BSG Deconstructs Kenny

["Way Of The Ray" <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Good stuff. Glad they never seriously entertained the
three firsts deal....

http://home.digitalcity.com/boston/sportsguy/main.dci?page=8celts01


CELTICS CHRONICLES
The Running Notebook (updated on 3/21)

In case you missed it, both the Boston Herald and Boston Globe both carried
startling comments this morning from Kenny Anderson about his bleak
situation in Boston. You can read the quotes by clicking on either of those
links; basically, Kenny was saying that he wasn't griping, but he doesn't
believe Boston is the right situation for him anymore. Oh, really?

When you throw in the fact that Kenny referred to himself in the third
person five different times, well... I can't resist. Allow me some quick
comments about his comments:

--1. Let the record show that Kenny arrived for training camp last September
woefully out of shape. Bill Simmons remembers Kenny heaving up and down the
court during the last exhibition game - it looked like some of Bill Simmons'
old intramural hoops videos from college.

--2. Let the record show that the team placed Kenny on the injured list
three weeks ago (with the "his ankle never healed" excuse) and he didn't
want to go on... they said "Too bad" and put him on, anyway. Bill Simmons is
hearing that there's a better-than-good chance that you will never see him
play another game for the Celtics. Seriously.

--3. In a sense, Kenny's right - the Celtics aren't using him correctly and
haven't been using him correctly since Pitino traded for him... but now his
skills have eroded to the point that they don't want to use him correctly.
Kenny needs the ball in his hands all the time; unfortunately, so do Walker
and Pierce. Bill Simmons thinks the Celts would be much better off with a
David Wesley-type point guard who could spot up and shoot (not Kenny's
strength). That would make the Celts more fun to watch and allow Bill
Simmons to be the "I love this team unconditionally" Celtics fan that he
knows he can be.

--4. At age 31 -- with his skills declining, with two more years and $19
million-plus on his contract, with more personal baggage than your average
Delta Airlines flight -- he's completely, utterly untradeable. The Celts
investigated moving him to Dallas with two of their first rounders for
Christian Laettner but the Mavs wanted all three; the Celts never seriously
considered it, contrary to published reports.

--5. Sadly, they probably can't buy out the last two years of his contract
($19 million-plus) for 50 cents on the dollar (a la Washington and Rod
Strickland); they know Kenny won't go for that because he's having money
probs (the usual - ex-wives, child support, etc.) and couldn't afford to
lose out on any extra cash. If they buy out his contract, it would have to
be for 75-80% of that $19 million-plus (which leaves him enough room to make
the difference up with another team). That doesn't help them on the cap for
cap purposes, so they'll probably keep doing what they did this season --
bury him, count him out and hope his pride causes him to fold and agree to a
buyout of 50% of that $19 million-plus over the summer. That's still a lot
more money than Bill Simmons is making.

--6. Here's the sad thing about the whole deal: Everyone in the organization
likes him. He's a nice guy who made far too much money far too soon, and his
career suffered because of it... and now he's washed up. When Bill Simmons
looks at the other point guards in his age range -- Gary Payton, Terrell
Brandon, David Wesley, Tim Hardaway, Darrell Armstrong, Sam Cassell and Nick
Van Exel -- he can't help but notice that all of those guys are still
contributing to their teams at 90-to-100% of what they were five years ago.
Kenny? He's done. When he blames "the system" for his demise, he just
embarrasses himself. End of story.