Inside NBA Hoops

It took a while, but Maurice Taylor has found a team. Taylor is reported to be signing a $2.25 million one-year deal with the Houston Rockets. This will allow him to grow with the team for a year and re-sign with them (they hope) for a lot more money.

The Rockets got Mo the same way they got Shandon Anderson last year - by sitting and patiently waiting (that's what it seemed they did, anyway) until deals other teams were trying to put together fell apart, and then swiftly moving in for the kill.

Houston had been pursuing Taylor ever since they were legally (by league rules) allowed to (since July 1), but once Taylor turned down a financially fat contract from the Raptors, they intensely increased their efforts.

Taylor is a David Falk client. Just thought I'd share that.

Had the Ewing (Falk client) - Baker - Glen Rice (Falk client) - lots-of-other-players deal gone through, with Ewing being sent to Seattle, it was expected that Mo Taylor would then sign with the Supersonics. But Detroit backed out of the deal at the last minute (almost literally), leading to the deal completely falling apart. The Sonics and Knicks were unable to work anything out between just the two of them, prompting Taylor to join the Rockets.

Houston now has a very impressive nucleus of young talents - Steve Francis, Shandon Anderson, Cuttino Mobley, and now Taylor, who will be 24 when the coming NBA season begins. Not known as a strong rebounder (partially due to the fact that he's a weak rebounder... hahaha, see, the cool thing about being a writer is that you can make stupid jokes and know that thousands of people are going to smile or smirk but FEEL THE LOVE and keep coming back. Ok, back to the column.) Taylor averaged 17PPG, 6.5RPG, and shot 46% from the field last season with the Clippers. On Houston he wouldn't have to score quite that much, but we know the team will need him to grab a few more boards per game than what he's managed in Los Angeles over the past few seasons.

Steve Francis has everyone convinced he's gonna bust the league's ass next season. He shared the Rookie of the Year award with Elton Brand last year, and while we expect Brand to make the East All-Star team next year (quick, name 2 East power forwards better than Elton already is), Brand is unspectacular to watch, while Francis is, like he predicted before he entered the league, like a cross between Iverson and Marbury.

As for the 76'ers, everyone has been worried for the past few seasons that Toni Kukoc was going to bolt to Europe, where he can make NBA money and be worshipped the way Air Jordan was in the U.S. The other day, Kukoc signed a 4 year deal with the Sixers, resulting in a huge sigh of relief from everyone who supports Philly. Kukoc may have been rather weak in the playoffs, but he showed what he can do when treated like the man in Chicago when, as the team's lone good player, he put up Scottie Pippen-like numbers. Anyway, Kukoc came to Philly for Larry Hughes, who we all believe will emerge as a STAR next season, so to lose him after just one season would have been a horrible blow.

On a side note, it's interesting how everyone who leave the Sixers seems to emerge. First Jerry Stackhouse, then Larry Hughes... while Kukoc, unguardable in Chicago when he became the #1 option, is used as a 6th man. Fine, George Lynch is an excellent defensive player, but on paper doesn't the offensive combination of Iverson and Kukoc sound fairly scary? No? Then check Kukoc's stats during said year. He busted everyone up as a Bull. The other day, Toni declared he wants to start, and Larry Brown responded with something to the effect of, "Toni will certainly be given the opportunity to win a starting spot" (that's a paraphrase, not a direct quote).

Kukoc helped the Bulls win championships, and was unguardable when put in control, yet in Philly he has to be given a chance to start over George Lynch, a role player? Why do I get the feeling that if the Sixers had successfully traded Iverson, for perhaps Jerry Stackhouse, Brown would start Aaron McKie and use Stack as a 6th man?

George Lynch has played an underrated, key role in the success of the Sixers for the past few seasons. And he loves his starting spot, and was quoted as saying that he absolutely does not want it taken away and handed to anyone else - let them beat him for it to earn it.

While Lynch has worked very hard, the team has to let Kukoc show what he can do if they want a shot at advancing far in the playoffs. Brown must let Kukoc start, and let Lynch come off the bench and plug in any holes that may exist.

As for Iverson, the other day he declared he wants to be named team Captain. Yeah. That's his way of saying, "I won't be late for practice anymore, and I'll act like a team leader, during games as well as behind the scenes."

Larry Brown was all for it, provided Iverson will act accordingly, as a captain should. We'd like it to happen - it could only be positive for everyone involved should it work out.

8/26/2000

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