Re: Smith, Vecsey on rumors. . .

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

Interesting thoughts, Tom.  But no way would the Celts
use the #1 pick on Andre Miller (or Terry, whom I
prefer.)  They would trade down for a high lottery
pick and a veteran, or a home for cap anchors.  I
don't like Eschmayer at all.  I don't believe he
should ever start on a playoff team.  Tony should
start before him.


--- Thomas Murphy <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> The Sam Smith rumor certainly smacks of home-town
> bias. The Bulls give up
> the #1 in an admittedly weak draft and receive both
> Ron Mercer AND Tracy
> McGrady?!? Give me a break! 
> 
> Given the imbalance of that scenario (as well as
> Warwick's intelligent
> comments on the strong relationship between McGrady
> and ROY Vince Carter) I
> think a much more plausible scenario - no inside
> info here, just
> plausibility - would be Toronto swaps the #5 and #12
> for the #1 which
> Chicago sends to Boston for Mercer. 
> 
> Why? Toronto gets Steve Francis, the Bulls get
> Mercer - who WOULD have been
> the #1 pick had he stayed in college but now has the
> additional value of 2
> years NBA experience, and the Celts - who actually
> get OLDER if they draft
> seniors - presumably draft either senior PG Andre
> Miller or senior PG Jason
> Terry at #5 and either the "nimble" 7-3 Radojevic or
> six-year senior PF/C
> (6-11, 245) Evan Eschmeyer at #12. Everyone's got an
> opinion on the PGs and
> you've heard about Radojevic's upside but Eschmeyer
> already has a pro body,
> is an extremely hard worker who is not shy about
> mixing it up, and is
> reportedly a very intelligent player. He would
> presumably start at PF. This
> would leave a log-jam at the PG spot but Chris
> Wallace has shown that he is
> adept at trading away otherwise useful players for
> second round picks,
> dryer lint, and old socks - who knows, maybe they
> can work a PG into the
> swap with Chicago? Still, you have to ask, would it
> be enough to vindicate
> the Pitino playoff pledge? I have my doubts on that
> score, but you have to
> look at how quickly Orlando was able to integrate
> two seniors into their
> rotation (with no practices in a 50 game season no
> less!). The trade would
> presumably fill our two most dire needs - a physical
> presence at PF and a
> defensive presence at PG - at the cost of a player
> that Pitino has
> presumably already deemed expendable. I guess I'd be
> excited about the
> trade simply because it would represent such a
> gamble from the Cs'
> perspective. I have to honestly say that I'm
> ambivalent about its value - I
> think that this would truly be one trade that would
> have to be evaluated in
> retrospect.
> 
> That said, here's a piece that ran in today's Globe
> regarding the
> irresponsible Vecsey. If anything, I think Howard
> Manly is a little too
> easy on his fellow reporter.
> 
> ciao for now - Tom Murphy
> 
> >>SPORT VIEW
> Vecsey's reports vexing 
> 
> By Howard Manly, Globe Staff, 06/04/99 
> 
> The good news is Peter Vecsey is not a medical
> doctor or an airline pilot
> or in any profession in which you need to be more
> than 50 percent right.
> 
> The bad news is that viewers of NBC and TNT and
> readers of his New York
> Post column don't really know whether the NBA
> analyst is spreading rumors
> or reporting facts.
> 
> By all accounts, Vecsey is a decent enough guy, a
> newspaperman able to
> transform a ruffled exterior into a television
> personality. But even an
> on-air talent has some responsibility to get the
> truth.
> 
> In recent days, Vecsey has dropped significant
> ''news'' during the NBA
> playoffs. The first piece involved the Celtics. He
> said that Orlando's
> troubled - and oft-injured - Penny Hardaway is
> headed to Boston in a trade
> for Ron Mercer and Kenny Anderson.
> 
> The rumor has touched off all sorts of buzz locally.
> But no one, including
> Vecsey, really knows whether Hardaway will ever wear
> a Celtics uniform. A
> Celtics source said the trade is on the
> ''backburner.''
> 
> At first glance the deal sounds good. Hardaway is
> miffed at Magic
> management for not ''respecting'' him enough.
> Translation: He wants a lot
> more money and a coach that doesn't tell him what to
> do.
> 
> That definitely wouldn't happen under Rick Pitino,
> largely because Pitino
> is a control freak.
> 
> If the Celtics can't pay Mercer, then how, pray
> tell, are they going to pay
> a perennial All-Star? And that's the problem with
> Vecsey.
> 
> He's sort of like the NBA's version of CNN. He has a
> lot of information but
> has little time to explain what it all means.
> 
> The next troublesome Vecsey scoop is his reporting
> on the Phil Jackson
> mess.
> 
> There's no real sorting out this Gotham saga.
> Everyone involved, from
> Madison Square Garden president Dave Checketts to
> the former Bulls coach,
> are unseemly at best and liars at worst.
> 
> Checketts had to apologize for lying to the media
> about his clandestine
> meeting with Jackson while the Knicks were mounting
> their surprisingly
> successful playoff run. The fact that Jackson would
> even meet with
> Checketts while Jeff Van Gundy was still at the helm
> was pathetic. But then
> for Jackson to reject a $6 million offer from the
> New Jersey Nets and fan
> rumors about going to the Los Angeles Lakers was
> just plain sick.
> 
> Vecsey needed to be in the gutter with these guys,
> but he remained a
> Jackson coatholder despite having published
> information suggesting that
> Jackson would not get the Lakers job.
> 
> The Los Angeles Times and New York Times published
> stories last week that
> indicated Kurt Rambis would probably return as
> Lakers coach. The stories
> went on to say that Jackson's price was too high and
> that his best chance
> at securing that kind of money would come from the
> Nets or Knicks.
> 
> Vecsey wrote in Tuesday's column for the New York
> Post: ''Regardless of how
> far the Knicks go and what Dave Checketts ultimately
> decides to do with
> Jeff Van Gundy, it's my licensed belief Phil Jackson
> won't agree to coach
> anyone next season except the Lakers.''
> 
> Really Pete? That doesn't have anything to do with
> the fact the Lakers
> never met with him, much less offered him a job?
> 
> Not according to our ace reporter.
> 
> ''As I understand the situation,'' Vecsey wrote,
> ''from those privy to the
> cunning and conversations of Jackson's agent, Todd
> Musburger, neither the
> Nets nor the Knicks particularly captivate the
> six-time coaching champion.
> But it doesn't hurt to elevate his market value by
> playing the passionate
> interest shown by both franchises for all its worth
> in an effort to whet
> the appetite of LA owner Jerry Buss.''
> 
> Vecsey did manage to describe Jackson's secret
> meeting with Checketts as a
> ''low-rent stunt,'' and then went on to flesh out
> his story with
> interesting but irrelevant blather about Kobe Bryant
> boning up on the
> triangle offense.
> 
> Vecsey concludes: ''Given the pick between helping
> [presidential 
=== message truncated ===

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