Jordan leaves Wizards, Collins up in the Air

Dick Heller of the Washington Times asks whether Michael Jordan will return or not. “It isn't fair to anybody to keep people guessing, least of all your friend Doug Collins,” he writes. “There is no way Collins can get the Wizards properly structured and prepared without knowing Michael Jordan's intentions. If you choose to believe that Michael is meditating in a dark room about whether his aching knees can survive another season, that's your privilege. I think he's simply biding his time to make the most dramatic entrance possible.”

Heller adds that there is nothing Collins can do or say to Michael about the situation. Collins may be Jordan’s coach, but Jordan hired Collins. And once Jordan re-re-re-retires, he will go back to being Collins’ boss.

When Joe DiMaggio quit baseball in 1951 at the age of 37, the writers alertly asked him why. "Because I couldn't be Joe DiMaggio anymore," replied the Yankee Clipper, trading modesty for candor.

Think about that, Mike — and for heaven's sakes make up your mind.

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Manley's comments draw response from Jazz

Tim Buckley of the Desert News gives us the Jazz rebuttal to comments made by agent Dwight Manley. Manley, who is the agent for Utah forward Karl Malone and free agents Donyell Marshall and Bryon Russell, blasted the Jazz for their handling of Russell and Marshall’s free agent negotiations.

"Dwight has his own opinion," said Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's vice-president of basketball operations. "Whatever opinion he has is his own. "If he had something to say to me," O'Connor added, "he should have called me himself."

With their backs against the luxury tax limit, the Jazz informed Manley that Russell would not be offered a contract this summer. It also appears that the Jazz recently refused a sign and trade offer for Russell. Multiple sources said Saturday that the Jazz turned down an offer from Michael Jordan's Washington Wizards to swap veteran swingman Hubert Davis guard Tyronn Lue for Russell.

If the Jazz want to remain under the tax limit, they would probably not be able to offer a deal to Marshall and accept more salary in a sign and trade for Russell. Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings have emerged as a suitor for Marshall. A Sacramento Kings front-office official would neither confirm nor deny his team's interest in Marshall on Saturday, but their president, Geoff Petrie, suggested that inquiring about another team’s free agent is not unusual.

"Standard operating procedure is to at least call people and see what they are doing," and it's safe to assume Sacramento did just that with several of the league's top free agents, Petrie told the Sacramento Bee. "But a lot of guys," said Petrie, who was speaking generally and did not identify Manley by name, "run around after you talk to them and use that to try to get what they want from other teams."

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Signing Hamilton not in Wizards' interest

John N. Mitchell of the Washington Times suggests that Richard Hamilton should wait for an extension on his rookie contract. Hamilton is coming off a career best season where he averaged 20 points per game and has stated that he wants to be involved in the rebuilding process. He has certainly positioned himself to be eligible for a big-money extension this summer, so why make him wait?

Cap room.

If the Wizards give Hamilton his extension now, the Wizards' blockbuster trade to remove the stranglehold Juwan Howard's contract had on the franchise, as well as the buyouts of the over-inflated contracts of Mitch Richmond and Rod Strickland, will have been for naught.

Mitchell writes that it has become clear that the Wizards were not focusing on the pursuit of one-time free agents Vince Carter and Paul Pierce last summer. Rather, the space the Wizards have spent the last two seasons sweeping away is for the purpose of making a run at top-tier players like Tim Duncan and Jason Kidd, the gemstones of the 2003 free-agent class. If Hamilton waits for the Wizards to re-sign him next season rather than insisting upon having his deal done this summer, the Wizards will find themselves in a win-win situation.

By waiting until next summer to extend Hamilton, the Wizards will be able to use the $10 to $12 million in cap room to entice a big name free agent to sign on. After the cap room is extinguished, then re-signing Hamilton should be a priority.

"I think it's a no-brainer [to hold off on signing Hamilton]," said an NBA source with knowledge of the situation. "Their front office has done an excellent job. They've brought in some very good young talent, players that have value. Now they need that legitimate superstar player to make it all come together."

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