Re: Herald: Walker Deals Stack Deck

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Talk about a lot of wasted newsprint. What is he saying? Trading Antoine for
Sprewell is a bad deal? Trading Antoine for Robert Horry and a couple of
draft picks is a bad deal? Congratulations, Michael Gee, on stating the
obvious-and burning roughly 17 column inches to do it.

We all know Ainge isn't going to trade Antoine for Sprewell. Not because
Antoine is so superior to Sprewell (their value in the league probably is
comparable-Knicks fans hated the idea of the trade, as did Celtic fans), but
because it's a lousy fit. It doesn't make sense. But might he trade Antoine
to the Knicks as part of a three-team trade that sends Sprewell somewhere
else? Sure. Or maybe it's part of a bigger trade to dump Vin Baker's salary.
When you're talking about the Knicks, that's certainly a possibility. The
Celtics haven't made these kinds of salary-dump trades in the past, so it
remains to be seen how they'd be received. I'm guessing the knowledgeable
fans would understand, while the fringe fans (and the guys covering the team
seem to qualify on the "fringe" part) would rip the team for the return
they'd get.

These guys don't seem to even think about this stuff. The Horry trade
obviously had some salary dump implications, because it would have had to
take place before Horry terminated his contract-something he also would have
done with the C's. It would have been a way to dump a contract. These kinds
of things lead me to believe Baker is in the discussion, because the team
doesn't gain much by dumping Antoine's contract. But if you tie Baker to
Antoine, then you live with a lesser return on the trade in exchange for the
chance to dive into free agency a year or two sooner.

The bottom line is this-Ainge isn't an idiot. He's not trading Antoine for
Sprewell. He's not trading Antoine for Robert Horry. Obviously, he's looking
into trading Antoine-as he should. But I'm guessing there are two elements
to those talks-finding the right deal for Antoine alone; or finding a deal
that allows them to dump Baker along with Antoine. You're going to get two
different kinds of returns depending on what kind of deal Ainge can find.
For just Antoine, you probably get a pretty decent return in terms of
players and/or picks. Not the all-NBA types some fans expect, but good
players. But if you force Baker on the other team, the package in return
isn't going to include a ton of talent. But it will include quickly expiring
contracts.

I haven't even touched on this notion of how irreplaceable Antoine is, as
Gee seems to suggest. So many of these guys buy into Obie's crap that
they've stopped using their own senses to evaluate Antoine. Just look at the
numbers. They're frightening. 

The days of Chris Wallace are over. The Celtics aren't going to be trading
the best player and the best contract for inferior players with cumbersome
contracts. Ainge actually seems to have some long-term vision for this team.


Mark