October 2, 1988
You look at the roster and you say, "Gerald Paddio's gotta make this team." You also look at the roster and you say that just about anyone in America who owns a pair of basketball shoes could become the 12th man.
The 1988-89 Celtics team that will convene at Hellenic College next Friday morning has 10 spots set. You've got a first unit of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge. You've got a second unit of Jim Paxson, Brad Lohaus, Mark Acres, Reggie Lewis and Brian Shaw. And then, well, who knows? We still don't even know who they're inviting to camp from the realm of free agency.
We may learn those names tomorrow or Tuesday, according to general manager Jan Volk. Yes, Ramon Rivas will be here. He is a 6-foot-10-inch widebody supreme who played for John Chaney at Temple, and who, frankly, was never considered NBA material. But such is the Celtics' need for an additional big man that they are in no mood to be excessively choosy. No other invitees have been confirmed. Volk says he's been reluctant to disclose the names of those people the Celtics are interested in because sometimes there is a time gap between the agreement to terms and a signing, and in the interim, funny things can happen.
"When the word leaked out that Rivas was coming here, he had not yet signed," Volk says. "Right away, there was a lot of interest shown on the part of other ballclubs."
The Celtics are still trying to get a handle on the Stojan Vrankovic situation. Volk dispatched his own Lewis and Clark in the form of K.C. Jones and Forddy Anderson to Seoul in the hopes of establishing contact with the Yugoslavian center, who is under contract to them. Whether the 7-2 kid will come here is known only to himself, the Yugoslav officials and perhaps the Hoop God, who generally keeps track of all these matters.
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