From: terry@leland.Stanford.EDU (Terry Wong)
Subject: Re: Doug Christie
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 93 03:14:29 GMT

In article <1ilc6qINNi18@sumax.seattleu.edu>, davidy@sumax.seattleu.edu (Stimpson J. Cat) writes:
|> In article <1993Jan7.025935.21281@leland.Stanford.EDU> terry@garfield.Stanford.EDU (Terry Wong) writes:
 
|> >
|> >The Sonics never really offered Christie a reasonable offer.  Those of
|> >you out there who have readily condemned Dallas' treatment of Jimmy
|> >Jackson should also condemn the Sonics for their treatment of Christie.
|> >They offered Christie a 4 year $2.9 million salary, which for a 17th
|> >overall pick, was way out of line.  Players picked after him were
|> >getting much bigger contracts.  
|> 
|> 	This may not neccessarily be the case. If I am not mistaken, Randy
|> Woods, picked by the Clippers in the 16th slot, made about the same money.
|> The salary cap is an issue. Seattle was willing to sign a short deal to offer
|> Christie more later, but they wanted the $$$ and a long term contract. 

For example, Don Maclean, the 19th pick was given a 5 year $4.5 million
contract by the Bullets.

|> >The story behind the Sonics low-ball offer to Christie is starting to
|> >come out.  The Sonics could offer no more to Christie without passing
|> >the salary cap, and the Sonics were adamant that they would not do so.
|> >The reason for this is Benoit Benjamin.  Since last summer, the Sonics
|> >have been trying to trade Benjamin with no takers.  Benjamin's current
|> >salary is $3.2 million per year, which is by far the highest salary on the
|> >team.  Considering that Benjamin is not starting and his minutes have
|> >been declining, and Karl hates him (reminds him too much of J.B. Carroll),
|> 	              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
|> 
|> 	Where do you hear this? It hasn't appeared in the local media, not even
|> as a rumor. Karl always praises Benjamin's practice habits and attitude when
|> asked. But he does hint that Benjamin's skills are not a good fit for his
|> system, which is why he isn't playing. The reason I feel Karl is being honest
|> on this is that Benjamin's agent, and Benjamin himself, have made no smoke
|> or complaints, which wouldn't be expected if Karl was bashing Benjamin.
|> Benjamin is said to do everything Karl asks, and Karl even praised the way
|> Benjamin stays after practices for extra instruction.  I attribute the 
|> lack of playing time to Karl's love of small ball and small lineups, but that's
|> another topic altogether. Certainly, had Karl been the coach two years ago,
|> the Benjamin trade would not have been made.

It was reported by several local papers and one radio station that Karl
had had a few run-ins with Benjamin.  Benjamin does not always play
with a lot of desire (at least before this year) and that's the one
thing the intense Karl cannot stand.  He had the same beef with J.B.
Carroll when he was with the Warriors.  Karl became some frustrated
after one game that he smashed Carroll's locker.  Of course, when asked
by the local media, he always said that things were fine between him
and Carroll.  

				terry@garfield.Stanford.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.pro