Vin Baker...

["Jeremy S. Warren" <jwarren@eecs.tufts.edu>]

... doesn't have an out clause in his contract until the summer of '99.
The Bucks have him for two more years.

I don't think the C's will make any more moves until the season starts and
they can package Travis, DeClerq, Mills, or Edney in a deal instead of the
feeble four (Pervis, Dee, Dana, and Minor) who no one wants.

I can't help but be pessimistic about this season.  After all of these
free agent acquistions by Pitino we still don't have a real center.  Does
anyone out there really think that a front line of Mills (6'6"), Walker
(6'9", 230) and Knight (7'0", 230) will be able to stop anyone in a half
court setting or keep them off the glass.  Pressing will help to a point,
but most NBA point guards can break them.

Even if we had one player on the roster who is 7'0" and 260, I would feel
better.  A project like Garth Joseph would even soothe me.  And we don't
even have the cap flexibility to go after a decent, big center next year
like Longley or Ostertag.

Are there any teams that have a surplus at the center position.  Even a
guy like Priest Lauderdale could help this team.  I bet we could have
traded Eric Williams for him and still have had enough cap space to sign
Mills and Edney.  That would have given us 14 players but you can stick a
few on the injured list.  I know I know.  Then we would have missed out on
those two second round draft picks, which are going to turn this franchise
around.

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss M.L. as general manager.  He did
get us Antoine Walker and Ron Mercer for Montross and Samaki Walker.  And
he was learning from his free agent mistakes.  He wouldn't have gone out
and signed Mills and Knight to big contracts.  Now we have to go through
the same learning process with Pitino and John "whatever you say Rick"
Wallace.  We could have a lot of cap flexibility three years from now
except for the fact that we have to resign Walker.

Now that all of that "whining" is out out of my system, I think that if
Pitino can trade for a real center we'll be in pretty good shape.   

Jeremy