Re: more salary cap stuff

["Ronald H. Evans" <ronald_evans@pipeline.com>]

At 11:46 PM 7/13/97 +0900, you wrote:
>Is this a good thing or a bad thing? What do people think? I guess it means
>that a franchise has to have more then the luck of the draw going for it to
>acquire good players. Franchises with a lot of cash, those located in a
>major media market and those that have an attractive organization and
>winning record will succeed, while teams like the Clippers and the Kings
>will get worse. 
IMO I think this syndrome led to Pitino trying to acquire Pippen. Pippen
would not only help the team in the short term(making Boston attractive to
FA's) it would bind the celtics to two one year(rather than three--the
Rookie contract) which he could spend on free agents in '98. The Dino for
Weatherspoon/Cage deal was based on the same principle--eliminating Dino's
contract in favor of two players whose contracts ended in '98. 
        If Pitino is following this pattern of thought, I expect him to sign
defensive free agents to help in the front court. Without them, I expect the
celtics to do as poorly as last year. Although the celtics have improved
their scoring, their frontcourt defense is still the worst in the league.
Alton and Szabo were the only thing we had close to post defenders; Antoine,
Pervis and Knight are all too light for the job. 
        Here are the defensive players he might pursue/trade for in '97 in
Order of plausibility. Personally a one year deal for Cummings(1mil),
Mahorn(500k), Kleine(if he'll take >350K), and bringing Lister(for the
minimum) back in January would keep the celtics from getting mauled night in
and night out in the paint. It's hardly a solution but it gets the job done
until we(hopefully) get Baker and Knight bulks up. 

Derek Strong: Hard worker. Plays good post defense, but undersized. Rebounds
well too. Mediocre offense makes him more valuable.

Joe Kleine: Good 12th man. Mediocre defender who sets good picks(good for
Mercer)

Duane Causwell: Good shotblocker but a mediocre defender. Could be useful
behind another center.

Rick Mahorn:Post defender par excellance, not much else. Might be good in
conjunction with Travis(travis could chase the mobile centers around the
perimeter while Mahorn could body out the slower centers).

Andrew Declerq: light at 230, but a decent post defender. May be in the
celtics price range.

Bo Outlaw:Another possibility, although the clippers or another team may
offer him more money than us.

Dean Garrett: Hard worker. May be a good stop gap. Shoots well and rebounds
well during his minutes. Will be on the market if the Wolves get Brian
Williams(they would have to renounce Garrett).

Terry Cummings: Decent->good post defender. Good rebounder for his age.
Reasonably good offensively too.  Would be a wonderful short term
pickup(compared to Derek Strong) at <1.5mil. Could start at PF(Williams
moving to the 6th man). Pitino said he wanted veteran leadership.

Alton Lister: Old as the hills and an offensive millstone, but still a good
post defender and rebounder. If still loyal to the C's and willing to wait
till january, he would be a good 3rd string center 

Carlos Rodgers:Is light and has attitude problems but Pitino may risk him
because of his athleticism. The celtics may be interested in him if he backs
off the proposed 2 mil.

Otis Thorpe:A possibility, detroit is looking to get rid of him to free up
room for Dudley. His salary is a millstone though(5.8-7mil). We would have
to clear up the cap space(maybe after august ? when GM's expect the cap to
rise) by getting rid of Dino's contract and another player(Barros? Lindsey
Hunter is grating in detroit).

Oliver Miller:Bad attitude and obesity may put him in the celtics price
range. Wants to play for the Raptors but Isiah may be sick of him(again). If
Pitino could finally get him to work(Pitino probably couldn't--no other
coach has) he would be a steal. Good shotblocker and scorer when fit.

Dennis Rodman:Will probably end up with the magic(if chicago's tired of him)
with his old coach, chuck daly. Good post defender and superlative
rebounder.  Makes Oliver Miller look like Marty Conlon but Pitino may risk
it. Dennis is a hard worker, Pitino may sign him, gambling that he(Pitino)
could wean Rodman from his team killing habits.

Chris Dudley(probably a lock for the Pistons)