12 July-16 July 1996
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There I was, playing softball off of Massachusetts Avenue in Maryland on Thursday evening, and I look up and see a plane pulling a banner behind it. I think, cute, someone proposing marriage that way. Then I read it closer, and the banner says: "The Bullets 'love' Juwan." (The 'love' was actually a heart, hence the quotes.) The serious courting has begun.

Negotiations could officially begin at 5pm Thursday evening, after both sides attached their signatures to the approved collective bargaining agreement. Bullets GM Wes Unseld then met with Juwan and his agent, David Falk, at 6:30pm, putting his initial offer on the table. (More on that in a bit.) Meanwhile, the public PR continued. There was the plane pulling the banner, the Bullettes (cheerleaders) and a band playing outside of Falk's offices (where the meeting took place), Bullets staffers had signs encouraging passing motorists to "Honk if you love Juwan.", and the team mascot took up vigil outside of the Booeymonger restaurant (a deli chain, like Subway) until Howard is re-signed. The Washington Capitals (local pro hockey team) mascot, Slapshot, also briefly joined Hoops in the vigil.

A friend of Howard's is reportedly quoted that Howard was touched by the displays. However, David Aldridge of ESPN is reporting that Howard was not touched by the Bullets initial offer of 7 years/$78M. (IMO, that shows a bit of arrogance on Juwan's part, if he really expects to make that much more; could be posturing/selective leaking on the part of Juwan's agent.) The Bullets have since upped that offer.

Of course, we can't forget the other negotiations as well.

wtf 13 July 1996
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Let's just say that I was sick to my stomach when I woke up this morning and the rumor last night became a reality. The Miami Heat came strong to the table, offering a 7-year/$98M contract. The Bullets reportedly pushed their offer to $89M, but when given the option of matching the Miami Heat offer, the Bullets said, "No thanks." That's right, they said no. And that's cheap a** BS on the Bullets part. (Yes, I'm a pissed Bullets season ticket holder.)

Don't worry, I will assess the blame and look to the future implications. But Juwan is now gone, and there's plenty of blame to go around to most parties involved. The deal has not been signed yet, but there is an agreement in principle. The Bullets plain failed. (And I stand by my assessment of the situation.)

Now what? There are options (see the link above). I also have come to the conclusion that Abe Pollin should sell the team (again, see above). But it will never be the same, and the team has taken several steps back. Now, they have to make the best of a bad situation, though what they've shown thus far (and, in fact, in the last few years of free agency) is that they are completely ill-prepared for dealing with any sort of free agency.

That's all I want to say. See my column shortly (maybe not today) about my assessment of what really went wrong. Ugh, I'm going to get sick now.

wtf 15 July 1996
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The Bullets first real move of free agency (besides losing Juwan Howard) was signing guard/forward Tracy Murray to a 7-year deal. It's unclear whether he has an opt-out clause in his contract (both sides are keeping the details confidential). However, recent salary cap numbers show that the contract is probably worth around $19.04M, with a starting salary of $1.7M.

Murray is a 3-point shooting specialist and had a breakout year last year for the Toronto Raptors. He's not known for playing good defense, but he does play his heart out on the court. He will be a shooting delight to watch.

Yr Tm FGA FGM FG% FTA FTM FT% 3PA 3PM 3FG% PPG 92-93 Por 260 108 41.5 40 35 87.5 70 21 30.0 5.7 93-94 Por 355 167 47.0 72 50 69.4 109 50 45.9 6.6 94-95 Por 153 63 41.2 34 28 82.4 41 16 39.0 5.9 Hou 80 32 40.0 8 5 62.5 45 19 42.2 3.5 Season 233 95 40.8 42 33 78.6 86 35 40.7 4.8 95-96 Tor 1092 496 45.4 219 182 83.1 358 151 42.2 16.2 Totals 1940 866 44.6 373 300 80.4 623 257 41.3 9.2 Yr G Min MPG Reb Ast Blk St TO PF(DQ) 92-93 48 495 10.3 83 11 5 8 31 59(0) 93-94 66 820 12.4 111 31 20 21 37 76(0) 94-95 54 516 9.6 59 19 4 14 35 73(0) 95-96 82 2458 30.0 352 131 40 87 132 208(2) Totals 250 4289 17.2 605 192 69 130 235 416(2)

Murray will probably be the starting shooting guard (because of his outside shooting touch), and Cheaney will move to the small forward position (he's more of a slasher). However, both are versatile enough to cover either position. Be prepared to be excited as he rains the shots down.

wtf 31 July 1996
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The Bullets pulled a trade that was probably going to be made, even if the Bullets re-signed Howard (because it is of dubious wisdom now that Howard is gone). The Bullets sent Rasheed Wallace and Mitchell Butler to the Portland Trailblazers for point guard Rod Strickland and forward Harvey Grant. Straight-up, no picks. Even after Strickland holds out and refuses to take the physical (required to consummate a trade).

Strickland is an excellent PG, but has had troubles with authority figures. However, most people will tell you that the Strickland on the court is entirely professional, even if he doesn't conduct himself that way off the court. Players love him in the on-the-court respect, but he can be a distraction. While scheduled to make $3.066M next year (he had a $400k trading bonus clause in his contract, pretty standard for starting quality players in the NBA), he's still underpaid. Because in reality, a PG who scores around 18 ppg, dishes out around 9 apg, shoots inside and outside, penetrates, gets to the foul line, and plays good defense is a rare commodity. IMO, Strickland may be the best all-around PG in the Eastern Division; Penny isn't a true PG (per se) and Stoudamire has only completed his first season (though he's awfully good).

Yr Tm FGA FGM FG% FTA FTM FT% 3PA 3PM 3FG% PPG 88-89 NY 567 265 46.7 231 172 74.5 59 19 32.2 8.9 89-90 NY 286 170 44.0 130 83 63.8 21 6 28.6 8.4 SA 370 173 46.8 148 91 61.5 9 2 22.2 14.2 Season 756 343 45.4 278 174 62.6 30 8 26.7 10.6 90-91 SA 651 314 48.2 211 161 76.3 33 11 33.3 13.8 91-92 SA 659 300 45.5 265 182 68.7 15 5 33.3 13.8 92-93 Por 816 396 48.5 381 273 71.7 30 4 13.3 13.7 93-94 Por 1093 528 48.3 471 353 74.9 10 2 20.0 17.2 94-95 Por 946 441 46.6 380 283 74.5 123 46 37.4 18.9 95-96 Por 1023 471 46.0 423 276 65.2 111 38 34.2 18.7 Totals 6511 3058 47.0 2640 1874 71.0 411 133 32.4 14.3 Yr G Min MPG Reb Ast Blk St TO PF(DQ) 88-89 81 1358 16.8 160 319 3 98 148 142(2) 89-90 82 2140 26.1 259 468 14 127 170 160(3) 90-91 58 2076 35.8 219 463 11 117 156 125(0) 91-92 57 2053 36.0 265 491 17 118 160 122(0) 92-93 78 2474 31.7 337 559 24 131 199 153(1) 93-94 82 2889 35.2 370 740 24 147 257 171(0) 94-95 64 2267 35.4 317 562 9 123 209 118(0) 95-96 67 2526 37.7 297 640 16 97 255 135(2) Totals 569 17783 31.3 2224 4242 118 958 1554 1126(8)

The thing to keep in mind is that Strickland turned 30 this month, so he's no spring chicken. He hasn't been playing heavy minutes from day 1 and hasn't shown a penchant for getting oft injured, but you never know. It's too bad he couldn't be combined with Howard now; this team would be deadly. (Yes, as I write this, I know Howard's contract has been voided.) The funny thing was, this deal could have been done last year, even before the actual draft, and Portland would have had Wallace and the Bullets would have had Strickland. Strickland has two years left on his contract.

The other part of the deal, Harvey Grant, is an okay piece, but we did the Blazers a big favor by taking his $4M+ contract off their hands. By doing that, we freed up enough cap room for them to trade for Isaiah Rider and sign FA PG Kenny Anderson (which is fine be my--I don't like his play). Grant had his best years with the Bullets, but he's needed as a backup forward. Hopefully, he won't be called on to play too much PF, because his body and defensive style are not suited for post play.

Yr Tm FGA FGM FG% FTA FTM FT% 3PA 3PM 3FG% PPG 88-89 Was 390 181 46.4 57 34 59.6 1 0 0.0 5.6 89-90 Was 601 284 47.3 137 96 70.1 8 0 0.0 8.2 90-91 Was 1224 609 49.8 249 185 74.3 15 2 13.3 18.2 91-92 Was 1022 489 47.8 220 176 80.0 8 1 12.5 18.0 92-93 Was 1149 560 48.7 300 218 72.7 10 1 10.0 18.6 93-94 Por 774 356 46.0 131 84 64.1 7 2 28.6 10.4 94-95 Por 621 286 46.1 146 103 70.5 26 8 30.8 9.1 95-96 Por 679 314 46.2 110 60 54.5 67 21 31.3 9.3 Totals 6460 3079 47.7 1350 956 70.8 142 35 24.6 12.1 Yr G Min MPG Reb Ast Blk St TO PF(DQ) 88-89 71 1193 16.8 163 79 29 35 28 147(2) 89-90 81 1846 22.8 342 131 43 52 85 194(1) 90-91 77 2842 36.9 557 204 61 91 125 232(2) 91-92 64 2388 37.3 432 170 27 74 109 178(1) 92-93 72 2667 37.0 412 205 44 72 90 168(0) 93-94 77 2112 27.4 351 107 49 70 56 179(1) 94-95 75 1771 23.6 284 82 53 56 62 163(0) 95-96 76 2394 31.5 361 111 43 60 82 173(1) Totals 593 17213 29.0 2902 1089 349 510 637 1434(8)

Harvey is a very good defensive player and generally plays within his ability. His shooting has gone a little south in Portland, but it may improve with more opportunities. He should be a solid backup this year; reportedly (I don't remember), this is the final year of the deal the Bullets matched from the NY Knicks when Grant was a UFA. Does anyone remember those details?

I'm glad Butler is gone. Wallace is an intriguing walk-away. Despite what you say about allowing a player three years to develop, for high lottery picks, you can tell if a player is destined for stardom based on what they do with their opportunities. And I didn't see Wallace really grow into the role offered by the absence of Webber. I think Wallace is going to be a good, solid player, but thinking back on things he'll fall short of stardom. It's easy to get caught in the hype around his natural ability, but high lottery picks have immediate impacts and room is made for them on a squad if they are destined for stardom. Late bloomers will often be just solid contributors down the line. I hope I'm right.

This is a solid move in the short-term, except for the gaping hole it left them in the front court. They had exactly two power players (Gheorghe and CWebb--Grant doesn't count), until they signed Lorenzo Williams, and they could still use two more power players (in case of foul trouble). The waiting contineus.

wtf 1 August 1996
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Not that this was totally unexpected, but backup point guard Brent Price has signed with another team. The Houston Rockets (in a move I like) sign Brent to a 7-year, $18M deal. The Bullets longest offer was for only three years. This contract reportedly has a third year opt-out clause if Brent continues to excel. However, there is a long-term risk in a deal like this if his knee starts to cause problems. For Brent's (and the Rockets') sake, I hope not, but it is a risk, nonetheless.

Good luck in Houston, Brent. If they get Barkley, you're going to love all of the passing opportunities you will get, and the wide open looks at the basket that will be available.

wtf 31 July 1996
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