Over the upcoming weeks here at BSJ, we will be shining a microscope on one of the most tumultuous eras in Celtics history: Rick Pitino’s tenure as coach and team president.
You can check out the first three entries of the series here that chronicles Pitino’s first offseason, first big trade of Chris Mills and why the Chauncey Billups trade was even worse than you remember Next up: Pitino goes heads into year two by striking gold in the draft and handing the keys to the franchise to Antoine Walker.
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The Setup
1998 offseason: Year 2 of the Pitino era
Chauncey Billups
Kenny Anderson
Antoine Walker
Ron Mercer
Bruce Bowen
Kenny Anderson
Walter McCarty
Travis Knight, Andrew DeClercq
Tyus Edney
Dontae' Jones
John Thomas, Roy Rogers
Pervis Ellison
Greg Minor
Dana Barros
Dino Radja
1998 NBA Draft: Pitino strikes gold
Paul
Pierce
Michael Olowankandi
Robert Traylor, Jason Williams
Larry Hughes
Dirk Nowitzki
Robert ‘Tractor’ Traylor
Roy Williams
Chris Wallace
Vince Carter
Michael Doleac, Bonzi Wells, Keon Clark
Chris Mills
Walter McCarty
DeMarco Johnson
Rafer Alston
Cuttino Mobley
NBA Lockout delays season until January 1999
Celtics 1998-99 Payroll
Kenny Anderson: $5.8 million (five years left on deal)
Dana Barros: $3.5 million (two years left on deal)
Greg Minor: $2.5 million (two years left on deal)
Dino Radja: $2.5 million (buyout — still counting against cap)
Pervis Ellison: $2.4 million (two years left on deal)
Travis Knight: $2.4 million (six years left on deal)
Antoine Walker: $2.1 million (one year left on deal)
Ron Mercer: $2 million (two years left on deal)
Andrew DeClercq: $1.4 million (four years left on deal)
Paul Pierce: $1.1 million
Walter McCarty: $975,000
Dontae Jones: $953,000
Bruce Bowen: $507,000
Total: $28.2 million
Walker gets the biggest extension in Celtics history
Jaylen Brown
Paul Gaston
Jamal Mashburn, Voshon Lenard, Alonzo Mourning
PJ Brown.
Walter McCarty
Celtics trade Travis Knight for Tony Battie
Tony Battie
Dan Issel.
[Jim] Calhoun
Pitino adds to the collection of busts in free agent busts
Popeye Jones.
Eric Riley
Dwayne Schintzius
Dontae’ Jones
PG: Kenny Anderson, Dana Barros,
SG: Ron Mercer, Greg Minor, Bruce Bowen
SF: Paul Pierce, Walter McCarty
PF: Antoine Walker, Popeye Jones
C: Tony Battie, Eric Riley, Andrew DeClercq Dwayne Schinizius, Pervis Ellison (out for season)
Year 2 Offseason Summary
Coming up: