Re: Griffin

[Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>]

> I would think that if the Celtics can make the playoffs and win a few
> playoff games, Gaston will be willing to sign the 23-year-old Fortson
> and 25-year-old Griffin long term (Pierce is okay for another two seasons
> after this) with a lot less hesitation than we'd imagine, based on his
> ultimatum (a total budget not exceeding the NBA salary cap plus two
> veteran exemptions).

I think this whole budget talk was a smokescreen by Pitino to cover
up the fact that he wanted to get rid of Ron Mercer. Pitino would rather
say, "I hate budget constraints and I love Ron Mercer" rather than
"I have to get rid of Ron Mercer because there's no way I can preach
pass before shot with this guy on my team" which would kill his trade
value. I'm sure that Pitino has some sort of budget but I doubt that
it's really as tight as he complains about; in fact it wouldn't surprise
me to see Fortson and Mercer get very similar sized contracts at the
end of the season, especially if Issel ends up playing hardball with
Mercer.

Alex