Re: Palacio

[CeltsSteve@AOL.com]

In a message dated 03/03/2001 9:12:16 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
callmebogie@yahoo.com writes:


> Are you kidding?  Lose Milt?  WHY?  With apologies to Randy "Third-Degree 
> Floor Burn" Brown, Milt is the best point guard on the team.  Since the 
> Meadowlands Miracle boosted his confidence, he's shown a propensity to push 
> the ball, the ability to get to the rim, solid defensive skills and even an 
> occasional outside touch.  I'm not saying the guy's the second coming of 
> Stephon Marbury, but at a minimum he's shown he can help the team as a 
> backup playing significant minutes.  And like Blount, the guy has some real 
> upside -- he's only 23.
>
> I vote for keeping Milt -- even if the C's draft a point guard.  While 
> Chris Herren has been a nice human interest story, the guy's shown 
> absolutely nothing on either end of the floor.  If he wants a camp invite, 
> fine, but let's not get carried away just because he's from Fall River.  
>
> Don't see why the C's should lose Battie, either -- he looked pretty good 
> before that ankle injury (which looked REALLY brutal).  Let's see how he 
> recovers.  Now, if the right trade offer comes along, having Battie, 
> Potapenko and Blount could prove helpful, but for the moment I don't see 
> the problem in having several somewhat skilled big men.  
>
> Assuming the C's need to clear space for 3 new players (4 if Sesar comes), 
> I'd say a sad sayonara to Adrian (after checking to see if there's a way to 
> clone his basketball brain and heart and transplant them into the entire 
> roster).  I'd say a happy farewell to Walter and wish him a nice recording 
> career.  If Sesar comes, I'd bid adieu to Chris Carr, unless Stith starts 
> looking for a significant raise.  Finally, as noted above, I'd give Herren 
> a shot in camp -- if he plays great, I'd think seriously about buying out 
> the last 2 yrs of Anderson's contract, cap relief or no. 



Mike,

I'd pretty much concur with your analysis. If the C's draft a PG, then let 
Palacio and Herren stage there own version of "Survivor" series and the loser 
leaves town. 

McCarty should be the next in line to exit stage right. The Bulls were 
supposedly agreeable to take him on in exchange for a second round pick if 
Walter would have agreed to rework his contract but he refused. Given he'll 
be in the final year of his contract, a team looking to clear cap space for 
the following summer (' 02) might take him on, especially as a throw-in as 
part of trade to make the salaries balance. If not, buy his contract out with 
the $3 Million in cash the team received from Dallas for the Hot Rod/Robert 
Pack trade.

My final two departures (again under your scenario of the C's keeping all 
three draft picks and bringing Josep Sesar on board) would be:

1) AG, another nice human interest story but sad to say a story that had to 
end; 

2) Chris Carr as Sesar becomes the designated shooter. I personally would 
like Carr to stay because as far as I'm concerned a team can never have too 
many shooters

The thing about retaining Stith, though, that makes this whole thing kind of 
tricky is that he's currently making about $5.9 million. Until he is either 
re-signed (or renounced), he'll count 150% of his current salary against the 
C's cap which means the C's either need to make a decision early on and 
re-sign him or work a sign and trade if they aren't going to bring him back. 
He certainly hasn't hurt his market value with the kind of bounce back year 
he's had and I would think any number of teams would be glad to have him, 
including the C's. Personally, I'd like to see him come back. He's an older, 
more offensively skilled version of AG.

Obviously, the "X" factor at work here is a trade in which there are "2 for 
1" or "3 for 2" players involved where the C's send out more bodies than they 
take back. I also don't see them realistically exercising, and more 
importantly, keeping all three first rounders. I think at the very least one 
of those picks would be packaged with a player or players. And we haven't 
even touched upon any free agent signing with the $4 Million (or whatever 
amount it shakes out to be) exception that will be available.

The next 5 - 6 months will dramatically impact and consequently shape the 
future of the organization for years to come. It should be exciting. As Ralph 
Lawler, the Clippers' announcer is so fond on saying, "Fasten your seatbelts. 
Here we go!"

-Steve