ESPN NBA

Updated: July 2, 2001, 3:37 PM ET

CWebb not the only name in demand

From the big names like Webber, Finley and Admiral, to everyone else, it's time for free agency.

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By Marc Stein
Special to ESPN.com

There's a reason, friends, why half the NBA was traded last week in a 72-hour span.

Dallas' Finley is on the hot list of most-wanted free agents.

Reason being: It's much more financially friendly to shuffle salaries already on the books, as opposed to spending wildly in the summer.

That's the way teams think in the new NBA, where every owner not named Paul Allen or Mark Cuban is openly fearful of the forthcoming luxury tax. "Spooked" is the word used by Seattle president Wally Walker, and most of the other words in circulation are unprintable. No one wants to pay the dreaded dollar-for-dollar tax, which will be assessed to clubs with payrolls above $56 million.

Mind you, until a leaguewide audit is completed, that figure is just an estimate. The threshold could wind up a little higher than $56 million, or maybe a little less. So easiest thing, GMs figure, is to just stay as far away from the mid-50s as possible. Which could mean splitting up that meaty $4.5 million salary-cap exception between two players, as opposed to burning it on one body.

Still, there are roughly 150 free agents out there as of Sunday at 12:01 a.m. ... and the cap-less NHL isn't going to have all the fun. Come July 18, when the NBA's moratorium on signings and trades is lifted, there's going to be action. More trades, certainly, to follow those blockbusters involving Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Elton Brand and Jason Kidd/Stephon Marbury. The few teams way under the cap -- Chicago, Detroit and LA Clippers -- are eager for the opportunity to join in the wheel-dealing as third-party facilitators.

So you'll still need ESPN.com's annual Rough Guide to free agency. And here it is:

Fab Five

Mavericks swingman Michael Finley: He might be going somewhere ... on a recruiting visit or two. Just to remind the Mavs' faithful not to take his return for granted. But that's as far as it goes. Every other team in the league does see Finley's return to Dallas as a formality, even if he caused a nervous heartbeat or two last month by declining to show at a local awards banquet he historically attends.

	Mutombo

Knicks guard Allan Houston: It's not quite a Finleyesque formality, but it's close. No one expects Houston to be sporting anything other than Knicks colors for the max unless team and player work together on a sign-and-trade.

	Anderson

Next Five

Sixers guard Aaron McKie: Should the Spurs make the determination that Anderson isn't worth the cash he seeks, expect them to look here. With his defensive prowess and toughness -- Finals excepted -- McKie would make a fine Spur. Lots of teams would like him, actually, but Philadelphia remains foremost on that list and will fight to keep him.

	Mason

Rockets forward Maurice Taylor: Could just be a Webber smoke screen, but the recent buzz in Houston has the Rockets more excited about retaining Taylor and lining him up alongside Eddie Griffin than splashing out for the summer's marquee man. Taylor, for his part, is equally intent on re-signing, talking confidently about how much more he has to offer. We'll see. Figure for now that Taylor stays, with judgment reserved on the Griffin partnership.

	Williams

Hornets guard Eddie Robinson: Here's another athletic prospect on the rise (Miami's Bruce Bowen is another) who certainly boosted his stock in recent months. Charlotte's penny-pinching reputation isn't the real roadblock here, since it can only offer the $4.5 million exception because of cap constraints. It's the tough competition that has the Hornets worried; Robinson got calls from six teams Sunday when free-agency season opened and could be one of the summer's most chased commodities.

	Mohammed

Spurs center David Robinson: The Admiral heads an array of big names from a previous life. Were this 1996, or maybe even 1998, there would be an absolute frenzy surrounding such a dreamy array of Olympians. Not now, though. San Antonio, for example, is simply hoping Robinson re-ups for two more seasons and less than half of last season's $15 mil. Gregg Popovich flew straight to Hawaii once free-agency season started to sell the plan to Robinson immediately.

	Stockton

Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon: Again, if this is really the new plan, Dream might be right there with Mo Taylor atop the list of Houston targets -- ahead of Webber. It would certainly be nice, in the spirit of this Cal Ripken-Tony Gwynn summer, for Olajuwon to go out a Rocket. Especially since Seattle's Patrick Ewing, another free agent who hit the market a little late, is headed for his third team.

	Hardaway