Sparks looking for help
In an effort to replace a multitalented athlete, the Sparks will turn to multiple players.
Sparks General Manager Penny Toler, who began looking for replacements almost from the moment she heard Sunday that star forward Chamique Holdsclaw planned to retire immediately, said Tuesday that she expects 5-foot-10 guard Kiesha Brown and 6-5 center Iciss Tillis to be signed to free-agent contracts with the team by this morning, in time for a game tonight at Staples Center against the Houston Comets.
“I’d say it’ll happen as soon as I can get it done,” she said. “They will be there on the bench and playing in the next game.”
Space for both players, who are set to sign only for the reminder of the season, was cleared under the team’s $728,000 salary cap with the retirement of Holdsclaw, a six-time WNBA All-Star who earned the league-maximum salary of $93,000.
Holdsclaw decided to quit playing suddenly after eight-plus seasons, which included a run with the Sparks beginning in 2005.
“Obviously, it’s a big loss for the team. But this is part of sports,” Sparks co-owner Kathy Goodman said. “This is what Chamique Holdsclaw decided, and we respect her decision. We have the same goal, which is to win a championship.”
One of the most heralded players ever while in college, the 1999 WNBA rookie of the year was traded from the Washington Mystics to the Sparks in 2005. She was the Sparks’ leading scorer this season, averaging 15.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game.
Neither of the incoming players, by contrast, is expected to start. But Toler hopes each will be able to contribute to what must now become a more collective effort on the part of the Sparks.
“They were definitely the best players available at this point, and those are the players we’re going to go with,” Toler said. “They’re getting their physicals as we speak, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they’ll work out.”
Brown, 28, is a five-year pro out of Georgia who played three games with Minnesota this season and averaged 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds before she was cut.
She previously played for the Washington Mystics, Houston Comets and New York Liberty before the Lynx picked her up this season.
Tillis, 25, played for the New York Liberty in 2006, and averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 25 games.
Drafted out of Duke with the 11th pick in the 2004 draft by the Detroit Shock, Tillis caught Toler’s attention back then, and the general manager is hopeful that the player will be able to fully develop her potential with the Sparks. The Sparks could use her inside along with forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin because the team is also without center Lisa Leslie, a three-time league MVP.
Leslie is 8 1/2 months pregnant and awaiting the birth of her first child.
The Sparks are also without guard Temeka Johnson, who has been sidelined with a knee injury.
“We lose a lot, but we still have a lot left,” Toler said. “We have a good mixture of veteran leadership and young players, and I’m hoping that with all that, we still have a winning team.
“Hopefully, they will work out, but if not, then maybe we’ll make a trade. We’ll see how things go.”
According to Toler, no trades are currently in the works.
“I’m done for at least this week,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t think there’s anything else that can happen to us, and I’m knocking on wood as I say that.”
--