ROUNDUP : Warriors Finally Get a Center in Seikaly

The Golden State Warriors acquired center Rony Seikaly from the Miami Heat for forward Billy Owens on Wednesday, two days before the opening of the NBA season.

At 6 foot 11 1/2, Seikaly is the type of center long sought after by Warrior Coach Don Nelson, who can now move Chris Webber, a contract holdout, back to power forward.

The Heat also received the rights to 6-6 guard Predrag Danilovic, the Warriors’ second round pick in the 1992 draft.

For Owens, the timing of the trade was familiar. As a rookie, he was dealt to the Warriors from Sacramento on Nov. 1, 1991, the night that NBA season started. In three years with Golden State, he averaged 15 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Like Owens, Seikaly played at Syracuse before being the ninth player selected in the 1988 draft, the Heat’s first. He has averaged 15.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in six years with Miami.

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Dennis Rodman was suspended without pay by the San Antonio Spurs for the first three games of the NBA season because of his recent behavior.

“This action is not taken lightly,” General Manager Gregg Popovich said in announcing the length of Rodman’s suspension.

“It is my sincere hope that Dennis will decide to become a productive part of this basketball team.”

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Less than an hour before his car was involved in an accident, Roy Tarpley of the Dallas Mavericks was ticketed on the North Dallas Toll Road for driving nearly 92 m.p.h. in a 55-m.p.h. zone at 2:50 a.m. Saturday, officials said.

At 3:41 a.m., Tarpley’s black 1986 Mercedes was involved in an accident, sustaining heavy damage to the right front when it hit a utility pole in north Dallas. Tarpley said he loaned his car to a friend after he and his wife were dropped off at their residence.

Tarpley, recently reinstated after a two-year absence from the NBA for violating its drug policies, is expected to begin the season on the injured list.

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Phoenix Sun star forward Charles Barkley is questionable for the season opener Friday at Sacramento because of a strained stomach muscle. Barkley sat out practice Wednesday but said he was leaning toward playing.

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The agent for Glenn Robinson, saying the Milwaukee Bucks are portraying his client as a “greedy little black athlete,” is angered with the club for going public with its contract offer.

Agent Charles Tucker initially said neither he nor Robinson, the top pick in the NBA draft, was bothered by the Bucks’ decision to hold a news conference Oct. 17 to disclose their $60-million guaranteed offer. The Bucks also said Robinson was seeking $100 million over 13 years.

But in Wednesday’s editions of the Milwaukee Journal, Tucker said he and Robinson are indeed upset.

“If it was their intention for Glenn to jump up and come in and sign, it didn’t work,” Tucker said. “If they want to portray Glenn as a greedy little black athlete, well, I look it as a business and it was something that was not a very productive way of doing things.”