http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1089793504199110.xml Cap woes hamper Hornets N.O. misses out on two of its top choices Wednesday, July 14, 2004 By John Reid Staff writer LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- Two of the top free agents the Hornets had targeted will sign today with other teams. Hornets general manager Allan Bristow said Tuesday at the Southern California Summer Pro League that the team was unable to sign shooting guard Stephen Jackson or center Michael Doleac. "We tried to do everything we could, and we gave it our best effort," Bristow said. "But now we'll target somebody else, because we have roster spots. We're not short on people calling us. But we have to make sure that the right people are calling us." Today is the first day free agents can sign. Jackson is expected to re-sign with the Atlanta Hawks, then be traded to the Indiana Pacers for Al Harrington to complete a sign-and-trade agreement. Last week, Jackson agreed to a six-year, $44 million deal. The most the Hornets could offer Jackson was a six-year, $38 million mid-level exception because of salary-cap restraints. Doleac, a free agent who played last season with the Denver Nuggets, would have filled the Hornets' need for a backup center. Bristow said negotiations with Doleac's agent, Glenn Schwartzman, lasted until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. "The Hornets offered a competitive four-year deal, and it came down to deciding between two really good offers," Schwartzman said. "But the lure was that Michael wanted to play on the same team with Shaquille O'Neal (who is expected to be traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Heat today)." The trade that will bring O'Neal to the Heat is resonating across South Florida. Salespeople at the team's ticket office couldn't keep up with the volume of calls Tuesday, and a trendy South Beach nightclub said it will set aside a permanent table for O'Neal's nightclubbing needs. The Heat is expected to send Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a first-round draft pick to the Lakers for O'Neal, a 7-foot-1 former LSU standout. Meanwhile Kobe Bryant, O'Neal's former teammate in Los Angeles, hasn't tipped his hand on where he will play next season. Bryant, an unrestricted free agent, listened to proposals from the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Bryant will be eligible to receive a starting salary equal to 105 percent of his 2003-04 salary of $13.5 million. Other free agents whose plans are not known are Rasheed Wallace of the champion Detroit Pistons, Erick Dampier of the Golden State Warriors, Karl Malone of the Lakers, Vlade Divac of Sacramento, Derek Fisher of the Lakers, Darius Miles of Portland and Kenyon Martin of New Jersey. Martin was weighing whether to sign an offer sheet with Atlanta or Denver after sign-and-trade discussions between the Nuggets and Nets broke down. Malone, puzzled by the breakup of the Lakers, was being courted by the Spurs. Bristow said the Hornets are in negotiations to re-sign forward-center Robert Traylor, who has received interest from five other teams. The Hornets would have pursued Traylor even if they had obtained Doleac, Bristow said. The Hornets have not been in serious negotiations to re-sign Courtney Alexander, Shammond Williams, Steve Smith or Stacey Augmon, Bristow said. They all played last season with the Hornets and are free agents. Only Alexander is a restricted free agent, meaning the Hornets can match any offer he receives and keep his rights. But the Hornets want to be certain that Alexander has recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon, which forced him to miss all of last season, before they offer him a guaranteed deal. The Hornets had hoped the recent hirings of Scott and Hall of Famer Willis Reed would help attract free agents. But the Hornets didn't have enough room under the cap to outbid other teams. "A lot of guys that we looked at -- and had a really good chance at getting -- are getting maximum mid-level exception contracts," Scott said. "It's something that you can't fault those guys for taking the money. If you only got a certain amount of money and guys are getting deals way over it, there's not much you can try and present them with." . . . . . . . The Associated Press contributed to this report. John Reid can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

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