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[Peter Delevett <pdelevett@sjbj.com>]

RE: Geiger. I dont think it's accurate to call him a "fragile" or even "injury-prone" center. He played 78 games (out of 82) last year, and has averaged 75 games per season over his career - except for his rookie season and for 1996-97 when he played only 48. We've all noted the team's absence of a low-post scorer and interior defender. Geiger's not a great shot blocker but he is big and, I think, plays with more toughness than some seem to give him credit for. He's not The Chief II, but how much do we really need from our center with the perimeter players we have? (Hint: it's more than Andrew DeClercq). Geiger wants a 4-year contract at $7m/per; we will have about $4-5 mil under the cap (under the current system, which of course could change) and could offer him $4 mil for the first year, escalating by $2 mil in each of the next 2 years as Minor & Pervis roll off the books and cultimating in a fourth year at $10 mil, which may not be at all unreasonable given the cap growth that's sure to happen between now & then. That's a four-year, $28 mil deal, which is what he's seeking, and we can do it without blowing out the budget next year. 
RE: Walker's worth. According to NBA.com, Walker was 5th in the league in scoring last year and 8th in rebounding. The only 2 players ahead of him on both lists? Karl Malone and Shaquille O'Neal. That sounds like a franchise player to me. I think we can and should keep him for $15m/year over 6 years -- less than he's seeking, more than Gaston wants to pay.

I would *love* to see a first unit next year of Antoine, PP, Mercer, Kenny and Geiger/Divac in the middle, with a second team of Popeye, Dana, Bowen, McCarty and DeClercq/Travis. Things would be even more exciting if we could steal Keon Clark away from Orlando, but I wont get too greedy. Adding Popeye, Pierce and a real center to our core from last year spells playoffs.