Re: Radja Trade

[wfcooper@tiac.com (Bill Cooper)]

On Sat, 21 Jun 97 07:18:53 UT, you wrote:

>The Celtics trade for Weatherspoon, I feel, is part of a bigger trade in=
 the=20
>works.  Weatherspoon does not fit in Pitino's fullcourt press style.  I =
think=20
>we may see action with Milwaukee, Sacramento, or Indiana.  Likewise =
Philly may=20
>make a move for Pippen.  Don't rule out something with San Antonio =
either;=20
>Duncan may have a price.
>

A few thoughts on the trade:

I was updating my Celtic's salary spreadsheet and it looks to me that
the C's will have 8 million to spend on the 98 free agent crowd (9
million + if they renounce E. Williams after next season).  If that is
the course that R.P. decides to take then that virtually locks out any
possibility of resigning Fox, Wesley  or anyone else(to more than a 1
year contract, that is).  Any long term contracts that the Celtics
give out this year would just subtract form the amount available for a
top player next year.  It also means that under this scenario, the C's
would field a talented but inexperienced team next year and would
probably end up with another high draft pick in 98.

Or Pitino may make another move before the draft.  It does seem to be
that case, though, that teams that were thinking about moving 2nd year
players that they would have a tough time signing (Stackhouse,
McDyess, Smith) are rethinking their postilion.  Probably their
potential trading partners are realizing that it would be tough for
them to sign these guys to a long term contract, either.  So their
trade value has decreased.  If Pitino can make a trade for a big
talent in the next two weeks,  then the Celts would have to be
confident of being able to sign the player to along term contract.  In
turn this would soak up most of the cap space available for the 98
class.  It also would make Fox and Wesley more attractive since they
could be signed regardless of the salary cap.

The third possibility would be to wait until later in the summer.
By then there will be teams that realize that they will never be able
to sign some of those third year players.  At that point they will be
willing to accept less in return for them.  At this point a deal that
is being turned down right now, may be revived.

Pitino is clearly not willing to stand pat and wait for things to
develop  He's eager to make his mark on the team before the start of
the next season.  This strategy has two risks:  That he might get
stuck with a poor team next year and catch some flak for pulling down
the big bucks without delivering.  Or that he might get caught in the
middle (a la the early 90's Cleveland Cavaliers).  A lot of solid
players, but no real franchise player.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.com