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John Hammond: (4:00 PM ET ) I think the Denver Nuggets would have taken him for sure. Denver was in discussions with us on draft today in regards to moving up from three to two in the draft and I feel fairly assured they would have taken Darko.
John Hammond: (4:03 PM ET ) We will consider unloading a salary in the expanson draft, although it would not create enough cap space to resign Memo Okur. The reason being, the only way we can free up a large amount of cap space or have any cap space available this summer is to renounce the rights to Rasheed Wallace and we have no intentions of doing that. Therefore, our situation has not changed regarding any of those players. We've made it known we want to keep both of them. realizing that if someone offers Memo more than the mid level, he could choose to go with that team and we could lose him.
John Hammond: (4:05 PM ET ) When I was Larry's assistant coach, he said, "When you are winning, coaching is great and when you are losing, coaching stinks." The same is true in the front office capacity. So as Larry says, in my position, when we are winning the job is great, when we are losing it stinks. Thankfully the job has been great for three years.
John Hammond: (4:08 PM ET ) It would probably be better for the NBA if there was an age restriction. And for that matter, most professional sports would be better if there was an age restriction. But to be honest, I don't see us turning back. Last year's number one pick was right out of high school and this year's number one pick could be right out of high school. When will a high school player no longer be the number one pick? Time will tell. It could continue for a long time. In fairness to high school basketball players, other sports have players at the age of 18 or 19 playing immediately out of high school. Golf, tennis, soccer, baseball, hockey, and we could go on. So you can understand how a high school player would want to be a part of the NBA Draft.
John Hammond: (4:09 PM ET ) Yes, I do. I am a little biased because he is a player in our division and I like to see good things happen to teams in our division and conference. I really would have been surprised if he was not Defensive Player of the Year.
John Hammond: (4:12 PM ET ) There is an old saying that can apply to a lot of things, and it can definitely apply to job opportunities. And that saying is, "Some people don't know how good they got it, 'til they ain't got it no more." I know how fortunate I am to have this opportunity, to work in this organization, and to work with and for Joe Dumars. Still, with all of that being said, I think anyone in my position with drive and determination, would like an opportunity to be a GM someday and I am no different.
John Hammond: (4:14 PM ET ) Carlos is having a great season for his team in Italy. In fact as we speak, he is in Tel Aviv, Israel preparing to play in the European Final Four. We feel he will be a great fit with our team next year. The reason for saying this is that we think he can do two things, play backup two-guard, and play backup small forward to Tayshaun Prince. He is a tough competitor, he has a very good feel for the game, and knows how to play the game. For those reasons we are looking forward to having him next season.
John Hammond: (4:16 PM ET ) I don't know if they have responded any differently; both coaches have been quite effective. You can't take anything away from the job Rick did while he was the coach and obviously Larry Brown has done an outstanding job surpassing the regular season win total by getting to 53 this year. They are both great coaches; we were lucky to have Rick while he was here and we are extremely to have Larry here today as our coach.
John Hammond: (4:19 PM ET ) We are not expecting the cap to decrease for the upcoming season. Any luxury tax or salary cap issues will not be factors signing or resigning Rasheed or Memo. Within the collective bargaining agreement, our position is very strong in regards to resigning Rasheed Wallace and we do have some restrictions on resigning Mehmet Okur due to the fact we may only be able to match up to the mid-level. Once again, our hope is to have both players here.
John Hammond: (4:23 PM ET ) Just today we received a formal invitation for Darko to try out for the Serbia-Montenegro Olympic team. That is a great honor for Darko and we feel that it could be very beneficial for Darko. As you may know the Serbian Olympic Team will consist of almost all NBA players, so it could be a great summer of training and preparation for Darko. With his committment to that team, he may not participate in our summer league and we are all comfortable with that. Rather than have him for 10-12 days in our summer league, he has a chance to spend a month to two months that will help prepare him for next year's NBA season.
John Hammond: (4:26 PM ET ) Today, I think the toughest team is the Milwaukee Bucks. If we are fortunate enough to win that series, the toughest team will be the Nets. Joe Dumars has a saying, "Keep your head down and stay focused on what is in front of you." So today what is in front of us is the Milwaukee Bucks, after tomorrow it might be the New Jersey Nets, so let's stay focused.
John Hammond: (4:28 PM ET ) A lot of luck and hard work! There is not one simple clear path in achieving that goal. Some people do it through coaching as I have, some people do it through playing like Joe has, and some people do it through professional career paths with a law degree like Alan Ostfield. You can pick your own path and hope you get lucky along the way.
John Hammond: (4:34 PM ET ) In practice, he has been very impressive, not only to management and coaches, but also to his teammates. I think there is a saying that "No one knows players better than players." And Ben Wallace recently said that he has a chance to be real special. We have to remember that he is still only 18 years old and won't be 19 until June. The key word with Darko is patience. We compare Darko with many players, with one in particular being Jermaine O'Neal. Jermaine was with the Blazers for four years and played little to no minutes in that time. They traded him to Indiana; last year he was one of the best big men in the Eastern Conference; and this year he was an Eastern Conference All-Star and he may be considered the best big man in the Eastern Conference. He will walk into next year's training camp at just 25 years old. And we feel like Darkos's upside is greater and he can achieve these type of goals quicker than Jermaine O'Neal; but, we still have to be patient. Don't forget he is still 18, still growing (he is almost 7'1") and still has not shaved! Thanks for coming online to chat. It was great to be with you, look forward to doing it again!
