Wallace chat

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

The Chris Wallace chat at NBA.com has some interesting tidbits.

First, on the Celtics needs to contend:

"1. Better overall defensive play. 
 2. Securing the services of another big man so that we have several players 
    on the roster. 
 3. More of a veteran presence to the team. By that, I mean two more veterans 
    added to the roster over the years in key positions. 
 4. A veteran scorer off the bench.
 5. Additional maturation and experience gained from our top three players, 
    Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce and Ron Mercer."

I would guess that he means two veteran starters in his third point, as well
as the veteran scorer in his fourth point. Probably one of the veterans
would overlap with the big man in his second point.

Second, on extending Ron Mercer's contract:

"We plan to do everything possible to re-sign Ron at a salary level which 
 makes sense for the Celtics. The Celtics management and coaching staff 
 definitely feel Ron can become one of the elite players in the league at 
 his position over the next few years." 

It certainly seems to me that the Celtics will not be offering Ron the
maximum salary or Wallace wouldn't be taling about a "salary level which
makes sense." I suspect that Mercer's negotiations could be uglier than 
Walker's "pre-negotiations" last year before the lockout. 

Alex