WITH THE SMOKE CLEARED, COMMENTARY CONTINUES ON HOWARD CASE

     The NBA "threw down the gauntlet with its handling of the
Juwan Howard case," according to Roscoe Nance of USA TODAY.
Pacers President Donnie Walsh: "What the league did was send a
clear message that you can't withhold contracts even if they are
verbal, which is different from the past" (USA TODAY, 8/14).
ESPN's Jack Ramsay said "it was apparent that the league did not
want Howard to go to Miami for whatever reasons.  And there is
speculation by impartial teams around the circuit that maybe this
was the league's way of saying to Micky Arison you can't spend
unlimited money on player salaries because it violates the spirit
of the salary cap.  Maybe it's a way of keeping Pat Riley in
line.  Maybe it's a way of saying to David Falk, you don't run
the league, David Stern does" (ESPN, 8/13).