Peter May: Boston Globe

[opi@unesco.org]

Here are excerpts from May's column today in the Globe:

While Fortson could not get the playing time he wanted, Pitino also said
the team felt it could not re-sign the power forward. He used the word
''impossible'' to describe the team's chances based on his conversations
with Fortson's agent.

All of this came as news yesterday to Raymond Brothers, a
Louisiana-based  lawyer who is representing Fortson. ''We asked them if
they could give us a number that they'd be comfortable with. They did
not do that,'' he said.

In the past few weeks, Pitino has often noted the Celtics do have
budgetary constraints, unlike some other teams. He has said in the past
that his budget is the amount of the salary cap ($34 million) plus the
two exceptions ($3 million). The Celtics' payroll this season is in
excess of $41 million, but $3 million came from Denver in the
Mercer-Fortson trade. They will be in the low $40 million range next
year as well, when the cap could rise to $37 million.

Paul Gaston, Celtics chairman of the board, said yesterday he and Pitino
''are on the same page'' in this matter. ''I would affirm my desire to
field a competitive team and run it like a business,'' Gaston said. ''I
don't know any other way to do it.''

Fortson was believed to be looking for a deal in the $5 million- to $6
million-a-year range, a figure that was based solely on his play over
the first two years in Denver. In that span, he was among the league's
top rebounders, but also its most foul-prone player. The Celtics lauded
Fortson's rebounding skills and his toughness and portrayed him as a key
ingredient.

But his Boston experience was a disaster. He got hurt and then never
found sufficient playing time, mainly because of the inability of
Antoine Walker to play small forward.

''It's as simple as that,'' Fortson said yesterday before leaving for
Toronto. ''If I can't get the time, I can't do my job. But when you
don't get a chance, it's not really your fault. I don't think I really
was ever given a fair shot with the time I got.''