The Little General pulls the trigger... (August 3, 1999)

The latest major trade involves Ron Mercer. Ron Mercer had been shopped by Rick Pitino because Mercer was supposedly asking for the maximum salary of $73 million over 6 years, a similar contract to Keith Van Horne, Allan Iverson and Ray Allen. While Mercer is a good player, Pitino did not think he was deserving of such a contract. With the emergence of Paul Pierce at small forward and shooting guard and having black-hole ball hog Antoine Walker, there just wasn't enough ball to go around for a possibly third scoring option. Enter the trade. Mercer, along with Popeye Jones and Dwayne Schintzius will go Mercer to Denver for Fortson, Eric Washington, and Eric Williams, who began his career in Boston. The Celtics will also receive a first-round draft choice in one of the next three years. This deal helps the Celts a lot. Williams will play small forward and Pierce will move to shooting guard. Fortston will start at power forward and give the Celts a strong rebounding presence. Washington was a throw in. The Nuggets get Mercer, who should star for them, at shooting guard along with Antonio McDyess and Nick Van Exel. Popeye Jones is an excellent rebounder who will be a good backup to Raef Lafrenz and McDyess. Schintzius will be the 12th man. It fills a need for both teams, but Denver got the better player, a potential star, without giving up anything they couldn't afford to. Lafrenz and McDyess need playing time, Fortson was expendible. The Nuggets are much improved because of this deal.

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