The oft-troubled and oft-traveled Shawn Kemp was a member of the Orlando Magic less than 24 hours when the questions starting flying fast and furious.

No subject, seemingly, was off limits. And, much to his credit, Kemp calmly answered all the queries -- ranging from his weight issues to his past drug problems, his willingness to play a lesser role with the Magic to his rapidly dwindling athleticism.

Then, Kemp cocked his head back, flashed a crooked smile and stated the obvious.

"I'm sure," he said, shaking his head now, "this is a risk for the Magic. But it's a risk for me too, career-wise."

Or more correctly, what's left of Kemp's once-promising basketball career. There was a time when the sky seemed to be the limit for the freakishly talented 6-foot-10 power forward affectionately nicknamed "The Reign Man." But in the end, maybe that just made his fall even harder and more precipitous.

Now 310 pounds, a two-time offender of the NBA's anti-drug policy and coming off embarrassingly low scoring and rebounding averages, Kemp's arrival in Orlando earlier this month seemed more like an end rather than a new beginning.

But here's the true kicker: The Magic, dangerously thin along the frontline after ridding themselves of an aging Patrick Ewing and an undersized Don Reid, needed Kemp just as much as he needed them. Some might say this was more a mismatch than some sort of match made in heaven.

"The way I see it, this is a situation that's going to benefit both of us," Kemp said of his new team. "Other teams offered deals, but this was the most intriguing. Talking to them, they know who I am now. They've done their homework and talked to certain people out there. The question in their minds was, 'Does he still want to play?' That answer is yes."

The Magic are hardly the first team to take a chance on a player with a questionable background, hoping that the demons of the past will stay there. Predictably, some have worked out, while others have failed miserably.

At this time last summer, the Phoenix Suns were more than happy to unload All-Star Jason Kidd after his ugly arrest for spousal abuse. They traded him to New Jersey, figuring that Stephon Marbury was a younger, more explosive guard with less baggage.

A season later, Kidd was a model citizen while reviving the Nets and getting them in the NBA Finals. Marbury, meanwhile, feuded most of the season with Penny Hardaway, was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and flopped on the floor as a playmaker.

Some teams, such as the Portland Trailblazers, Miami Heat and Seattle Supersonics, are still paying for their mistakes in judgments. Portland traded for Scottie Pippen in 1999, feeling the six-time champion was the final piece that would get the Blazers to the NBA Finals. That never happened, and Pippen -- clearly on the downside of his career -- is set to make approximately $20 million this coming season.

Pat Riley took a similar gamble in Miami, luring guard Eddie Jones and power forward Brian Grant to South Florida with matching seven-year, $92.88 million contracts. As it turns out, both are fringe stars at best and have failed to produce superstar numbers since joining the Heat. Despite having three players making more than $10 million last season, Miami missed the postseason for the first time in Riley's 20-year NBA career.

The silver lining in the Magic's signing of Kemp is there was little financial risk involved. Kemp, who forfeited $15 million of the $46.5 million owed to him by the Blazers to become a free agent, signed a one-year, $1.03 million deal with the Magic. That's the minimum for a player with at least 10 years service in the NBA. And, under the league's collective bargaining agreement, half of Kemp's salary is paid by the NBA.

"If he can get his weight down and beat his addiction then we have us a really big guy who can give us something down low," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "If he can't get past his problems, then he needs to get some help and we really haven't lost anything."Gambles pay off

Some gambles, of course, do pay off for teams willing to risk the most.

Mark Cuban's free-spending ways often get the most attention in Dallas, but it's Donnie Nelson who might be most responsible for the resurgence of the Mavericks. Thanks to Nelson's pleading, June 24, 1998 may go down as one of the most important days in franchise history.

Nelson, then an assistant coach under his father, head coach Don Nelson, convinced the team to pull off a draft-day deal for German power forward Dirk Nowitzki and trade for point guard Steve Nash.

But the moves certainly didn't come without a few tense moments. Don Nelson won just 16 games his first season in Dallas (1997-98) and came under fire that summer when the Mavs traded away massive power forward Robert Traylor for Nowitzki, the little-known German star. Four days after the trade, the younger Nelson stepped up to defend his father and asked for patience from the fans.

"When people see (Nowitzki) play, they'll understand," Nelson predicted at the time. "People just aren't educated about this guy. To Mavericks fans, he's just a name. When people see him play it'll all make sense."

Later the next season, fans were wondering about Nelson's senses when Nash was floundering as the Mavericks' point guard. Playing with a bad back, Nash struggled with his shot and failed to live up the comparisons to Kidd -- whom the Mavs had traded away two years earlier. As infuriating as the calls for his father's job were, the boos and jabs directed at Nash, who is now one of the game's finest playmakers, were just as frustrating.

"I never heard anything so asinine," Nelson said. "Steve's never been a player driven by money. Money-driven people get lazy, but that's never been Steve. I knew it was just a matter of time before things worked out."Making Magic

Orlando's luck with gambles has been hit and miss. Without a doubt the biggest came in 1993 when the Magic traded away top pick Chris Webber for the aforementioned Hardaway. While Hardaway's stint in Orlando ended mostly in bitterness -- for both the Magic and Hardaway -- it's still hard to argue that Orlando didn't get the better end of that deal.

Hardaway was a two-time first-team All-NBA player during his prime and helped the Magic reach the 1995 NBA Finals. Webber, meanwhile, has helped build the Sacramento Kings into a powerhouse and has become a perennial all-star, but he has yet to reach a NBA Finals.

Filling the center position since Shaquille O'Neal bolted for the Los Angeles Lakers has been a source of constant headaches for the Magic. The Magic thought they had filled their void in the middle in 1998, signing Ike Austin to a free-agent deal. But Austin's weight problems of the past resurfaced in Orlando and he was traded away a season later.

Orlando gambled last July that Ewing had something left in the tank. But the 17-year veteran strained a hamstring just prior to training camp, hurt his calf and Achilles' tendon midway through the season and was hardly a factor. Before retiring, the Magic bought out Ewing's contract to avoid another embarrassing season in Orlando.

"When you have players who are starting over, there are different ways to look at it. There's a chance for both opportunity and risk," Magic general manager John Gabriel said. "In the case of Shawn (Kemp), this is a good addition for us. It's up to the player to make it work. It's up to Shawn now to get to work, fit in with our team and get himself oriented very quickly."