At the On Hoops site, more C's debate

[Chris Littlefield <chris@mjr.com>]

I think this covers most of the bases in terms of Adam's and my
disgruntlement with the off-season moves the C's have made.

Chris



       Chuck's Note: Oh no, not back to the Celtics debate again...


A few months ago, right after Pitino joined the Celtics, the since-defunct
Boston Globe Fan Chatroom was all abuzz with rumors the Celts
would trade for Vin Baker or Antonio McDyess. I pretty much pooh-poohed
those ideas, figuring neither team would give up on
re-signing its franchise player until the last possible moment. Well,
that's what happened. But in the meantime, the Celts, instead of
waiting patiently, ran out to Wal-Mart and picked up a bunch of dime-store
talent. (Once again, everyone -- "A guaranteed contract for
BRUCE BOWEN??")

I DO think Boston, with Chris Mills, Travis Knight, DeClercq and the two
rookies, will be better than last year. I DON'T think they'll
come within a Pervis Ellison three-point attempt of the playoffs. Worse,
Boston has locked itself into long-term contracts for marginal
players, the obvious thinking being that they need to stockpile money for
Antoine Walker.

But look at what the Nugs were willing to accept for McDyess: three #1
picks and two second-rounders. Denver basically got back the two
second-round picks it gave up in the Eric Williams trade. What if Boston
had held on to Williams, THEN dangled him and two #1 picks of
their own in exchange for McDyess? Pitino said he needed to move Williams
when he did because he wanted to sign Mills ASAP. But
does anybody out there in TV land think a frontcourt of Chris Mills and
Walker looks better than a pairing of McDyess and Walker? I didnt
think so. 'Toine's best spot in the NBA, in my opinion, will be at the
three. Granted, I'm not the guy who recruited and coached him in
college, but that's the way it looks from here (CN: Hey, we're going with
Pitino on this, Walker's a 4).

Milwaukee exacted a higher price for Baker, getting a top-five PG in
Brandon and a workhorse former All Star in Hill. The Celts couldn't
have matched that offer talent-wise, but again, I think a combination of
Williams, first-round picks and maybe Dana Barros (a valuable
3-point shooter) might have had a shot at prying Baker away. Hell, Boston
could have re-upped Rick Fox and shipped him to the Bucks.
DeClercq also could have been thrown in. Maybe none of this would have
worked, but it would have been worth a shot. Now while
Phoenix and Seattle are roaring toward the playoffs, the trigger-happy
Celtics will be plotting next year's lottery strategy.