Webber’s wish list: Heat, Pistons, Mavs, Spurs, Lakers
With his buyout from the Philadelphia 76ers on the verge of completion, Chris Webber has established a Fab Five wish list of high-profile teams he’d like to play for.
Webber told ESPN.com on Wednesday night that 17 of the league’s 30 teams have already called to register interest in his services, but the free agent-to-be hopes to sign with one of the following contenders: Miami and his hometown Detroit Pistons in the East; San Antonio, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers in the West.
“This is the best I’ve felt in three years,” Webber said in a phone interview. “Now the thing I want to do most is win a championship, put myself back on that kind of level.”
Webber didn’t divulge any order or preferences when listing those teams but did acknowledge that the Mavericks, believed to be offering less playing time than anyone in the group, was the least likely destination.
Early indications in San Antonio, meanwhile, suggest that the Spurs – whose desire to get younger and more athletic and the swing positions is well-chronicled – are unlikely to pursue Webber.
Each of the other three teams on Webber’s list, by contrast, does have a need and an interest.
Miami has major depth issues even when Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade are healthy and pursued Webber’s former Michigan teammate Jalen Rose when Rose was bought out by New York in November. The Heat, possessing their full mid-level salary-cap exception worth in excess of $5 million, also have the ability to outbid any of the aforementioned suitors, although Miami will stray into luxury-tax territory if it spends, say, $2 million to bring Webber in for the rest of the season.
The Pistons, sources said, immediately thrust themselves into the running, intrigued by the idea of adding the local legend as they continue to revamp their front line in the wake of Ben Wallace’s free-agent defection to Chicago.
Webber’s experience, size and game are also bound to appeal to the young Lakers, who recently lost two frontcourt starters to injury (Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown) and run an offense (coach Phil Jackson’s triangle) that could make the most of Webber’s passing skills.
“My father said I haven’t smiled on the court in about three years,” Webber said. “I just want to get back to playing with a smile on my face and playing with a team that can really vie for title. I want to be an integral part of a championship team.”
The 33-year-old added that he hopes to have his new address “by Monday, even though three or four teams want me by Friday.”
A new deal can’t happen that quickly because Webber must wait two business days to clear waivers once his buyout from the Sixers is made official. Webber said he expects paperwork on the buyout to be completed by Thursday morning at the latest.
Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com
马刺榜上有名…………但是波波已经明确表态对韦伯没有兴趣