Hornets’ Rice Faces Elbow Surgery

The Charlotte Hornets face the likelihood of beginning the season without leading scorer Glen Rice, who plans to have a bone chip surgically removed from his right elbow.

Rice said doctors have told him the normal recovery time following the arthroscopic procedure is 3-6 weeks, meaning that if the surgery is done this week, he could be sidelined nearly the first four weeks of the season.

“Not having Glen from the start will be a real challenge,” Hornet General Manager Bob Bass said Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. “We are waiting for Glen to get some additional opinions on the injury.”

Rice has averaged 21.6, 26.8 and 22.3 points in three seasons in Charlotte and is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA.

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With Michael Jordan retired, the six-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls are taking a cue from baseball’s Florida Marlins and having a fire sale. Plans A and B are in the trash, so the Bulls will rebuild with youth, General Manager Jerry Krause said.

The big payoff is expected to come this summer. The Bulls are clearing out so much room under the salary cap with the sign-and-trade deals of Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr and Luc Longley that they’ll be major players in the free-agent market--just in time to make runs at Penny Hardaway, Ray Allen and Grant Hill.

Until then, however, it’s probably going to be pretty ugly. With only four players--Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, Randy Brown and Keith Booth--under contract, new coach Tim Floyd is bracing himself for a rough debut.

“He [Krause] really believes that maybe taking a step back a little bit early will allow us to get to the championship level quicker than what other teams have been able to do in the past. I have to believe in that,” Floyd said.