Re: `Re: The Peril Of Too Many Large Contracts or More Trades On The Way

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

Way,

Time will tell who is right about the value of Battie and Fortson.
I personally don't believe that Pitino is going to hand them huge 
contracts just because "big men are always paid more" or because
Michael Stewart got a relatively large contract (6 years, $24M 
is what I read, which starts near $3M, not $6M). In particular, 
I don't see Battie getting a huge payday. 

You are right about 2000-2001 projecting to be a bad budget year
for the Celtics. But there is relief right around the corner in 
the expiring contracts of Barros and Minor. If Pitino wants to
justify having one especially bad year to Gaston, he can say, 
"Paul, I want to spend the money I got from Portland and Denver 
(for Anderson and Williams) this year to go over the budget." 
My guess is that they actually work over a longer horizon than
a single season, so this sort of mental accounting is not necessary.

Alex