And Payton's place? With the Heat?

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Ira Winderman

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ There is no debate. Or is there?

"I traded for Jason Williams because we needed a starting point guard," Heat President Pat Riley said Friday.

That trade, of course, was back on Aug. 2, when Gary Payton still was perceived as a big-ticket item in free agency, one seemingly beyond the Heat's grasp.

Now Payton is here. And now the issue could be how Williams reacts to the latest in a career-long string of challenges.

During his final year with the Kings, Williams often lost out on meaningful late-game minutes to Bobby Jackson. Then, over the past three years in Memphis, those same crucial minutes often were spent on the bench in favor of Earl Watson.

Now a future Hall of Famer is waiting in the wings.

"I don't think your best players or most talented or most versatile players will necessarily start," Riley said the day after signing Payton.

While that might have worked with Riley's championship Lakers, when...

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