Vermonsters

Gary Payton is wearing Celtic Green now. I am not happy about this. Supposedly he is saying the right things. Of course, underlying this is how vocal he has been, and it seems that he is trying to establish top-dog status with the Celtics after being totally ambivalent about even showing up to play this year (I guess the $5.4 million helped that decision. Cash is still bigger than ego). Paul Pierce for one was surprised by how vocal G.P. was at the first day of practice. And he should be. Gary should be trying to fit in, not lead this team. He is a one year stop gap that could be traded during the season. If he's not traded, he won't be resigned. This is strictly about cap room, not G.P. making the Celtics any better. My prediction, G.P. is a locker room problem by Christmas time. My other prediction, either Ricky Buckets or G.P. will be gone at the trading deadline. You can't have two basket cases on one team. The smart money would be on Rickey leaving town because I think Jiri will win the starting spot as he is a better player, and Rickey seems to think he's one of the top players in the league. So, when Jiri starts, Rickey will fume and it won't take long for him to blow. After that, he should be gone.