draft tidbit

[MBerry@mail.journalink.com (MBerry)]

          Thought this might be of interest to everyone. It was to me.

          I was talking to Butch Carter Monday (he's from my town).
          Butch was an assistant coach with the Bucks for years and
          this past year he was a consultant and roving coach for
          them. He had to do something, he was still under contract
          but was dumped when Mike Dunleavy got fired.

          Anyway, Carter says (like everyone) that the talent drop is
          huge after Duncan. But the player he likes the most out of
          the leftovers is Chauncey Billups. He said Billups has the
          potential to be a Stephon Marbury-type scoring point guard.
          He pointed to his record in high school (he won a state
          championship) and at Colorado (where he turned a school with
          no basketball tradition into an NCAA team) as proof of his
          impact.

          Butch is leaving the NBA to go into private business, so he
          has no reason to be putting out smoke screens. And he has a
          very bitter taste in his mouth about the Bucks. He said
          someone will be the scapegoat for last season's failure and
          he expects it to be Vin Baker. The owner there is committed
          to Chris Ford, and Glenn Robinson, with six years left on
          his contract, will be harder to trade. If the Celts are
          interested, now would be the time to move on Baker.

          I've heard the argument that we should wait and sign Vin as
          a free agent, but I'd rather make the trade now, sign him to
          a long-term deal, and use our free agent money on someone
          else next year.

          Anyway, I'm sure Billups is one of the players the Celts
          will consider with the 6 pick, if they keep it.

          Mark