By Steve Bulpett Friday, July 8, 2005 http://celtics.bostonherald.com/celtics/view.bg?articleid=93031 "LAS VEGAS - Nothing can be official or even settled until free agent contracts are allowed to be signed on July 22, but barring any unforeseen events Brian Scalabrine will be a Celtic. League sources indicated yesterday that the New Jersey Nets forward has reached an agreement in principle with the Celts on a five-year contract for something just short of $15 million. Maintaining a measure of flexibility, the C's will use about half of their mid-level exception, which is expected to be set in the $5 million range when the new collective bargaining agreement parameters are calculated. The other half could be used on a veteran point guard, unless the club gets such a player in trade. C's director of basketball operations Danny Ainge wouldn't elaborate on the Scalabrine reports. ``I don't comment on any free agent discussions,'' Ainge said yesterday at the Reebok Summer League. ``I don't want to jinx anything. I prefer nobody knowing my business.'' It is known that he is fond of the 6-foot-9, 235-pound Scalabrine's game, which is evident in the fairly sizable deal for someone of so modest stats (3.9 points in 14.8 minutes over 210 games). The four-year veteran out of USC is a physical player with a good mid-range touch. He is, however, just a 39.3 percent career shooter after hitting nearly 40 percent for the Nets last season. On the other hand, Scalabrine scored in double figures in six of Jersey's last eight regular-season games when he got significant minutes. He started those eight games, helping the Nets make the playoffs with a 7-1 run. New Jersey, meanwhile, was focusing its attention yesterday on free agent Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Scalabrine's presumed presence won't be the key factor if Antoine Walker [news] doesn't return. Word is the Celts would still take him back at the right price, but there is reason to doubt that number is in sync with Walker's current expectation. League sources say Walker's side has been looking into sign and trade options that would allow him to get more than the mid-level exception. The Celtics could be amenable to that type of deal only if it allowed them to trim their payroll in a year or two. Failing that, the C's aren't looking to take back anyone with a hefty long-term contract."
Money money money money, money [x6] Some people got to have it Some people really need it Listen to me y'all, do things, do things, do bad things with it You wanna do things, do things, do things, good things with it Talk about cash money, money Talk about cash money- dollar bills, yall For the love of money People will steal from their mother For the love of money People will rob their own brother For the love of money People can't even walk the street Because they never know who in the world they're gonna beat For that lean, mean, mean green Almighty dollar, money For the love of money People will lie, Lord, they will cheat For the love of money People don't care who they hurt or beat For the love of money A woman will sell her precious body For a small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight Call it lean, mean, mean green Almighty dollar I know money is the root of all evil Do funny things to some people Give me a nickel, brother can you spare a dime Money can drive some people out of their minds Got to have it, I really need it How many things have I heard you say Some people really need it How many things have I heard you say Got to have it, I really need it How many things have I heard you say Lay down, lay down, a woman will lay down For the love of money All for the love of money Don't let, don't let, don't let money rule you For the love of money Money can change people sometimes Don't let, don't let, don't let money fool you Money can fool people sometimes People! Don't let money, dont let money change you, it will keep on changing, changing up your mind.
We couldn't fit this any better. Tons of expiring contracts that we can mix and match to 75% of Walker's new salary. We could even take Perkins off their roster with a TE. They would only have to face Walker 2 times a year. Granted I think I want to see the Swift thing play out 1st, but it looks like their is little in the way of us landing Walker if we want to.
Why would Boston do any of this? If they don't resign Walker, they get cap relief now versus taking on expiring contacts for later. Have Boston given up on Perkins? His youth and potential should yield more than a TE, one would think.
Well the expiring contracts could be useful close to the trading deadline. Letting Walker go doesn't really give them cap relief now since they are over the cap anyway. Not saying they would do what DS suggested, but I could see where they would value the expiring contracts to some extent.
It's not that Boston cares that Walker leaves for nothing. They want to use Walker as bait to move one of their other contracts, like Lafrentz, Blount, or possibly Ricky Davis.
Well they could get a servicable player and expiring contract (Wesley) or a servicble vet PG on a good contract (James) that might expire as well (James). James has a player option after next year, if he plays as well as he has the last two years expect an opt out). Probably have to throw in the NY pick or #1 pick too. Some some combination of Wesley (+ 1st rounder) or James (+ 2nd rounder) plus filler contracts? If your Boston do you do this instead of losing Walker for nothing? Probably. The Perkins thing is entirely up to them, He looked awefull and hopeless to me. If I were them I'd just rather have him off the books like our situation with Gaines. This of course would be Boston's call.
Perkins is a future starting-caliber center - it's just that he's rarely gotten into a rythm due to lack of minutes. Shades of Rick Mahorn. He was looking like a future star when Al Jefferson went down with an injury and before the Celtics got Walker back. Not to sound like a homer talent-masturbator, but there's no way they dump his tiny salary for nothing. Even to get rid of Blount. The question is, if he can't crack the rotation by the time his contract expires, do they let him walk when a team like the Hawks shells out big bucks to sign him? FYI, here's the real deal with Scalabrine: the contract is 4 years at $11 million.
$3 million a year for what exactly????? i saw him play in New Jersey but i never saw anything worth more than a 9th man spot and $500,000 a year.
Poor man's Brian Cardinal. Boston will SnT Walker if someone will take Blount or LaFrentz off their hands, and they definitely won't be looking to give up any of their young players for nothing... West, Allen, Jefferson, Perkins, and maybe Banks will probably cost a lot to get... More than their worth, anyway.
I don't think Blount and LaFrentz will be trade for a variety of reasons. I see Davis playing in Boston for the life of his contract, even though his trade value diminishes as the expiration on his contract nears. He's a bargain. As for the Celtics young core, Green, Perkins (who is better than Eddy Curry was at the same point of his carreer), Reed (the MVP of the Vegas league so far, easily better than any of the available power forwards in this year's draft), Jefferson (a non-redneck prototype of Karl Malone) and West (think Cuttino Mobley with a higher basketball IQ) are untouchable. Banks stays for now, despite lingering questions about his basketball IQ. The only one who might be traded is Tony Allen, due to the C's glut of wing players --- but in the immediate future, I doubt it. Veal was just brought in as a Walter McCarty replacement to play spot minutes.
