Future manures

[Celtic4Hire@AOL.com]

I have some comments on Peter May's handwringing in today's Globe. See bottom 
for the exact comments. First, I think the Celts will want to resign 
Stickland but I don't think they have anyone to compete against. All of the 
teams are in the same situation. Explain the logic in trading a no. 1 pick 
just so you can resign Strickland. He came to us cheap now because of the 
same situation. May is also assuming that we won't be playing JJ or Brown 
anymore than now or that they will be any better. That has always been his 
problem. He has never been able to see past his rear view mirror. 

I also think that Blount will leave. I think he has really hit a wall here 
and he will think he will get more time elsewhere. Well, no one was beating 
down Marc Jackson's door who is a lot better than Blount and he isn't playing 
now and had to sign for a paltry 2-3 million.

Maybe May is doing some thinking about what Pulpett reporting on the other 
day. I do wonder what Utah has offered us for VP that we have seemed to have 
put on the back burner until summer. VP is an adequate backup center but does 
earn some money that you would like to see heading toward a Brown, JJ or 
future draft pick. Utah looks like it will have some room under the cap do a 
deal.

The other thing is that I thought we had Philly's 2003 pick, not the 2002 
pick that May is reporting. We never got a good report on actually what we 
got in that deal. If anyone has a chance to get a question into Wallace, they 
need to get clarification on that...

DJessen33

<You may recall that the Celtics deliberately stayed out of the free agent 
sweepstakes last summer because of down-the-road luxury tax concerns. They 
also said they would do the same next summer. Which leads to the following: 
What about their own free agents? Erick Strickland has played himself into 
the regular rotation, and that could make him very difficult to re-sign given 
the Celtics' budgetary constraints. They are on the hook next year for $43.6 
million in salaries - and that does not include Paul Pierce's mother lode, 
which has yet to be determined. But if he starts in the $10 million-$11 
million range, that is going to put the Celitcs up against the perceived tax 
threshold, which is why they planned to be quiet next summer in free agency. 
But a couple of first-round picks (they have Philadelphia's No. 1 and their 
own) add another $2 million to the payroll. Now you're into the $55 million 
range and you still have Strickland and Mark Blount to consider. (I think 
it's safe to say that Walter McCarty and Roshown McLeod are not, as of now, 
in the picture.) Strickland already has taken one financial bath (he opted 
out of a guaranteed deal, which cost him $2 million) and he's playing for the 
NBA veteran minimum. If he remains a valuable member of the rotation, there's 
no way he'll do the same next year. But what can the Celtics do? The best 
guess is that they'll try to unload Randy Brown and package him with a No. 1 
pick and possibly even a player to sweeten the deal. That way, Strickland 
could be re-signed for Brown's number ($2.7 million) or slightly more if a 
player is included. But that still leaves Blount to be dealt with. He hasn't 
played much, so his market value may not be great. But teams also know that 
he's athletic and 7 feet tall and they can make him an offer Boston might not 
be able to match ... >