RE: Penny Hardaway

[mberry@journalink.com (Mark Berry)]

I think the talk about re-signing Mercer isn't a question of whether or not the
Celtics can afford him, but whether or not they believe he's worth what he's
likely to demand. I think Pitino sees Mercer for what he is: A solid, but flawed
shooting guard who is nothing but a complementary player. Penny Hardaway, AT HIS
BEST, is one of the most gifted all-around players in the game and far more
valuable than Ron Mercer. Even at his worst, which Penny clearly was this
season, he compares favorably with Ron (15 pts, 5 rebs, 5 assts and similar
shooting pctg.).

I would support this kind of trade as long as we address the needs in the
frontcourt also. My hope has always been that we trade Mercer or some package
including Mercer for an impact player at the power forward spot. If we trade for
Penny instead, then I hope we have a plan to add a big man.

Mark

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From:      Warwick <titans@ihug.com.au> at Internet
Sent:      Sunday, May 30, 1999 6:18 AM
To:      Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu> at Internet
Cc:      celtics@igtc.com at Internet
Subject:      RE: Penny Hardaway

Alex,

You're forgetting the prime reason why we're trading Ron in the first place and
thats because we cant afford to have the three All-Stars on our team, taking out
Ron and adding Penny is NOT solving the problem, it only subtracts it and I
think
that at the moment Penny has less value than Mercer.

Warwick