X-Man on Celtics Radar

September 9, 1992

Training camp opens in 30 days. Their end-of-season roster has undergone one dramatic change and, possibly, two others. Their top draft pick is unsigned.

The Celtics have some work to do in the next month. Yesterday, Frank Catapano, who represents unrestricted free agent John Bagley, met with the Boston brass to gauge the team's interest in re-signing the Bag Man.

"The talks were pleasant, but we didn't accomplish a heck of a lot," Catapano said. "They seem to be interested in signing John. We're talking, not battling."

Celtics general manager Jan Volk said, "We're still talking and we'll continue to talk."

Bagley was offered a deal in Zaragoza, Spain, but it was not sufficient enough to warrant serious consideration, Catapano said. He also said he has talked with virtually every team that has a point-guard need (San Antonio comes to mind immediately) but no one has submitted anything substantial.

Meanwhile, the Celtics' greater need is to replenish their frontcourt, a task made doubly urgent by Larry Bird's retirement. In addition to Bird, the team does not expect Stojko Vrankovic to return; he has reportedly landed a job in Greece. That leaves them with Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Ed Pinckney and Joe Kleine in the so-called power positions.

The Celtics have inquired about Tom Gugliotta, the No. 6 pick in the draft who hasn't signed with the Bullets. But their offer of Kevin Gamble, even-up, was rejected in a nanosecond. Gugliotta has been investigating offers overseas since turning down a $10.7 million offer from Washington in mid-July.

As for Xavier McDaniel, an unrestricted free agent, the Celtics have talked with David Falk, who represents the 6-foot-7-inch forward. CEO Dave Gavitt has termed the Celtics interest "moderate" and McDaniel is looking for much more than the $1.65 million Boston has to offer. He gave up $4.1 million for the next two years to become an unrestricted free agent.

"They would have to sign McDaniel for six years to get him the average he wants," said one league executive. "I hope they do. That would use up all their cap money."

Reached yesterday, Falk said, "There have been some discussions. Whenever you are an unrestricted free agent, you want to reconfirm your market value. Xavier wants to look at everything."

Falk said he has talked to teams about one-year deals and six-year deals. McDaniel, who turned 29 last June, may be the best of the unrestricted free agents, but he is coming off two mediocre seasons (he did, however, play well in the playoffs) and has well-documented knee woes. The Knicks haven't given up on him either; they talked to Falk last Thursday.

Another possibility is Charles Smith of the Clippers. He was headed to New York in a three-way deal that included Orlando, but Stanley Roberts nixed it (he has a one-year, no-trade clause.) Smith is somewhat of a risk; he becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 1992-93 season.

There were rumors yesterday that Walter Berry had signed with Paok in Greece. Although Berry's agent denied it, the Celtics are operating under that premise. The Celtics also have been told that Joe Wolf has decided to play overseas as well.

And Jon Barry, the No. 1 pick? There has been no movement there, either. Volk and agent Richard Howell haven't spoken in more than a week.