The Nba

Passing Marks
In dealing for Elton Brand, the Clippers showed there are two smart teams in L.A,

One of the biggest surprises of the summer is the newfound respectability of the Clippers. The worst franchise in NBA history has become one of the league's most intriguing teams, and the acquisition of 22-year-old power forward Elton Brand from the Bulls even has the young Clippers talking about making the playoffs next season. "Why not?" asks 21-year-old co-captain Lamar Odom. "Elton is exactly what we need."

Here is something no one could have predicted four years ago when Chicago was winning its third straight tide—that the Bulls' best player would want to become a Clipper. Coach Alvin Gentry says that initially, he was concerned that the trade might be blocked by Brand's agent, David Falk, who has had an acrimonious relationship with Clippers owner Donald Sterling. "[Then] in the middle of my conversation with David, he put Elton on the phone," says Gentry, "and Elton said he was ecstatic about [the prospect of] the trade."

Brand couldn't join his new teammates at the Los Angeles Summer Pro League last week (he was running a charity event in his hometown of Peekskill, N.Y.), but it's not hard to count the ways he can help a team that finished 31-51 last season. For starters, Brand will improve the Clippers' rebounding. That will allow Los Angeles to run more in transition—a dangerous counter to the zone defenses mat will be implemented next season. "People don't know this, because he played in that triangle system in Chicago," says Gentry, "but Elton can flat-out run and finish on the break."

In his first two seasons Brand, the top pick in the 1999 draft, averaged 20.1 points and 10.0 rebounds as Chicago's only inside threat. The Clippers hope his presence will help center Michael Olowokandi, the No. 1 choice in '98, turn the corner. The double teams that Brand is sure to draw should create open looks and offensive rebound opportunities for Olowokandi, who has averaged 9.1 points and 7-4 rebounds in his first three seasons. Brand should also create more space for Odom, a forward, and 19-year-old swingman Darius Miles, whose jump shot showed signs of improvement in the summer league.

While the Clippers were being applauded for getting Brand (whose salary for the coming year is $3-9 million, a relative bargain), some around the league were accusing Bulls general manager Jerry Krause of buying time for himself. The Bulls have averaged a paltry 17 wins over me last three years, and with his strategy of signing marquee free agents an utter failure—he didn't get a single one—Krause was turning to a new game plan. He can now plead for patience from Chicago fans after getting high schoolers Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry with the No. 2 and No. 4 choices, respectively. In Chandler and Curry, Krause has two of the most coveted players from the most promising high school class ever to jump to the NBA.

Krause predicts that the 7-foot Chandler will become a power forward with small-forward skills, like the Trail Blazers' Rasheed Wallace. He sees the 6'11" Curry, blessed with soft hands and quick feet, as an inside force. Most promising of all is that Krause acquired two highly talented big men at a time when size has become the league's scarcest commodity. "It's an intriguing move for the Bulls," says former Lakers executive vice president Jerry West, who escalated the demand for high school talent by drafting Kobe Bryant five years ago. "If they can play, the Bulls will have two big guys who everybody will be trying to match up against."

Free-Agent Philosophy
Rockets Go After Own

One of commissioner David Stern's priorities during the lockout in 1998 and '99 was to institute a system that would permit teams to hold on to their favorite players. Stern got his wish, and the Rockets are the poster children for the collective bargaining agreement that was hammered out.

Last season it appeared that Houston was gearing up to make a bid for free-agent forward Chris Webber. But several factors have prevented free agents from making the huge-money deals that prevailed in previous summers. Most teams are looking to hold fast and trim salaries to avoid the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax to be assessed on payrolls over an estimated $54 million starting next season. That rookies can now be obliged to spend five years with their original team is also persuading many teams to build in the traditional way. Those factors weighed heavily in Houston's ultimate decision to abandon the pursuit of Webber in hope of resigning four players who were crucial to its surprising 45-win season: forward Maurice Taylor, swingman Shandon Anderson, guard Moochie Norris and center Hakeem Olajuwon. When they announced the decision last month, the Rockets were nearly $17 million under the cap—the equivalent of Olajuwon's salary last season—and were considering ways to create more space to sign all four players.