• The Bullets begin negotiations with Juwan and other FAs (7/13/96)
• The Bullets misfire--big time! (7/15/96)
• The Bullets begin to try to make amends by signing Tracy Murray (7/31/96)
• The Bullets trade away Rasheed Wallace for Rod Strickland (8/1/96)
• Brent Price says thanks but no thanks (7/31/96)

Back to 26 June 1996

Forward to 17 July 1996

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.

• The Bullets recently upped the bid for Howard to 7 years/$84M, or an average of $12M per season. That would be a starting salary of $7.5M, with 20% increases over the remainder of the contract. The negotiations continue, as Juwan considers other possible offers (the Miami Heat seem to be the most interested outside of the Bullets).
• The Bullets are out of the Jim McIlvaine sweepstakes, more than likely. Jim's agent, Ron Grinker, is saying that his client expects a starting salary of $3M, with 20% increases, and an escape clause after 4 years. The Bullets made a 3-year offer of unknown value. IMO, McIlvaine can saddle some other team with that salary, if that's what he wants; a man with no offense, even with his defensive skills, is not worth that much (7 years, $33.6M). Someone will probably pay it (Minnesota and Boston are very interested). The Bullets are unlikely to budge from their offer.
• The Bullets have talked to agent Steve Kauffman about backup point guard Chris Whitney and NJ point guard Chris Childs. Childs is reportedly not returning to New Jersey and shopping elsewhere. The Bullets have talked with Robert Pack's agent, although no offer has been made; a 3-year deal has been prepared for Brent Price (also represented by Grinker).
• The Bullets are investigating the possibility of trading Rasheed Wallace to the Portland Trailblazers for point guard Rod Strickland. With McIlvaine more than likely leaving, this would not be a good move, even though Rod Strickland is an excellent PG. Strickland also wants to renegotiate his contract, and I believe it will be up within the next year or two, not a good prospect for long-term happiness (something he has never shown with any pro team).

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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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) 

wtf 31 July 1996
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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 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) 

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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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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