the future of the franchise?

[Warwick <giants@eisa.net.au>]

Hey all,

I worked something out...

If we do infact sign Matt Geiger (or a center) and re-sign Popeye Jones
this off-season, I believe we can be fairly confident in re-signing
Antoine, but, if the inevitable happens and we lose him, the Celtics
will still be in good hands.

The roster for the Celtics after doing those signings would be..

Geiger / DeClercq / Ellison
Jones  / McCarty / Knight
Walker / Pierce / Jones
Mercer / Bowen / Minor
Anderson / Barros

All major areas are covered. This team would have no real weakness, thus
no reason to deal Antoine Walker for multiple players, no matter how
talented or how helpful they may be to the team (eg. Erick Dampier,
Adonal Foyle and a draft pick, hypothetically). While the C's would get
2 players who could fit in well, the team would already have sufficient
talent and would inevitably be doing nothing in improving the overall
standard of the team.

The only trade I can really see after performing my preview would be to
trade Knight, Ellison, Jones or Minor and getting back the same amount
of cap baggage.

My overall conclusion is that if we get the center that we need through
free agency, this team has the tools necessary to become champions, they
just need the time.

Warwick