Pitino-Speak On Re-Signing Battie & Mercer

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

If they don't re-sign Battie, they'll have to trade him; Mercer
may fit or not fit in the C's salary cap.  If they do re-sign
Mercer for a high amount, they may have trade Battie.  It's
Pitino-Speak at its best....
      Boston Herald


      Pitino, Battie face tall order
      Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett 
      Tuesday, May 4, 1999
      NEW YORK - Tony Battie has been playing in the Rick Pitino press this 
      season. This summer he will feel what it's like to be the object of it. 
      Battie is eligible to sign a contract extension (like Ron Mercer, he has 
      one year left on his initial deal), and Pitino believes it is a very 
      black-and-white situation.
      ``I think, in all honesty, in the bracket that Tony is in, that if we 
      don't re-sign him we have to trade him,'' Pitino said after last night's 
      95-88 loss to the Knicks in which Battie had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 
      three blocks in 34 minutes. ``(If you don't do either), you're going to 
      get nothing for him. He's not in the highest bracket financially. You've 
      got to get him committed or you've got to move him.
      ``With Ron it's a different situation totally. Ron may fit or may not fit. 
      I don't know what Ron's going to ask for, but let's say he asks for a lot. 
      Then I probably can't sign Tony. I've got to do what's best for the Celtic 
      team in the end. We want to keep Ron certainly, but if we can't then we 
      just go in a different direction. But we've got to get quality back, and I 
      won't trade Ron unless I get quality. I want to sign him, but we've got to 
      figure out some way to do this.''
      Clearly, Pitino wants to keep both. Battie is developing nicely after 
      coming from the Lakers (where he never played) in exchange for Travis 
      Knight.
      ``We've taken him from a bad reputation with the Denver Nuggets,'' Pitino 
      said. ``He still has to play three out of four games rather than one out 
      of four games, but we've built him up. Now we've put so much work and time 
      in - and we're going to do it all summer long - we've got to sign him. If 
      we don't, then all the work that we've put in establishing his reputation 
      and him giving back to the Celtics is for naught, because he's a free 
      agent next year, and he's of the salary that a lot of teams could afford 
      him.''
      Battie would like to stay, too, but he's not counting on anything.
      ``I love playing here with these guys,'' he said. ``I love playing for the 
      pride and the tradition of the Celtics, and hopefully I can stick around. 
      But you know how things go. This is the NBA, and weird things do happen.''