Walker/practice center

[Jim Hill <jahill@leasingservice.com>]

I've been following the thread on whether or not to resign Walker with
all his weaknesses and strengths.  I think the Celt's have to sign him.
The Celt's will not get another player from the draft like Walker for 10
more years based on Red's philosophy of being able to draft 1 star every
10 years and then finding the complementary stars via trade to fill out
the first 6, with the other bench players having winning attitudes
(having come from winning programs and know what it takes to win or
being past their prime)  and having particular skills to contribute but
being deficient in such a way as not having starter skills.  The Celt's
are fortunate to have drafted Walker and Mercer, picked up KA, have some
solid bench people, and now need two more starters and the 8-9th player
for the bench.  If Faulk allows Walker's demands to get too high, he's
going to cap out his other clients on the team and keep Walker from
winning a "ring" in the next 6-7 years.  (Of course he'll only be 28
yrs. old then).  I think Faulk will resolve this with Walker.  I am
mostly concerned that Mercer will want to leave rather then play with
Walker long term.  That brings me to a underrated change in the Celt's.
I think that the new practice facility will become a "home away from
home" for the players and will foster a committed team environment of
extra (non-scheduled) practice both individually and together, with the
coach's in close proximity at all times.  Most of these players were
"gym rats" growing up and will flock to their "own" gym.  This daily,
even during the off season, team environment will bring team maturity
and hopefully unselfishness.  We have all seen players brought in by the
Celt's in the past who flourish as players when they can contribute to
the team without having to be the "man".  Walker has the ego and the
game to be the man, even with his real and perceived weaknesses he will
improve and he will want quality players to play with him.  If he
doesn't improve/mature or his demands cap out the team, the Celt's will
be able to trade him in a couple years for the stars needed to support
Mercer and KA.  It's only Walker's second year.  If he wants to be an
all-star next year (which he does) he will need to improve his game and
the Celt's will need to improve as a team. The two are inclusive, IMO.
The new practice facility will contribute to that, experience of the key
players playing together will contribute to that, the greater
involvement (outside of formal practice) with the players by Pitino and
the coaching staff will contribute to that.  There will always be a team
that will see Walker as the missing piece, even at his new salary, in 3
years.  We can't expect this team to truly contend in the near future
without additional talent and the maturation of it's current players
over the next 3 years.  We will see some great games and continued
progress during this time, but we won't without Walker.  And when the
other players are ready to compete for it all, Walker will play team
basketball or will be traded ala Kemp/Baker without the huge drop off
that will happen if the Celt's don't sign him near term.  Any
disagreement?
--
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