Re: Moves

[Adam A Suchocki <Twilight@world.std.com>]

The big point of the Williams trade is  not that they got Mills for
Williams - some of us think Williams is better than Mills, some think
Mills is better than Willaims.  The point is that Pitino got less than he
could have - through bad planning and deal making.

The Celtics were caught off guard by how much the salary cap went up (at
least that's their story).  They signed three mid to low level players
(DeClerc has a shot at being a very good role player, Massenburg is a
mediocre role player at the tail end of his career coming off his first
productive NBA season, Bowen is a second year player who has never made a
basket in the NBA) - and used up all of their cap room.  They then found
themselves less than a million shy for the Mills/Edney deal when it
happened.  If they had waited a couple weeks   on signing Bowen or
Massenburg, we would have Williams, Mills, and Edney.

I personally have trouble with the claim that  Mills is better than
Williams - I could not understand anyone claiming Bowen or Massenburg is
better than Williams.  We gave up Williams for nothing because of bad
planning.  There is no other excuse.  We never even talked to his agent,
so it wasn't because he was demanding to much next year.  

the team wanted Mills, fine.  If they wanted to trade Mills for Williams -
i would not like the deal, but that is a reasonable move for a GM to make.
That is not what happened.  They mismanaged their cap room, and got taken
to the cleaners by Denver.  A newspaper article out of Denver reports that
early this year Denver wanted to make a deal for Williams.  They contacted
the Celtics, and Boston refused to even listen to the deal.  Then, when
the team found itself short on money, they contacted Denver.  In the
process of the quick negotiations, they tipped their hand - and made it
clear they could only accpet draft picks, and they had to deal fast - at
that point Denver played hardball and made the 2 2nd round picks or
nothing offer becuase they knew Boston was in a bind.  this was a mistake
on Boston's point, and they should never have let themselves get in this
position.

The providence journal reports that Williams agent received many calls
just after the trade (supposedly to check if the deal was real).  The
agent reports that there were several significantly better offers, but
Boston had already pulled the trigger.  I the team had waited on Bowen or
Massenburg, they could have had a lot more for Williams if Pitino was set
on moving him.

On top of this, there have been no reports to confirm why the Mills deal
was so imminent.  His major suitors couldn't match Boston's offer even
without the extra Williams salary cap room.  Atlanta only has 1 million
dollars to offer, and no real way to get more room.  New York is in the
same boat.  Cleveland, despite not having a small forward, never put an
offer of over 2 millio a season on the table.  The teams with money to
spend - Denver, Vancouver, Clippers, Detroit - did not appear at all
interested - and none of their local newspapers even mention any contact
between Mills and their GMs.

Again, I'm not so much complaining that we got Mills, I'm complaining that
we gave Williams away for well below market value because we didn't
properly manage our own assets.

So, you say, it was just bad luck.  Nobody though the salary cap would go
up by that much.  the truth is, all of the other teams to which it
mattered left some flexibility so they could take advantage of whatever
presented itself.  Boston seems alone in nckle and diming  away they
money.  In general, its fairly good common sense to save the smaller
signing to the end - to allow you the needed room if your bigger fish
demand a little more.

I'm still eager to see Pitino coach and get the most out of his players
that he can.  But so far, no one has said anything that has suggested that
the quick using up of Dino;s money, the Williams trade, followed by the
Mills signing were not bad management in that the team could have been
better if they had better planned the moves. this is what Gm's get paid to
do.  this is why some teams are signing impact free agent without giving
up their own players to do it, while other teams are giving up young
talent for nothing to sign new role players.  So far, as a coach, Pitino
has always had success.  I the combined management careers of Walace and
Pitino, so far they have on trade to their names - Eric Williams for 2
second round picks (note, it is not Eric Williams for Chris Mills - though
that is how the team has tried to spin it).  They will learn and get
better as they go, but they have used up most of our flexibility.

ML Carr brought the team Antoine Walker, Eric Williams, Dana Barros, Ron
Mercer, and Chauncey Billups (Pitino may have called out the names, but
Carr acquired the picks).  So far Pitino has bought in Travis Knight,
Chris Mills, Tyus Edney, Andrew DeClerc, Bruce Bowen, and Tony Massenburg.
Not horrible, but not very impressive either.  I hope they succeed, but I
can't shake the feeling that we could have had a lot more talent.

Unfortunately, this feeling seems to be shared by most of the sports
writers.  I have been able to    find over 20 articles describing the
Williams trade and Mills signing.  All of them have either been neutral or
very critical of Pitino.  None have praised the combination of moves.  All
have praised Denver, most claiming that Denver took advantage of Boston.  

Mills may turn out to be a better player than Williams (but I doubt it),
but that is irrelavant.  The issue that is troublesome is that we gave
away one of our prime assets when we wouldn't have had to with better
planning.

Adam