Mark Cofman on Chris Carr

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

Celtics buy a used Carr
by Mark Cofman
Tuesday, August 22, 2000

For a team handcuffed by the salary cap, the Celtics have been awfully
busy this summer.

Celtics president/coach Rick Pitino and general manager Chris Wallace
continued to make roster revisions yesterday, using the team's $1.2
million salary cap exception to sign free agent Chris Carr. The 6-foot-6
shooting guard is the C's fifth new player in less than a month and
provides insurance against an injury to Paul Pierce.

``I sat down and weighed the pros and cons of every situation and I just
felt that coach Pitino, (director of scouting) Leo Papile and Chris
Wallace presented me with the best opportunity,'' Carr said in a
telephone interview from his home in Minneapolis.

``After talking to them and discussing what role they saw me playing and
how they saw me fitting in there, it was clear that Boston would be the
best place for me,'' said Carr, who split time between Golden State and
Chicago last season. ``I know I can help them in a number of areas,
especially with scoring.''

The Celtics struggled at times to generate offense last season,
particularly when Pierce was on the injured list with a sprained ankle.
At one point in his absence, they lost 8-of-9 games. That did not go
unnoticed by the Celtics.

``What we've had to look at was what happened to us last year when Paul
was lost to our team,'' said Pitino. ``When Paul got hurt, I think we
lost about 90 percent of our games.

``That (lack of scoring production in Pierce's absence) had to enter
into the equation of what kind of moves we wanted to make this summer.
We knew we had to add more scoring. Chris adds to our athleticism and he
gives us that additional scoring we needed at the wing spot.''

Carr's arrival in a suddenly crowded Celtics backcourt likely means
Pierce can spend more time at his natural position. A small forward in
college and during his rookie season with the C's, Pierce shifted to
shooting guard last season to help fill the void left by Ron Mercer's
departure. Though he handled the new position well, Pierce's scoring and
rebounding were missed up front.

``They definitely have an outstanding nucleus in Boston - Paul, Antoine
(Walker), Kenny Anderson, Tony Battie - but I think they felt they
needed to add to the roster to make it all work,'' said Carr.
``Hopefully, I'm one of the pieces to the puzzle in making the Celtics a
playoff team again. That's why I'm going there.''

Carr's arrival comes just four days after the Celtics shipped Danny
Fortson to Golden State and Dana Barros to Dallas as part of a four-team
deal involving nine players. The Celtics acquired Robert Pack and center
John ``Hot Rod'' Williams, one of Utah's two first-round draft picks
next year and $3 million from Dallas in the exchange.

Earlier this month, the C's signed summer league standout Mark Blount to
a guaranteed contract and used their $2.25 million salary cap exception
on point guard Randy Brown. A team over the salary cap such as the C's
can exercise the $2.25 million exception once per year.

The $1.2 million exception given to Carr, however, is only available to
teams over the cap once every two years. This marks the first time the
Celtics have used it. In doing so, they beat out five other teams for
Carr's services, including Charlotte. According to a number of reports,
the Hornets had the inside track on Carr over the weekend.

``Those reports weren't accurate,'' said Mark Termini, Carr's agent.
``There were six teams interested in Chris and Charlotte was one of
them. But the Celtics were very aggressive in recruiting him. In the
end, Chris just looked at Boston as the best situation for him.''