Re: bogus rumors

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

Very interesting thoughts from Alex, who is coming on
strong these days!  There are arguments for and
against this view.

For:  Mercer's agent said that he was disappointed
because there had been a three way in place with
Mercer going to a "top ten team" and that it had
fallen through when Denver came knocking.

Against:  The Globe (or Herald, I can't remember)
reported that Boston wanted Davis and either Rose or
Croshere as well as a pick, and that Indiana thought
it was too much.  That was reported with some
specificity, although it does seem hard to believe. 
What would Indiana's pick be worth?  And why in
Heaven's name would Indiana ever turn a trade like
that down?  

--- Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu> wrote:
> It seems that if you believe most of the rumors
> floating around, Pitino
> is always trying to wreck the Celtics by trading all
> their talent for
> Jamal Mashburn and other stiffs, only to be saved
> from destruction by
> other GMs refusing his offers. But whenever a trade
> actually happens,
> we're almost inevitably surprised and the result has
> usually been pretty
> pleasant recently.
> 
> I would actual guess that Pitino runs a pretty tight
> ship and almost all 
> of the rumors come from the other side; naturally
> they are slanted towards
> favoring the other team. "We are going to get Mercer
> for Samaki Walker,"
> from Don Nelson, is an example. 
> 
> So has Pitino actually ever offered talent for
> Mashburn? I doubt it. Pat
> Riley was quoted as saying that the Celtics are
> always offering him crap
> and want real players in return. Does that sound
> like Mercer for Mashburn?
> It's just a ridiculous rumor that propagates because
> Pitino once said that
> Mashburn is still a favorite of his.
> 
> Even now people are saying, "Oh, the Mercer trade
> was great but I still
> hate Pitino because he was thinking of giving away
> Walker." I don't really
> think any of us knows the true details of this
> trade, and from Pitino's
> reaction, the leaks were on Indiana's side.
> 
> By the way, here's my guess for the original trade.
> It would have been a 
> three way trade involving Mercer and Dale Davis
> going to Seattle, Vin Baker
> and Jalen Rose coming to Boston, and Antoine Walker
> with various Boston cap
> trash going to Indiana. Indiana would facilitate
> somehow using their trade
> exception to get around Walker's base-year
> compensation. Draft picks would
> also be included but I won't guess at the details.
> After Mercer was traded,
> the deal blew up; Indiana still wanted to discuss
> acquiring Walker but 
> without the possibility of acquiring Baker, Boston
> wasn't interested.
> 
> If I were running a "NBA insider" website, I would
> post the previous 
> paragraph, but instead of calling it the wild guess
> that it is, I would
> say, "Sources on both sides tell me that..." and
> include some juicy details
> about how Pitino pulled out at the last minute,
> infuriating everyone.
> 
> Alex
> 
> 

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