Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 29, 1990 TAG: 9006290788
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Coles, drafted by Sacramento then swiftly traded by the Kings to Miami - but not before he thought he'd been traded to the New York Knicks - chatted with reporters Thursday wearing a black Orlando Magic baseball cap.
"I didn't realize I had it on until I looked in the mirror," said Coles, who said he absent-mindedly donned the cap when he had to drive his brother to a basketball camp Thursday morning. "They're probably Miami's rival team."
Sacramento drafted the former Virginia Tech star with the 40th overall pick in the second round of the draft. A half-hour later, the Kings traded him to Miami for guard Rory Sparrow. But shortly after he was drafted, Coles was told by a friend watching the draft that there had been a three-way trade and that Coles was headed to New York.
A few minutes later, however, Miami coach Ron Rothstein called Coles to welcome him to Miami.
While Coles was getting accustomed to the Heat, the team's officials were preparing to become friendly with Coles. Stu Inman, the Heat's director of player personnel, quizzed a reporter about Coles' attitude and personal background, then said he will ask Coles to report to Miami the week of July 10 to prepare for rookie camp, which runs from July 24 to Aug. 2.
By the end of rookie camp, Inman said, Coles' play will have determined his immediate future with the club. He said Coles has a "great chance" to make the team and said he sees Coles playing point guard and shooting guard.
"I think there's a certain kind of sophistication he has; he's been through a lot," Inman said. "I don't know Bimbo Coles as well as I would like to know him as a person. I've always said the mind separates more players at our level than the body does. How I would perceive his drive, his persistence. . . . You see it in his play."
Coles' point-guard skills have been questioned, but Tech coach Frankie Allen brushed off those doubts.
"They say those things," Allen said of Coles becoming a distributor, "until you need points and, all of a sudden, he goes out and gets you 30. That can kind of change your philosophy."
Inman said Coles was one of two players still available that Miami wanted when Sacramento called about a trade. He would not name the other player. He said he was surprised that Coles, whom many predicted would be a first-round choice, still was around halfway through the second round. Once Boston - which was looking at Coles and Dee Brown of Jacksonville for its first pick (19th overall) - selected Brown, Coles began slipping.
"So many guards went in the first round," Inman said, "that whoever might be the next [best] guard drifted a lot further than you'd think. And, [Coles] was not coming off a glorious senior year."
One of Coles' agents, Randy Vataha, estimated that being a second-round choice may cost Coles $200,000 or more in annual salary in his first year or two in the NBA. A mid-second rounder this year, such as Coles, might make about $200,000 for one or two years, Vataha said. He added that the minimum NBA salary for a second-round pick is $140,000 for a one-year contract.
Thursday, Coles was in good humor as he discussed his NBA future with reporters. Asked if he would become involved directly in his contract negotiations, he said, "I think I'll let [agent] Bob Woolf handle that. He's been doing it longer than I have."
Coles also said his second-round selection will make him put off for at least a year considering an offer from baseball's California Angels, who drafted him in the 53rd round of the baseball draft in early June.
"I should get in the NBA before I say I'm going to play baseball, too," Coles said.
Coles may work in Miami but not necessarily live there. He said his mother, Darlene, bought him a five-bedroom house in his hometown of Lewisburg, W.Va. But, he said, he also may acquire a residence in Roanoke if he takes what he called a "pretty good summer job" - selling commercial real estate with Tech alumnus Dave Saunders and Coles' friend and former Hokie quarterback Cam Young, both of whom work for Waldvogel, Poe & Cronk.
Coles will be among acquaintances in Miami, too. He roomed with Heat center Rony Seikaly at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo.
by CNB