The thinking is the Magic will revamp--and save a lot of money--by dealing Tracy McGrady to the Clippers, take both Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard as the first two picks in Thursday's draft and sell the new Magic to its fans. The Clippers were set on going for Kobe Bryant. But with the Lakers' apparent commitment to Bryant, it looks like he'll be out of play, court case notwithstanding. A deal that makes sense for the Magic is the No. 2 pick, Corey Maggette and then guys like Predrag Drobnjak, Melvin Ely and Chris Wilcox. The Clippers have traded their draft pick every time since the lottery began. Rudy Tomjanovich is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles tonight and meet Tuesday with Laker owner Jerry Buss and General Manager Mitch Kupchak. In a harried period for the Lakers, Tomjanovich appears to be the leading candidate to replace Phil Jackson as coach. Jackson was told Friday night he would not be back for a sixth season, after five seasons brought three NBA titles. Jackson assistants Kurt Rambis and Jim Cleamons have been told they will be considered for the vacancy, and the Laker list also includes former Laker coach and current Miami Heat president Pat Riley and former Seattle SuperSonic and Milwaukee Buck coach George Karl. According to NBA sources, neither Karl nor Riley has been contacted by the Lakers, so it is believed that Tomjanovich is the organization's first choice. The Mavs, according to team and league sources, would be willing to move any player, with the exception of Dirk Nowitzki, in an effort to land Shaquille O'Neal or Tracy McGrady. One trade possibility for the Bulls this week could be the 76ers and their No. 9 pick. General manager Billy King, a former Dookie, is said to be anxious to move up for Luol Deng. The Bulls could exchange picks and get center Samuel Dalembert in a package that includes Tyson Chandler. That would open the door to a trade of Eddy Curry and a major remaking of a more athletic, hard-working team in the image of general manager John Paxson. The race for No. 1 between Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafor looks to be a photo finish four days before the NBA draft. Maybe when Orlando Magic General Manager John Weisbrod and his staff meet today, they will break the tie. Maybe not. "I haven't asked them to cast a vote, but I get the feeling they'd be split down the middle," Weisbrod said Sunday. "It's a little bit of a dead heat. I don't have my mind made up." Okafor, 21, apparently had the early lead because he is three years older and played three seasons at the University of Connecticut. Howard, 18, is making the leap from Atlanta Southwest Christian Academy. Mavs assistant coach Del Harris still is awaiting word on Atlanta's decision on a head-coaching move. Harris has talked with the Hawks, but the team still has at least one other candidate to interview, Detroit assistant coach Mike Woodson. Harris is believed to be a front-runner for the position, if he wants it. The Nets are considering financial cutbacks with new ownership moving in, including trading their No. 1 pick and not re-signing Kenyon Martin if he gets a maximum contract offer. Denver and Atlanta are possibilities. Six days before the NBA draft the Suns may have given an indication of their greatest desire when they brought in point guards Shaun Livingston and Jameer Nelson for workouts Saturday at America West Arena. Kiki Vandeweghe said he plans to hold internal discussions today on the possibility of adding Frank Hamblen as an assistant. Hamblen worked under Jackson in L.A. and has stated an interest in the job. Vandeweghe said he has not asked permission to speak to the veteran assistant. The GM also said the status of Denver assistant T.R. Dunn remains in the air. Dunn's contract expires June 30. Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun told a Connecticut newspaper, the Register Citizen, he wouldn't be surprised if the Bulls pick Ben Gordon at No. 3. "I keep getting calls from GMs saying what an incredible athlete he is," he said. "And Chicago is a team that seems to have the most interest." The Celtics' interest is more likely to be commanded by Robert Swift, a 7-0 high schooler from Bakersfield, Calif., who has not worked out for teams. His only exposure has come in the McDonald's All-America game and the Roundball Classic. Dwight Howard has become a walking advertisement for SACA, a struggling private school of 300 students and the only one Howard has ever attended. And parents are buying it. They want their kids to be like Dwight. Enrollment is up more than 10 percent for the next school year. Interest has "probably tripled," the school's headmistress said. SACA spent the spring turning away applicants for the fall. Thanks to all of the exposure, the school is thinking big. Dwight Howard Sr., who helped start SACA's athletic program, said the school is working on adding a football team. Magic GM John Weisbrod would not comment about star guard Tracy McGrady, who league sources say will be traded. The Houston Chronicle reported that the Rockets are the front-runners, offering to send all-star Steve Francis, center Kelvin Kato and forward Cuttino Mobley to Orlando for McGrady. McGrady also has been linked with the Indiana Pacers. Pacers Chief Operation Officer Donnie Walsh, who said last week that he had spoken to the Magic about making a trade for McGrady, told the Indianapolis Star on Sunday that the Magic haven't spoken to him in a while. Sources said that the Magic wanted Ron Artest and Al Harrington, among other Pacers. "If there's going to be interest in doing a deal with us, [Weisbrod] is going to get back to me," Walsh said. "He hasn't done that. I don't know where it stands." State representatives The states that have the most high school graduates playing in the NBA, and the population of those states (in millions): State Players Pop. California 41 35.5 Illinois 24 12.7 Texas 21 22.2 Michigan 20 10.1 New York 19 19.2 Ohio 16 11.5 Georgia 15 8.7 Florida 13 17.1 Pennsylvania 13 12.4 N. Carolina 12 8.5 Indiana 10 6.2 Maryland 10 5.5 Jeff Benedict, an investigative journalist, wrote a just-out book, "Out of Bounds," about criminal behavior among NBA players. Two months ago, he and his publisher, Harper Collins, made a deal with ABC News, promising his first TV interview on his findings to "20/20." That piece, weeks in the making, was scheduled to air this past Friday. But Thursday, Benedict and Harper Collins were startled to learn that the piece had been postponed. It's now scheduled to air ? if it airs ? July 2nd, a bit of a throw-away night as it's the start of the July 4th weekend. An ABC News spokesman explained and insisted that the piece has simply been given a new air date, the result of variables created by Ronald Reagan's death, the NBA Finals and the re-positioning of a Madonna interview. Yet, there's an inescapable suspicion that such a last-minute change points to corporate considerations. Disney- owned ABC/ESPN is an NBA partner to the tune of $2.4 billion over six years in rights fees. Thursday night, an NBA source told us that NBA Commissioner David Stern "went nuts" and complained "to the top" of Disney when told that "20/ 20" was doing a piece about Benedict's unflattering book about the NBA. Sebastian Telfair, the 5-foot-11 point guard from Lincoln High School in New York, has a six-year contract with Adidas that could be worth $15 million if he hits certain incentives, according to published reports. He has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but still remains for many the most difficult player to project in the draft. "We're not overly impressed with his game," an Eastern Conference talent evaluator said. That opinion was expressed by a few teams earlier this month during the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago. Danny Ainge, the Boston Celtics' director of basketball operations, said that while teams "don't want to pass up the chance to draft a potential superstar," drafting high school players is hard "because I've seen a lot of great high school players go to college and then never get drafted." His point was that some players peak during high school and others way beyond. That's why so many NBA teams will be rolling the dice when the long list of high school players is chosen in this year's first round. Although Shaquille O'Neal is not as active as he once was, not as dominating as in the past, he is still unlike any other player in the NBA. He remains a load to defend, plus an unselfish passer if teams deploy a second defender on him. Kobe Bryant, if he weren't so full of himself, should have been able to see that the team would have been his in time as O'Neal ages, that the transition could have occurred incrementally the next couple of seasons, and without rancor. If the Spurs are unable to get the one or two players they have targeted, they likely will again try to trade out of the first round, where players receive guaranteed contracts, and preserve their salary-cap room for free agency. For now, this season's priority is re-signing Manu Ginobili. Bruce Bowen and Hedo Turkoglu also are free agents. Player personnel directors for three other teams think the Spurs like Anderson Varejao, a 6-foot-10 forward from Brazil, and Viktor Khryapa, a 6-foot-9 Ukrainian forward, though one Western Conference official cautioned that after the lottery picks, this year's draft is particularly difficult to predict. Odds at the MGM Mirage in Vegas for the 2005 NBA champ favor San Antonio (3-1) over the Lakers (7-2) and Pistons (5-1) A Milwaukee woman is suing Alex English after the former Nuggets star moved to evict her from the house he bought for her after fathering two children with her. Regina Russell filed a counterclaim against the NBA Hall of Famer in Milwaukee County Small Claims Court on June 11 seeking to maintain the residence, receive the title to the house - which English bought in 1989 - and force him to pay the $91,000 remaining on the mortgage. Shaq isn't worried about an L.A. rivalry if he stayed with the Lakers and Kobe signed with the Clippers. Said Shaq: "Like, Napoleon wouldn't have had a rival with a guy that had one sheep and one cow and no army." Ouch! "Watch movies, talk on the phone, play PlayStation. That's about the only thing an 18-year-old can do," said Dwight Howard, when asked what he does in his free time. ... Pistons star Ben Wallace had national contracts with American Express, video game manufacturer Sega and shoe maker And 1, said Seattle-based agent Brenda Lundberg. Lundberg said she compiled two pages of requests for endorsements, promotions, personal appearances and help for charities in the three days following Detroit's victory. "His value has definitely increased with the championship, as with any athlete," she said. Bill Strickland, Rasheed Wallace's agent, said his client has been under contract with footwear maker Nike "for some time." He declined to discuss post-championship offers in detail. Former Cleveland star Mark Price is scheduled to audition Tuesday for the Cavs' FSN Ohio gig. And he'll land the job, too, as long as he doesn't flop spectacularly during his audition. Top 5 Small Forwards: Josh Childress, 6-7, 196, Stanford: The Pac-10 Player of the year has quick feet and good ballhandling and passing skills. He shot 49 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free-throw line. He also is a good defender. Luol Deng, 6-8, 220, Duke: This 19-year-old native of Sudan has the might and moxie to score on the low block, as well as from the perimeter. He averaged 15.1 points and 6.9 rebounds and had six double-doubles. Has good court vision and solid ballhandling skills. Bryant Matthews, 6-8, 215, Virginia Tech: Four years of college saw him improve each year until he averaged 22.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.5 steals as a senior. He possesses great speed, strength, spring and lateral quickness. James Moore, 6-7, 210, New Mexico State: Another four-year college product, this Chicago-area native will have to make the transition from power to small forward for the pros. He averaged 15.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.9 steals as a senior. Donta Smith, 6-7, 215, Southeastern Illinois: He made the junior-college All-America first team after averaging 25.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists and shooting 54 percent from the field and 81 percent from the line as a sophomore. He can play three positions. Tomorrow marks the 10-year anniversary of Game 7, the John Starks Game. He was 2-for-18 that night and 0-for-11 from 3-point range at the Summit in Houston ? a horrific shooting night that cost Pat Riley's Knicks the championship, cost Ewing his best chance at a ring. The Knicks still haven't won a title going on 31 years. Despite one of the most tragic nights in Knick history, Starks, the former supermarket clerk, has remained a Garden folk hero and escaped becoming basketball's Bill Buckner. Starks is given a standing ovation every time he attends a game and is introduced. He is now the head coach of the Westchester Wildfire of the ABL, preparing for a playoff series next week, likely in Dodge City. Benmaler.com
