Re: Bremer makes his move

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

JoeH,
Very well thought out. I appreciate it when I see level headed commentary on 
the lists. You are one of the few guys who understand the monetary aspects of 
the trades.

I do think the Knicks would be interested in Vin. Spree was available. I 
don't think his practice habits would bother the C's because they don't 
practice much. 

I was thinking on what we could trade for. I think we will make a trade prior 
to the deadline. It would seem point guard and veteran scorer are the areas 
we could improve on. Kedrick and Shammond plus the no. 1s would be the bait. 
The names I came up with were Jason Williams, Marcus Fizer, Sprewell and Sam 
Casell. Williams has a big, long term contract so he's out. Fizer is a 
possibility although he doesn't fit into what the Cs are doing unless you 
play him at center. Sprewell has a huge contract but it runs out after next 
year. You would have to trade Baker to get him. Sam has a good (4.5 million) 
contract but it runs out after this year. He would have to fit into the 
rent-a-player status or we would have to get the new owner commitment on 
paying cap penaltys. 

All four of these guys would fit into what the Cs are doing and could be 
available. I would especially be intrigued with Casell. Vin at this point 
doesn't fit into what we are doing. It seems a better fit would be another 
Battie type, more mobile, defensive minded 4 and 1/2.  I still believe Vin's 
contributions will be made in the playoffs. Right now, you sometimes have to 
just shake your head. He seems like he has bad wheels like Walton did. He 
also appears to not be alert. He really seems like he needs to be in a low 
post offense like the Knicks run with a true point guard who can get him the 
ball in the right spot would can best bring out his unique skills. I am 
disappointed he isn't contributing more at this point. However, Delk totalled 
sucked last year and this year has become a killer with his shooting. He fits 
into exactly what the Cs are doing. If he doesn't cool off later in the year, 
he makes the JJ deal work and makes the RR nonsigning inconsequential.

Speaking of Delk, I just thought of another guy that would fit in, Derek 
Anderson. Then the Bluecats would all be back together. Think about it, Obie 
has them doing the same thing they did at Kentucky except the gimmick defense 
is in the half-court instead of the full-court. They still shoot the threes 
on the offensive end. Wait, I forgot Mercer. Just think about how good that 
championship team was.

The two contributions that Vin has excelled in is setting picks for Pierce 
and blocking out opposing centers. This allows PP to get free on his drives 
and allows other Cs to get the rebound. These things don't show up the stats. 
This is important but you would hope you would get more for your 12 million. 
However, we can afford to be patient....

DJessen33

 

<< JB I was thinking exactly the same thing after the Knicks 
 game this weekend. Vin Baker played well against us, and 
 now he's playing well against them. If he keeps it up, 
 you never know with that guy Layden.
 
 A trade would allow Boston to re-sign Walker in 2005, 
 without blowing up the cap thanks to Baker.
 
 The last thing the Knicks should do, frankly, is try to 
 get all the way out of salary cap jail the hard way. The 
 team is such a financial basket case (96 million payroll 
 NEXT summer) that its a clear dead end trying to 
 progressively shed salary for the sake of cap 
 flexibility. Even getting to within 20 million above the 
 cap would require fans to suffer seasons of terrific pain 
 and disruption, with zero salary cap benefit in return.
 
 What the Knicks should do instead is aim to get a lot of 
 bad contracts that expire in the same year or two. Then 
 restart from there.
 
 And if they have a deal with David Stern to reward them 
 in the LeBron James sweepstakes, then now is the time to 
 move Sprewell and get a center better than Doleac to 
 complement McDyess.
 
 I don't like Sprewell, but at least he's a tradeable 
 commodity and a fantastic defender.
 
 Knicks fans would never go for Baker for Sprewell. He's 
 so popular.
 
 So if the Celtics think Vin Baker is a complete loss 
 after this season(which I don't), then the fastest way 
 out of the situation is to trade him for Luc Longley 
 (he's retired, but on the books) and Travis Knight. 
 
 Or even Antonio McDyess straight up, if he has another 
 medical setback(or else the Knicks wouldn't trade him).
 
 All three players are off the books after next season. It 
 wouldn't surprise me if the Knicks said yes to that kind 
 of deal, even this summer after we've gotten a full test 
 drive out of Vin Baker. 
 
 To the Knicks, what's another contract expiring in the 
 second half of the decade? Even after all those guys 
 clear the cap two-years from now, the Knicks still have 
 six guys earning between 6 million and the max.
 
 And to Boston, what did we really give up for Baker in 
 the first place? Hardly anything, if you already consider 
 Shammond for Kenny a wash for the Celtics system. It 
 wasn't a bad trade, personnel wise.
 
 This type of housecleaning scenario is something I could 
 picture if Chris Wallace gets fired. 
 
 But bear in mind that trading Vin Baker won't clear real 
 cap maneuverability, anymore than holding on to Kenny 
 Anderson and Potapenko would have. It will merely keep 
 ownership safe from luxury taxation, while re-signing 
 Walker. That's all you get, apart from the satisfaction 
 of seeing Baker fail as expected.
 
 And I'll say again that if you look around the league, 
 there are plenty of Vin Baker type max contracts 
 scattered around on even the best-run teams. 
 
 Boston has a first place team with a middle-of-the-pack 
 payroll. That's what we're basically complaining about.
 
 The Knicks roster has half-a-dozen Vin Bakers contracts 
 on it. They owe Larry Johnson more than 17 million. Allan 
 Houston+Shandon Anderson will be paid a combined 30 
 million dollars in the 2007 season. The Nets still owe 
 Dikembe 54 million dollars, about the same as his actual 
 age. >>