Fwd: Interesting Internet Trade Rumor

[CeltsSteve@xxxxxxx]

This article is probably the basis of the rumor that Way cited yesterday
which had  Chicago supposedly talking about trading Eddie Robinson and Jamal
Crawford to the C's.  Unfortunately, Eric Williams and Tony Delk can't easily
morph into Brian Grant  . . .



<A
HREF="http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-sam-
smith,0,5488214.columnist?coll=cs%2Dbulls%2Dheadlines">Sam Smith</A>

On Pro Basketball

Help for Bulls is out there

October 2, 2002



Is it too soon to be worried?

The Bulls have had one day of training camp and I'm worried. That's right,
the heck with waiting for the trading deadline. It's time to deal.

What I'm worried about is habits. Losing habits. With their difficult opening
schedule and young nucleus, this could quickly turn into a losing season for
the Bulls. As we've seen lately, losing becomes a habit, just as winning did
in the previous Bulls era.

I like the Bulls' young nucleus of Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Jay
Williams. But they should know more than losing.

Losing also breeds discontent, especially with a roster loaded with guards
and perimeter players. It creates discordbthere are only so many shots to go
around. And as the losing persists, bench players grow restless. "I couldn't
be doing any worse," they grumble.

Which is why the Bulls have two issues: reinforcing the front line to support
Curry and Chandler and alleviating the congestion and potential bitterness
among the perimeter players.

The answer: Acquire Miami Heat center/forward Brian Grant for a package
including Eddie Robinson, Jamal Crawford and Dalibor Bagaric. To equalize
salaries, perhaps the Bulls add another player (Marcus Fizer?) and get back a
first-round draft pick.

Such a deal is possible now that it appears Alonzo Mourning's career is over
because of kidney disease. Heat coach Pat Riley has said he will rebuild, and
there has been talk that the Heat needs to trade either Grant or Eddie Jones
to be a major player in next summer's free-agent market.

As for free agents, that opportunity passed for the Bulls. They have their
young core in place. And if they play as the Bulls expect, those young
players will require big contracts in the future.

Jones has been a Bulls target for yearsbthey still have a Jones-approved
press release announcing his signing two years ago. They were willing to pay
him two years ago. So why not pick up that same contract now? Because with
Williams, Trenton Hassell, Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall and Jerry Krause
favorite Roger Mason, who is injured, the Bulls have enough depth in the
backcourt and at small forward, even if there's no one who defends like
Jones.

Where they need help is at power forward and center. Grant, who is 30, is a
tough, hard-working inside force who is also a past winner of the league's
citizenship award. He has averaged 12.5 points and 8.4 rebounds the last two
seasons in Miami, playing center when Mourning was out.

I was among those asking that Chandler and Curry play last season. And I
still am. But not 35 minutes per game, assuming they could stay out of foul
trouble. One should start, the other should come off the bench. They each
should play 24 to 28 minutes. That means the Bulls would need a starting big
man inside, and it's hard to see Bagaric, Fizer or Corie Blount filling that
role.

The Bulls also need to resolve the player jams at point guard and small
forward. Already, Williams and Crawford are talking about starting, as is
Robinson. There could be a lot of disappointment and brooding, especially if
the team starts slowly.

But Riley would love to have a young point guard like Crawford in Miami. And
Robinson played the best ball of his career against the Heat in the 2001
playoffs, earning him his $31 million Bulls contract. Don't you think the
Bulls would love to be rid of that? Fizer never has been happy here as a
reserve, which he is destined to be. And with Curry and Chandler here,
Bagaric is never going to play much. And Riley needs center help.

Of course Krause, who zealously guards the Bulls' money, would scream about
Grant's contract, which pays about $11 million this season and escalates to
$15 million in 2006-07. No, he's not worth that. But we've found that as NBA
players thought to be untradeable get closer to the end of their contracts,
they can be dealt. Look at Juwan Howard, dealt twice in the last few years,
and Vin Baker.

The Bulls would be getting Robinson's contract off the books and won't have
to make a decision on Fizerbre-sign him or risk losing him for no
compensation. Grant figures to have three or four good seasons left as a
high-quality starter, which makes him an ideal mentor for Curry and Chandler
as they grow.

And Rose and Marshall would take the pressure off the kids, allowing them to
develop and grow in a winning atmosphere, instead of one with too many kids
competing for too few jobs and accumulating too many losses.

Just 20 weeks to the trading deadline.

Copyright B) 2002, <A HREF="http://www.chicagotribune.com/";>The Chicago
Tribune</A>

CeltsSteve
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From: CeltsSteve@AOL.com
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Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 09:25:57 EDT
Subject: Re: Interesting Internet Trade Rumor
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In a message dated 10/5/02 6:01:12 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
wayray@ix.netcom.com writes:


> I have it on very good authority that the Celtics were in deep discussions 
> with the Chicago Bulls about trading Eric Williams and Tony Delk with a 
> first round draft pick (to be the better of the two that the Celtics have 
> in this years NBA Draft) for Eddie Robinson and Jamal Crawford.
> (It works cap wise.)



"Were" in deep discussions with the Bulls but are no longer?  Also, why would 
 Chicago be giving up on Robinson after they only just signed him last year?  
Robinson is signed through 2006 at a hefty meal ticket ($31M plus). The C's 
would in essence be basically giving up on Kedrick with that deal as those 
two represent a duplication of sorts. 

And what if Philly doesn't make the playoffs and there is only but one draft 
pick?

CeltsSteve