If Chris Webber and Juwan Howard have as much success together in the NBA as they did at Michigan, then John Nash will never regret trading away what he called the "heart and soul" of the Washington Bullets.
In the span of five hours Thursday, Nash transformed Washington from a rebuilding team into a contender in the Atlantic Division. The Bullets general manager first signed Howard to a multiyear contract, then traded Tom Gugliotta and three first-round picks to Golden State for Webber, last season's NBA rookie of the year."Any time you have a chance to make a deal like this, you've got to jump on it," Nash said. "This makes us deeper and better in the interior."
The Bullets haven't made the playoffs since 1988 and haven't had a winning season since 1986-87, but things could be different now that Webber and Howard will be playing side-by-side again.
Webber, a 6-foot-10 forward who often played center at Golden State, averaged 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds and shot 55 percent from the field last season. Howard, 6-9, the fifth player chosen in this year's draft, averaged 15.3 points and 7.5 rebounds during his three-year career at Michigan.
Together, they comprised two-fifths of the "Fab Five" starting lineup at Michigan that advanced to the NCAA championship games in 1992 and 1993.
"Juwan is an exceptional talented player. Unlike Chris, he really has a great deal of technique and relies on his footwork to be a terrific post-up player," Nash said. "Chris, meanwhile, has the raw physical skills that few can match."
If all goes as planned, Howard and Webber will be in uniform Saturday night when the Bullets host the Boston Celtics.
Getting Webber cost the Bullets their first round picks in 1996, 1998 and 2000. More importantly, Nash had to give up Gugliotta, the centerpiece of Washington's young team and one of its two co-captains.
"I'm concerned because we gave up a quality player. Googs was the heart and soul of this team," Nash said.
The 6-10 Gugliotta averaged 15.8 points and 9.5 rebounds since joining the Bullets as their top draft pick in 1992. He learned of the trade shortly before Washington's road game against the New Jersey Nets.
"Obviously, it's unsettling to uproot yourself from familiar situations and surroundings," Gugliotta said. "The Bullets are a good organization and they are up and coming with the talent that's here. Unfortunately, my contribution is over."
The deal came some 20 hours after the Warriors re-signed Webber, who exercised his option to terminate a 15-year, $74 million contract in the offseason and became a restricted free agent in June. The Warriors had to sign Webber to trade him.
The (Baltimore) Sun reported today that Webber's 1-year contract is worth $2.1 million and that Howard agreed to an 11-year deal worth $36 million.
The newspaper also said Howard would receive $1.3 million this season and can become a restricted free agent after next season.
USA Today said Friday that the contract covers 12 years and is worth $41.3 million. It also said the deal included a two-year "out clause."
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Additional Information
Nelson was at the heart of the problem
OAKLAND, Calif. - Don Nelson wore this stricken look on his face when his new boss Chris Cohan described Chris Webber's dissatisfaction with the Warriors as being "mostly about Don. He said to me that most of his problem was Don." It is a problem that sent Webber to Washington Thursday, commented Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner.
It had been well established that Webber couldn't stand Nelson and Nelson didn't think enough of Webber to try to change his mind - not in October, when the absentee ballots had been counted, but back in May, when a gesture of conciliation might have mattered.