BSG's Interesting C's Column

["Josh Farber" <nbaj2k@home.com>]

Here it is.  It makes it sound like we really have a shot at getting
Croshure for the 2.25 mil exception and calls the Walker trade a joke.

I really think that we haven't heard the last of that 3 way trade!

Anyway, here's BSG's column.

Josh

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
SPECIAL REPORT
Picking through the rumors, truths and half-truths surrounding the Celtics'
summer plans (7/26/00)

Once again, I'm breaking the BSG tradition today and writing a straight news
story about the Celtics' pursuit of Pacers forward Austin Croshere. Here's
everything you need to know about the C's and their summer plans:

As I reported three weeks ago, the Celtics set their sights on Pacers
forward Austin Croshere as soon as they could start pursuing free agents on
July 1st. Since they couldn't offer him anything other than the veteran's
free agent exemption -- $2.25 million for one year, because of cap
problems -- they had four options:

1. Somehow convince Croshere to sign a wink-wink "We'll take care of you in
a year" contract for the exemption.

2. Move an expensive salary (like Dana Barros, who makes $3.5 million this
year) along with a future pick to a team with cap room (either the Bulls or
Clippers) for absolutely nothing. This would allow them to offer Croshere a
contract starting in the $3.5 million-range, which could be bumped up by 10%
every year after that.

3. Trade Antoine Walker for "discount" value in order to open up cap space
for a Croshere signing. As I reported three weeks ago, they were pushing
Antoine on Chicago, Detroit and the LA Clippers (even though they were
denying it publicly).

4. Pursue a sign-and-trade with Indiana involving Croshere and Walker.

Three weeks later, Boston's interest in Croshere has remained just as
strong, with their options narrowing to three distinct possibilities:

Option #1. Sign Croshere for the veteran exemption
Croshere is represented by agent Dan Fegan, the same man who convinced
Shandon Anderson to pass up $25 million in Utah to sign with Houston for the
veteran's exemption (he's doing the same with Howard Eisley and the Jazz
this summer). Here's what I heard yesterday from two separate sources: Fegan
is vowing to push his client towards either Toronto OR one of these three
teams -- LA, Houston or Boston (all for the veteran's exemption) -- unless
Indiana ponies up something close to the NBA max ($70.9 million, seven
years). Sounds ridiculous for a guy who averaged 10.6 points per game last
year? Well, it's true. And since Fegan pulled the same trick with Utah last
summer, Pacers GM Donnie Walsh is taking him seriously.

The feeling around the league is that Fegan is using Toronto in order to
drive up Croshere's price; nobody thinks Croshere will sign there with Vince
Carter fleeing Canada in two years. Plus, he'll get compensated after next
summer if he signs with someone from that Boston/LA/Houston group.

The leading favorite right now? Probably Houston, only because of Fegan and
because Croshere fits best with them as a basketball player. Boston probably
ranks second; they've been his most persistent suitor since July 1st and
Croshere, a former Providence College star, likes both Pitino and the New
England area. And the defending champs have an inside advantage because
Croshere grew up in Los Angeles, but nobody can figure out LA's front office
this summer (they've been moving in 25 different directions).

So the Celtics have a chance if Croshere's relationship with the Pacers
falls apart. Remember, Croshere has Dale Davis and Jalen Rose playing in
front of him and Jonathan Bender looming behind him... he might feel that
Indiana isn't the right situation for him. Croshere will meet with Isiah
Thomas this week to discuss his future. If they click, that could determine
whether he stays in Indiana or not.

One more thing: For all his faults as a coach and front office executive,
nobody thrives more in a recruiting-style situation than Rick Pitino. Don't
underestimate the power of Coach P, especially when he has recruited players
for most of his career. If Croshere feels like he's ready to roll the dice
with the veteran's exemption, I really think Pitino could sway him with some
good, old-fashioned, "You and Antoine Walker could be the next McHale/Bird"
crap.

Can't you see Coach P in a press conference next week if Croshere signs,
sitting next to Red Auerbach's propped-up body, a big s**t-eating smile on
his face, throwing out those classic Coach P quotes in the halting Coach P
voice like, "I am honestly in disbelief right now... here's a guy... who we
targeted ... from Day One ... and we kept plugging away ... always hoping
that we could sell Austin ... on the tradition ... of the Boston Celtics ...
and fortunately for us, it worked out ... and we think we got a terrific,
TERRIFIC ballplayer ... who can come in right away and contribute to our
basketball club." I'm giggling just thinking about it.

(Speaking of Red, I was joking with a buddy of mine last night about how
giddy Red must be over this whole Croshere thing. Can't you imagine him
calling Pitino six times a day and grumbling into the phone, "Did we get
him? Did we get the white guy yet? Did he sign yet?" If the Celts land
Croshere, Red will be as excited as he's been since the Michael Smith draft.
And yet I digress...)

Option #2. A sign-and-trade with Indiana
ESPN's David Aldridge reported that the Pacers and Celtics were "discussing"
a five-player deal involving Walker, Croshere, Travis Best, Chris Mullin and
Dana Barros. That might be true, but "discussing" is a VERY strong word
here. For instance, somebody could call me tonight and offer me $500 bucks
for my collection of White Shadow tapes, and if I said no, they could tell
their friends that we "discussed" a deal for my White Shadow tapes. Doesn't
mean it's true, even if we did "discuss" it.

I said it three weeks ago, I'll say it again: The Pacers have NO interest in
Antoine Walker. They think he's a bad seed; the only person in the
organization who liked Walker's game was Larry Bird, and he's gone. You will
NEVER see Antoine Walker in a Pacers uniform.

One other thing: Even if the Pacers and Celts agreed on this trade, it would
still be contingent on Croshere coming to terms with Boston. Whether the
Pacers like it or not, Croshere is calling the shots right now. Ironically,
the cap numbers work with this trade because Indiana has a $4.5 million cap
exemption from last year's Antonio Davis deal. It's a fun deal on paper --
especially for the Celtics, since Best would be a considerable upgrade from
Kenny Anderson -- but it won't happen.

(Personal note: I had a heart attack when I was flipping channels last night
and one of those generic ESPN News guys told me, "Coming up next, reports of
a possible NBA deal" as they showed footage of Antoine shooting a jumper.
That might have been the longest two minutes of commercials I've ever sat
through. Somebody needs to hose David Aldridge down and leave him for dead.)

Option #3. Trade Antoine to Chicago
Still a real possibility because Chicago has been frozen out of the free
agent pool, which means that they could either settle for third-tier free
agents (Howard Eisley, Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, etc.) or package one of
their younger players and some picks for a proven star who's already under
contract. Walker might also appeal to the Bulls because he's a hometown guy,
he's been an All-Star, he has "franchise player" potential, he's somebody
that gives them a little more "star power." I actually think he would be a
good gamble for them. Plus, Jerry Krause would have a new 4AM breakfast
partner.

The Celts loved rookie point guard Jamal Crawford before the draft and a
Walker-Crawford deal remains possible; since they would sign Croshere with
Walker's money, the deal would really look like this: Crawford + Croshere =
Walker. Seems like a fair trade. On the other hand, the Bulls probably would
have moved on Antoine by now if they were truly interested in him,
especially if they thought he was headed somewhere else.

MY PREDICTIONS: Given Fegan's history, I think Croshere will stick it to the
Pacers and grab the veteran's exemption from either Houston, LA or Boston
next week. If I had to choose at gunpoint, I would pick the Rockets just
because they're the best "NBA" situation for him and because Fegan has
worked with them before. A backcourt of Stevie Francis and Cuttino Mobley,
with Croshere and Pig Thomas in the frontcourt and the Artist Formerly Known
As Hakeem Olajuwon at center? Pretty nice on paper.

Still, if Pitino somehow woos Croshere into coming to Boston, that would be
the biggest coup of his three-year reign with the Celtics. Of course, that's
not saying much...

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

A few other quick notes:

* As I predicted two days ago, that three-way deal between the Celts,
Nuggets and Clippers -- Derek Anderson to Denver, Tariq Abdul-Wahad to
Boston, Keon Clark, Dana Barros and draft picks to LA -- died a natural
death because the Clips didn't want to take on Barros' contract. When will
people stop including the Clips into these things? That team would rather
lose a player outright than get something for him. Didn't anyone read that
Sports Illustrated story about Donald Sterling last year?

* Abdul-Wahad has been telling teams that he won't sign for the veteran
exemption, which rules out Boston entirely.

* Just for the record, I would never make Aldridge's proposed trade if I
were the Celtics. The addition of Best wouldn't make up for the fact that
Walker is a much-better ballplayer than Austin Croshere, with a much higher
UPPPPPPPPPPside. And Mullin-Barros are a wash; they're both done. Ludicrous
trade. If the Celts ever agreed to that one, they would become the biggest
joke in the league. Hey, I like Croshere as a role player, but if the Pacers
had played Portland and Rasheed Wallace in the Finals, he would have played
10 minutes per game in that series, signed for four years and $20 million in
the off-season... and we wouldn't even be discussing this.

* Someone e-mailed me asking why Aldridge would report that the Pacers are
"discussing" a deal with Boston if they have no interest in making a deal.
To understand that one, you have to understand how the NBA works. We know
Boston wouldn't leak that deal to Aldridge because they don't want Antoine
to know that they're trying to trade him, so Aldridge got his information
from Indiana's side.

If I had to guess, I would say Aldridge was talking to someone high-up in
the Indy organization who was trying to find out if Aldridge knew anything
Croshere's plans -- Toronto, Houston, LA, Boston, whatever. So the exec says
to Aldridge, "What do you know?" And Aldridge says, "I have some good info
about (Team X), but you have to give me something back." So the exec says,
"Pitino called us this morning and offered us a sign-and-trade -- Walker for
Croshere and Best. We said no. Then they offered us Walker and Barros for
Croshere, Best and Mullin. We said no."

Boom! Aldridge has the Pacers and Celts "discussing" a five-player deal. And
that's how rumors get started...

* Finally, Ron Mercer looks like he's headed to either Chicago or New Jersey
because those teams can offer twice as much money as Boston, despite
Pitino's big pitch down South last week. So if you're a Celtics fan and
you're hoping for a big move this summer, you better start sending every
good vibe down to Indiana and hope the C's get lucky with Croshere.

Hey, stranger things have happened...