Preview of 2000-01 NBA Season
Oct. 31, 2000 -- The Knicks will be without Patrick Ewing, the Heat without Alonzo Mourning, and the Lakers will begin their title defense against a Portland team that nearly beat them in the Western Conference finals last year.
The NBA season begins tonight with 13 games around the league, and many teams will look a bit different than they did five months ago, thanks to several off-season moves.
The Orlando Magic, under Coach of the Year Doc Rivers, most improved their chances at a postseason bid by acquiring Grant Hill from Detroit and Tracy McGrady from Toronto. Orlando still lacks a big man in the middle after failing to lure Tim Duncan away from San Antonio, but the team still could be among the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Miami Heat, the team expected to represent the East in the NBA Finals this year, was dealt a major setback. Miami will play without center Alonzo Mourning after the All-Star was diagnosed with a kidney disease known as focal glomerulosclerosis.
The loss of Mourning means Miami coach Pat Riley’s deals in the off-season — acquiring Anthony Mason, Eddie Jones and Brian Grant — still might not give Miami its first championship.
Portland Could Top the West
It is the West, however, that appears to be the stronger conference this season. The Lakers still have Kobe Bryant and league MVP and unstoppable center Shaquille O’Neal, who recently signed a three-year, $88 million contract extension. Glen Rice is off to New York, but Horace Grant is reunited with coach Phil Jackson in L.A. after a stint in Seattle.
The Portland Trail Blazers, which squandered a 15-point lead in Game 7 to lose the Western Conference Finals to the Lakers, appear even better this year. Grant is in Miami and center Arvydas Sabonis has a knee problem, but the team bolstered its roster by acquiring Dale Davis from Indiana and trading for Shawn Kemp, a six-time All-Star forward who vowed to rededicate himself after two seasons of increasing weight and declining stats in Cleveland.
The Seattle SuperSonics, which finished fourth in the Pacific division last year, at last have a center in Patrick Ewing, whom the team acquired in an multi-player deal in September. With point guard Gary Payton and power forward Vin Baker returning, Seattle’s prospects look bright, if 38-year-old Ewing can stay healthy and keep up with the speedy Sonics.
The Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers are perhaps the most unrecognizable team in the league this year. The team got a new coach, Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, and lost three starters: Davis; center Rik Smits, who retired; and point guard Mark Jackson, who signed a $14 million deal with Toronto. Jalen Rose broke his wrist during the preseason and will be out several weeks, leaving Reggie Miller as the lone starter of the team that played in the NBA Finals against the Lakers.
Roster Moves
Final roster moves were made Monday as teams cut down to 12active players, resulting in a few additional surprises around the league.
Daniel Santiago, who went from Lubbock, Texas, to Puerto Ricoto Varese, Italy, made the team in Phoenix and is ahead of heraldedrookie Jake Tsakalidis on the depth chart.
The Chicago Bulls will begin the season as the youngest teamin league history, with an average age of just under 23. They havefive rookies on the roster — Jamal Crawford, Khalid El-Amin, MarcusFizer, A.J. Guyton and Dragan Tarlac — and two more rookies,Dalibor Bagaric and Jake Voskuhl, on the injured list.
Joe Smith appears on no one’s roster. Commissioner David Sternmade the Timberwolves forward a free agent last week, althoughSmith’s status will remain on hold until an arbitration hearing isheld Thursday on whether Stern overstepped his authority in voidingSmith’s previous two contracts in Minnesota.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Tyus Edney have returned to the league,Abdul-Rauf as the backup point guard in Vancouver and Edney has thesame job in Indiana.
There’s a new Marc Jackson in the league, this one spelled with a “c.” Jackson, a rookie forwardfrom Temple who spent the past three years in Turkey and Spain and Adam Keefe will back up starter Danny Fortson in Golden State.
There is no next Michael Jordan. A rookie by that name fromPenn was cut by the Boston Celtics during training camp.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.