Holley: C's Wanted Dooling and Could Have Signed Duncan

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

Michael Holley (Boston Globe - 7/11/00) on Dooling:

Sometimes even the sorry Clippers get it right: The Celtics had agreed
to select Missouri point guard Keyon Dooling with the No. 11 pick in the
NBA draft, but the Clips made a deal with the Magic and swiped Dooling
at No. 10.

Holley on Duncan:

Tim Duncan is going to re-sign with the San Antonio Spurs today. The
free agent center had spent about nine days deciding between offers from
the Spurs and Orlando Magic. The Celtics, obviously, had no chance of
signing Duncan. But wouldn't it have been intriguing if they had given
themselves that chance?


It sounds unrealistic, but it might have happened if Rick Pitino had
come to Boston along with an experienced general manager. For the
record, I love Pitino as a coach. If your team was in a tie game with
five seconds left, you would want Pitino designing your final play. He
is a sideline genius. In the front office, though, you don't want him
home alone.


The Celtics could have been players in this free agent season if they
had kept Chauncey Billups, Ron Mercer, Dee Brown, and Pervis Ellison
from Pitino's first team. All are free agents now, which means that
Boston would have the option of re-signing them (unlikely) or clearing
their cap space and going after Duncan, Grant Hill, or a combination of
two medium-priced free agents (more likely). Pitino still could have
made the Travis Knight-Tony Battie deal and he would have had even more
room.


Instead, the Celtics are standby passengers, waiting to talk with the
players that other teams bypass.