Re: Smith Smith mentions Mercer

[Shailendra Mishra <shailendra_mishra@yahoo.com>]

Absolutely, and do you see how Mash appears as default in every celtics
trade. Actually it appears as if any celtics player can be traded for
Mash..why can't Mitch think something like Eliison for Mash or even
better Ellison, Minor and Popeye for Mash. - Mishra

--- DJessen33@aol.com wrote:
> Why trade Mercer for Mashburn or Stackhouse when
> Acie Earl is available?
> 
> DJessen33
> 
> NBA REPORT/SAM SMITH
> Penny-pinching Bulls could afford Hardaway
> June 20, 1999 
> Does the fact that the Knicks made the NBA Finals
> change the Bulls' 
> plans about rebuilding?
> 
> You know, if they could get there, why can't we?
> 
> With Miami beaten early and Indiana looking old and
> tired, there are 
> about a dozen teams in the Eastern Conference now
> believing they can get 
> to the Finals, that it doesn't take much amid
> pathetically weak 
> competition. And the Knicks have done most of it
> without Patrick Ewing. 
> Two off-season deals and they're a contender.
> 
> So do the Bulls make a pitch for Anfernee "Penny"
> Hardaway?
> 
> Hardaway is out in Orlando. Forget what new coach
> Doc Rivers says, 
> management has had it with him. But he's still a
> talent and could return 
> to full health next season after his first
> injury-free season since 
> 1995-96. Back then, who ever would have thought the
> Bulls could get 
> Hardaway.
> 
> Now they can. Along with the Clippers and Toronto,
> the Bulls will be far 
> enough under the salary cap to offer Hardaway a
> maximum $68 million deal 
> over six years.
> 
> Hardaway could earn $85 million over seven if he
> re-signs with the Magic 
> and then is traded. He has made that more difficult
> by officially opting 
> out of his contract, meaning teams cannot negotiate
> with him until July 
> 1.
> 
> The Suns have substantial interest and reportedly
> want to deal their 
> first-round pick (No. 9), plus Danny Manning and Pat
> Garrity, but not 
> Tom Gugliotta. Now there's talk Hardaway wants to go
> to Toronto to play 
> with buddy Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter. The
> Raptors have the No. 5 
> pick, which Orlando wants, and Toronto could absorb
> most of Hardaway's 
> salary and give up only Doug Christie.
> 
> But maybe the Bulls should make a run to
> competitiveness now instead of 
> waiting for a shot at Grant Hill after next season.
> 
> With the No. 1 pick, the Bulls take, say, Elton
> Brand or Wally 
> Szczerbiak, add Hardaway, sign center/power forward
> Dragan Tarlac, with 
> whom they've been negotiating, keep Toni Kukoc, who
> would be more 
> valuable with a good team, and also have the No. 16
> pick.
> 
> It's certainly a risk because Hardaway did not
> handle being the No. 1 
> star in Orlando after Shaquille O'Neal left. But he
> is talented, and the 
> East is not. Remember, with Hardaway and spare
> pieces like Darrell 
> Armstrong, the Magic tied for the best record in the
> East this season.
> 
> Size matters: The Bulls may have moved a step closer
> to taking Brand 
> with the No. 1 pick after Brand measured 6 feet 8
> inches in bare feet at 
> the Chicago draft camp last week. With a 7-5
> horizontal reach and a 
> vertical reach of more than 9 feet, Brand ranked
> with the 7-footers.
> 
> Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer measured 6-11 1/2
> without shoes, and his 
> vertical reach was the same as Brand's. Steve
> Francis was 6-2 1/2, 
> slightly smaller than advertised, and Szczerbiak was
> 6-7 without shoes, 
> good size for a small forward who can shoot.
> 
> Over there: King High School product Rashard
> Griffith showed up at the 
> Bucks' mini-camp last week and may finally come to
> the NBA. Drafted in 
> the second round in 1995, the 6-11, 24-year-old
> center has played 
> overseas, starring on championship teams in Israel
> and Turkey, where he 
> was a two-time league MVP. "I want to be here.
> There's no doubt about 
> that," Griffith said. "It would be a perfect
> situation."
> 
> For the Bucks as well; they're desperate for a post
> presence. But coach 
> George Karl warns, "I don't think he's a starting
> center tomorrow. If he 
> committed himself to being an NBA player, then
> there's a good chance he 
> could be an NBA player."
> 
> Griffith says he has grown comfortable overseas. His
> father, Clinton, 
> lives with him, and he has American food shipped
> over and drives a Ford 
> Expedition.
> 
> Over Heard: Maybe what Washington needs is a boring
> guy. The Wizards 
> weren't thrilled about Gar Heard being named
> coach--Rod Strickland and 
> Juwan Howard lobbied for Isiah Thomas. But Heard,
> who joked about being 
> a candidate in the newspapers for years without ever
> getting called by 
> teams, said it's not about being well-known. "A
> bigger-name coach comes 
> in and sells tickets for 10 games, then goes 0-10,
> then what?"
> 
> A former interim coach in Dallas, Heard was an
> assistant in Detroit, 
> Indiana and most recently Philadelphia. His playing
> career included one 
> season with the Bulls (1972-73).
> 
> "If I were a coach or general manager and I wanted
> to pick a guy to 
> play, I'd pick Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) or Isiah Thomas
> instead of Gar 
> Heard," he said. "But we're talking about a coach.
> I've been around long 
> enough to know if you win, (fans) come out."
> 
> Heard said he'll ask management to re-sign Mitch
> Richmond, who Heard 
> acknowledges is "aging a little bit," but is
> probably the best free 
> agent on the market.
> 
> Do as I . . . Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, presiding
> over his own 
> potentially volatile group, had to laugh at how the
> Trail Blazers, 
> praised for their depth and unselfishness all
> season, disintegrated once 
> they started losing. We'll see about the Knicks.
> 
> Van Gundy said: "All those 'team' guys giving up
> their minutes, 'Boy, I 
> love this team,' and then they lose two in a row and
> it's '(forget) the 
> team, I want my minutes, give me shots, trade my
> butt . . . I'm 
> leaving.' Come on. Unselfishness is always tested in
> adversity. 
> Portland, you look at that and it's like, 'I'm all
> for sacrifice unless 
> it's me.' "
> 
> Gather no Moss: Lamar Odom's return to the draft
> poses a dilemma for the 
> Bulls, because VP Jerry Krause emphasized
> "character" when the Bulls won 
> the top pick. Charlotte General Manager Bob Bass
> suggests he'll take 
> Odom if the 6-10 forward falls to No. 3.
> 
> "We've got to remember Randy Moss," Bass said.
> "Everyone missed on him, 
> and he turned out to be a great player."
> 
> We're No. 2: Rumors continue to circulate about
> Vancouver dealing its 
> No. 2 pick, perhaps to the 76ers for Theo Ratliff.
> Philadelphia coach 
> Larry Brown said he also is interested in
> reacquiring Derrick Coleman 
> from Charlotte. Senior management voted to buy out
> Coleman's 
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