17 July-29 July 1996
Top News Items between 17 July and 29 July 1996:

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I will also have a story on Juwan's side of the story. Really not much different than expected--it was a tough decision, but the money wasn't comparable. He'll stay involved in the area with his Foundation, he'll love the Bullets team, but not (of course) when the Heat are playing them.

His first public words were at a basketball clinic on July 16 at the Silver Spring [MD] Boys and Girls Club. Said Howard: "I just want to say, it was a tough decision that I had to make. First of all, it was a business decision. It was one of the toughest decisions I had to make in my life. Everyone knows how I feel about the Washington area. This is like home to me. I made this home. I made a lot of friends here and I'll continue to have thos friends, if those friends are real." Some other quotes from Juwan:

He continued that line at his press conference with Miami on July 17.

  • "If the money would have been the same, would I have stayed? If you look at that ... I would have stayed in a heartbeat. But they had to do what was best for their budget. Accepting $84M? No, I could not do that. If the money was important to me, I would have accepted the $112M that was offered from one particular team [the Detroit Pistons]. I would have accepted the average of $15.2M from another team [the New York Knicks]. I would have accepted that."
  • "If you look at his [Miami Heat coach Pat Riley's] track record, this guy is truly a proven winner. I've always been a big fan of Pat Riley. I told him that it was a dream of mine to one day play for him, and I mean that. And that dream has come true." Is he hiding anything? Don't know. He continues to present the public persona we all grew to love, saying it was a business decision. I know it won't change the mind of the conspiracy theorists out there, but what will?

    The Bullets made two offers for Juwan ($78M and $84M over seven years), then balked when offered a third chance to match the Heat offer. The Bullets did not. Juwan then took the Heat deal. (Of course, as I write this, we now know that the Heat deal was a financial sham with regard to the salary cap and Juwan Howard has now re-signed with the Bullets for the next seven years for over $100M.)

    The Bullets have some bones to pick with Falk, in particular:

    It's obvious the two sides weren't talking well. But that's in the past. And you shouldn't expect to get many more details on this issue, at least not now. The two sides want to forget the past and just concentrate on what's possible in the future. And while we want to know the full truth, let's accept what we know now and work toward a hopefully glorious future.

    wtf 31 August 1996
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    Despite Rod Strickland's refusal to take a physical, demanding a renegotiated contract, the Bullets accepted the trade as it was first proposed. The two sides are talking about a possible long-term financial deal, but Strickland has already started moving into Juwan's house in Crofton. I'll vent on this one later (though I think Strickland is a good player for the Bullets to have).

    It's obvious, however, that Strickland, who will make $3.066M next year, is underpaid in the current market, and he's doing what any excellent employee would do--hold out for more money. Harvey Grant, who was probably Strickland's closest friend in Portland, had this to say about the situation: "Rod's thing is just that he's been underpaid for the kind of player he is. I think everybody in the league knows he's underpaid. ... Rod Strickland is one of the top three point guards in this league. But he's not getting paid like it. Personally, I don't think it's fair."

    As for Strickland's off the field situation, general manager Wes Unseld had this to say: "We would love happy campers. We would all love choir boys coming in here and playing. This is pro basketball, so we understand that we aren't going to have all those things. All we want is professionals who go out on the court and do what they get paid to do, and that's to play basketball. And that's the most important thing."

    Stay tuned as this soap opera continues.

    wtf 31 August 1996
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    Well, Jim McIlvaine took the money and ran. He signed a 7-year, $35M contract with the Seattle Supersonics, who lost their starting center, Ervin Johnson, to the Denver Nuggets. That's too much money for the all-defense, no-offense McIlvaine, but that's what 7-footers who can block shots now get. I'll have more commentary on this later.

    wtf 26 July 1996
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    All of the Bullets point guards from last year now have homes. We already know that Brent Price signed a 7-year deal with the Houston Rockets. Mark Price changed up on everyone and signed a multi-year deal with the Golden State Warriors. And Robert Pack recently signed a 5-year, $15M deal with the New Jersey Nets.

    At least the Bullets re-signed Chris Whitney to a 1-year deal worth $700,000. Whitney was getting better offers elsewhere, but liked the coaching staff of the Bullets, in particular Jim Lynam (an ex-point guard) and Derek Smith. However, he's unrestricted next season, and that means the Bullets may lose him as a backup. We'll see what the Bullets contract situation is like next season.

    wtf 31 July 1996
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    The NBA released the schedule for the 1996-97 on July 25. I will post the schedule shortly (when I have some time to play with the formatting). The Bullets open their season on the road November 1 at Orlando, with a home opener the following night against Cleveland. In a nice bit of near symmetry, the Bullets close their season with a home game April 18 against Orlando and then finally a road game April 20 at Cleveland.

    wtf 26 July 1996
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    As of Thursday, July 25, the Washington Bullets are close to signing ex-Dallas Maverick power forward/center Lorenzo Williams. Williams had interest from at least 14 other clubs, but Williams has chosen to focus on the Bullets. Williams is friends with Tim Legler from Legler's Dallas days and is interested in what the Bullets have to offer. Williams would fill the hole left by the defections of Jim McIlvaine and Juwan Howard and the trade of Rasheed Wallace.

    Williams is undersized as a center, but he was the starting center for the Mavericks the past couple years. Not an easy task in a division with Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Dikembe Mutombo, just to name a few. Williams is a great rebounder, though his offense isn't the greatest. In fact, shooting with him, if it isn't a dunk or a layup, is going to be a BIG adventure. Check out the shooting percentages. A good backup for the power positions.

    Yr    Tm   FGA  FGM   FG%  FTA  FTM   FT%  3PA  3PM  3FG%   PPG
92-93 Cha    3    1  33.3    0    0   0.0    0    0   0.0   1.0
      Orl    2    0   0.0    0    0   0.0    0    0   0.0   0.0
      Bos   31   16  51.6    7    2  28.6    0    0   0.0   1.5
   Season   36   17  47.2    7    2  28.6    0    0   0.0   1.3
93-94 Orl    6    1  16.7    1    0   0.0    1    0   0.0   0.7
      Cha    1    0   0.0    0    0   0.0    0    0   0.0   0.0
      Dal  103   48  46.6   28   12  42.9    0    0   0.0   3.2
   Season  110   49  44.5   29   12  41.3    1    0   0.0   2.8
94-95 Dal  304  145  47.7  101   38  37.6    0    0   0.0   4.0
95-96 Dal  214   87  40.7   70   20  34.3    1    0   0.0   3.0
Totals     664  298  44.9  206   76  36.9    2    0   0.0   3.2

Yr       G   Min   MPG  Reb   Ast  Blk   St   TO   PF(DQ)
92-93   27   179   6.6   55     5   14    5    8   29(0) 
93-94   38   716  18.8  217    25   46   18   22   92(0) 
94-95   82  2383  29.1  690   124  148   52  105  306(6) 
95-96   65  1806  27.8  521    85  122   48   78  226(9) 
Totals 212  5084  24.0 1483   239  333  123  213  653(15)
    A couple of notes: Buzz Braman, get in contact with Lorenzo FAST! A career 36.9% free throw shooter, now that's ugly. That's like you and I on the court. But I also like the fact that here's a pivot man who commits few turnovers; in fact, he has more assists than turnovers in every year but his first. And he's a force with his blocked shots; not on par with Jimmy Mac, but still a good shotblocker. His per 48 stats on rebounding came close to 14 rebounds per 48 minutes, which was 13th in the NBA. And his blocked shots (1.9 bpg) put him at 11th in the NBA, despite only playing ~28 mpg (of course, Mac was much more efficient).

    Even with Williams, the Bullets still need another power player. Supposedly, GM Wes Unseld has another candidate lined up, so we'll wait and see. But the Bullets are only $100,000 above the salary cap, so I think they're in trouble in trying to get any other decent players on this team.

    wtf 31 July 1996
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