Walker trade

[Warwick Janetzki <giants@eisa.net.au>]

Hey all,

I see Walker as a possible trade, now dont get me wrong, I want him at
the Celts, but if he has to be dealt theres a few players I would bite
the bullet on.

Current structure

Kenny Anderson => no need for a point guard.
Ron Mercer => no need for a shooting guard.
Paul Pierce => no need for a small forward.

That leaves the 4 and 5 spots open for the Celts to get a player in.

I know I said in a post about 10 minutes ago that I would take Reef, and
I still would if it came down to it, that could be a second or third
option for the team to go down to if they had to, but there are a few
others that we could try.

I believe that if we trade Toine that we should package some of our
garbage along with him.. That would include Travis  Knight, Pervis
Ellison, Greg Minor and Dontae Jones. Those 4 players are not going to
see much time in an ideal Pitino system. Ellison  would be the most
wanted player to trade, followed by Knight and Minor, but Knight and
Minor are easily the  most tradeable for Pitino to do out of those 3.
Dontae` has potential to become a solid backup, but he has too many
quality players for him to see it at this stage and his contract is too
small to be dealt for cap purposes.

Dana Barros is too invaluable to the Celtics to be traded in a package
with Antoine Walker and would concieveably make sure that the C's never
got equal value in return for him.

Say we trade Walker, Knight and Minor that gives the Celtics the
capability to for a player/s up to the amount of $7 mil and 15% each
way.

Heres some plausible trades to try to deal Antoine..

New Jersey - Jayson Williams and some #1 picks (depending upon how much
he re-signs for)
Detroit - Grant  Hill and Lindsey Hunter (would make Barros a trade
option, if need be)
Denver - Raef LaFrentz, Dean Garrett and LaPhonso Ellis (upon
re-signing)
Minnesota - Tom Gugliotta (if re-signed for 7-8 million)
San Antonio - Tim Duncan and Sean Elliott
Seattle - Vin Baker and Hersey Hawkins

Rosters after each trade

New Jersey
  C:  Williams        DeClercq       Ellison
PF:  Jones             McCarty
SF:  Pierce            [free agent]   Jones
SG:  Mercer         Bowen
PG: Anderson      Barros
Acquire a small forward backup who has experience

Detroit
  C: [free agent]   DeClercq
PF: Jones             McCarty
SF: Hill                Pierce         Jones
SG: Mercer         Bowen
PG: Anderson      Hunter        Barros
Acquire a good center via free agency or trade using Pierce and
Barros/Hunter as the bait.

Denver
  C: Garrett        DeClercq        Ellison
PF:  LaFrentz     Jones
SF:  Ellis            McCarty         Jones
SG: Mercer        Bowen           Pierce
PG: Anderson     Barros
Trade Paul Pierce in a deal to yield a better small forward in  case of
injury to Ellis.

Minnesota
 C: [free agent]      DeClercq
PF: Gugliotta          Jones
SF: Pierce              McCarty            Jones
SG: Mercer            Bowen
PG: Anderson        Barros
Acquire a decent center via free agency.

San Antonio
  C: Duncan          DeClercq       Ellison
PF: Jones              McCarty
SF: Elliott              Pierce           Jones
SG: Mercer          Bowen
PG: Anderson       Barros
See how this lineup works out.

Seattle
C: Baker               DeClercq    Ellison
PF: Jones              McCarty
SF: Mercer            Pierce        Jones
SG: Hawkins         Bowen
PG: Anderson        Barros
See how this lineup works out.

Cheers,

Warwick