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Endless Offseason debate on Walker



Since it is offseason and lockout time, the list seems to have boiled
down to an endless debate on AW's worth, should we sign or trade him,
and who would we trade him for if it became necessary.  Since I have
been lurking for a while, and it is the summer, I thought that I would
throw in my 2 cents.  I would like to sign AW for a reasonable length
of time and for a reasonable amount of money, but I would not give him
a 6-7 year 100M$+ deal, unless both parties had an out after 3 years. 
As a season ticket holder, a deal like this would come right out of my
wallet, and potentially cause me to lose interest in future tickets. 
That said, if I were the Celtics CEO, I would be willing to go with 4
years, 85M$, and risk that when the four years are up, we could afford
another deal. If AW pulls a Mo Vaughn (move on) and refuses this kind
of a deal, then you attempt to trade him for a quality starting center
and some contract/cap relief.  Based on rumours of who might be
available that would fit this bill, my choice would be a deal with
Atlanta for Dikembe Mutumbo.  I am not sure why his name has been
floated, but perhaps Atlanta doesn't think he is a franchise kind of
player who can make his teammates better.  I would agree, but his
defense and shot blocking skills in the Pitino system surrounded by
Mercer, Pierce and Anderson, with Popeye as the power foreward would
take this team to the playoff level next year.  Mutumbo is signed to a
long term deal for big bucks (8-12M$), but he is signed, and perhaps
is "affordable".  Personally, I would rather have Mutumbo as my center
over Mourning or Shaq because I think he is more capable of playing
the role of second or third option on the offense (much like Parrish
did), whereas Mourning and Shaq have to be the main focus.  Losing
Walker would hurt, but as someone said in an earlier post, Ron Mercer
has shown a lot more on court maturity in his rookie year than AW has
in 2 years, and IMHO is more likely to emerge as the quiet but steady
leader (ala Reggie Lewis) if he is out from under AW's shadow. I
remember the look of fire in Mercer's eyes when he came back from his
injury after being decked by none other than Popeye last year.  Mercer
took the ball to the hole with a vengence on his first couple of
possessions just to prove to any doubters that he would not be
intimidated by anyone. I wonder how AW would react under similar
circumstances.

Why would Atlanta want to do such a deal? Marketing!!! AW is a far
more marketable commodity than Dikembe Mutumbo, and Ted Turner has
more money than Paul Gaston will ever see in his lifetime.  To make
this deal work, let's assume that Mutumbo's current salary is around
8M$.  Atlanta would have to take AW plus some other players to balance
the deal.  How about AW (2.8M$), Travis (3.2M$) and Minor (2M$) for
Mutumbo.  Atlanta is losing Laettner this year, and they may be able
to go out and sign Ike Austin or another center.  With a lineup of
Blaylock, Steve Smith, Walker, Austin, et al, they are no worse off
than they were, and a far more marketable product, with AW being
touted as the young superstar franchise, a combination of Karl Malone
and Dominique Wilkens.   Boston gets the durable defensive rebounding
and shot blocking center they need, contractually locked up for
several years, anchoring a nucleus of Anderson, Mercer and Paul
Pierce.  We sign Popeye Jones as the PF and see if in a year there is
a shot to sign Vin Baker as a free agent.  Rafters baby!!



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