New twist on old Dream Dec. 17, 2002. 01:30 AM Raptors thinking about a deal for `retired' Olajuwon A salary-dumping club might be interested in trade Doug Smith SPORTS REPORTER MILWAUKEE—As Glen Grunwald tries to figure out what to do to shake up a ravaged roster, he might get some help from an unexpected source: Hakeem Olajuwon. The quasi-retired centre, or at least the contract that will pay him $12 million (all figures U.S.) to do nothing for this season and next, represents the most significant asset the Toronto Raptors general manager has. And Grunwald is trying almost daily to see if he can turn it into something that makes sense for his struggling squad. "There's some talk, nothing imminent, but it's a concept teams may want to explore," said Grunwald, whose team brings a disappointing 7-16 record here tonight and plays at Chicago tomorrow. "We may want to explore it. It's a concept a lot of teams are looking at." Olajuwon's value rests in the fact he on has this year and next remaining on the contract he signed with the Raptors. As teams try to divest themselves of long-term obligations, it could make sense for them to take two years of Olajuwon's deal in return for a player with three or more years left on a contract. Olajuwon is on the books for $5.7 million this season, meaning Grunwald could take back a player making up to $6.4 million under NBA salary cap rules. Although he has announced his retirement, and even had a night in his honour in Houston, Olajuwon has yet to file official retirement papers with the league and remains one of three players on Toronto's injured list. "The big issue we're facing is people are trying to rid of contracts," Grunwald admitted. "It's the future years that give us trouble." However, getting a younger player, even with a long-term contract, might make sense given Toronto's salary cap situation. With expensive, lengthy deals with Vince Carter, Antonio Davis, Alvin Williams and Jerome Williams on the books and the cap not expected to rise substantially in the next couple of years, the chance of Toronto having much money to offer free agents is slim. A deal using the Olajuwon contract as an inducement could act as the team's significant free-agent signing. The Raptors could easily make room on their roster for any good, or young, player that Grunwald might want to acquire. Four players — Greg Foster, Voshon Lenard, Jermaine Jackson and Jelani McCoy — have non-guaranteed contracts and could be released before Jan.10 with no financial penalty to the Raptors. As well, Mamadou N'diaye is in the final year of his contract and it's unlikely he will be back next season. But before Grunwald does anything to the Raptors roster, he'd like at least to get some of his injured players back to see what the team actually looks like. However, that doesn't seem likely until at least after Christmas, when both Davis and Carter are expected back. There are no firm indications that Grunwald is actively pursuing a trade. However, he did say Sunday that he's had several conversations about the concept of an Olajuwon deal if not the specifics of one. A team with a full roster might also want Olajuwon to free up a spot for a player they'd like to have playing instead of languishing on the injured list. Aside from Olajuwon, there are a handful of players at the tail end of expensive deals who could be shopped between now and the Feb.20 trade deadline. Most significant among them are Miami's Alonzo Mourning, who is in the final year of a contract that pays him $20.1 million and is battling a life-threatening kidney disorder; Portland's Scottie Pippen, who makes about $16 million on a deal expiring in June, and Denver's Juwan Howard, who is being paid $20.6 million in his final year. There are a handful of other players in the final years of their contracts that might be more inviting than Olajuwon to teams who actually want a player. They include Karl Malone of Utah, Seattle's Gary Payton and Tyrone Hill of Cleveland.
It's wierd that Dream might be traded again, but this is more a blip in the radar for his illustrious career (just like trading in the pinstrips for another hideous jersey). If the Raps can get something out of it, then it would help them more than the injury plagued Dream did on court. As harsh as it sounds... I wonder why teams with tail end huge contracts would want to dump them now to get players with longer contracts. It sounds like a Scott Layden thing to do. Isn't this year's FA crop the one to look at?
Kind of a shame the Raptors made the playoffs last season. It seemed like a great thing at the time, but if they had kept their draft pick we might have gotten this season's draft pick, which is looking to be considerably better.
Raven-It was lotto protected. Anyone else think this is Grunwald just trying to say SOMETHING might be positive for the Raptors? If you have a guy who can't play at all and he has a year and a half left, I wonder how how valuable that makes Glen Rice, who has the same amount of time left, provides vet leadership, and can still stick around and shoot the ball? What about the illustrious Eric Montross?
Just as long as he doesn't get traded to the Jazz. Even if he doesn't even put on the uniform, hearing the words "Hakeem Olajuwon traded to the Utah Jazz" would probably cause me to have a heart attack...
Dream, in my mind is the greatest player of the 80s and 90s. But Dream, PLEASE RETIRE AND JUST GET IT OVER WITH! Come back as a coach for the Rockets, i.e. Ewing w/ the Wizards.
yeah it was good last year when Toronto made the playoffs because they were a low seed and the Rox got the 15 pick. And it couldnt be in the lotto, so u could have only gone 1 spot higher. Hopefully Nachbar pans out eventually.
