| | On the slowest NBA trading deadline day in 13 years, only one
minor deal was made between Orlando and Atlanta. A three-way trade
that would have sent Los Angeles Clippers forward Maurice Taylor to
the New York Knicks fell through.
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| Johnson |
Thursday's lone trade sent guard Anthony Johnson from the Hawks
to the Magic for a conditional second-round draft pick.
The deal that was scuttled, for reasons that were unclear, would
have sent Taylor to the Knicks, John Wallace from New York to
Vancouver and Othella Harrington from the Grizzlies to the
Clippers, several league sources, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told The Associated Press.
Taylor was so upset that the deal fell through that he initially
refused to get off the team bus when the Clippers arrived at the
Target Center in Minneapolis for their game against the
Timberwolves.
"I'm disappointed," Taylor said. "I had a chance to go to a
team that maybe has a chance to get to the championship."
"Evidently (the Clippers) chose not to do it, and again that
shows you what type of organization they are," Taylor said.
Taylor, who has said he won't re-sign with the Clippers when he
becomes a free agent next summer, eventually relented and played in
the game.
Not since 1987, when Ben Poquette was the only player traded
(going from Cleveland to Chicago), had there been so slow of a
deadline day.
"I thought there would at least be a couple of salary cap
related deals," Seattle SuperSonics general manager Wally Walker
said.
In recent years, there were five trades involving 18 players in
1999, four trades involving 13 players in 1998 and six trades
involving 15 players in 1997.
This has been an exceptionally slow season for trades, with only
two completed during the season -- the three-way trade sending Toni
Kukoc to Philadelphia, Larry Hughes to Golden State and John Starks
to Chicago; and the deal that sent Dale Ellis from Milwaukee to
Charlotte. Another deal, Danny Fortson from Boston to Toronto for
Alvin Williams and Sean Marks, was nullified when Williams failed
his physical.
The Clippers were trying to trade Taylor because they feared
losing him and getting nothing in return when he becomes a free
agent after the season. The 6-foot-9 power forward is the leading
scorer for the Clippers, averaging 17.3 points.
Taylor's agent, David Falk, has said he will demand the maximum
allowable salary for his client when he becomes a free agent. On
Tuesday night, Falk said he would not agree to a sign-and-trade
deal over the summer -- even if the Clippers failed to trade Taylor
by the deadline.
Falk did not return a call Thursday night.
If the Knicks had acquired Taylor, they would have acquired his
so-called Larry Bird rights and would have been able to exceed the
salary cap even more than they already have to retain him.
Knicks general manager Scott Layden refused to comment on any
trading activity.
"This is the team we have, a team of good balance and depth,
and we're as happy after the deadline as we were before it,"
Layden said.
Harrington was traded from Houston to Vancouver last summer and
has been unhappy playing in Canada. Wallace signed with the Knicks
last summer as a free agent after playing the previous two seasons
in Toronto.
Another trade that never came off -- even though it was still
alive less than an hour before the 6 p.m. ET deadline -- involved
center Ike Austin going from Washington to Detroit for the rights
to Bison Dele, the free-spirited center who walked away from tens of millions of guaranteed dollars when he decided to retire last
summer at age 30.
Wizards president of basketball operations Michael Jordan had
been eager to make a deal, but like most everyone else around the
league instead found himself sitting tight with the same players.
"It's gotten to the point where three-way trades are more
common than 1-on-1 trades," Magic general manager John Gabriel
said.
Orlando had been trying to find a taker for forward Derek Strong
in order to clear enough salary cap space to be able to offer
maximum salary deals to upcoming free agents Grant Hill and Tim
Duncan.
The Magic now will have to either work out a sign-and-trade deal
or renounce their rights to guard Ron Mercer if they still plan to offer maximum salaries to two high-tier free agents this summer.
Johnson, in his third NBA season, averaged 2.4 points and 1.6
assists in 38 games for the Hawks. He will be the third-string
point guard in Orlando behind Darrell Armstrong and Chucky Atkins.
Johnson was originally drafted in the second round, 40th
overall, by the Sacramento Kings.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 David Aldridge explains the lack of trades at the deadline.
RealVideo: | 28.8
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