Read btween the lines

[Kevin Lok <kevin.lok@lycosmail.com>]

What caught my eye was this sentence.
"there is word Pitino may be getting an even
tighter budget to work with nowadays"
I'll expand on it when I get home tonight.

http://www.bostonherald.com/bostonherald/sport/deal02102000.htm

Fortson packs his bags for Toronto
by Steve Bulpett
Thursday, February 10, 2000
The Celtics traded Danny Fortson to Toronto last
night, getting the tall backup point guard they
were seeking, Alvin Williams, and sleeper forward
Sean Marks.
The Celts also got what they believe will be some
financial relief down the road.
Williams, a 6-foot-5 guard who started 28 games at
the point for the Raptors, will be Kenny
Anderson's backup. He averaged 6.5 points and
three assists in 17.4 minutes a game. Marks, a
second-year pro from New Zealand by way of Cal,
had gotten into just five games for Toronto this
season.
The financial factor appears to have played a key
role in the Celts giving up so quickly on Fortson,
who got jettisoned after just 23 games in a Boston
uniform since coming back from a fractured right
foot he suffered in the preseason.
There is word Pitino may be getting an even
tighter budget to work with nowadays.
In strict money terms, Fortson is making $1.68
million this season and will be a free agent this
summer. The Celts did not believe they could
afford to re-sign him.
Williams is getting $1.925 million this season and
is scheduled to make $2.1 next season - the last
year of his contract. Marks is in the last year of
his pact, getting $385,000.
``I know it's very difficult,'' said Rick Pitino.
``People have a tendency not to listen when
sometimes you talk. I'll say it once again. Ron
Mercer, who people keep on bringing up here, could
not have been signed by us. It was impossible. So
we do the best we can. We got a first-round draft
pick, which is what we were after. And that's the
best we could get.
``Danny Fortson . . . we did not feel we could
sign him. And in this scenario we feel we could
not give him the minutes where it would be
worthwhile. So we're trying to get an asset,
fulfill a need of our basketball team and do the
best we can with the understanding of the luxury
taxes that are coming in to this league. And we
are restricted by certain boundaries, and we're
doing the best to stay within our boundaries and
be able to field the best basketball team. People
just can't understand that.
``In speaking to his agent, it would have been
impossible (to resign Fortson). We realized
that.''
In a pure basketball sense, Pitino still had
issues with Fortson's future as a Celtic.
``Let's throw the money issue out, which is
there,'' the coach said. ``We could not please him
with playing time. We're going to play (Vitaly)
Potapenko at the 5-spot, with (Tony) Battie ahead
of (Fortson). At the 4-spot, (Antoine) Walker
takes a lot of minutes, so we could not fulfill
his playing time. It was more that we could not
play Walker at the 3 like we wanted to.
``We thought we could get by with that, but we
could not get by with that.''