Re: new bulpett nba notes

[CeltsSteve@xxxxxxx]

In a message dated 9/1/02 4:54:24 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
cecil@hfx.eastlink.ca writes:


> Bird is right!  I don't give a shit about fiscal sanity.  I care about the
> Celtics getting the next championship banner to the rafters.  In order to 
> do
> that, money must be spent.  If the owner is reluctant to spend what it
> takes, especially in this city which has seen the thrifty nature of Harry
> Sinden for years, perhaps he should sell the team to the highest bidder and
> allow someone else to take over the franchise.  Someone else who is perhaps
> more of a fan than is the current owner.
> 
> Cecil


I think we'd all be pretty much in agreement with that, Cecil. And the sad 
thing is that this team is oh so close. If Gaston would allow Wallace to 
spend say another $3.5M right now to sign Travis Best and Gary Trent as a 
tough guy (yeah I know - 13 guys on the roster instead of only 12), they 
counteract NJ's moves and then some. 

I think Trent's agent would jump all over an offer of their $1.4M exception; 
especially considering he played for the minimum last year. And based on what 
the T'wolves paid Hudson, I'd have to believe that Best's agent would take a 
one-year, $2.1M offer as a portion of their mid-level exception. Total 
payroll then would be somewhere in the mid-$54M to low $55M range.

Winning the East and advancing to the Finals is not at all a stretch. They'd 
get at least two home games and very possibly three. How much in revenue do 
those three games generate? Seems to me even a beancounter like Richard Pond 
can figure that one out. Couple that with the savings from Pitino's 
resignation, I just don't get it.

And as has been pointed out previously, he (Gaston) is only delaying the 
inevitable anyway. What happens in two years if Kedrick blossoms (or should I 
be positive and say "when") and his contract comes up for an extension?  
Unless, of course, the team is banking on a new CBA by then.