DJessen33@aol.com writes: << I believe that this team is an Ike Austin away from being serious contenders. The fact that Austin is going to be available by trade and/or free agency by the end of the year should be making Pitino drool. NBA analysts state with certainty that Austin will be trade before the deadline. >> I concur with your sentiments about Ike. Adding him to the mix allows many more low post combinations depending upon the opposition on a given night. However, I don't see a GM wanting to trade for Austin unless he was absolutely certain he would re-sign with that team over the summer. Austin signed a one- year deal with the Heat's option on the second year (this season). His current salary is $385K; easily one of this year's biggest bargains cap wise. Any team trading for his contract now would also bound by the same restraints that Miami will face until the current Collective Bargaining Agreement: the most they can offer him is 8% above the average NBA salary which is currently about $2.1MM. Translated that means the maximum first year salary for any long-term deal (7 years) he re-signs next summer with his current team would be about $2.3MM. Obviously, he will command far above $2.3MM a year the first year if he stays healthy and goes on the open free agent market with another team (Phoenix? Utah? Boston?) He played collegiately at Arizona State so there is one connection; Karl Malone and he are close personal friends so there is another. Unfortuantely, his only prior connection to the C's was being cut at their rookie/free agent during the summer of 1996. However, again, I'm like you. Ike would look great wearing green and white next year.
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- To: celtics@igtc.COM
- Subject: Austin
- From: DJessen33 <DJessen33@aol.com>
- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 18:31:21 EST
- Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com)
- Sender: owner-celtics@igtc.COM
I believe that this team is an Ike Austin away from being serious contenders. The fact that Austin is going to be available by trade and/or free agency by the end of the year should be making Pitino drool. NBA analysts state with certainty that Austin will be trade before the deadline. With no real centers available in the draft and no others available in free agency(that I know of), what do you think of this year's no.1 and Travis Knight for Austin? (Travis Knight is a good stop-gap but eventually we will need some beef in the middle if we want to be serious contenders....)
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