O'Neal is nice for L.A. but needed in Orlando

Sporting News, The, July 15, 1996 by David Moore

The Magic are determined to hold onto monster center Shaquille O'Neal and the bright future he ensures.

The Lakers are poised to steal him away as they alter the direction of their franchise.

Let the decimal points on O'Neal's new contract flow.

Michael Jordan. Juwan Howard. Dikembe Mutombo. Gary Payton. Reggie Miller. Mose are just a few of the record number of free agents who should increase their salaries dramatically. Free agents hit the open market Tuesday. No free agent, however, stands to make more than Oneal. lbe Magic must re-sign the 24-year-old force of nature or fan back into the middle of the Eastern Conference pack. The lakers, meanwhile, cleared salary-cap room to make a major run for O'Neal by sending center Vlade Divac to Charlotte. Other teams have an interest but in the end, the battle appears to be between Orlando and Los Angeles.

"I do not envision a long process," says Leonard Armato, O'Neal's agent. "I imagine that any team that has an interest will express it immediately and will be ready to provide a proposal that has been thoughtfully constructed.

"We are not interested in going back and forth in any kind of bidding war. This is not just about money. It's more about the feeling of long-term satisfaction."

There have been published reports that Orlando has offered O'Neal a four-year deal worth $54.7 million. Armato said the Magic have yet to put an offer on the table. Privately, Orlando officials say they are willing to offer more than the $54.7 million figure that has been reported. John Gabriel, Orlando's vice president of basketball operations, indicated earlier this month that the club could supplement O'Neal's salary by providing him with marketing opportunities with Amway, the company run by Magic owner Rich Devos.

Devos has taken the stance that he will pay O'Neal what it takes to keep him and nothing more. At this level of negotiations, with the money O'Neal already pulls down in salary ($5.7 million in 1995-96) and endorsements, this could be a dangerous attitude.

Does O'Neal view that as a negotiating stance or a slap in the face? If the Lakers make the first offer, will that be enough to nudge O'Neal in L.A.'s direction even if the Magic offer more? If O'Neal leaves, will free agent Horace Grant who said he doesn't intend to resign with Orlando if O'Neal is no longer part of the team, be far behind?

If the Lakers can't sign O'Neal, they will turn their attention to Howard or Mutombo.

The Magic need O'Neal. If he goes, they don't have the salary-cap room to replace him. That's why Orlando must pay more.

Hired help

Lon Babby isn't a household name, and most agents would like to keep it that way. Babby is a Washington lawyer. He represents Detroit's Grant Hill, Minnesota's Cherokee Parks and Georgetown's Jerome Williams, a Pistons' first-round pick.

What Babby has never understood is why sports agents take such a large percentage of a player's contract. In the entertainment field, the agent often finds work for the client. But in sports, where players are drafted or traded and a rookie wage scale is in place, the role of an agent is n-minimized.

Babby forgets the 4 percent cut most agents get and bills the player as he would any client that needs legal expertise. He is retained on an hourly basis.

"My view is the player, through his hard work and talent, creates the value, not the agent or anyone else," Babby says. "My approach to this is, `You created the value, you keep it.' I get paid for my time spent maximizing the value you created."

Hill signed a $45 million contract with the Pistons out of college. The traditional agent's cut would have been $1.8 million. Babby declines to divulge how much he charged Hill, but said, "At my hourly rate, I would have to work on Grant's contract and nothing else for three years to charge $1.8 million."

Babby negotiated Hill's shoe contract at the same hourly rate, and agents often charge 10 percent or more on these deals.

"I think every player needs to look at the alternatives," Babby said. "The more traditional approach may well be right for some players. But too often, players don't analyze all their options."

David Moore covers the NBA for the Dallas Morning News. Smaun Powell's column will return in next week's issue.