Pervis

[Mendel Singer <mes12@po.cwru.edu>]

This year, Pervis Ellison could have opted for free agency.  For obvious
reasons, he didn't.  Could the C's have bought out his contract by paying
him to opt for free agency?  WOuld this have counted against the cap?  Even
if it did, would it have been worth paying extra and losing cap space for 1
season, to gain it long term(or more importantly, to have more space for the
class of '98)?  Attention capologists!

On a separate note, I think people pay far too much attention to what Pitino
says publicly.  He knows that the best policy is to speak very positively
about your players(assets).  OK, Radja was a different situation.  But when
Pitino speaks positively of Dee Brown and that there are offers for him, I
wouldn't put too much stock in it.  You always want to maximize trade value.
Nobody wants something that everyone else thinks is worthless.  And if
everyone thinks you are desperate to trade someone, his value goes down.
Pitino is a businessman.  Make plans, keep options open, and be willing to
change plans if special opportunites arise.  If the right offer came, he
might turn around and trade Travis Knight tomorrow.  Not being able to
believe what he says may not be fun for news-starved fans, but it may help
give us a better team.

Just some thoughts (for what little they are worth!)

Mendel