Sixers likely to make deals

Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com reports that Sixers GM Billy King expects changes in the offseason. The Sixers need to address a lack of athleticism in the frontcourt and a lack of reliable shooting. The salary cap will be a big factor in determining what kind of moves are made.

The Sixers have Derrick Coleman and Matt Geiger's contracts coming off their cap after the 02-03 season. This additional room could allow Philly to dive into the free agent market. With players like Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Elton Brand, Antonio McDyess, Baron Davis, Rasheed Wallace and Lamar Odom likely to be free agents at that time, it is definitely an attractive proposal.

But should they trade for the best players available and not worry about their contract status? Or should they try to make a major deal that'd bring a player with only one or two years on his contract?

"There's probably a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C," said King. "You talk to people, and the plan tends to develop. If you're going for cap room, you've still got to put a team out there. We're not in a position where we're going to rebuild. There's no guarantee if you get cap room, you're going to get the player you want."

King said, "The whole premise is, can you get 'em? If you can't, then you're sitting there with a whole lot of cap room and you decimated your team. You're like, 'Now where do we go?'"

With Dikembe Mutombo having three years and almost $50 million remaining on his contract, he is a prime candidate to be traded. With the Western teams looking for a way to combat Shaquille O'neal, a trade for Mutombo could be a possibility.

When asked if any Western teams are calling to discuss Mutombo, King smiled and said, "Good try. I would never answer that." King did say that the Sixers have to improve their slow power forward/center combo of Coleman and Mutombo. "We're trying to get more athletic - that's the main thing," he said.

As for the Sixers' need for a shooter, King explained that they're "always looking for a shooter who fits the way we play. He's got to be able to do more than just shoot the basketball."

Via Phillyburbs.com

Philadelphia 76ers

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Ming dynasty could be on its way

Phil Jasner of the Daily News reports that Alex Carcamo is one of the free agents participating in the Sixers' mini-camp. Carcamo's story is like a lot of NBA hopefulls: junior college, small Division 1 school, overseas pro leagues. Alex Carcamo gets a little more attention than the other free agents these days because of who he's played against.

Carcamo played in China's pro league against 7-5 center Yao Ming.

Carcamo averaged 32 points for Shenzhen, his Chinese team, and scored 49 and 36 points in two games against Yao's Shanghai Sharks, losing both.

Yao averaged 32.4 points and 19 rebounds per game for the Sharks during the season and increased those numbers to 41 and 21 during the Chineese championship playoff series.

"I think he's a phenomenal player," Carcamo said. "You can't teach athleticism, and for 7-5, he's athletic. He passes well out of double teams; he's a finesse player right now, but he works hard.

"I think he'll be a great player as long as somebody works with him. Not too many coaches work with big men these days. It's as if, once they're in the league, they're expected to know the fundamentals. The league in China is good and competitive, but a lot of the coaches there don't work with the big men. Ming is going off his athleticism right now."

"Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning are two of the best centers in the NBA, and Ming is more skilled than they are," Carcamo said. "He just needs body weight. You can't teach Shaq to shoot 15-footers smoothly. They say Yao doesn't play inside, but he can play to the basket, can play good defense, can block shots."

Via Philadelphia Daily News

NBA Draft, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers

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Julius Erving sues in son's death

Rene Stutzman of the Orlando Sentinel reports: Basketball legend Julius Erving has filed a lawsuit against a security guard company and the developer of Alaqua Lakes, blaming them for the death of his 19-year-old son, who drove into a retention pond and drowned two years ago.

Cory Erving disappeared May 28, 2000, setting off a major manhunt and weeks of agony for his family. His body was found five weeks later a half-mile from his home when the Seminole County Sheriff's Office dragged a small irrigation pond and found his car at the bottom.

Investigators concluded he was doing the same thing he had often done before -- taking a shortcut home on a dirt road used by Alaqua Lakes construction crews. This time, though, investigators theorized, he didn't see the pond, maybe because of debris piled up beside the road, and plunged into the water.

Erving's home was in a neighboring subdivision, Alaqua.

The lawsuit, filed in state circuit court Tuesday, makes two major accusations:

U.S. Security Associates Inc., the company that provided security guards at the entrance of Alaqua Lakes, knew Erving was on the property that day, should never have let him on the property and, once he went missing, never told anyone that he had been there.

Developer Taylor Woodrow Communities GP didn't have adequate fences or other barricades to keep people out and failed to post warnings that its property was dangerous.

Keith Bass, president of Taylor Woodrow Homes of Florida Inc., a partner in the development company, would not comment Wednesday, saying he hadn't seen the lawsuit.

There was conflicting information, though, about what the security company knew.

"We never suspected he was on the property," Vincent Farrell, local operations manager for U.S. Security, said Wednesday.

However, a sheriff's investigator interviewed security guard Shantel Crosby, who was working at the guardhouse on the day Cory Erving disappeared said a black male she didn't know drove up in a black car, asked for permission to drive in, and she let him. She said she remembered him because his seat was reclined so far back.

Cory Erving's car -- a 1999 black Volkswagen Passat -- was found in the pond with its driver's seat fully extended.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Julius Erving, a former NBA All-Star with the Philadelphia 76ers and now executive vice president of the Orlando Magic, did not return phone calls. Neither did his attorney, Madison B. McClellan of Stuart.

The suit names nearly two dozen defendants, many of them affiliates of Taylor Woodrow. It also names a land-clearing company and a lake inspection company.

The lake inspection company may have been named because its employees did not spot the car in the water, although they had checked the pond for environmental and irrigation problems several days after the accident.

The pond was in an undeveloped section of Alaqua Lakes, a wooded area where brush was pushed into piles to be burned.

Jeanette Pierre, a friend of Cory's, told investigators that Cory had once taken her on a wild ride through that undeveloped area in his mother's Mercedes Benz, spinning doughnuts and veering off the road.

An accident reconstruction expert estimated his speed the day he drowned at about 35 mph.

An autopsy found a small amount of cocaine in his blood, but officials concluded it was not a factor in the accident.

Via Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers

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