Re: [Fwd: May On The Accountability of Wallace/Papile] *Long*

[Jim Hill <jahill@leasingservice.com>]

Joe, Joe calm down.

The $3 million is the max that a team can include in a trade.  In the scope
of things, short money.  Remember Gaston will only make big money for
himself and his family if the team becomes successful and he sells.  He
makes less per year then McCarty and spends at least as much time
contributing to the team.

It seems that the team has decided it is going to build around Walker and
Pierce for better or worse.  Gaston isn't going to waste the owners money
(It's a public company remember) until the two of them become consistant
stars that can attract contributing free agents and are ready to make the
jump a couple levels.  Those two haven't been good enough to draw any other
players so far.  The next two years are key.

Think about it, Joe Smith took less money to play in Toronto.  He would have
had a chance to start in Boston.  Mark Jackson said no.  All the
contributing free agents said no.  Why wouldn't they?

And then who do you move in a "sign and trade" for an established free agent
anyway?  As we heard from the kid from Indiana (not even an established FA),
he wanted to play with Walker, not be traded for him.  We did get Carr as a
FA, but he couldn't break the rotation.

Anyway, Walker and Pierce have the next two years to attract other players
if they continue to improve.  Based on Shaq's public statement about Pierce
he's someone who will draw others soon.  Walker needs to continue to grow to
make it a one, two draw.

I agree the trades mentioned suck.  There had to be more to the Dallas deal.
There must have been a Dallas player coming this way if the brain trust was
considering it.  The Chicago deal I remember was McCarty to the Bulls IF
McCarty restructured his contract.  He refused to.  The team does need to
open up roster spots somehow.  I don't remember a 1st round pick and McCarty
for $3 million ever mentioned.

It sounds like the thought process of the Celtics is along these lines:
(IMO)

1. Walker, Pierce and every player on this team needs more time to grow
before they will be ready for Eastern final action.  We're talking 2-4 years
even with a 10 + 11 pick this year.  It is still 2-4 years even if they can
trade for one mid level impact player this year.

2. The brain trust is not convinced that there will be two impact players at
the 10 + 11 pick. We cannot bundle the picks to move down in the draft, yet.
So send out the word that we'll just bank the Denver pick "We have no rush
to use it". 

Any team that wants it will need to up their ante to play.  Or we can try to
bundle two or three 1st round picks next year or the year after for an
impact player. Or Denver may make a substantial offer for it.  Reaf for
Moiso and the pick? (My conjecture)

3. Then let out the word that we would consider a trade of the Utah pick for
someone elses future 1st round pick.  Think you could get a future 1st round
and a 2nd round for this year?

4. Walker is going to play PG next year.  They will give him a chance to
prove he can be Magic Johnson or prove to himself that he can't.  Either way
until he proves to himself what his best position is, he won't focus on it.
Without him being focused on "a" position, this team isn't going anywhere
with him on it.

5. Anderson will come into camp ready to play and prove the Walker
experiment is really stupid or he will agree to a buy out of his contract.
If he doesn't play the next two years his career will be over at his age.
If he comes to camp fired up ready to play maybe he'll agree to a contract
restructure to go with a trade.  Or he may become the PG everyone thought he
could be.  But I doubt it.  Everything revolves around Walker and his PG
experiment next year.

Right around when Walker and Pierce are about ready for the "big stage" we
will have the "currency" to get the star player at the end of his contract
who "will want to be traded to Boston because the Celtics are ready to
compete for a title", if we have two 1st round picks to offer the other team
to go along with cap filler at the end of their contract.  It will give the
Celtics a chance at a real contributor without giving up the "big two".
This is 2-3 years away.

They really need to move the Utah pick for a future 1st round pick if
possible, if they can't move the Utah pick for a future 1st round pick use
it to pick the best player available, if you think he will stick in the NBA
or draft that 7' SF from Spain or some other foreign player who we will hold
contract rights on forever that may be a player in the next couple years.
Remember 1st round players get guaranteed contracts.  This may be the year
to stretch that deep in the draft. But better to bank it if possible.

VP and Battie will be at mid-level exception money making them "reasonable"
salary players.  One of them needs to turn into a real player or bring us a
real player in trade.  Again, sometime in the next two years.  They're both
still young for the NBA.

Palacio, Herren, Blount and Moiso will get a chance to make a career.  I
expect to end up with two contributing players out of these 4.  Either with
two of them working out or with trades. The money will be mid level area
unless Moiso breaks out in an unimaginable way.

There will be as many as 4-5-6 players under initial rookie contracts in
three years.  Anderson, Brown and McCarty contracts will be gone by
attrition.  The Celtics will have 3 "stars" at Max money under contact with
my trade scenario and the ability to sign their own players coming off the
rookie contract, if they are worth it for any amount.  Or they can trade the
second contract players for established players on their down side to fill
out the bench.

McCarty and Griffin will be let go if they don't step up.  McCarty could be
a sleeper if he works out this summer.

When it is all said and done it just doesn't make any sense to go over the
cap at this point.  The team will make the play offs next year IF Walker
comes into camp in shape and ready to play.  I bet he will.  Adding ANY FA
available, regardless of money, won't put them in the Eastern finals next
year.  Saving 1 of the extra picks to use in a trade in the next couple
years makes a lot of sense unless you think we can get an impact player like
Pierce with it.  Otherwise save it and trade for an impact player.

What I'd like to see:

I'd like to see the Celt's draft Battier with our pick.  (I don't think it
will happen)  

Then trade the Denver pick for a later 1st round pick (use it to pick Murphy
from ND) and a future 1st round pick or a current and a future second round
pick. 

Then trade the Utah pick for a future 1st round pick or select a top level
foreign player who isn't ready yet.  (I don't mean Ben Pepper either.)

Get Anderson to make Falk find a trade without us giving up much.  (He's
Walker's agent also)

O'Brien coming out of the box with all the players on the same page and with
the players having the same sense of responsability they did at the end of
this year.

Peace on earth and good will towards men.  (Well I can dream...)

<Jim




Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 15:48:35 +0200
From: Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>
Subject: Re: [Fwd: May On The Accountability of Wallace/Papile]

> ON BASKETBALL
> No question now: They will be answerable
> By Peter May, 4/25/2001
>
> They already had one deal aborted in February, one that would have sent
> Anderson and the
> three No. 1 picks to Dallas for Christian Laettner. The Celtics backed
> off that one twice. They also had a deal with the Bulls in which Chicago
> would have paid them $3 million for a No. 1 pick and McCarty; the league
> turned that down.

    What is it all the time with $3 million? It seems to come up time and
again. That's like the magic number to make "Thanks Dad" happy. Thank
goodness the league is protecting us from imploding, just as they did years
ago with the Cleveland franchise. They had to. There is absolutely no
basketball competitiveness argument to justify this type of sell-off.

    These two aborted trades have nothing to do with creating cap space.
It's about pocketing cash (a lot actually) for the owner. And it's about all
28 NBA teams around since 1995 having made the playoffs at least once, with
the exception of the Celtics. This is becoming a real handicap for the
franchise.

    Wallace, Papile and Obie had all better stop being "yes men" the very
second the ink is dry on their contract extentions. This team needs to be
run by basketball people.

Joe

N.B. One comment on the WEEI Wallace interview, I don't see any
justification in waiting out the Denver pick (as Wallace hints we might do)
unless he can make an argument that Denver may be one of the three worst
teams in the NBA in the coming years. Instead, he seems to argue that Denver
is very unlikely to make the playoffs in the more competitive West even if
they finish 11th worst again. I mean is that just pissah as an argument or
what? We pass on a deep 2001 draft so that we can have a 1% chance at
winning the lottery with Denver's future pick (the 1% figure is the percent
of ping pong balls a team has with the 10th pick). With that kind of fuzzy
math going for our brain trust, this team deserved not to get Tim Duncan if
you ask me.  Something must have got lost in the translation (trade a sure
pick for a 1% chance). That is flat out one of the stupidest arguments I've
heard in awhile.