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----- Original Message -----
From: "Josh Farber" <nbaj2k@home.com>
To: <celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 1:04 PM
Subject: BSG's Interesting C's Column


> 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...
>
>
>