WITHOUT bothering to do the research, it’s safe to say yesterday’s six-player, Sixer-Hawks transaction is the first time in NBA history its top team traded its All-Star (Theo Ratliff) center 55 games into the season for another All-Star (Dikembe Mutombo) center.
Sniffing their first-ever David Stern-sanctioned championship and first overall in 18 years, the 76ers did what they’re supposed to do – get bigger, better and bolder, if at all possible.
In snaring Mutombo (35 in June), the 76ers may have lost seven years to Father Time (Ratliff’s 28 in April), but when you have a legit chance to compete for supremacy in modern-day sports, Father Time takes a back seat to the Mother Of All Trophies.
Especially since the older gentleman, at 7-foot-2, is four inches taller than the late-blooming Ratliff, has averaged a double-double for his entire 10-year career, is a more prolific board member (14.1 to 8.3 this season), changes infinitely more shots (though Theo leads in blocks, 3.74 to 2.8) owns the respect of the refs and has proven more durable.
Despite missing the first five games of the season due to malaria, Mutombo played in all 214 games over the prior three seasons (50 games constituting a full fling in ’99) and has shown up for work at least 70 times during all 82-game seasons throughout his pro shift.
By contrast, Ratliff just missed the last five games (broken wrist) and will be sidelined for maybe another month. This after missing 25 games a year ago with a recurring ankle problem.
If there’s any knock on Ratliff, it’s that he babied last year’s injury much longer than coach Larry Brown and his teammates thought necessary. Such caution made the 76ers extremely nervous. Management wasn’t sure he’d be healthy in time to help the team for their playoff push, making its decision to trade him that much easier.
In other words, Ratliff figures to help the Kitty Hawks in the pivot this season as much as Walt Bellamy.
You can’t blame Stan Kasten if he fails to see the humor in that.
The team president has heard the knock on Ratliff, but shrugs it off as irrelevant. Apparently Kasten understands the Hawks don’t need their big guy for any playoff push soon.
“It’s not as if Theo is injury prone,” he underlined. ” Last year was the first he missed a lot of games. The four previous seasons he played in the full 50, 82, 76 and 75.
“This is the first time in 25 years we’ll miss the playoffs in two consecutive seasons,” noted Kasten, thrilled to secure a young, high caliber player, in addition to a solid veteran in Toni Kukoc, who pocketed an extra $3.6 million as a result of a 15 percent trade kicker in his contract. “Consequently, we’ll add a significant lottery pick to the mix. We have no intention of doing it three years in a row!”
As for the 41-14 76ers, the league couldn’t have provided them with a more important impact player for the next 27 games, at the very least.
Who says Mutombo isn’t worth a four-year extension (the maximum allowed, according to league rules), something the 76ers already are trying to arrange? It’d pay the free agent-to-be $15.143M next season, with 12½ percent raises thereafter?
Guess what? Ratliff and the sub-productive Kukoc (said to be content with the move, but guaranteed to go into depression, or develop a lingering injury now that he’s back playing for a loser) will earn a combined $15,593M next season.
No offense to Ratliff, but, aside from Kasten and GM Pete Babcock, who’s willing to bet their reputation Theo’s capable of duplicating this season’s numbers?
Love what the limited Mutombo brings to the courtroom or not, you always know he’s got a ready supply of defensive swagger and rebounding sweat almost every game.
For every Patrick Ewing or Hakeem Olajuwon (actually getting stronger of late), who breaks down in his late 30s on the last year of his contract, there’s a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Robert Parish who continue to contribute to winning, even, title teams.
Think Mutombo might be a little pumped up about gaining 22½ games in the standings while going from 15 games out in his division to nine games ahead in the Atlantic? Think he might be a little psyched up at the prospects of going deep into the bonus round for the first time in his career?
After all, how long can you live off Denver’s eight-versus-one upset of Seattle in the ’94 first round?
Again, this was an absolute no-brainer for the 76ers. How often does a team get this close to securing home-court advantage for the post-season tournament? When it happens and you have the opportunity to obtain a center who isn’t intimidated matching up against Shaq, David Robinson, Tim Duncan or Arvydas Sabonis, you’ve got to seize the moment.
After all, who knows what’s going to happen next season? Who knows if the Knicks will be able to obtain Chris Webber from the Kings in a sign-and-trade? Who knows if Alonzo Mourning will be able to control his kidney problem and return in force for the Heat? Who knows if Mutombo will decide to remain in Philadelphia past this season?
In the meantime, GM Billy King and Brown have transformed the 76ers into the team to beat in the NBA.