Power Broker

It was such a strange time for the Lakers, that July of 1996. They pursued free agent Dale Davis as the long-elusive answer at power forward, a bullish rebounder and banger who would still be serving them well. But they didn’t want to get him.

Getting that starter was the backup plan, in case the Shaquille O’Neal chase ended in disappointment. But it came close to happening. So close that Davis and the Lakers already had a skeleton deal in place, both sides needing only to take a deep breath and pull the trigger, so close that Indiana Pacer President Donnie Walsh fretted his way into thinking he had lost the bid to re-sign Davis.

Here’s what might not have come close to happening:

The Lakers and Indiana Pacers in the NBA finals.

It’s not just that O’Neal might have stayed in Orlando and that Davis could have been in Los Angeles. If he had lost Davis, Walsh, needing a replacement at power forward, had decided on his backup target: Elden Campbell, a Laker free agent. And if that had gone down, Campbell couldn’t have been packaged with Eddie Jones to bring Glen Rice to Southern California.

It doesn’t take much imagination to see how things could have been so different in what is such a joyous time for the Lakers, this June of 2000. The 2-0 lead in the finals as the series heads to Conseco Fieldhouse comes in spite of Davis--he had nine points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes of the opener and 10 rebounds, nine points and two blocks in the Pacers’ loss Friday--and because of him.

He said no. The Lakers, risking everything, including Jerry West’s stomach lining, hung in the O’Neal derby a little longer. Both sides eventually got what they wanted. Then they got this nearly four years later, a finals that reminded how it all could have been so different--this matchup and, indeed, the entire look of the league.

Scenarios were many and the stakes were huge. Davis’ initial hope was to remain with the Pacers, the only NBA team he had known, at the time his home for all five years as a pro. And the Lakers’ priority, all along, was to land O’Neal. Problem was, the price could have been astronomical, and not necessarily financially.

What if they went after O’Neal and didn’t get him? After already trading the incumbent center, Vlade Divac, for a 17-year-old making the jump directly from high school, Kobe Bryant? And then didn’t sign anyone of real impact, and maybe even lost Campbell without getting anything in return?

So they recalculated, then developed, Plan B. Instead of one huge contract, for O’Neal, they could give two big contracts and solidify the front court that way, and still re-sign Campbell and end up three deep at center and power forward. There were certainly enough options in that free-agent class, even with Alonzo Mourning a lock to remain in Miami.

During many nights of July ‘96, West did not sleep, angst overcoming all else. During some of the days, as the middle of the month approached, the Lakers came very close to bailing from the O’Neal sweepstakes when they were convinced he would re-sign with the Orlando Magic. Not getting him would be a disappointment. Getting nothing at all would be a disaster. The risk was too great not to investigate options.

Signing two big men, instead of The One, was given strong consideration in the Forum offices. Maybe they should play it safe and pull the plug on the grand O’Neal and sign Davis and Brian Williams, or Williams and Dikembe Mutombo, or Mutombo and P.J. Brown, or Davis and Jim McIlvaine. Some combination, in the name of practicality over what could be a pipe dream.

“I was scared to death,” Walsh says now. “I really was. Whatever happened, I thought we were going to lose Dale. I thought we had a deal, then all of the sudden I heard Dale could end up with the Lakers.”

Davis was at the top of the list of alternatives. Williams was high up there, too, and the feelings were mutual from each player to the Lakers.

“Within a day, all that fell apart,” Walsh said. “Dale agreed to the deal we offered him. It [the uncertainty] didn’t last long.”

Davis got seven years and $42 million from the Pacers, not to mention the chance to get on with his life instead of having to react to whatever decision the Lakers made. What if Davis had waited out the Lakers and then they signed O’Neal and Indiana had already made another move? He got resolution and his first choice and a big-money deal that paid about the same as he would have gotten in Los Angeles, the other finalist.

“There were a lot of different factors determining where I was going to go,” Davis says now. “I tried to look at the spots that I would fit in best at, and this was definitely one of those options and definitely a good spot. I’m glad everything worked out for the best where I’m at. I just pretty much let everything take care of itself.”

The announcement of his deal with the Pacers came July 16, three or four days after the Lakers began to consider him, and some of the others, as serious fallback candidates. Laker owner Jerry Buss encouraged West to hang in there on O’Neal, that it was worth the gamble. Buss, of course, turned out to be right.

The Lakers got O’Neal for seven years at $120 million, maxing out the salary cap and making interest in other big men moot. Days after that, they signed Campbell, no longer a necessity in Indiana, for seven years and $49 million.

That left only the final scenario. This one, where O’Neal has on several occasions over the years spoken up about wanting a consistent power forward and now watches Davis hit his Lakers for 19 rebounds in the first two games of the finals.

“That’s something where you put yourself in different scenarios,” Davis said. “But at the rate he’s going, he doesn’t need any help.”

This rate, as in what is. Not what could have been.