For the Philadelphia 76ers, the Shawn Bradley gamble is being replaced by the Derrick Coleman gamble.
Bradley, the 7-foot-6 center who never developed into the dominating interior presence the 76ers hoped he would, was dealt to the New Jersey Nets on Thursday night for Coleman, a talented but troubled forward.Four other players also were exchanged in the deal, with Rex Walters and Sean Higgins going to Philadelphia and Greg Graham and Tim Perry heading to New Jersey.
Both teams made the trade to lose their on-going problems with Bradley and Coleman.
Coleman, 28, hasn't played this season after doctors discovered at the start of training camp that he has an irregular heartbeat. A dominating inside player when he did play, Coleman also has a reputation as a troublemaker.
Bradley, 23, is no troublemaker. In fact, his two-year stint as a Mormon missionary may have contributed to his biggest problem with the 76ers: With only one year of college ball under his belt, his basketball skills never measured up to his exceptional height.
The 76ers gave Bradley a seven-year, $44.8 million contract with the hope he would become their franchise player, but the 248-pound center rarely stood his ground against more muscular players.
"We were looking for Shawn to develop talent and it was obvious at this stage it wasn't happening," said 76ers owner Harold Katz, who helped make the decision to draft Bradley with the second overall pick in the 1993 draft.
The 76ers had high hopes for Bradley this season after he averaged 16.4 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.8 blocks in Philadelphia's final 17 games last season.
He teased them four games into the season with 23 points and 22 rebounds Nov. 10 against Charlotte.
Since then, the 76ers have lost eight straight, by an average of 20 points. During that span, Bradley has averaged 6.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. In a game Nov. 24 against Detroit, he had his first reboundless game as a pro.
The combination of his and the team's poor play left Bradley expecting to be traded.
"I knew something was coming for the last couple of days now," he said in Toronto, where the 76ers were to play the Raptors on tonight.
"Philadelphia is a city that expects results right now, and me coming in, they wanted something right now, but it's a three- or four- or five-year process, and that kind of stuff hurts a guy's development," he said.
Nets general manager Willis Reed said the trade had its origins when Katz spoke with Nets president Michael Rowe during halftime of the teams' Nov. 18 game at New Jersey.
According to Reed, Katz said "that his team stunk and Michael said, `Maybe we should talk."'
Lucas said Bradley still "has a chance to be a great basketball player." The Nets hope Bradley, who is averaging 8.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks this season, finally realizes his potential in New Jersey.
Coleman, who demanded a trade before the start of the season, has averaged 19.9 points and 10.6 rebounds a game in the five seasons since the Nets made him the first overall pick in the 1990 draft. He is in the second year of a five-year, $37.5 million contract.
Coleman just received clearance to practice Wednesday, and Lucas and Katz believe there will not be a recurrence of his heart problems.