Money, money, money figures to be the most influential consideration for the Vancouver Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors in Saturday's NBA expansion draft.
Vancouver General Manager Stu Jackson said Thursday in a conference call that contract terms could dictate the picks from the pool of players left unprotected by the league's 27 teams."An issue is to minimize our cost," said Jackson, whose Grizzlies have Saturday's second pick. "That is an objective. We don't want to wind up with a roster of $20 million . . ."
That philosophy would seem to eliminate high-priced veterans such as forward Roy Tarpley, among others. Tarpley, reportedly left unprotected by the Dallas Mavericks, still has five years left on a contract worth $23 million.
"If he's there, it would be tough for us to justify taking him," Jackson said.
However, there's uncertainty in the Toronto and Vancouver camps because of collective-bargaining issues. Neither Jackson nor Toronto Vice President of Operations Isiah Thomas knew Thursday whether slots under the old salary cap will continue. Barring decertification of the players union, an agreement - including salary slots - will be ratified today.
"Assuming we have salary slots, high-salaried guys on a short term would make some sense," said Jackson, who will pick 13 players.
A high-priced player with one year left on a contract is one avenue to an improved roster in each franchise's second year. After the contract expires, the team has an available slot at the final year's salary.
"As far as the cap goes, we'd like to make picks that give us room to make moves in the future," Jackson said.
Immediate moves are another possibility, Jackson said. Some players in Saturday's expansion pool could lead to a trade before the regular NBA draft Wednesday, when Vancouver picks sixth and Toronto seventh.
"We have had, in fact, lots of offers to move the No. 6 pick," said Jackson, who indicated the offers include players and picks later in the draft. "We're looking at that. There might be trade value in the pool."
One of those players might be playmaker B.J. Armstrong, whom Chicago reportedly has left unprotected.
There's speculation that Toronto will take Armstrong with Saturday's first pick. Then, Toronto would trade him and Wednesday's No. 7 pick to Washington for the rights to high school player Kevin Garnett. There's talk that Washington will take Garnett at No. 4.
Jackson also said he intends to select players Saturday who might make the club competitive next season. A couple of possibilities are Boston's Acie Earl and the Suns' Trevor Ruffin. Neither Earl nor Ruffin have big contracts.
"There are certain players right now who might blossom in different circumstances," Jackson said. "We're looking for players who would make us representative of the NBA in our first year."