Wright/Mercer

[peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>]

Is this guy a moron, or just lying?

"We did not make this trade with Portland to move either
                          player," Atlanta general manager Pete Babcock said
during a
                          news conference Tuesday at the Hawks' offices introducing
                          Jackson to the media. 

                          Babcock made the statement despite their interest in free
                          agent center-forward Lorenzen Wright, who played
with the
                          Los Angeles Clippers last season but has said he
will not
                          return there. 

                          "It's no secret Lorenzen Wright was in town today.
We met
                          with him and he's a very attractive free agent,"
Babcock said.
                          "The Clippers are very interested in Jim Jackson,
but we told
                          them no. It's too high a price. 

                          "We're still maintaining an interest in Lorenzen
Wright, but
                          not at the price of giving up Jim Jackson," Babcock
said. 

If that's the perception of Wright's value, we ought to be able to get him for
the $2 mil exception. Not that I expect that to happen. I thought it was
strange Rider wasn't at this press conference.

Man, the Bay Area papers are making big news of the Mercer trade. The SF
Chronicle had it across the top of the sports section. And it's "the Mercer
trade," too, not "the Fortson trade." They're falling over themselevs to call
Mercer a "future star." Makes me nervous.