C's Were Talking Potapenko For Wahad In Some Capacity

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

Any ways, Pot is staying, because Wahad is staying:

http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/basketball/cs08012000.htm

C's likely won't land Abdul-Wahad
by Mark Cofman
Tuesday, August 1, 2000


Though attempts to acquire Tariq Abdul-Wahad the past week came up
empty, the Celtics continued to explore sign-and-trade possibilities for
the free agent guard.

That likely changed for good last night.

On the eve of the official signing period, the Denver Nuggets were
prepared to re-sign Abdul-Wahad to a seven-year contract in the $40
million range, effectively ending the Celtics' hopes of working out a
deal for the three-year veteran's services.

``We plan to re-sign with the Nuggets and be a big part of the team,''
Abdul-Wahad's agent, Paco Belassen, said last night.

Celtics coach Rick Pitino and general manager Chris Wallace considered a
variety of deals with Denver, but those scenarios were contingent upon
the teams agreeing on a sign-and-trade pre-arrangement. The moment
Abdul-Wahad signs a contract with the Nuggets, which could be as soon as
today, the Celtics would have to wait until Dec. 15 to make a trade for
him.

``The deal with the Clippers didn't go through,'' said Belassen,
referring to a three-way trade the Celtics and Nuggets worked out last
week, which was nixed in the 11th hour by the Clippers. ``The Celtics
have been trying very badly to get Tariq, but I guess everything they
offered was not strong enough for the Nuggets not to re-sign Tariq.''

Said Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Denny McGowan:
``The problem with the deal with Boston is you have to almost always go
through someone under the salary cap. So that makes it very problematic
to get anything done.

``Essentially the team (Clippers) that is under the salary cap has to be
willing to take on a player in order to make the salary-cap numbers work
for the other two teams.''

Earlier in the day, Wallace all but ruled out a significant signing by
the Celtics today. The fact he and Pitino were not making an immediate
move with their $2.25 million mid-level exception seemed to suggest they
were still waiting to see how the Abdul-Wahad scenario played out before
focusing their attention elsewhere. Now, barring an unlikely turn of
events, they will have to move on.

``Obviously Tariq is a player we really like and who we had very, very
positive meetings with,'' Wallace said. ``Let's put it this way, we'll
be knocking on their door all the way until the time he signs.''

Wallace and Pitino have been knocking on other doors, too, while waiting
to see how the first wave of official signings today would affect the
marketplace. It's been a long, tenuous month for NBA executives.

``We've been doing the same thing since July 1,'' said Wallace,
referring to ongoing free agent and trade negotiations. ``You're calling
other teams, you're calling agents. You're calling, calling, calling.

``This is not an abundant group of free agents this year, so basically
anybody you'd want to sign, somebody else is trying to sign him, too.
All of these guys have alternatives.''

That would include Abdul-Wahad, who thought he was coming to Boston a
week ago, but who will be handsomely compensated for re-signing in
Denver. The Celtics' strong interest in Abdul-Wahad was evident when
they engineered last Tuesday's deal.

With the Clippers out of the picture, the Celtics and Nuggets tried to
work out a deal independently. Denver's interest in the three-way deal
last week was strictly to acquire Derek Anderson, but the Nuggets
refocused their attention on the Celtics' roster, looking for players
with comparable salaries to what they expected to give Abdul-Wahad.

According to a source in Denver, one name mentioned in trade talks was
Vitaly Potapenko, which makes sense from both a basketball and
salary-cap perspective. The Nuggets are in the market for a physical
presence to add to their frontcourt and Potapenko fits that profile. His
salary for the upcoming season, meanwhile, is in the same range as will
be Abdul-Wahad's.

Trade possibilities notwithstanding, Potapenko is slated to be the
Celtics' starting center in a rotation that includes Tony Battie and
summer-league addition Mark Blount. The Celtics were expected to
officially announce Blount's signing today, but his contract would not
involve either their $1.2 million or $2.25 million salary-cap
exceptions. The Celtics will use those slots elsewhere, with one already
targeted to fill the team's need for a backup point guard. Veterans
Bimbo Coles and Randy Brown are among the candidates.

As for the Abdul-Wahad pursuit, the smallest of windows appeared to
remain open.

``I think in this league anything can happen at anytime,'' said McGowan.