Re: Fortson on block

["Thomas Murphy" <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>]

Alex, you're a voice of sanity. Again, I hope you're right, but the news
blurb made it sound more than what we would expect for everyday exploration
of trade scenarios - more like the Mercer situation, gone one way or
another.

I don't like the idea of shopping a player who fills huge needs on this
team (toughness, rebounding) but perhaps Pitino has decided that Pitinoball
is the way to go. Gatling turns my stomach.

Best wishes - Tom Murphy

----------
> From: Alex Wang <awang@mit.edu>
> To: celtics@igtc.com; Thomas Murphy <tfmiii@worldnet.att.net>
> Subject: Re: Fortson on block 
> Date: Friday, January 28, 2000 4:01 AM
> 
> > Alex, you deserve all the credit in the world for calling the original
> > trade for Fortson, but if this is accurate then I'm afraid your
sanguine
> > diagnosis of the Fortson situation is dead wrong. I keep hoping time
will
> > prove you right again.
> 
> If you look at the number of rumors of various players being shopped vs. 
> the actual number of trades that occur, you probably figure that these
> reporters have a success ratio of 5%. That's a reflection not only of
> the number of baseless rumors, but also the amount of discussion that
> goes on in the NBA, very little of which leads to something productive.
> 
> I don't doubt that the Celtics have explored trade scenarios involving
> Fortson. Chris Wallace's job is supposedly to call every team and offer
> them trade scenarios. I can also believe that Fortson is available at
> the right price, just like almost every Celtic. How I feel about Fortson
> being traded depends on what that price is. 
> 
> The Orlando scenario is plausible especially since Orlando probably
> doesn't really want to have three first round draft picks next
> year. They would eat into their cap space and they have enough young
> players as well as more draft picks coming in the future. I doubt they
> give up the Golden State pick, but they're probably willing to give up
> one or both of their own and Denver's pick in the right trade. The
> player that they throw in probably doesn't matter long-term but for
> immediate impact and fit, Gatling probably makes the most sense as a
> low post scorer off the bench.
> 
> One of the motivations for trading Fortson primarily for a draft pick
> or two would be to keep the budget down. You would avoid pushing the
> salary cap up with another exception. You'd also build flexibility 
> because draft picks are very tradable. You can keep them and draft
> a project center in the low lottery or a backup point guard. Or you
> can package them in other moves. On the downside, you can't build for
> the future forever. I suppose if we got Gatling and the Magic pick,
> that would be a combination of present impact and future return.
> You never know where the Magic might end in the lottery either.
> Personally, though, I wouldn't be too eager to pull the trigger on 
> this trade. It's not like Fortson has had much of a chance to prove
> his value yet, and it's also not true that Pitino hasn't tried playing
> Fortson at PF.
> 
> On a side note, that report about the Celtics trying to "give" Antoine
> away is just ludicrous. I'm sure that anonymous GMs amuse themselves
> by throwing ridiculous lines like that at gullible sportswriters.
> 
> Alex
>