Now that he's here, what are the Washington Bullets going to do with Gheorghe Muresan?
On draft night everything is kisses and candy, even for a second-round pick such as Muresan. But when it comes time to make the team, the NBA has one cold-blooded question to ask: Can he play? That's what the Bullets want to know about their 7-foot-7, 315-pound draft/project from Romania. As Bullets General Manager John Nash said, "It's time to see whether what we see is worth nurturing and developing."
The Bullets have virtually no idea what they've got besides a huge, enormous, gargantuan, Goliath of a man who, because of a pituitary problem, has grown nearly two feet taller than his father, and taller than anybody ever drafted in the NBA. "Just walking onto the floor, he ought to be able to contribute something," Nash said.
Muresan arrived in the United States Wednesday night. The Bullets will put him through a light workout today. They'll administer the most extensive physical exam they can concoct on Monday. If he passes, Muresan, who agreed to a non-guaranteed one-year $150,000 contract yesterday, will be turned over to Coach Wes Unseld for what amounts to a six-week pledge period. Either the kid will bail out and return to Pau, France, where his old team wants him back, or he'll show he has enough potential and toughness to merit a serious, serious look.
"I'm not looking at this the way others are," Muresan said through an interpreter. "I want to play as soon as possible."
Therein lies the first problem; Muresan needs an interpreter. In fact, at the news conference to introduce him to the locals yesterday afternoon, Muresan was accompanied by two interpreters, one who speaks Romanian, and the other French. English lessons will be set up immediately. The Bullets are encouraged by the fact that Muresan, who speaks French fluently, didn't know a word of it a year ago when he arrived in France to play. In the meantime? "He speaks French," Unseld said. "I used to speak French. I'll bone up on a few swear words."
After the language issue, there's the matter of Muresan's health. He had surgery recently to remove a growth from his pituitary, which had seriously altered hormone secretion and, thus, his size. Bill Sweek, the vice president for team sports at ProServ, and doubling as an interpreter for French, said that because the growth was close to the optic nerve, there was the possibility his vision could have been affected. Muresan said he feels fine now, but he isn't sure whether radiation or some further treatment will be needed. Sweek is frequently conducting conference calls with doctors in France -- the surgery was performed in Bordeaux -- and D.C. doctors are monitoring the situation. Herb Singer, a local internist, will be conducting his own extensive exam Monday.
Doctors in Portland (where the Trail Blazers considered drafting him) and France have suggested that with the growth removed, Muresan could have significantly increased stamina and strength. Does that mean he was simply tired, and not the slowest moving basketball player ever? Nobody knows just yet. One thing Sweek and Muresan point out quickly is that it wouldn't be in his best interest to play for more money (reportedly $500,000) in Greece where he wouldn't get nearly the quality of medical care he'd get here or in France.
So if he's healthy enough to play, and if the communication problem can be worked through, the Bullets will start on Muresan's movement. Reports from Europe have been that he has no movement. None. Nash likened Muresan to Utah's Mark Eaton, the slowest man in modern times to play regularly in the NBA. "We've got to improve his running skills," Nash said. "Can he get up and down the court?"
Wes, of course, wants to see if he can bang. What's the use of having a 7-7 guy (who, by the way, will wear No. 77 -- the Bullets having gotten an exception approval from the NBA) if he can't put the big hurt (sorry Frank Thomas) on somebody? Unseld watched a tape of Muresan against Arvidas Sabonis, once the best big-man prospect in the world before injuries and other problems reduced his game. "But the quality of the tape wasn't good," Unseld said. "It was very difficult to make judgments off what I saw. It looked like he had some offensive skills. I'm anxious to find out about the guy. Is the potential there? And can it be brought out?"
Asked about Muresan's ability to play with others, Unseld said, "You're getting too far ahead. ... Team and chemistry and that stuff is way down the road. We've got to see if he has the talent to be here."
When Unseld was asked to pose for pictures with his new pupil, he playfully shoved Muresan, inviting him to engage in a little low-post mayhem. One writer cracked that Unseld (265 if he weighs a pound) looked downright anemic standing next to Muresan. "He's got size," the coach said. "You can't coach it, you can't teach it and it's always a factor."
The question the skeptics are already asking is what's the difference between Muresan and Manute Bol, who stuck around for a few years but never became the player many thought he would. Unseld and Nash agreed that Muresan is probably already a better offensive player, doesn't have Bol's quickness and speed even in his dreams, but will be better prepared to hold his position in the low post.
So in the next six weeks, the Bullets have to find out if they can adequately communicate with Muresan -- interpreters have been given a list of basketball terms to translate -- if he's healthy, whether he has the skills, the mobility and strength to play in the NBA.
Muresan, who hasn't even played against the best talent in Europe, is simply trying to figure out America. On Day 1, he got stuck in traffic on New York Avenue and freaked out at his first sight/trial of a Stairmaster. Sweek said he thought Muresan was in a "general state of shock," at his transition. Liliana, Muresan's girl friend, said she was surprised to notice America had fat people. Unseld, it should be noted, rolled his eyes.
While playing in the NBA has become as fanciful a dream for kids overseas as it has on America's playgrounds, leaving his parents in Romania was exceptionally difficult for Muresan, particularly with his mother fighting cancer. Sweek said he pointed out the advantages of playing in Europe, which boil down to making a lot more money, getting precious playing experience and being closer to home. But coming to the United States meant, probably, better medical treatment. To use Nash's phrase, "The lure of the NBA internationally is huge."
So here the Bullets sit, with the largest basketball player in the NBA, a player who interested Trail Blazers and Bulls, teams with perennial title aspirations. The Bullets, with a maximum investment of $150,000, have no risk whatsoever. Maybe he fetches something in a trade. Should Gheorghe Muresan be able to play even a little, it will have been money well spent in a league where the horizons are ever expanding for basketball players who are also ever expanding.