WITH 22 SHOPPING days until the NBA's Feb. 24 trading deadline, all Billy King sees is a market stocked with overpriced items, including many of the ones in the blemish bin because of injuries, long contracts or various sorts of baggage.
That was why, for several weeks, Toronto's Donyell Marshall intrigued him. Marshall has a modest, by league standards, $5.3 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent July 1. But it has been widely speculated that any team interested in Marshall would have to also take Jalen Rose, a talented scorer who has become something of a nomad, moving from franchise to franchise. Rose is listed at more than $14.4 million, with 2 additional years at nearly $15.7 million and $16.9 million on his deal.
King, the 76ers' president/general manager, confirmed Monday night that discussions with the Raptors were "dead." Whether talks with any team will come alive in the next 3 weeks remains problematical. King has made it clear that he has no interest in trading center Samuel Dalembert, second-year men Kyle Korver and Willie Green, or prize rookie Andre Iguodala. King's primary chip appears to be Glenn Robinson's expiring contract of slightly more than $12 million, but whether there's a suitor remains as problematical as anything else. King would apparently be willing to take back two contracts matching the money, provided one was expiring and the other - a useful piece - had no more than 1 additional year.
It would seem, though, that what has been presented to him has been far from acceptable. He doesn't want a player with an additional year on his contract worth, say, $15 million. One team supposedly wanted not only Robinson's contract, but also two starters. King, who rarely speaks about specific rumors, could only shrug.
"There's a good chance we could [make a deal]; there's a good chance we may not," he said after watching yesterday's practice at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "I don't feel a desperation that we have to; when you make a trade out of frustration, you make a bad trade. I like our team. Are there areas [in which] we could add to it? Yes. But I'm not going to do a deal just to be doing one. There are a lot of teams talking, but not a lot of players better than the ones we have."
King doesn't like his team because it's 21-23 going into tonight's game against Houston, but because Dalembert is a rising young center, because Korver has to at least be a candidate for the league's Most Improved Player award, because Green has shown flashes and because Iguodala has been a remarkably stable rookie with a team-first attitude and a willingness to provide help in areas other than scoring.
"If we had this record, and had a group of guys 31 and 32 years old, I wouldn't like it," King said. "But when people start asking for your young players, you know you're doing something right. One team called about Samuel, and I said, 'You had a chance to draft him.' "
Despite the Sixers' $72 million-plus payroll, King believes he can re-sign free agents-to-be Dalembert, Korver and Green. The Sixers can match any offer for Dalembert, and can match offers for Korver and Green up to the $5 million league average. As for Robinson, the Sixers continue to keep the 11th-year forward on the injured list with what has been described at various times as bad ankles and a bad elbow. Robinson, who has not played at all this season, was in the trainer's room in the Wachovia Center Monday night, and was at practice yesterday.
Asked whether Robinson was still injured, King said, "If he wasn't, he'd be playing."
Finally, there is the Sixers' stated goal of finishing above .500 and winning the Atlantic Division. Just to be clear, that would not necessarily provide them with a homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. To guarantee that, they would also have to have a better record than the team with the sixth-best overall record in the Eastern Conference.
It could help immensely if King could locate another shooter who could relieve some of the pressure on Allen Iverson and Korver, or another big man who could make a significant contribution. But look around: Injury-riddled teams are signing the likes of Jerome Moiso and Donnell Harvey; Houston added 38-year-old point guard Rod Strickland. All King can do for the moment is continue to peruse the market. A blue-light special with a modest contract and an expiring contract would be a godsend. Anybody check eBay?
