Re: C's salaries

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

Greetings,
	I've thought for a long time that Pitino's real weakness as a
G.M. wasn't so much in his ability to appraise talent, but in the lack
of an overall strategy in regards to the salary cap.  It was obvious
when Pitino took over the team, that this coming off season, would be
the first year that the Celts would be able to compete in the free
agent market, due to the long term contracts that had been signed in
the M.L. Carr years.  If Pitino and Wallace had been willing to be
patient and wait, the Celts could have been looking at a much better
situation:

Player		Actual     Could Have Been
AWalker	        10.4	        10.4  No complaint here
PPierce		 1.7		 1.7	
KAnderson	 7.7		 ---  Renounce Billups, Dee Brown
AGriffin	 1.4		 1.4		
VPot		 4.4             1.5  est  DQ gone, first rounder
TBattie		 2.2		 ---  How long was Travis's contract?

CCheaney	 2.2		 ---		
EWilliams	 4.5		 ---  Renounce Mercer	
DBarros		 4.4		 4.4  Out of R.P.s hands

WMcCarty/CBAer	 2.4		 ---  Just didn't have to do it

DOverton/CBAer	 ---		 ---			
GMinor/CBAer	 3.0		 3.0  also a holdover		
PEllison/CBAer	 ---		 ---				
Total		 44.3	        22.4
NBA Salary Cap	 37	        37.0
Cap space      -  7.3	        14.6

	Rather than aim for this off season (or with the new CBA, and
the decision not to resign Mercer: next year), Pitino has consistently
chosen to spend every cap dollar he could lay his hands on.  I think
that he simply underestimated the difficulty of turning the club
around, and felt no need to make long term plans, in order to turn the
C's into a contender.  Of course, a team structured along these lines
might be awful, but it would have Walker, Pierce and Griffin, along
with the chance to add a major free agent.  And it could still have
Billups, Brown and Mercer playing for it this season.  

	

	Now, although the Celts have strong young players, there is
virtually no chance that they can add significantly to the talent base
of the team through free agency.  By the time that the 03 season comes
around, they'll have 2 or 3 more draft picks on the team, plus an
extension for Griffin.  And after Pierce resigns, it's all over for
the rest of the decade.  And, Pitino's contract will be almost up.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net

  Many thanks to Kevin for the excellent summary of Celtic salaries.

On Sat, 12 Feb 2000 00:40:31 +0800, Kevin Lok Wrote wrote:

>C/N	Player		Pos	sal	00	01	02	03	04	05	06
>1	AWalker		PF	71	9.5	10.4	11.4	12.3	13.2	14.2	
>2	PPierce		SG	6.563	1.6	1.7	1.9				
>3	KAnderson	PG	50	7.1	7.7	8.2	8.8			
>4	AGriffin	SF	0.8835	0.4	0.5					
>5	VPot		C	33	4.4	4.8	5.3	5.7	6.2	6.6	
>6	TBattie		PF/C	6.72+25	2.2	3.3	3.7	4	4.3	4.7	5
>7	AWilliams	PG	6	1.9	2					
>8	CCheaney	SG	6.6	2	2.2	2.4				
>9	EWilliams	SF	26	4.2	4.5	4.8	5.2			
>10	DBarros		SG	22	4.1	4.4					
>11	WMcCarty/CBAer	SF	8	2.4	2.6	2.9				
>12	SMarks/CBAer	PF/C	0.6	0.385						
>13	DOverton/CBAer	PG	0.4	0.4						
>14	GMinor/CBAer	SG	13	2.8	3					
>15	PEllison/CBAer	C	12	2.4						
>	Total				45.785	47.1	40.6	36	23.7	25.5	5
>	NBA Salary Cap			34	37	41	45	50	55	60
>	Cap space			12	10	-1	-9	-26	-29	-55
>