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Peter May On Baker, Pitino, and the Summer League
Pitino says Walker and him have a difference in philosophies; May
says the Boston Summer league is important to Ellison; the other
Walker, Wally from Seattle has not heard from Boston about Baker.
As for myself, I'm going with what Jersey Red said: Mercer is the
viable trade option; the C's would need more than Baker for Walker...
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
PRO BASKETBALL NOTES (snips)
It's not a secure feeling in Seattle
Sonics have no lock on Baker, and if
door's open, Pittino may enter
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 07/25/99
SAN JUAN - The president and
general manager of the Seattle
SuperSonics made a brief appearance here
this week at the Tournament of the
Americas. It was well timed. Wally Walker
got to see one of his players, Gary
Payton, one of his free agents, Vin Baker,
and also saw Aaron Goodwin, who represents
both players.
But he was back in Seattle at week's end
with as full a plate as any NBA executive
- and the Aug. 1 land rush is only seven
days away. It is a balancing act for
certain.
Already we are seeing signs that some
teams that played well last season and had
pretty good records are thinking about
blowing it all up. (They could also hire
Don Nelson to do it for them, but he's
taken.) Orlando is rebuilding. Atlanta
appears to be rebuilding (Steve Smith is
rumored to be headed to Portland and
Mookie Blaylock already is gone.) Seattle
didn't play well last season and, as the
English might say, is between sixes and
sevens.
Walker has a team both young and old. As
presently constituted, it's not nearly
good enough. But it's a team that recently
has been very good. Walker is trying to
reload (the Horace Grant trade) and
rebuild simultaneously and that's a tough
act. His big star, Payton, wants it now.
His second big star, Baker, isn't sure
what he's going to do. Another star,
Detlef Schrempf, is a free agent and all
but gone. Olden Polynice is a free agent,
not to mention certifiable.
''With the Grant trade, we sent a message,
loud and clear, to our players and our
fans that we're serious right now,''
Walker said.
Payton has been all over the map down here
discussing the situation back home. He
wants veterans; Mitch Richmond's name has
come up, at least in his mind. He wants
the kids to grow up. He has issued a
challenge to coach Paul Westphal. He
issued a challenge to the team's young
players. He issued a challenge to Walker.
''We've got to get meaner guys. We can't
keep going with young guys. We've got
enough young guys,'' Payton said. ''We
drafted three young guys last year and
that didn't work. We didn't have no
veterans [uh, Gary, you had plenty; you
just didn't win.] We can't start over. I
can't. I can't start over with young guys.
We need to get back on top of the West.
''It won't happen again,'' he said,
referring to last season's lottery finish.
''We're going to make changes and do the
right thing. I like the Horace trade as
long as Horace comes in and plays like he
can play. It's good for Vin, too. That
makes me a happy man.''
Walker is not in an enviable position.
Just looking at Baker these last 10 days
drives home his dilemma. On one hand, you
have a player who was an All-Star, but
never won anything. That may have simply
been a misfortune of playing for a bad
team. Then, last year, Baker was awful. He
still looks overweight and, although he
insists otherwise, there's no guarantee he
will return to previous form. And there's
$70 million at stake.
This is why the Celtics are interested in
him. Rick Pitino relishes the prospect of
rejuvenating careers and Baker is prime
rejuvenation material. Baker also has been
around, which makes him valuable on a
young team. The deal would be for Antoine
Walker but would have to include a third
team, probably Chicago. The Bulls would
want their pound of flesh, but only in
picks and/or players in the last year of
their contracts; Pervis Ellison (see
below) would be a perfect fit here.
''We would have great interest in Vin
Baker,'' Pitino said this week on ESPN's
Up Close. ''If Vin would like to play for
us, we hope it comes true.''
Wally Walker said he has not heard from
the Celtics about Baker - it would have to
be a sign-and-trade deal. He said he is
convinced that he will re-sign Baker and
that Baker wants to stay in Seattle. ''Vin
has told me consistently that he wants to
be in Seattle,'' Walker said. ''He feels
he has got a lot to prove.''
Baker does have a lot to prove. Baker and
Payton are good friends, they have the
same agent, and, as Payton said, ''I don't
think we traded Shawn Kemp to have Vin
Baker for two years.''
Stranger things have happened.
No Jersey guys in town
The Celtics' summer league opens tomorrow
at UMass-Boston and the Nets are in a
tizzy. ''Did Rick not schedule us because
he was afraid of Don Casey's juggernaut?''
cracked Nets general manager John Nash.
Well, we can't say. But the Celtics play
every team but New Jersey over the six
days, including the German Select Team.
The new rules will be in effect, which
means there will be a lot of fouls, free
throws, and delayed starts. There are six
NBA teams competing, seven if you insist
on counting the Wizards: Boston, New
Jersey, Indiana, Philadelphia, Seattle,
New York, and Washington. Rosters were
sketchy heading into the weekend, but
Celtics GM Chris Wallace said that
Ellison, who was in Boston working out
this weekend, will play. You draw your own
conclusions. If he's going to be included
in any deal, the receiving team has to
know if he can play. If he's going to
stick around, the Celtics would like to
know if he can play. This is the last year
of Ellison's six-year, thank-you-ML deal.
He's not too old to keep going, but he
simply has been unable to stay healthy.
The Bulls could throw him out there for a
year if they are indeed midwiving the
three-team Baker deal. Chicago wants to be
well under the cap next summer as well
(things didn't exactly turn out as the
Bulls hoped this summer). Among players
who could be free agents next summer are
Grant Hill and Tim Duncan ... The Celtics
are coming off an 8-0 run in the Fila
Summer Pro League in Long Beach, Calif. -
and they may not be invited back for using
too many ringers. While most teams opted
to play rookies, free agents, and scrubs,
the Celtics used rookies, free agents,
scrubs, and starters. Paul Pierce played
in five games and was a man among boys.
Vitaly Potapenko played in all eight games
and was among men. Tony Battie played in
all eight games (hint: he played well,
now's the time to deal him). When Pierce
left, Walter McCarty showed up for the
last three games. Wayne Turner also played
in all eight games and, according to
Wallace, fared well. Another solid
performer was CBA MVP Adrian Griffin, who
is making a strong run to crack an NBA
roster ... More
from Pitino on Up Close: Regarding Walker
and Ron Mercer, he said, ''We don't have
any problems, we have differences in
philosophy. I'm more from the Bill Russell
philosophy in terms of team and
discipline. They're just young. They have
to learn.'' He also said that if the two
think he is too hard on them, ''what I'd
like to do is send them down for two weeks
in Miami. They'd come back with a
different attitude.''
This story ran on page D13 of the Boston
Globe on 07/25/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.