Re: Dickey (ahem)

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

> >Dickey averaged 9.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 29 minutes per game last
> >season with the Bulls, 
> 
> These are actually surprisingly decent numbers for a guy I have always
> considered to be a lumbering stooge. He would fit the bill for the
> end-of-the-bench power guy I keep whining about, and at 254 has the beef to
> guard centers (though he's officially listed at 6'9 -- no matter).

NBA.com lists him at 6-10 and 264.

> Nevertheless, I don't know that he's worth trading Pervis for if we could
> instead use Perv's cap relief ourselves at the end of the season. Could we
> parcel that money with some other "pots" and try to make a run at a mid-level
> free agent? Anybody know if it works like that?

You don't get "cap relief" for a free agent whose contract expires unless
your remaining contracts put you below the cap. The reason players in their
last year have a bit of value is that another team might be interested in
trading one of their players with a long-term contract for them, to get 
below the cap in the offseason.

In fact, that reminds me of the Billups-Anderson trade. The Celtics wanted
to take Popeye and Tabak back because their contracts were expiring. I remember
that Pitino was actually hoping to get about $4M below the cap by renouncing
their contracts. Unfortunately, the cap was set lower than he expected, and
the players he was interested in (like Geiger) went for huge sums, so he had
to settle for giving Popeye a contract. As a result, the Billups trade ended
up getting less than was hoped for, which was to enable the Celtics to add a
center through free agency.

Also, what's the deal with Schintzius having this reportedly huge contract
(2 years, $2.8M)? I guess that we can verify this when the Celtics release
an annual report. I can't see how this contract was possible except with
the $2M exception. I suppose it was a bit weird that the Celtics didn't use
the $2M exception last year (except possibly on Schintzius). I guess their
roster was rather full.

Alex