Re: ANTOINE'S CONTRACT

[Kim Malo <kmalo19@idt.net>]

At 03:32 PM 4/25/98 -0400, Dorine wrote:
>Hi, Kim
>    Thanks for the answer.  I've never studied these contract things
>much in the past, so really didn't know how it worked, except what I've
>learned from the list.
>    If the Celts don't sign Antoine's extension before the CBA is done,
>he'll still be under contract for another year, so it would seem to me
>the Celts could then start negotiating with him, based on the new rules,
>whatever that might be?  I should think it might be worthwhile for the
>Celts to wait awhile, in that case.  Is there a deadline to resigning
>him this summer?

OK, the situation is this, under the current CBA. Rookie contracts are 3
years mandatory for first rounders. After the second season, an extension
can be negotitated, even if that extension will put the team over the cap.
The extension muct be signed by Oct 1st prior to the beginning of the 3rd
season OR the team can no longer negotiate with the player and must bargain
for him against other teams in the following summers' FA market. So, to my
mind, if we;re going to re-sign Walker, we do it early next fall or not at
all. Because his price is likely to go up if we wait, and there's a very
real possibility of losing him. We cannot negotiate with him during the
season, so I agree on waiting a bit to negotiate until things settle down a
bit, but not too long.

However, some of this may change under the new CBA when that is resolved.

  Someone on the list wrote me that he thought this was
>"posturing" by Antoine suggested by his agent, because the agent might
>think he can get more money by re-upping now.  It did seem a bit
>stronger than anything 'Toine has said previously.

The problem with that is that Walker said the same thing when he was quoted
earlier saying he wanted to stay in Boston. Everyone got excited then,
because they ignored the second half of what he said, that of course it
would only be if the financial side could be worked out.

So he really hasn't changed his position much from the one that got people
all happy and excited. Which is, in a sense, both good news and bad news. At
the same time, do I think Falk's evil hand is pushing him along? You bet
you. But I don't think it's all Falk. No one will ever accuse Walker of
undervaluing himself.

>    Maybe I've been a fan too long.  I remember when the big stars would
>unselfishly take less money to make it possible for their team to sign
>some other needed players to make their team a contender, and expect to
>be compensated later, when the team has success.  Bird, Magic and MJ all
>did that.  Now, though, it seems to be a childish thing, whereby a
>player who is gifted feels he needs to compete for the big bucks with
>someone else who achieved it previously.

Not exactly how I see it. The money is a yardstick. It says I am The Man.
And the team is only showing it properly appreciates me by giving it to me
(and vice versa). Plus there's a certain underlying feeling that everyone is
entitled to whatever they think they can get, regardless of consequences and
whether or not they have 'earned' it. It's their due. And the feeling is
that the money goes into the owner's pocket or my pocket, without any real
thought to other things involved, such as the need to allocate according to
the cap among a group of guys. Note that I'm not just talking about Walker,
this is an all too general attitude.

>  As talented as Walker is, he
>has yet to prove he can really deliver.  That comes with having a good
>team with you and learning to be unselfish, among other things.  I have
>more interest in building a good Celtic team that can win a championship
>than in lining the pockets of Antoine and his agent.  Nothing against
>Antoine, and I know he's young, but his time (and money) will come.  I
>would like to see the Celts build their own team and when they finally
>reach success it will not be with retreads (read: Pippin) from some
>other successful team.

Yeah, well, same here, but that's no longer the reality we're operating in.
This BTW is at the core of my disgust with people constantly saying to make
allowances for him, because he's young. We're supposed to ignore the doubts
because he'll grow out of them, but at the same time we're supposed to pay
him as if he's a sure thing proven commodity with no reason for doubts.
Frustrates the hell out of me. And I know some will see this as gratuitous
ML bashing, but the fact is that this is really Walker's first year as a
true pro because of the license ML gave him to just pad his stats, shoot at
will, and ignore the rest. So we're a year behind in his development in
trying to judge how he'll turn out and have another year of his being
actively spoiled to hope he will overcome.

But the simple fact is that we pay him or someone else will. Now, not later.
He's absolutely right about that.

-Kim
Kim Malo
kmalo19@idt.net