Holley Lama: Mercer Could Be Back

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Holley takes a shot at Croshere in the article too. Well, he probably
doesn't have to worry about it, as the Indinapolis Star is reporting
that the Pacers want/plan to re-sign their free agents.  Fortson gone,
Mercer back, sure why not...



Courtship has some questions


By Michael Holley, Globe Columnist, 7/9/2000


The four played basketball like competing contractors, stumbling over
each other for the same assignment. They knew about the Big Three, often
drove by the Big Dig, and performed on the court as if they were
auditioning for the lead role in the Big (Shooting) Gig.


Sometimes you can feel a breakup coming long before it happens, like the
quake you feel minutes before the earth splits. Ron Mercer, Kenny
Anderson, Antoine Walker, and Paul Pierce were like that. You watched
them and felt the tremors. They were all in love with shooting. It was
obvious one would have to leave the Celtics, and since Mercer was the
easiest to move, he was traded last August.


He wouldn't mind returning.


''I never wanted to leave Boston in the first place,'' he said Friday.


As easy as it is to sense breakups, it's almost impossible to predict
reconciliations. Mercer? Back in Boston? It was just over a year ago
when the camps of Mercer and Rick Pitino were slinging everything but
''Yo' Mama'' jokes at each other. The Celtics offered the 6-foot-7-inch
guard a contract worth $4 million per season, a deal Mercer found
laughable. He was dealt to Denver and was then moved to Orlando in
February.


There have been whispers here and in Denver that Mercer was a selfish
ball hog.


''People always have something to say when you're gone, don't they?'' he
said. The problem with the chaotic Celtics of 1999 was ''you had four
guys who were all playing like they had something to prove. That's what
I think it was. I think we could have worked that out.''


Mercer became a free agent last week, meaning he could begin next season
with his fourth team in four seasons. Even Isaiah Rider, the NBA's
instant headache, hasn't been traded as much as the 24-year-old Kentucky
product.


''I'm sure someone is going to look at how much I've moved around and
think something is wrong with me,'' Mercer said. ''But I think I've been
unlucky the last few years. With the Celtics, I was traded because the
team had cap problems. I never wanted to be in Denver. I like Orlando a
lot and love playing for [coach] Doc [Rivers]. But I think they want
big-name players on that roster. I'm just like everyone else, waiting to
see what Grant Hill and Tim Duncan are going to do.''


Whatever the Magic decide, they know they don't have to pay Mercer as
much as he was seeking last summer. He is a free agent guard at a time
when free agent guards are easy to come by. Eddie Jones and Tracy
McGrady are the most coveted. Reggie Miller isn't what he used to be,
but he still averaged 18 points and shot 45 percent. Jalen Rose is a
free agent guard who spent last season playing small forward. And if a
team is desperate for guard help and indifferent to chemistry, it can
always sign Rider for just over $1 million.


That means, once again, Mercer has the luck of some Internet start-ups.
There's a chance he peaked with last summer's $4 million offer,
described as insulting by Mercer's former agent. He could be ''stuck''
(remember: it's all relative) with a middle-class exception of $2.25
million.


''If that's what happens, that's still a lot of money,'' he said. ''I'm
not the kind of guy who sits around thinking about money. My point [last
year] was that I wanted what was fair.''


This time last year, the story was that the Celtics could not afford to
sign Mercer. Now they can. But with the perplexing way they have done
business lately, they probably wouldn't want to. Mercer had a bad
shooting year (42.6 percent), an indication he didn't drive to the
basket enough. At his worst, he relies on his jumper without as much as
a tiptoe through the lane. But he still elevates as high as anyone on
his shot. And even in a year in which he went from New England to the
Rockies to Disney World, he averaged 17 points and 3.7 rebounds.


If the Celtics were to sign Mercer using the $2.25 million exception,
they would have the option of bringing him off the bench to stabilize
their dilapidated second unit or putting him in the starting lineup and
shifting Pierce back to small forward. After that, they could re-sign
power forward Danny Fortson - they can pay him more than anyone else -
and begin looking for a reliable backup point guard. (If they had
drafted Mateen Cleaves this year or held on to last year's pick that
became Andre Miller, they wouldn't have this problem.)


The moves the Celtics make in the next three weeks will tell you how
serious they are about winning. If they sign Austin Croshere, a forward
who can shoot but can't play defense, to a large contract, they are not
serious. They also aren't serious if they use small-market baseball
euphemisms such as ''budget constraints'' as an excuse.


At least they have a free agent who wants them.


''Under the right circumstances, I would love to come back,'' Mercer
said. He was asked what he considers the right circumstances. ''Antoine
would definitely have to be there,'' he said. ''I'd have to play with
'Toine. I really want to go to a place where we can win.''


The Celtics could win. But Mercer should know that mending breakups is
all about timing. It's about reciprocity. He says he is serious about
wanting to win. Before doing anything, he should wait to see if the
Celtics are serious, too.



This story ran on page E01 of the Boston Globe on 7/9/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.