Payton a Poison Pill?

It'll come as little surprise that Peter May thinks he'll be bad for the C's.

Peter May's ESPN Column

May cites some fairly obvious reasons, like Payton needing to be selfish to improve his #'s and possibly being a bad influence on the supposedly questionable character of Ricky Davis. May's points might have some validity, but lets talk about why I think he's wrong. After all, jeffy didn't give me the keys to this place because I like to agree with everything. ;-)

Why Payton won't be a problem child:

Simple, he's got nothing to gain from it. Consider the possibility that Payton truly wants to be somewhere else. Does he have anything to gain by being a dilatory influence to the team, being selfish, or not playing team basketball to help lead the Celtics?

If Payton really wants out, he's gotta shake several stigmas attached to himself right now. The biggest is that after last seasons playoff performance, he's not the player he used to be and has lost a considerable step. He's always been plagued with the selfish label and given his latest legal troubles and several court dates (DUI charge and assault charges related to a club fight), he's got alot to prove right now.

Even if GP's ego is as big as it's made out to be, everyone knows this team is Paul Pierce's, even Ricky Davis who's already taken his appropriate back seat to the Celtics Captain. Not even GP is going to be able to try to take over this team and it's unlikely that anyone from Doc Rivers down will even let him try.

Simply put, GP's got everything to lose and nothing to gain by being a selfish player, causing lockerroom problems, etc. If he wants out or wants to play somewhere next season, he's gotta play nice or he'll have no value to any legitimate contender. Who's going to sacrifice team chemistry for someone that's obviously going to be a problem? Given GP's various issues right now, NO ONE.



Come to camp Gary, get yourself and the team right. After all, we have no problem being involved with you getting revenge with the Lakers and Kupchek, even if it's only for a limited time until you can be moved somewhere else.