Officially for Potapenko

[Todd Crane <tcrane@isis.unc.edu>]

Alright, yesturday I was on the fence about the possible Potapenko for
DeClerc + draft pick trade.  Now, after hearing that it has gone through
and learning more of the details, I have to say I like the trade for the
following reasons:

(1)  DeClerc is a power forward.  We have more than our share of PFs and
I think Battie has more of an upside than DeClerc for that position
anyway.  Battie is a bit underweight for a backup PF, but that very well
may change with a full off season of RP's weight regiment.  Also, I'm a
big fan of Battie's shot blocking abilities.
(2)  Potapenko weighs 280 lbs!!  Holy cow, this guy is a load.  If RP
can make him understand that he is needed for interior defense and
rebounding, I think Potapenko would fill this role very well.  He will
not be asked to press up and down the court because he will be playing
with the first unit, and the first unit does not put the press on to any
significant degree.  In addition, the main reason the C's press is
becasue they can't play straight up man-to-man in the half court set.
The aquisition of Potapenko should go a long way to solving that
problem.
(3)  According to RP, the only other free agent center out there
following this season would have been Polynice and I'm not a big fan of
Olden.
(4)  We have kept Mercer, Walker and Pierce.  Every conceivable option
to get a big man in a trade seemed to involve giving up one of these
guys.  RP got a banger and kept the three musketeers.  Nice.
(5)  We should have no problem resigning Potapenko in the offseason.
With the new salary rules, he can get the most money from the C's and I
doubt that too many teams would be willing to open up their check books
for Potapenko.
(6)  We keep the draft pick if we are in the lottery and get a top 3!
Again, very nice bargaining by RP.  There is an outside chance that we
can have our cake and eat it too.
(7)  If Riley can continue to make progress, the C's just may have their
center by committee goal reached by the end of the season.  Potapenko at
6-11/280 lbs and Riley at 7-0/250 lbs seems like a decent rotation in
the pivot.  If these guys can consistently generate 18 points, 18
rebounds, and prevent opposing big men from feasting on the interior,
then we have our center solution(s).
(8)  To go along with (6), there are no real big time centers to be
found in this upcoming draft and to quote RP, "this team doesn't need
anymore youth."

On paper, the C's are better team today than they were yesturday.  Let's
hope in happens on the court.
Todd