C's notes from David Aldridge chat

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

Here are a couple of Celtics-related items that came up in David Aldridge's
chat yesterday at ESPN.com. 

Mark


Scott (Inglewood, CA): Why is Paul Pierce not being considered to replace
Kobe? They are now talking about Finley replacing Bryant. It is now only
obvious that Pierce has been blackballed by USA basketball. How else can you
explain that the best US player from the WCs is not on the Olympic Team?
Your thoughts??? 



David Aldridge: (6:23 PM ET ) Paul is still paying for perceived bad
behavior on the World Championship team last year. And that comes from
players and coaches, Scott. I know that Paul wants to be on the Olympic
team; he'll have to really sell the selection committee. 

Angelo: Can you please explain what happens when a team buys out a players
contract. Does it still count on the salary cap for the length of the
contract or does it all count at once?? And why doesnt Boston do it with
Baker. Can we say worst trade ever!!!! 



David Aldridge: (6:28 PM ET ) Depends on what the terms of the buyout are,
Angelo. The Blazers opted to give Shawn Kemp his money over a multiple-year
period, but he'll only count on their cap for one more year after this one.
I think Boston is trying to do that with Baker as we speak, but obviously
Baker has other issues to deal with right now.