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[Chris Littlefield <chrisl@mjr.com>]

I was looking around for draft projections, and stumbled across this.
Thought this might lighten things up with a little snicker.

He Who Enjoys the Last Laugh...




The Mavs Get a Real Center!




                  June 22, 1996

                                          Montross to clog the middle for
the Mavs!
                                          You know, the Mavs are set at
one, two and three for a
                                          few more years to come unless
Jimmmy Jackson and
                                          The Mash go to blows on who gets
more shots.
                                          Cherokee Parks was not the big
man they were hoping
for last year, although Loren Meyer ended up being a nice surprise. All six
foot nine, two hundred pounds of
Lornezo Williams played the majority of minutes at center and needless to
say, he got killed nightly. Well,
having the sixth pick in the Draft to dangle in front of some team with a
solid center, the Mavs got ML Carr to
bite.

Dallas also had to give up next year's first round pick but they did drop
only three spots in this year's Draft to the number nine. Maybe that
Hamilton guy
is really coming along. Or more likely, Montross didn't score twenty and
grab twelve boards a night and make people forget about Robert Parish. Too
bad
for the Celts. They won't get a center the caliber of Montross with the
sixth pick but they could pick up a good power forward in Lorenzen Wright or
meybe even deal the pick again. You never really know with ML Carr. There
never really seems to be any kind of plan with him.

Now for the Mavs, this was a fantastic move. Montross is as solid a second
echelon center in the League. He never really shined with the Celts but he
was
always steady. Also keep in mind, new coach Battlin' Jim Cleamons has a
little bit of experience with getting the most out of a decent center with
some
size. Now, this may seem like a lame compliment but I could see Montross
performing the same functions as Luc Longley in Chicago this year. Stay with
me. He has the size to bang and clog the middle, he can run the floor and
though not a tremendous leaper, Montross knows position. Now, aspiring to
attain the performance level of Luc Longley may not seem like too lofty a
goal but the Mavs don't need any offense out of Montross.

There are three very happy people in this world right now: Cherokee Parks,
Lorenzo Williams and Loren Meyer. Now there's Montross to absorb the
majority of pounding from the League's centers. Great move for the Mavs,
still trying to figure out what the Celts are doing.