From: retrac@vesuvius.rice.edu (John Carter)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro
Subject: Hakeem trade rumors
Date: 13 Sep 1992 05:27:21 GMT
Organization: Rice University, Houston
Originator: retrac@vesuvius.cs.rice.edu

The next NBA season is fast approaching, and with it the likelihood that the
situation between the Rockets and their disgruntled center Hakeem Olajuwon
will soon be resolved one way or another.  All indications are that it'll
end with Hakeem calling a city other than Houston home for the first time
since coming to the US over ten years ago.

For those of you tuning in late, this all started around the three-quarters
mark of last season, just when the Rockets seemed to have finally gotten
their act together and were starting to put on a stretch run to position
themselves for the playoffs.  At the same time, Hakeem's agent was trying to
get the Rockets to give him a contract extension for huge $$$, because (as
usual) Hakeem was unhappy with his pay.  There's a clause in his current
contract that specifies that he can't ask for it to be renogotiated.  If he
even *asks* it's supposed to cost him $5 million!  So he and his agent was
trying to get around it by asking for a one year extension like the ones
given to Larry Bird and Clyde Drexler.  Around this time Hakeem went down
with a moderately sprained ankle and was expected to miss a few games.
Here's where the fun starts.  The Rockets GM Steve Patterson claimed after
everything hit the fan that Hakeem threatened or implied that he would sit
out if the Rockets didn't move quickly to satisfy his new contract demands,
but he didn't say anything publicly at the time.  Hakeem vehemently denies
this and claims that Patterson is a liar and scoundrel (and various other
things).  The Rockets' doctors cleared Hakeem to play on his ankle after
looking over the results of an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test, but
Hakeem claimed that it was still bothering him and he couldn't play, and
went to see his own doctors for treatment and therapy.  At that point the
Rockets suspended Hakeem without pay for five games for refusing to play,
although it turns out that they never docked his paycheck, and Patterson
went public with his charge that Hakeem was faking the extent of his injury
to force the Rockets to pay him more money.  Hakeem went ballistic, as you
would expect, and went public with his counter-claim that the Patterson was
lying, that his ankle *was* hurt despite what the (inconclusive?) MRI had
indicated, and that the Rockets were trying to ruin his image.  That was the
beginning of the end for the Rockets, who became the first team since the
start of the 16-team playoffs to sit at home with a winning record (42-40).
The Rockets clearly gave up as a team, although Hakeem didn't show any signs
of tanking it himself.  He *did* demand that the Rockets trade him, and
refused to meet with Patterson in person without witnesses present, claiming
that Patterson frequently lied or claimed things were said that were not.
Patterson *is* a lawyer, so maybe that's just natural. :-)

That's where things have been sitting pretty much since the end of last
season, as Hakeem has maintained a low profile and only spoken publicly
through his lawyer or agent.  The NBA Players Association had filed a
grievance on his behalf to protest his suspension, but they dropped it when
it turned out that the Rockets never docked his pay.  His lawyer claims to
be preparing a defamation of character suit against the Rockets, but says it
won't be ready for a few weeks.  Reading between the lines, it sounds like
they'll drop the issue if the Rockets trade him, although that's not clear.

In the meantime, the Rockets have been fielding plenty of trade offers from
about half of the teams in the NBA, although most of them have been rejected
pretty much out of hand.  There was a lot of speculation after the Barkley
trade that a deal with the Heat or the Lakers was imminent, but the Rockets
chose to wait.  Things were pretty quiet until this past week, when things
started to heat up again after the trades that sent Salley to Miami and
Person/Williams to Minnesota in exchange for Richardson/Mitchell.  The most
serious offer that existed at that time was from the Heat, but Heat managing
partner (Lou Schaffner?) has stated that the Heat are done trading.  Anyway,
here is a quick rundown of the offers that are rumored to exist, nearly
exist, or have recently existed (in rough order of what I think of them):


1. The Los Angeles Clippers ship forward Danny Manning, three #1 draft
picks, and a player (supposedly Doc Rivers or Randy Woods) to the Rockets
for Hakeem Olajuwon and Sleepy Floyd.  The Rockets then turn around and send
two of the #1's along to Orlando for Stanley Roberts.

Comments:  This is the first deal that I've seen that I would make.  The
	   Rockets would have a starting frontline of Roberts, Thorpe,
	   Manning -- one of the better groups in the league.  In addition,
	   they'd have an extra #1 (unless/until they lose one to the NY
	   for McCormick's knees), a decent guard (Rivers/Woods), and some
	   decent young talent at small forward (Herrera, Horry, Bullard,
	   and unsigned Euro-returnee David Wood) to play with to shore up
	   their bench (esp. a reserve big man who could spell Roberts and
	   Thorpe).  They'd still have the problem at shooting guard.  At
	   least they'd be getting plenty of talent, *young* talent, so it
	   would be a good start to the rebuilding process.  Losing Sleepy
	   would be a plus, too.  They had intended to move Jamerson ahead
	   of Sleepy in the rotation (or at least try), but then he went
	   and blew his knee out in a pickup game, that bum.  If they make
	   this deal, they'll wish that they'd picked Miner.

	   From LA's point of view, they get the dominant center that they
	   have craved for so long, which'd let Smith play at his natural
	   power forward position and let Norman start at small forward.
	   A nucleus of Olajuwon, Smith, Norman, and Harper is nothing to
	   sneeze at.  Plus, the presence of a superstar of their own, not
	   to mention overall quality, should go a long way towards letting
	   the Clippers close the popularity gap that they have with the
	   Lakers in LA.  It would hurt their depth a bit.  I seem to
	   remember that they have plenty of picks to play with, so I don't
	   think it mortgages the future.

	   From Orlando's point of view, they unload Roberts' massive
	   salary, which they have no interest in paying.  They don't
	   want to play both Stan the Man and the Shaq, and they're
	   looking to bring in good young talent (or draft picks) so that
	   they can build a team around him.

Sticking point:  The Clippers are supposedly still mulling over this offer,
	   but have apparently decided that they're willing to trade Manning,
	   which is the key to the deal from their point of view.  Houston
	   wants to get a quality center in return, so Roberts would need
	   to waive his clause (and get a 15% raise) for Houston to want to
	   make the deal.

2. The Miami Heat ship center Rony Siekaly, rookie guard Harold Miner, and
small forward Grant Long to Houston for Hakeem Olajuwon and Sleepy Floyd.

Comments:  I've commented on this option before, and my opinion hasn't
	   changed.  I would not be willing to part with a star in the
	   prime of his career in return for not a single legitimate All
	   Star or several potential All Stars, which I consider Manning
	   and Roberts.  If Miami included one of their young stars, Smith
	   or Rice, I'd be a lot more willing to listen.

Sticking point: It's apparently a moot point, as Miami is rumored to have
	   rescinded their offer after picking up Salley.  I don't understand
	   this, but am grateful because it sounded like Houston was *really*
	   close to accepting this offer a few weeks ago before the other
	   offers started to roll in.  Olajuwon, Smith, and Rice would be an
	   excellent nucleus and make Miami an immediate power.

3. The Indianapolis Pacers send one of Reggie Miller and Detlef Schrempf,
Rik Smits, and "another player" to Houston for Olajuwon and Floyd.

Comments:  It would depend a *lot* on who the "another player" was.  I
	   wasn't interested in Person, who Indiana wanted to include in
	   the package, so his trade to Minnesota was a NOOP as far as I
	   was concerned.  I really like both Miller and Schrempf, but am
	   not particularly enthralled by shaky-knees Smits.

Sticking point: I don't think that the Pacers have the excess young talent
	   that they'd need to make me pull the trigger, but a package of
	   Pooh Richardson, Detlef Schrempf, and Rik Smits would make me
	   think.  I don't think that the Pacers could sell that to their
	   fans (both of them :), though.

4. The Seattle Supersonics send center Benoit Benjamin, forward Derrick
McKey, the Rockets choice of any other player except Shawn Kemp, and maybe
a #1 pick.

Comments:  Seattle *really* wants to make this deal, which is hardly a
	   surprise given their abundance of good, but not great, players.
	   They'd love to find somebody willing to make a three good for
	   one great player trade.  The Pacers have called off their trade
	   talks with the Sonics concerning trading Schrempf for McKey,
	   but if the Rockets could swing getting Schrempf, Benjamin, and
	   a #1 (toss in another Sonic to sweeten the deal with the Pacers
	   to the extent that they require), the Rockets might listen.

Sticking point: Benoit Benjamin?!?  I'd be glad that I was leaving Houston,
	   because I don't think I could stand the pain of watching Big
	   Ben after years of watching the dream.  Give me Roberts, who
	   might be the next BIG Ben, but then again might not.  Manning
	   and Schrempf are pretty much a wash, if Manning's last season
	   is to be believed.

5. The Detroit Pistons trade for Roberts from Orlando, and then bundle him
with forward Dennis Rodman for Hakeem.

Comments:  The Pistons are trying to work a big deal to give them one
	   last shot at the title before Zeke loses his edge.  Hakeem would
	   be the kind of player who teamed with Thomas could put them back
	   in the running.  Their interest is obvious.  From the Rockets
	   point of view, Roberts is a nice young talent to help replace
	   Dream, but Rodman, as great as he is, is OLD and is not really
	   a player that they can build around for the future.  If they
	   could work a deal to bring in an equivalent young talent, I'm
	   a lot more interested.  I'm giving this one a short shrift, as
	   it sounds like the Rockets have nixed the idea.

From what I can tell, the Lakers are no longer in the picture, which I'm
glad to hear.

Two things seem to be clear.  (1) The Rockets want to get a quality center
in return (although using `quality' and Benjamin in the same sentence is
hard for me to do, not to mention Smits).  (2) The Rockets want to get
*young* players who they can build around for the future.  If they trade
away Hakeem and Sleepy, they will be a very young team.  Of the regulars,
only Thorpe has more than four years of experience, and OT is still very
much in his prime.  A nucleus of Roberts, Thorpe, Manning, Herrera, and
Smith (Kenny) would give them a core group of good young players around whom
they could build.  They'd have some depth with Horry, Jamerson, Wood, and
Bullard, although they'd still be missing a day to day shooting guard (Mad
Max would be fine off the bench, but his madcap shooting antics hurt the
team more often than they help).  They'd need to bring in a decent reserve
center-power forward and some better backcourt help.  Smith is adequate at
point guard and they have a few decent backup point guard options open to
them.

Of course, the Rockets could also just do one of their characteristic
bonehead moves and give Hakeem away, continue to draft non-players (last
year's #1 John Turner and this year's #2 Popeye Jones are both Europe bound
in the hopes that they'll develop like Herrera did), and bicker constantly,
they could blow it.  As it is, this season looks like a fight for one of the
bottom playoff brackets, which will depend on who they get in the likely
trade and a lot of intangibles concerning how well the new players mesh with
the old ones.  It's the usual story, will the Rockets even play up to the
sum of their talents, let alone exceed it.

As an aside, the trading wheels are slowed somewhat because Rockets owner
Charlie Thomas is negotiating with another Houstonian about the possible
sale of the team (again).  I wouldn't hole my breath, but then again, they
managed to sell the Astros, so anything can happen (actually, the Astros are
in the midst of a beautiful rebuilding job, but we still have to give them a
hard time after letting Ryan slip away).

Later folks.  More details as they become available.

-- 
John Carter  -*-  Rice University Computer Systems Lab  -*-  retrac@rice.edu

Thesis hacking Owl, soon to be Ute.  Move over Salt Lake, here he comes!