Who should stay?

[Jerry allan Lawson <jlawson@mail.sdsu.edu>]

	When you talk about a team, eventually you come to the area of who
is a keeper and who is not. My opinion is that besides Walker, Williams,
Barros, and Radja everyone else could be traded if the opportunity
presented itself. However, we must remember that if we can find a
franchise player or two like possibly Tim Duncan, the celtic players take
on a whole new meaning and role. With Duncan and maybe say Van Horn or
Mercer or someone else, the other Celtics will begin to play better and
more consistently, they will have more enthusiasm because winning will
become more of a reality. Players like Fox, Barros, and Conlon would then
help create a deep bench. Our team would have a solid starting five:

1. David Wesley
2. Greg Minor
3. Antoine Walker
4. Dino Radja
5. Tim Duncan

Bench (this only includes the players I feel the Celtics should keep):

6. Rick Fox
7. Dana Barros
8. Marty Conlon
9. Eric Williams
10. Our Dallas Pick Player (Vaughn, Van Horn, Mercer, etc.)

Now before you shout well that's only ten players, you must remember that
I said those were the players I felt the Celtics should keep. The rest
like Dee Brown, Brett Szabo, Alton Lister, Pervis Ellison, etc. should
either be released, waived, or traded accordingly. 

Further more I think we really need to consider players like Jacque Vaughn
and Danny Fortson as possibilities for that Dallas Pick. I know we have
players for those positions already, but they are still not exactly the
cream of the crop. Fortson could play the 4 behind Radja and if he really
developed well, we could then ship Radja somewhere else for probably a
pretty good player at a position where we need some help. Further more,
Vaughn could back up Wesley and certainly has the potential to develop
beyond Wesley's skills. 

Even Further, I really think if it was within the salary cap and trading
possibilites, I think the Celtics should try to trade for Chris Gatling,
this guy is simply on fire, another is Glenn Rice. Both of these players
are playing at the top of their games. They are all star caliber players
and have been consistent for the past few years.

					Jerry

jlawson@mail.sdsu.edu