By dangling Mercer as the bait, team is hoping Portland will bite
''I laughed when I heard about it,'' Celtics coach and president Rick Pitino
said yesterday. ''For me to be causing so much stress on my staff, they sure do
find time to play a lot of golf.''
According to a report in Sunday's Charlotte Observer, Pitino ''has been
riding his staff pretty hard lately so the stress is showing ... there's talk he
might accept a buyout and move on.'' Pitino has eight years and $36 million
remaining on the contract he and Celtics chairman of the board Paul Gaston
signed in May 1997. If he were to accept a buyout, he would lose at least $14
million. Another factor that makes a buyout unlikely is that Pitino's contract
is front-loaded: He will make $28 million in the next four years.
''I'll be here for a long time,'' he said. ''There have never been
conversations about leaving. I don't know where that story came from.'' The
coach then added, with a touch of sarcasm, ''As you know, I spend a lot of time
in Charlotte.''
So Pitino will probably be in town for the next several weeks. You may not be
able to say the same thing about Ron Mercer. The 6-foot-7-inch shooting guard
has had his name discussed in several deals, but the most serious one involves
the Trail Blazers.
''We've had dialogue with Portland,'' Pitino said. ''But right now, with what
they have on the table, we're not interested. That could change later, but as of
right now, there is no interest.''
In the scenario that doesn't interest Pitino, the Celtics would send Mercer
and Dana Barros to the Blazers in exchange for center Kelvin Kato and swingmen
Jim Jackson and Walt Williams. The most consistent player of the three is
Williams. Kato is a good shot-blocker with limited offensive skills. Jackson,
the No. 4 pick in the 1992 draft, has already played with five teams. He once
scored 50 points in a game and averaged 25.7 points with the Mavericks. But he
is an erratic shooter and was involved in the made-for-the-tabloids breakup of
the Mavericks' three ''Js'' - Jackson, Jason Kidd, and Jamal Mashburn.
But the Blazers do have some players the Celtics would like to have. Pitino
knows his team's biggest weakness is rebounding, so he would love to deal for
power forward Brian Grant. Almost any Celtic deal will involve Mercer, although
Pitino joked of Grant, ''Maybe Portland can give us him for Pervis [Ellison]
straight up.''
That's not likely. And, according to the coach, neither is a proposed
three-way deal with the Bulls and Raptors. The Celtics would receive Brent Barry
and the No. 5 pick (with which they would probably draft Utah point guard Andre
Miller or Rhode Island's Lamar Odom); Mercer, Tracy McGrady, and the No. 12 pick
would go to the Bulls; and the No. 1 pick would land in Toronto, which the team
would use to select Maryland guard Steve Francis. One of the hitches in that
deal is that the numbers don't fit. Barry is scheduled to make about $4 million
next year, a superior salary to Mercer's. So for the deal to work, the Celtics
would have to add another player.
If teams are eager to make trades, they will have to complete them by 12:01
a.m. tomorrow. After that point, there is a moratorium on deals until Aug. 1.
''It's funny that we're involved in all these rumors,'' Pitino said,
''because right now is the most quiet it's been around here in a while.''
That's not to say the Celtics don't enjoy the conversation. Because if they
don't make a deal this evening, they will be one of the loneliest teams in the
league. They own one draft pick, the 55th. By that time, not many people will be
paying attention to the selections. And the only reason the Celtics will be so
attentive is that they will be trying to trade their remaining pick.
Maybe you're wondering, ''Who would want the third-to-last pick in the
draft?''
''Sometimes teams see a guy they like that low and would want the pick,''
Celtics general manager Chris Wallace said. Pitino added, ''If teams want it,
we'll give it to them.''
The Celtics will discuss dealing that No. 55 pick tonight in their Waltham
war room. They will also take a few more calls on Mercer. Not much is clear on
the specifics. But this much appears to be obvious: When the Celtics play their
first game in the fall, the coach on their sideline will be named Pitino.
here is nothing
strange about NBA trade rumors this time of year. You always hear about possible
deals leading up to draft night, which is tonight. But how about coaching
rumors?
This story ran on page C6 of the Boston Globe on 06/30/99.
