I agree with Mishra...sort of

[Ryan Falcone <FalconeR@nvg.com>]

>>> Shailendra Mishra <shailendra_mishra@yahoo.com> 08/03/99
12:00pm >>>
I am  terribly disappointed with this trade. Mercer had his
limitations, but he also had tremendous upside. I don't see the same
potential in the incumbents that we have got in return. With this trade
Pitino has proven to me he is clueless as far as the pro-game is
concerned. He is a poor evaluator of talent, he plays favourites and
has ruined this team. Mercer may have been asking more money but if
Pitino had not given that stupid contract to McCarty that money would
have been there to sign Mercer.

Just imagine with the 3rd and 6th pick in 1997 draft we have got
Anderson, Fortson and 1st round pick. I am not counting Eric Williams
because he was already there. I hated the Billups trade and I hate this
one and I am convinced we were much better with M.L.Carr at the
helm..Pitino is a joke. - Mishra <<<

> 

A little harsher than what I might have said, but essentially I agree with
Mishra.  If Fortson is so much better than Mercer--as many are
asserting--then why would Denver throw in a future first round draft
pick?  Fortson had a very good year (and a great year on the glass, to
be sure), but I have my doubts about his ability to play defense in this
kind of system.  I've listened to everyone talk about his ostensible lateral
quickness and how he played in a similar system at Cincinnati, but there
is a big difference between giving your all for 30 games and giving your
all during the course of an 82 game season.

Incidentally, I think that it's highly unlikely that the draft pick will end up
being low enough to be especially valuable.  Denver now has McDyess,
LaFrentz, Billups, Van Exel, and Mercer, and are pretty well-stocked.  In
a year or two, they will probably be a formidable team in the western
conference.

Finally, I'm very worried about Pierce playing full-time at the two guard
position.  His game is much more suited for small forward--especially
defensively.  And while he is a very good shooter, that in and of itself is
not a determinant of success at the "two."  For all of the Mercer
detractors who lamented Ron's poor ball handling, wasn't that precisely
the biggest knock against Pierce pre-draft 1998, too?  So then what did
we gain?

And while we're discussing the potential void at the shooting guard
position, forget about Griffin playing extended minutes there; he's a burly
small forward all the way.  He will take (and make) some perimeter
shots, but I question his overall quickness / ability to stick with "twos"
defensively  (for what it's worth, I liked his acquisition very much, but I've
watched him play numerous times when he was at Seton Hall, and I
assure everyone that he is NOT a guard).

I do like picking up the Erics:  Williams and Washington.  I think that they
significantly upgrade the second unit.  However, I have lingering doubts
about both Pitino's overall general manager aptitude and whether this
trade will improve the overall play of the team.

To wit:  if Mercer would have completed his college eligibility, he likely
would have been the number one pick in the draft--certainly among the
top three.  So, we traded a player with a tremendous upside for a
somewhat limited, undersized power forward and a draft pick that isn't
likely to be all that high.  We have a glut of small forwards, but no
shooting guard on the roster with the  ability / talent to be a full-time
starter.  We have an owner who is unwilling to pay the salary demands
of an up-and-coming second year backcourt stud, and a front office
who compensate by going out and trading him for another second year
player who will command a higher salary by virtue of his tremendous
past year.

To revisit Mishra, I'm not sure that I totally condemn this trade, but I think
that at best it could work either way.

Ryan


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