Nobody Bites As Bulls Dangle Pippen As Bait

It may be time for some discounting.

After its first week, the new Scottie Pippen Home Shopping Network hasn’t rung up a single sale, or that much interest.

“Jerry (Krause) is so intent on getting a deal that no one could refuse, I don’t think they’ll do anything with Pippen,” said one Eastern Conference general manager. “They’re looking for a young guy and multiple No. 1’s. Which tells you something.”

After a week of talks, Pippen is not going anywhere.

The Bulls asked Philadelphia about Jerry Stackhouse, the No. 2 pick and two future No. 1 picks. They also asked about multiple No. 1’s with Golden State and Denver.

Neither showed any interest.

“Why would I want to give up as many as three young players for a 32-year-old?” one general manager asked. “It isn’t like Pippen is going to walk in, and then your team is going to be great. You’ll be better, but weren’t they still a .500 team until (Michael) Jordan came back?”

That suggests that Pippen is still underrated in some quarters because he plays with Jordan. The Bulls, however, have countered that Washington gave up three first-round picks for Chris Webber, as did Golden State for Webber in a different trade. And isn’t Pippen better than Webber?

Not that there hasn’t been interest in Pippen. The Pacers, desperate for a small forward, said they’d get the Bulls a top-five draft pick and throw in players such as Erick Dampier and Travis Best. But the Bulls are asking for potential stars, such as Denver’s Antonio McDyess.

The Nuggets say they’ll make an effort to re-sign McDyess, who becomes a free agent after next season, so they have no interest in Pippen. But that could change this week as rumors persist that if McDyess isn’t traded to Chicago, he’ll try to join the Bulls as a free agent after next season.

But there’s another potential problem facing the Bulls regarding Pippen.

He hasn’t been too happy about how publicly the Bulls have gone about trying to deal him. And though he has said he wants to remain with Chicago, this episode could lead him to leave, much like Horace Grant did, unless he received a huge offer after next season. If the Bulls sense that, they may feel they have to take the best offer available this week and then worry about the consequences.

Trading places

Pippen is hardly the only All-Star whose name has come up in trade talks. In fact, you can almost make an Olympic team with the players who are not guaranteed to remain with their current teams.

Of course, Seattle’s Shawn Kemp has asked to be traded, although the Sonics appear ready to call his bluff and see if he’ll skip training camp. “We have to get better this summer,” said Seattle coach George Karl, “and trading Shawn Kemp doesn’t make us better.” But his name has come up in connection with Washington’s Webber (unlikely) and Milwaukee’s Vin Baker.

The Celtics also have continued to pursue Baker, but have less to offer after dealing Dino Radja to the 76ers.

The 76ers, with new coach and general manager Larry Brown, predictably have been active in talks, especially in trying to deal Derrick Coleman.

One possibility is Golden State, which has expressed some interest because it is looking to rebuild. So it would like to get rid of long-term contracts such as Latrell Sprewell’s and Donyell Marshall’s. So the Warriors would take Coleman and the 76ers’ No. 2 pick because dumping Sprewell may be key in getting Joe Smith to stay.

Brand X

A big surprise has been active talks regarding Cleveland All-Star guard Terrell Brandon. If the Vancouver Grizzlies had received the No. 2 pick, they believe they would have had a deal for Brandon. The Cavaliers reportedly don’t want to pay Brandon’s $7 million balloon payment for the 1998-99 season, and have talked with the 76ers for their No. 2 pick and perhaps Stackhouse.

The 76ers want to deal Stackhouse and make Allen Iverson the shooting guard. They also have talked about drafting a point guard such as Colorado’s Chauncey Billups if they keep the No. 2 pick.

Cool to Coleman

How much of a poison pill is Coleman? Utah’s Keith Van Horn has refused to work out for the 76ers, and the belief is, in part, because of Coleman’s presence… . The Lakers would like Vancouver’s No. 4 pick for Elden Campbell, and the Pacers in their small-forward search have talked to the Nets about Chris Gatling. Gatling, who says he can’t take the pressure of playing at home (he’s from New Jersey), and Washington’s Webber were two of the five former Golden State players who became All-Stars, along with Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Tom Gugliotta. Webber said he and Sprewell have talked about it at length. Webber said: “We had Gatling coming off the bench, Tim Hardaway, Spree, Mully (Chris Mullin), we had some great players. It would have been nice if we all could have stayed together. It’s kind of sad. It’s something you try to forget.”

Heating up

In New York, no one was a bigger fan of Hubert Davis than his former coach, Pat Riley. He may try to sign Toronto free agent Davis or Utah free agent Howard Eisley with the Heat’s $1 million salary-cap exemption… .Those Knicks just won’t quit. General manager Ernie Grunfeld: “We’d like to see their (Bulls) whole team come back. We’d like to get a shot at them ourselves. We still have a lot of young players who needed a year to find out what New York was about.”

Here’s a new one. Charles Barkley said he’s leaning toward playing the final year of his contract next season for $2 million for the good of the NBA: “I think I should do it for the good of the game and play for that measly $2 million. Everybody complains about money in this league. I’m thinking about coming back and not saying a word about my contract, just doing it to give something back because basketball has been very good to me. And, let’s face it, $2 million is still a lot of money.” …The Wizards’ new arena in downtown Washington won’t be ready until December.