Fw: sums it up

["Tom Titus" <ttitus@mindspring.com>]

RIGHT ON TRACK!
-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Hash <troyhash@kih.net>
To: celtics list <celtics@igtc.com>
Date: Saturday, February 23, 2002 10:32 PM
Subject: sums it up


>This is from todays basketball.com news.  I think this pretty much sums
things
>up in a nutshell.
>
>The Trade Front:   The tenth pick in this season's draft and a first round
>pick in the upcoming one for reserve guard Tony Delk?  In essence that is
the
>trade Boston made when they shipped Joe Johnson, Milt Palacio, Randy Brown
and
>a conditional 2002 first round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Delk and
forward
>Rodney Rogers.  Rogers is a free agent after the season and chances are
good
>that Boston will not re-sign him when his contract expires.  What to make
of
>this trade?  Probably helps in the short term as Boston seeks to return to
the
>playoff for the first time since the  1993-94 season.  Delk and Rogers
provide
>some outstanding scoring punch off the bench, which has been a glaring
>weakness for Boston this season.  Long term however, the trade works in
only
>one way, and that is financially.  Boston's ownership, as are many
ownership
>groups around the league, is extremely concerned about the luxury tax that
is
>looming on the NBA horizon.  In short the Celtics' will not pay it and this
>trade does much to ensure that fact.  Boston will be drastically reducing
>their payroll after the season, as the shuffling of players in this deal,
as
>well as the five players on the current roster, including Rogers, that will
be
>free agents after this season trims roughly $9-$11 million off the team's
>salary heading into the offseason.  With Paul Pierce's mega deal kicking in
>next season, he is scheduled to break $10 million for the year, Boston was
>looking at a player payout in excess of $52-$55 million which would put
them
>close to the luxury tax threshold if it was instituted.   With point guard
>Kenny Anderson's contract set to expire after next season, the Celtics will
>save another $8-$10 million possibly putting them at roughly $40-$42
million
>in players salaries heading into 2003-2004.  Whether that savings will be
used
>to entice a free agent big man like Tim Duncan or Jermaine O'Neal or an
>All-Star playmaker like Jason Kidd or rather be used to line the pockets of
>the ownership remains to be seen.  Expect the latter given majority owner
Paul
>Gaston's desire to run a very profitable business as well as the
realization
>that the Celtics are a publicly traded company.
>
>Unfortunately the financial implications meant trading away a very talented
>basketball player in Joe Johnson.  The local and national media towed the
>company line stating that the Celtics were down on the smooth player out of
>Arkansas.  That he lacked the confidence and intensity to excel at this
level.
>However, the apparent lack of confidence was largely due to head coach Jim
>O'Brien's poor use of the promising rookie.  O'Brien's system is the
>antithesis of Joe Johnson's game as it requires perimeter players other
than
>Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce to clear out the side for the two
co-captains.
>Johnson's immense talents were wasted in such a system and consequently his
>free flowing game and skills withered.  He sums it up himself.  "They have
two
>All-Stars (Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker) out there, so it was kind of
tough
>to be assertive with the type of game we were playing. Instead of me trying
to
>come out and be more aggressive, I had to play my role. But I feel good
about
>this trade."  The Suns will make full use of Johnson's immense talents and
>will be the better for it.  Three years down the road, the Suns' gain will
be
>the Celtics' loss.  If only it were the other way around. - RaSi
>
>TOP
>
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
>---