Gary in Green

["Odegaard, Greg M." <GMOdegaa@RMC.com>]

Ok with the following from ESPN (sorry about the cut and paste formatting)
let's consider offering Mercer and everything else they want (save for VP,
AW and PP) and get Gary out of the Emerald City and into to green for good,
bringing his buddy Baker with him.  Baker did have an off year, so to speak
and he gets along very well with Payton, meaning that if Baker wants to be a
Celtic and Payton wants out of Dodge, you have motivation and clearly Payton
is not "Scottie Pippen old" at 30, so we could pull down a couple titles
under his PG direction.  

This matter has been discussed a lot, and I for one am not a big fan of Vin
Baker, but there is no doubt with the right motivation and chemistry there
is no limit to this teams potential with the following line-up:

PG: Payton/Barros
SG: Pierce/Minor
SF: Walker/McCarty
PF: Baker/Jones
Center: VP/whoever

This would entail losing Mercer and likely Battie and maybe one other of the
above bench players to make the dollars work, but if the above starting 5 is
intact, hold me back Martha.  Look at it again.
Greg

Here is the ESPN piece:


>>>>Payton to talk with Sonics GM
SEATTLE -- Gary Payton  is unhappy. If the Seattle SuperSonics don't improve
themselves next season, the All-Star point guard will ask to be traded. 
Payton, 30, plans to meet in the near future with team president and general
manager Wally Walker. 
"If you don't want to listen, then get me out of here," Payton said he will
tell Walker. "If things don't improve, I'm done with it." 
Payton averaged 21.7 points -- the second-best scoring average of his
nine-year NBA career -- this season, but the Sonics missed the playoffs with
a 25-25 record. He helped the Sonics reach the NBA Finals three seasons ago.

"I've had articles written about me, saying I'm a joke for this, a joke for
that," Payton told The Seattle Times. "Well, take me off this team and we'll
see what the joke is. People are blaming me -- as always. Well, take me off
this team and it'll be different. It'll be a lot different." 
Payton was named to the NBA All-Defensive team for the sixth time Thursday. 
He wants Walker and Sonics owner Barry Ackerley to make major improvements
to the Sonics in a hurry. 
Payton said he plans to become more vocal in the future. He thinks he's
earned that right. 
"Fans know. I come out every night and play," he said. "I've been good to
Seattle, good to my teammates for nine years. I've never said anything
negative. 
"Compare me to a lot of stars around the league. They make a lot more noise
than I do. I should have been doing that a long time ago. But I've been
keeping quiet, trying to be the good guy, and it's backfired on me." 
Payton said he was upset about the makeup of this season's Seattle team. He
said the players openly bickered more than any other team he's played for
with the Sonics. 
He said he was unfairly pinpointed as the team malcontent after a practice
blowup with Vin Baker  and an outburst in Portland. Payton said both were
overblown. 
"I'm the only one who doesn't complain," he said. "I don't say anything to
anybody. I just come into the locker room, and I don't talk to the media. If
I say the wrong thing, they'll put it in the papers and say I'm complaining
about it." 
Payton met with Walker after last season, but didn't make any specific
demands. He said he will be specific this time. 
"I'm only going to be around for four or five more years and I want to win,"
he said. 
According to Payton, the Sonics' biggest needs are a backup point guard,
another shooter and a competent big man. 
Payton also plans to meet with Ackerley. 
Payton wants his friend, Baker, to return with the Sonics next season. Baker
and Payton have the same agents, brothers Aaron and Eric Goodwin. 
Baker, who had a subpar season when he averaged 13.8 points this year, is
expected to opt to become a free agent. If the Sonics are to keep him, they
might have to offer him a maximum contract of $87 million for seven seasons.