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Joe Smith's status will remain in limbo until Thursday, when an
arbitrator will hold a hearing on NBA commissioner David Stern's
decision to void Smith's past two contracts.
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If Smith wins the hearing, he will regain his Larry Bird rights.
He would then presumably re-sign with Minnesota for one year,
setting himself up for a lucrative long-term contract with the
Timberwolves next summer.
If Smith loses, he will probably look to play elsewhere since
there will be no financial incentive for him to stay with the
Timberwolves. More than a dozen teams would be able to offer him
more money than Minnesota could.
Smith's agent told the Los Angeles Times on Saturday there was virtually no chance Smith would take the Lakers' $1.2-million salary exception to play in Los Angeles.
"If they'd kept their mid-level exception it would have been a different story," agent Dan Fegan said.
The hearing will be held in New York before arbitrator Kenneth
Dam, who ruled Monday that Stern could void Smith's current
contract. Stern went even further, voiding Smith's two previous
contracts and taking away his Bird rights.
The players' union contends Stern overstepped his bounds.
"They tried to take away his Bird rights one way, and the
arbitrator said they couldn't. Now they're trying to do it a
different way," union attorney Ron Klempner said Saturday.
Dam will have 30 days to issue his ruling.
As punishment for having a secret financial agreement with Smith
in violation of salary cap rules, Stern fined Wolves owner Glen
Taylor $3.5 million and stripped the team of five first-round draft
picks.
Stern also voided contracts Smith signed with the Wolves for the
1998-99, 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons, making Smith a free
agent.
Stern's punishment could also include suspensions for Taylor,
vice president of operations Kevin McHale and anyone in the
organization who took part in the deal. A hearing will be held to
determine who had knowledge of the secret agreement.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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