Contracts

[MetNut9@aol.com]

Then of course there is the "How long are we lucky/cursed to have him" list:

5    Knight, Travis      7 years (still don't understand this one)
5    DeClerq, Andrew     5 years (assuming he signs)
5    Ellison, Pervis     5 years

4    Strong, Derek       4 years (assuming he signs)
4    Walker, Antoine     4 years

3    Williams, Eric      1 year
3    Minor, Greg         5 years

2    Mercer, Ron         3 years (standard rookie contract)   

1    Barros, Dana        4 years
1    Brown, Dee          3 years
1    Billups, Chauncey   3 years (standard rookie contract)   


As I type this, I have a knot forming in the pit of my stomach. I do not 
understand why all of these long contracts which are being offered about. 

To be honest, I do not think that ellison is that long. As for the other
guys, they are young players, and their contracts are not that big. They are
role players. I believe in this system, DeClerq and Knight are perfect, and
it is money well spent. The two players I am not happy about are Barros, and
Ellison, and that morin Radja, but I think we are almost done with him. None
the less, excluding those three we have a young athletic team, and in a few
years will be a damn good team. It takes time to gell. I think Pitino's
thinking is Walker, Mercer, Williams, and Billups will mature into stars,
while the rest are role players. I think at this point...you can worry about
the contracts, but lets see how they perform first. I happened to like Knight
and DeClerq in college, and I think they will be great pick ups. Strong we
never should have let go in the first place.

- -Derek-