Al Harrington, etc.

[Elgin W Booth <ewbooth@christa.unh.edu>]

List,

In regards to my earlier post, I have this to say about Al Harrington. On
the two occasions I have seen him play, I have been impressed.  He should
be a good NBA player.  But the reason we shouldn't draft him is because he
has a very similar game to Antoine Walker and plays the same position.
He's the same height, but weighs about 15-20 lbs. less.
Plus he is less advanced.  Why should we take him when we already have
Antoine, who is on the verge on becoming very good.  We should only take
him if we plan on getting rid of Walker.

Don't we want to make the playoffs next year? A high school player is
going to need 2-3 years to develop an NBA game.  A college player
(especially a senior or junior) should take less time to adjust and will
be physically more mature. It doesn't make any real sense to take a high
school player this year.  Plus, unless the CBA works out something new,
they will be gone in 3 years right when they're starting to develop.
It's not worth it on a top 10 pick. For KG and Kobe, there's McGrady and
O'Neal.  McGrady was a #9 pick last year, and he hasn't really done
anything. I think Harrington is better than McGrady, but we should look
elsewhere.