Fw: The only Mercer trade rumor that makes any sense to me ...

["Joshua Ozersky" <jozersky@stny.rr.com>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Bob McChesney <rwmcches@facstaff.wisc.edu>
To: Joshua Ozersky <jozersky@stny.rr.com>
Date: Thursday, July 08, 1999 7:53 AM
Subject: Re: The only Mercer trade rumor that makes any sense to me ...


>If you share my enthusiasm for Walker and believe that Pierce is best
suited
>to playing the 3, then any trade of Mercer that
>will not hurt the team's overall talent level has to be for a guard. Think
>about it: Walker and Pierce both need to play 36-38 minutes per game. Pot
>will get close to that at center. These guys are young and need to play
real
>minutes. We already have McCarty to back up at the 3, and (I hope and pray)
>Battie to back up the 4 and maybe the 5. At most there are the back-up 5
>minutes and perhaps the back-up 4 minutes available. That means we might
>trade Mercer for someone who plays between 12 and 20 minutes, and then only
>if we dump Battie. I just don't see how that makes any sense. And if we
>trade Mercer for a banger who plays more than 20 minutes it will hurt team
>harmony as Walker and Pierce and Pot will wonder why their minutes have to
>be cut for a lesser player. Teams that have too many legitimate guys
playing
>the same position have a tough team building chemistry. Finally, if we
trade
>Mercer for a frontcourt player, then we have  a massive and gaping hole at
>the 2. People act like 2s grow on trees, but they don't. I think a case can
>be made that is the weakest position in the NBA. These guys are pretty hard
>to find. Hence, in my mind, keep Mercer, unless you can deal him for an
>equal or superior guard. And Francis is the only name that does anything
for
>me in the rumors I have heard so far. And even that is not a slam dunk.
>
>Don't get me wrong, I would like another back-up banger. But let's give
>Popeye and Pervis a chance to plug in, and use our free agent slot for that
>purpose. Don't trade a 40 minute per game guy for a 12-20 minute per game
>guy who probably isn't even as good.
>
>If the reason for the Mercer trade is due to money, not due to on-court
>factors, then I oppose the trade. The NBA owners got a cap on individual
>salaries in the new CBA; it was a tremendous victory for them. I don't want
>to hear any bellyaching from Gaston about his arbitrary salary cap. The NBA
>CBA saved him millions on Walker and will save him as much as $50 million
on
>Pierce. The whole point of the new CBA, from the fan's perspective, was
>precisely that it would let teams keep their stars together since their
>salaries are capped. Pay Mercer his market rate.
>
>If the reason to trade Mercer is because that is the only way Pitino can
>dump Anderson and save face with Gaston after making one of the worst
trades
>in recent years, I oppose the deal as well. Pitino should not dump Mercer
to
>cover his behind.
>
>So Mercer only goes for a really good guard or he stays and becomes a solid
>2 for the Cs for the next decade. Anything else, as I see it, would be
dubious.
>
>Bob McChesney
>
>P.S. Post on your Celtics e-mail ng if you wish.
>
>
>At 10:52 PM 7/7/99 -0400, you wrote:
>>Hi Bob,
>>
>>I'm on the usenet now, so I can read your thoughts.  I really have come
>>around to the idea of trading Ron for someone who doesn't require so many
>>shots to be effective, and so many screens at that.  Francis is very
>>appealing, but I would have jumped at the Antonio Davis deal as well.  I
>>also loved the deal for Jackson, Cato, and Williams.  You need a big
talent
>>infusion for the second unit, and you can never have enough shot blockers.
>>But generally my feeling is that if we trade Ron it shoud be for somebody
>>who's a defensive man-eater-upper.  I agree with the point about Pierce.
I
>>think he could destroy other twos on offense, but he would have a hard
time
>>keeping in front of some of the quicker guards.  I absolutely hate this
>>baker for walker deal.  Antoine is the future of this team.  You can't
build
>>around a guy like Baker, or Piece either for that matter.  The Will to
>>Power, as always, can't be bought or traded for.
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Robert McChesney <rwmcches@facstaff.wisc.edu>
>>Newsgroups: alt.sports.basketball.nba.boston-celtics
>>Date: Friday, July 02, 1999 11:58 AM
>>Subject: The only Mercer trade rumor that makes any sense to me ...
>>
>>
>>>.. is the one that has Mercer sent to Vancouver for Steve Francis. I
>>>suspect we would have to sweeten the pot considerably to make the deal,
>>>as Francis has greater market value. Knowing Pitino's distaste for draft
>>>choices, I would think he would give the 01 #1 pick plus one or two no. 2
>>>picks down the road.
>>>
>>>I like this deal for two reasons. One, it follows Kevin McHale's crucial
>>>maxim that the team that gets the best player in a trade wins the deal.
>>>Francis should become a better player than Mercer. Note that all the
>>>other Mercer trades I have seen have Mercer going for some dried up
>>>banger who is not going to be as good as Mercer will be from here on out.
>>>
>>>Second, this deal let's Pierce stay at the small forward position, to
>>>which he is best and most naturally suited. All the other Mercer rumors
>>>were for forward and would have only made sense if PP moved to the 2 to
>>>open up minutes in the frontcourt. PP's strenghts are best suited to the
>>>3; his weaknesses are exposed at the 2.
>>>
>>>If we can't get Francis for Mercer I hope (and pray) that we make no
>>>deals at all involving Mercer, or any of our other frontline players.
>>>(Except Kenny Anderson, but there is no market for Anderson unless we
>>>package him with Mercer or someone else who is actually desirable, so I'd
>>>just as soon keep him.)
>>>
>>>Bob McChesney
>>>
>>
>>
>
>***************************************************************************
*
>****************************
>
>Robert W. McChesney
>Associate Professor, Institute of Communications Research & Graduate School
>of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
>
>Mailing address:
>
>126 N. Spooner
>Madison, WI 53705
>
>Telephone number: 608-238-0763
>