ESPN NBA

The ESPN writer makes some interesting points in his NBA.com chat.

Edsel (great name!) from Austin wrote in to say all the big names were under contract for several years, so didn't it seem like San Antonio was on the verge of a dynasty? Bucher replies:

The tricky part, again, is going to be maintaining their depth without spending more than owner Peter Holt can afford. They need to sign Nazr Mohammed this summer and find a way to keep Beno and Devin Brown. That's what makes them special. The Kings had depth and then spent all their money on Mike Bibby and Chris Webber and couldn't afford to keep their bench. You know where they are now.

It's hard to believe Nazr would make or break the dynasty, but certainly to win titles you have to have inspired role players. (Side note, I always notice Devin Brown. He goes for the jugular.)

Bucher goes on to predict the Pistons will win it all, and I think he's right, unless Larry Brown's dallying proves to be too much of a distraction.

Read on for a little Nazr Mohammed/Larry Brown story.Nazr Mohammed was in Philadelphia until the Sixers traded him away during the their magical 2001 season. During the playoffs, then-Sixers Coach Larry Brown had some of us reporters into his tiny little office in the bowels of the then-First Union Center.

The walls were essentially bare, except for one small picture of then-Atlanta Hawk Nazr Mohammed.

(Subtext: everything changes in the NBA, I guess.)

Even though it was very much a time to talk about the incredibly important games at hand, I couldn't help myself. I asked Coach Brown about the picture--was there some special reason this was his only decoration?

Coach Brown replied that he liked Nazr and was sorry to see him go. "He has been playing pretty well lately," he added, "so I moved him up higher on the bulletin board."

Only the top third of Nazr's photo had made it onto the bulletin board at all--the rest dangled below the bottom edge. There was about a yard of empty space above. I pointed this out.

"Well," replied Coach Brown, "you should have seen where he started."