A Direct-Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) receiver and method of allocating probing correlators and combining correlators (fingers). A front-end processor converts received radio signals to baseband samples. Based on average path strengths, a controller adaptively allocates probing correlators to signal paths to de-spread certain received signals. Based on path power estimates, the controller adaptively allocates combining correlators to signal paths. The allocations may be made to minimize the total received power at the receiver, or to achieve acceptable performance for all users.