allyoop.com

[jan crocker <pravda@tiac.net>]

For anyone interested in "The basketball page for thinking fans" check out
allyoop.com.
They have not been very kind concerning any of the moves this off season so
that should sooth the "glass is half empty" crew on this list.

JC



                   AUGUST 23 - As the follow-up to Thursday's Eric Williams
trade
                   , the Boston Celtics' continued their offseason roster
makeover by
                   signing F Chris Mills, formerly of the Cleveland
Cavaliers, and G
                   Tyus Edney, formerly with Sacramento Kings.

                   Terms of the deals were not announced, which makes the
analysis a
                   bit more difficult. However, a team official did say
that                                       Mills signed a multi-year deal.
I think we can deduce from this                    that Edney did not
                   sign a multi-year deal, and indeed may have agreed to a
one-year
                   contract for the minimum veteran salary of $327,000 with
the
                   understanding that Boston would reward him after the
season. Since
                   the Celtics traded Eric Williams last week in order to
clear the                    salary
                   cap room to sign Mills, we can assume a) his contract
ate up the
                   remainder of Boston's salary cap room, and b) Edney's
contract was
                   for less than Williams was going to make.

                   For you Celtics fans out there, my take on these moves
is                    basically
                   the same as it's been on all the Celtics' free agent
signings this
                   offseason=97enough with the role players, get some studs.
Boston
                   went into this offseason with nearly $10 million in play
money and                                       got
                   more when they traded Williams. Unless they get awfully
lucky,                    they
                   haven't gotten a single player who will appear in an
All-Star game
                   from their investment. They opted to kinda-sorta fill
the                    frontcourt
                   with role players Travis Knight, Andrew DeClercq, Tony
                   Massenburg and Bruce Bowen and then picked up Mills for
the small
                   forward spot. The free agents available this summer
obviously                    weren't
                   the stuff fairy tales are made of; Mills and Knight were
two of                                        the
                   better guys out there (unless you think the Celtics had
a shot at
                   Michael Jordan, ha ha). But the moves will effectively
eliminate
                   Boston from the free agent party next year, when several
of the                    games
                   biggest young stars (including Kevin Garnett, Joe Smith,
Antonio
                   McDyess, Rasheed Wallace, Penny Hardaway, Damon=
 Stoudamire
                   and Christian Laettner) become free agents.

                   This isn't to say the Celtics won't be a better team
next year.                    They'll
                   be much better. For starters, they only win 15 games
last year                    when
                   their Expected Wins total was 23. But more importantly,
they had
                   two of the first six picks in the draft and have added
four free                    agents
                   since then. There's simply no way they won't be
significantly
                   improved, regardless of what I think of their offseason
free agent
                   strategy. The players they signed are all young, so the
odds are                    with
                   the Celtics that guys like Mills, Knight and Edney are
going to
                   improve over the next few years. Both Knight and Mills
are decent
                   players already (both have ARFs above 44; a quality
starter will                    be
                   around 45), and both are young enough to take steps
forward.

                   A lot of folks have written in asking me to reconsider
my harsh
                   comments on the Eric Williams trade in light of the
Chris Mills
                   signing. Obviously, given a choice between Williams and
Mills they
                   did the right thing in ditching Williams. What I have a
problem                    with is
                   how the Celtics have managed their cap money this summer
so that
                   they have had to lose two players they wanted to=
 keep=97Eric
                   Williams and Rick Fox. The reason the Celtics lost
Williams was
                   because they gave Andrew DeClercq 5 years and $8.5=
 million;
                   players like DeClercq are not exactly a rare commodity
and the de
                   facto statement coming from Boston, if you look at their
moves, is
                   that DeClercq was a higher priority and better player
than                    Williams.
                   That's the part that makes me question what the Celtics
are doing=97
                   that and the "quantity over quality" approach that they
are taking                    to
                   the free agent market.