Agent Fried tries cooking
Grizzlies By Jeffrey Denberg Special to ESPN.com | |
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Last January, when they hammered out the new rules of business for the NBA, a man asked agent Keith Glass if the league had put his brotherhood out of work.
"No," Glass said, scoffing at the notion, "we're like rats -- we adapt."
Oh, have they adapted.
Used to be agents concentrated on getting the best contracts for their clients and -- in the case of the brightest and the most powerful -- helped arrange a change of venue when negotiations stalled.
A new group, that includes agent Jeff Fried, has gone a step beyond. Fried, whose specialty was the entertainment industry, now is trying to alter the draft by moving No. 2 overall pick Steve Francis from British Columbia to the eastern United States.
Next thing you know, convicted felons will agree to do their time, but only in a prison close to home.
Since Francis' infamous oh-no outburst on draft night, Fried has tried to maneuver him out of the clutches of the Vancouver Grizzlies. Working behind the back of general manager Stu Jackson, Fried shopped a trade for his client, calling virtually every team in the East.
Said one GM: "I called Stu and told him the agent had called me about arranging a deal. Stu said the agent had called a lot of teams and it was getting back to him."
Allegedly, Miami refused to come up with P.J. Brown for Francis. A rumored offer of Alan Henderson and Jim Jackson from Atlanta was a figment of somebody's imagination.
So now, even Jackson is trying to accommodate Francis while improving his struggling expansion team so he can save his own job.
The reported Detroit deal, however, is not going to accomplish that and if Jackson accepts Jerry Stackhouse and Loy Vaught, plus a first-round pick as compensation, he deserves to fail. The Grizzlies are rightfully concerned about Vaught's bad back, and they should be fearful of Stackhouse's erratic game. Another draft pick? Look what the draft's already done for the Grizzlies.
After opting out of his senior year at Maryland, Francis is bound to the Grizzlies for three seasons, plus an option year. That, incidentally, is the length of commitment the Pistons have to a player they're dying to dump -- Vaught. If the Grizzlies think Francis can play, they should keep him. The alternative is unthinkable.
Besides, what's Francis' alternative? Europe? A song-and-dance gig in Atlantic City?
Magic acts
More than a few league executives and players wonder about recent events in Orlando.
"They've guaranteed that Doc (Rivers) will fail," said a concerned former teammate about the new Orlando coach.
Historically, there have been three ways to build a team from the bottom: the draft, free agency and trades. However, the influx of underclassmen into the draft has weakened it as a building tool and the new collective bargaining agreement has taken the teeth from free agency. That's why so many upper- and middle-level teams resorted to trades this summer.
Along comes Orlando. The Magic traded away all but four of their better players. Trouble is, Bo Outlaw, Michael Doleac, Darrell Armstrong and Matt Harpring are role players. Rookie Corey Maggette is a promise for later. The Magic have also provided Rivers with the likes of Anthony Parker, Harvey Grant, Ben Wallace, Terry Davis, Tim Legler, Armen Gilliam and Chris Gatling, whose selfishness is well-documented. That's a bad expansion team.
The club owns the rights to 10 draft picks over the next few years and will have plenty of cap room, but all that could be fool's gold because the draft is so depleted and the pool of free agents drops after Grant Hill re-signs with Detroit and Tim Duncan re-ups with San Antonio. Rivers said there is no way Duncan will leave the Spurs, that his relationship with the talented big man will not lure him. Rivers also acknowledged he's in trouble if his bosses can't sign a top free agent.
"Let's face it," said one executive, "the best players do not want to be on bad teams. They want a chance to win. Orlando looks like a bad team for a long time to come."
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