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'97 draft blew C's ill wind
'97 draft blew C's ill wind
Pitino's choice of collegians turned
out to be all wrong
Sunday, February 6, 2000
By Bill Doyle
Telegram & Gazette Sports Staff
Denver's trade of Chauncey Billups and Ron
Mercer to Orlando last week was another chilling
reminder of how unproductive Rick Pitino's first
draft as Celtics boss was.
The Celtics drafted Billups with the third
pick
and Mercer with the sixth in 1997. Pitino
immediately labeled them his team's backcourt of
the future. Billups turned out to be a shooting
guard in a point guard's body, so 3.5 months into
his rookie season he was sent to Toronto in a
deal that brought veteran point guard Kenny
Anderson to Boston.
Anderson is enjoying his best year in a
Celtics uniform this season and he's even begun
to play better defense, but the Celtics are paying
a premium for his five assists a game. He still
has three full years remaining on his $49 million
deal that will pay him $9.2 million when he's 32
years old. The Celtics can only hope Anderson
remains productive because his salary makes
him untradeable and the team can't afford to pay
a second point guard much.
Mercer has so far been the third-best player
in the '97 draft behind Tim Duncan and Keith Van
Horn, the top two picks. Pitino has said the only
time he overruled his staff on a draft day was in
taking his former Kentucky star. Mercer didn't
disappoint the Celtics with his play, but they
decided they couldn't afford to keep him. That still
amounts to a draft-day mistake.
Mercer's trade to Denver in August has
been a bust for Boston so far. Guard Eric
Washington was cut in training camp. Pitino
pointed to Danny Fortson's rebounding as a key
to the team's success while he missed the first
25 games with a stress fracture in his right foot,
but he's played little since he's been activated.
Foul trouble has cut into his minutes, but Pitino
also insists he can't find more time for him.
Fortson is reportedly on the trading block and it
appears he will sign elsewhere when he
becomes a free agent at season's end.
So that will leave forward Eric Williams as
the only player left from the Mercer trade.
Williams has been a disappointment in his return
to Boston and saddles the Celtics with another
lucrative, long-term contract. When Pitino talked
about the team's nucleus for the future last week,
he didn't mention Fortson or Williams.
Boston does get Denver's first-round pick
sometime over the next three years, however.
Any help there won't come for a while because
Boston probably won't exercise that option until
2001 at the earliest.
In Pitino's defense, however, there weren't
many better alternatives available in the '97 draft.
Duncan and Van Horn, the two best players
available, were taken by the time the Celtics
selected and the '97 draft has turned out to be
very weak.
In hindsight, Pitino would have been better
off drafting Brevin Knight instead of Billups and
trading the sixth pick for a veteran. Better yet,
Pitino could have beaten New Jersey to the punch
and sent both picks to Philadelphia for the second
pick and taken Van Horn, even though he's tailed
off this season. Either move would have been
criticized at the time, however.
Duncan, Van Horn and Mercer are the only
members of the '97 draft ranked among the
league's top 50 scorers this season. Duncan and
Van Horn are the only two ranked among the top
50 rebounders. Knight is the only one ranked
among the top 50 in assists (12th, 7.4 per game).
The Celtics are well aware of the lack of
production from the '97 lottery after Duncan and
Van Horn. They also have Tony Battie, the fifth
pick, and Fortson, the 10th.
Tracy McGrady, Maurice Taylor and Derek
Anderson may blossom into NBA stars, but the
'97 draft may become better known for such
disappointments as Billups, Antonio Daniels, Tim
Thomas and Adonal Foyle.
On Monday, Denver sent three potential free
agents -- Mercer, Billups and Johnny Taylor, the
17th pick of the '97 draft -- to Orlando for Tariq
Abdul-Wahad (11th pick in '97), Chris Gatling, $3
million and a first-round pick.
Denver expected Mercer to leave as a free
agent at season's end and figured it could sign
Abdul-Wahad for about half the $9 million annual
salary Mercer wants. Orlando got rid of Gatling's
long-term contract and moved ahead of Chicago
as the team with the most salary-cap money
available. The Magic will have $18 million to
spend on such potential free agents as Duncan,
Grant Hill, Eddie Jones, McGrady, Taylor and
Mercer. And the weather is much better in
Orlando than Chicago.
Denver threw in Billups to create even more
salary cap room for Orlando. The Nuggets hope
to re-sign Billups, a Denver native, this summer.
Mercer averaged 18.4 points for the
Nuggets, but they took a few swipes at him after
the deal was made. Some claimed he was too
selfish for a Denver offense based on movement.
(Anderson made similar statements after Boston
traded Mercer last summer.) Kim Hughes, the
Nuggets' player personnel director, claimed bad
habits on the court prevented Mercer from being a
good defender.
Billups could end up as the worst third pick
of the 1990s unless Baron Davis, last year's No.
3, beats him out. Other No. 3s in the '90s
included Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Penny Hardaway,
Hill and Jerry Stackhouse. Mercer belongs closer
to the top than the bottom of the last decade's
sixth picks. Other sixth-picks ranged from Walker
and Tom Gugliotta to Calbert Cheaney, Sharone
Wright, Doug Smith and Felton Spencer.