Ae: Peter May On Fortson & Blount

[Joe Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Peter May wrote:

> http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/teams/celtics/
>
>  Boston Celtics
> Team Report posted AUGUST 10, 2000
>
> By TSN correspondent
> Peter May
> Boston Globe
>
> They've used their mid-level exception on Randy Brown. The Celtics still
> have the $1.2 million slot available should they choose, but they are
> now spending time trying to deal with the Danny Fortson dilemma.
>
> The problem: They don't want him back, but they also don't want anything
> back for him. Collective bargaining agreement rules make such a
> situation unnerving and hard to deal with.
>
> With the signing of Brown, the Celtics are carrying a staggering $47
> million payroll, or almost $12 million over the cap. Rick Pitino has
> constantly said his annual "budget" consists of the salary cap, plus the
> two allowed exceptions. That total would be about $39 million. So he's
> well over what he says is his budget -- and now he's staring more money
> in the face with Fortson.

Pitino says a lot of things. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he said before the
lockout that his contract with Gaston allows him to sign any player for
under 14 million per year without the approval of the owner.

To put Peter May's "staggering" $47 million in context, for one thing it
isn't in the top ten of team payrolls. Being above the artificially low
salary cap is not an abberation or case of lousy management. You need to pay
that much to compete. The only reason any team can get under the salary cap
is if half the roster becomes a free agent at the same time, either through
advanced planning or coincidence.

Last year's Final Four (Blazer, Fakers, Indy, Knicks) had the four highest
payrolls, averaging over 63 million in player salaries. Among the other top
playoff contenders, only San Antonio and Sacramento had lower payrolls than
Boston, and that is in part because marquee players hadn't been re-signed
yet (Duncan only signed this summer, Webber and, I think, Jason Williams
next summer).

In the end, the thing that is "staggering" is that Gaston hasn't already
sold the team that dad gave him to people like Bird (3rd highest team
payroll last year) who are willing to compete for championships. I say
Gaston should quit kidding around about being overbudget and quit the game.

For example, think about some of the players on a roster who are
ridiculously "overpaid" and put it in perspective:

-Compared to Potapenko, starting centers of all shapes and sizes are
fantastically well compensated. Rik Smits made 12.25 million, Sabonis 9.8
million, Bryant Reeves 8.7 million, Divac 8.8 million, Shawn Bradley 7.56
million, the retired Jayson Williams 12.37 million, the probably retired
Ilgauskus 9 million. Even guys like Longley, Ostertag, Will Perdue and Matt
Geiger all made more than 5.2 million, whereas Potapenko took home "just"
3.8 million. Moreover, Boston has him locked up until 2005 with an average
salary that is barely half of what Geiger signed for around the same time as
a result of putting up the same numbers (10 points 6 boards). This BTW is
another reason why Potapenko's trade value ought to be a lot higher than
some of us imagine.

-35 guys made as much or more than Antoine last year, which averages out to
more than one player per team. Once the BYC ends after this season, the
notion that his contract is too huge to make him tradeable is false. There
won't be an Antoine "firesale" unless Gaston insists on it.

-There has also been some talk about trying to unload Kenny's huge contract
on Portland in exchange for Stoudamire, but this could make a bad situation
worse. Stoudamire is a 5-10 player whose defense can't be that much better
than Kenny's, yet he was paid $3.5 million more than KA last year and still
has 5 years left on a contract that averages $11.6 million per. Kenny's
contract is 2/3rds smaller contract expires two years sooner in 2003.

As someone else has pointed out, Boston fans (and certainly Peter May) not
only suffer from a "grass is greener" syndrome, but they also use it as part
of their reasoning to criticize the team. Pitino and Wallace may look like
"dumb and dumber" but they are no more sloppy or reckless in their
decision-making than most any other team's GM. The problem is one of
coaching effectiveness rather than personnel decisions.

To me, the relevant questions for next season are:

1) Can Pitino's defense ever work at the NBA level, especially now that
every opponent is used to it? Ideally, next season we'll see a similar
athleticism on defense as his exciting and entertaining first year team, but
with a lot more firepower on offense. In the worst case, Pitino's
"poultry-in-motion" defense will continue its marked decline in
effectiveness with each passing season. From the rest of the league's
perspective, familiarity just breeds contempt of the Boston defense.

2) Can Pitino actually coach any talented athlete to make intelligent
(Celtic-like) decisions on the court and not jack up bad shots or show zero
signs of improvement or understanding as the seasons unfold? Pitino
basically has a blank canvas in the talented Moiso. I dread to see his
development mirror that of Walker, Mashburn, Mercer,Waltah etc.

I have an open mind (provided Pitino doesn't make a desperation Walker trade
before the season on Gaston's orders or to win back fan support). Once the
season slowly approaches I'll probably go right back to my usual ways of
predicting 50 wins and the delivery of major cans of whup-ass by Battie and
Moiso (although I like Fortson more as a player).

Joe

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