Re: draft prediction

[Chris Littlefield <chrisl@mjr.com>]

Hey, folks,

	Remember last year's Milwaukee/Minnesota deal, swapping Marbury and
Allen, that allowed Walker to slip through to the C's?  Things could happen
along those lines again this year as well, this being my personal scenario:

Boston gets Duncan and has the #5-7 pick.

Denver has the 4th pick, but wants Billups.  I think that, particularly
with their need for a small forward in the wake of the Ellis disaster, that
they would want to deal.

Do you think the C's would send, for example, Eric Williams and the #5-7
pick for the #4 pick?

With that pick, you will have at least two of Van Horn/Battie(assuming he
comes out)/Foyle left.  Even if Battie stays in school, which I consider
doubtful, and the C's do not win the lottery, of which there is a good
chance, a trade similar to this would ensure the C's of two very good
players of size.  If we ended up with Van Horn and Foyle and subtracted
Williams from the mix, the C's front line next year could consist of,
Foyle, Radja, Walker, Van Horn, Fox.  Such a lineup would have size, speed,
athleticism, depth, and a good inside/outside presence.  I would not be
unhappy.

Please note that as of today, Dallas is in the 7th slot in the draft.  They
beat Portland, dammit, and NJ blew a 17-point lead over Miami.
Unfortunately Dallas wins the tie-breaker with the Nets by virtue of their
better conference record.  Philly seems to have lost that momentary spark
of will that got them to 21 wins.

There is a fairly tight logjam for the 3-7 spots right now though:

San Antonio - 20 wins
Denver - 20 wins
Philly - 21 wins
NJ - 23 wins
Dallas - 23 wins

Anything can happen folks.  However, I do not think that the Dallas pick
will be anything higher than 7, though 4 or 3 (snicker) would be nice.

Latah.

And I make a little prediction as well.  I don't think the door has been
closed on Pitino or by Pitino.

This next 6 months is absolutely crucial for the Celtics franchise.  Gotta
get a real coach.  Gotta get rid of some deadwood, both on the team and
within the organization.  Gotta get rid of some longterm contract runts.  I
wouldn't mind picking up another, maybe mid-teens pick as well.  Pipe
dream, but...

In my opinion, Bob Ryan's article today hits these issues on the head.
Check it out if you haven't already.

My draft call:

Duncan
Mercer
Battie (he will come out)
Van Horn (By the C's, virtue of above-mentioned trade)
Foyle

Tim Thomas and Raef Lafrentz will not come out.  Antawn Jamison very well
could.    I do not think any of these three would adversely affect the top
5.  But it could muddle the 6-10's pretty well.