap room in 2005. Is there anyone interested?
The talk is that the Knicks have some interest. Anderson is capable of playing the point and, when he's healthy, would give the Knicks some youthful energy in the backcourt. A combo of Charlie Ward and Othella Harrington works under the cap. Ward is in the last year of his deal. Harrington's contract expires after the 2004-05 season. However, with Knicks GM Scott Layden also under orders to cut the payroll, will he really be able to get approval to add another big contract to the mix?
Ricky Davis
Guard-Forward
Cleveland Cavaliers
Profile
2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
7 17.1 7.1 5.7 .450 .609
Cavs coach Paul Silas would love for GM Jim Paxson to find a new home for Ricky Davis. What about the New Orleans Hornets? I don't have any knowledge of talks between the two sides, but I do know what each team is looking for and it makes a lot of sense.
With an injury to Courtney Alexander and with an aging David Wesley, the Hornets could use a full-time two guard with a handle. The Cavs, if they could get Davis' contract off the books, could be as much as $9 million under the cap next season (assuming they don't offer Darius Miles a boatload of cash in free agency). While Cleveland hasn't historically had much luck in the free-agent market, the addition of LeBron and all of the new attention could greatly improve their chances of landing a decent free agent.
A trade of Davis for Stacey Augmon, Alexander and Bryce Drew works under the cap. The Cavs get their cap room, the Hornets get a solid two guard and much more offensive fire power and everyone goes home happy.
We know that Magic coach Doc Rivers and Bulls coach Bill Cartwright are on the hot seat. But what about Knicks head coach Don Chaney? Chaney's Knicks are off to a miserable 2-5 start,and with Antonio McDyess not expected back until December, things don't look good.
Chaney has come under fire the past week for benching Dikembe Mutombo just weeks after begging GM Scott Layden to sign him. Chaney claims that he's discovered that Mutombo can't guard anyone other than other big, lumbering centers. Larry Brown and Byron Scott could've told him that months ago. Considering that most Eastern Conference teams are playing younger power forwards in the middle, that's a big problem.
The frustration in the Knicks locker room is evident. Chaney finally lost his cool at the New York media Monday night after they kept pressing the issue.
"You know it's not a good match up, why should I do it?" Chaney told reporters before the morning practice. "Why should you guys drag it on? It doesn't make sense what you're saying. He can guard just about anyone in the league, but he can't guard a forward who's mobile. You guys are not getting it and it drives me crazy. Let's talk about something else. Every day it's the same thing."
"I study the game, I know the game," Chaney said. "He cannot guard smaller, quicker guys. Next time we play a game, watch the game. Watch him and his match ups. Please do that. And write what you see, not what you hear."
Chaney better be careful. Layden has been looking for a high-profile coach to take the helm ever since Jeff Van Gundy retired. With former Bucks coach George Karl waiting in the wings and telling folks he's ready to coach again, Layden may try to make a move before someone else snatches Karl up.
