First morning salvo

[peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>]

Pierce on the trade: ''Ron was one of my closer friends, but that's the way
the business goes." Very professional. Says he doesn't expect it to be that
big a problem adjusting to two guard.

Otis Thorpe will really toughen up Miami. I wonder where Weatherspoon plays
now. Knowing Riley, he'll still make some deals to get some scoring at the 2 &
3. Holley says Riley has asked Denver about Mercer; again, that question of
whether a player can be traded and then traded again seems to be looming.

Why the hell would Dell Curry go to Toronto? Guess he cares more about the
money than winning a ring. When was the last time a quality free agent chose
to sign with the Raptors?

So Dale Davis says he won't report if traded to the Celtics. That's good news.
Unless Pitino now tries to trade Antoine straight up for Lorenzen Wright,
which should be a real stride forward in the maturity department and also
start Gaston clutching at his wallet.

Holley says Celts want to sign Ruben Patterson. Pray tell, why? What does he
do that Bowen doesn't? 

Philly Inquirer is reporting Toronto is renouncing Oakley and that he'll sign
with the Lakers. Couldn't Toronto at least do a sign and trade? Notice, BTW,
that Jerry West is not blowing up his roster after a disappointing offseason.
He didn't trade Rice for Hardaway, has so far held off on trading for Pippen,
and re-signed Fox and Fisher. Instead, it looks like he's giving his team
another chance to play together, while bringing in a solid bench rebounder.
Hmm ...