Re: Kenny Anderson and Ron Mercer. . .

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

Obviously, anything that could bring Gary Payton or,
better yet, Jason Kidd to Boston would be worth doing,
but neither team will ever part with these fellows, who
are MVP candidates and rightly so.  Mercer and Kenny
might go in different trades, if Mercer goes at all. 
Or if Kenny goes -- Pitino might stand pat if the team
starts playing better, since the uptempo fast break we
love is a result of pressure.  If we do trade Ron, we
better get somebody really, really good for him.  I
can't imagine who we could get that would be equal
value.  He and Kenny for a great point guard though --
that would be something.  Never happen.  This is
Antoine's team and will be Antoine and Pierce's team,
and Ron is ideal because he doesn't insist on being the
Man.  If we can get a point guard that doesn't look for
his own shot so much and can play great uptempo
basketball and defend, we'll be in business.  Kenny
could well be that man.  I'm ambivalent about all
trades even now.

josh


--- Thomas Murphy  wrote:
> . . .could provide an older team with a brand new
> backcourt - if the rumors
> of their being on the block are true. 
> 
> Just quickly glancing at the standings, I notice two
> teams struggling out
> West in the Pacific division and in danger of not
> making the playoffs: the
> Suns and the Sonics. Both teams are a bit long in
the
> tooth and could
> really use a young hot-shot shooting guard to make
> their up-tempo offenses
> hum (Sorry, Rex and Hersey). 
> 
> Also both, as you no doubt know, have all-star
> caliber pointguards who are
> currently grinding themselves into dust trying to
> carry what are otherwise
> mediocre (and rapidly aging) squads. This could be a
> chance for the Cs to
> acquire a tested, tall (both Payton and Kidd stand
> 6'4"), and talented
> pointman. 
> 
> The only hitch? Convincing one of the above
mentioned
> teams to part with
> their best all-around player. The numbers could be
> made to work - with a
> little tinkering (Kidd $6.041 mil, Payton $8.715
mil,
> Kenny Anderson and
> Ron Mercer $7.878 mil combined for *this year*).
Kidd
> is five years younger
> than Payton ('73 versus '68) but otherwise there
> seems little to
> distinguish between them: they're both topshelf, in
> their own way!
> 
> I haven't thought this through in any great detail.
I
> just thought I'd
> throw it out there to see what kind of reaction it
> would get. The key, of
> course, are the sinking fortunes of two once proud
> franchises - *despite*
> career years from their pointmen - and the
subsequent
> reaction of their
> GMs. If both continue to sink and miss the playoffs
-
> who knows? Wally
> Walker is a stiff, but he may also lack the gumption
> to pull the trigger on
> such a daring deal. Colangelo is no stranger to
> gambles - having once
> traded his best player (PF Larry Nance along with a
> PG by the name of Mark
> Price) for Kevin Johnson. Kenny should flourish in
> the loosey-goosey
> up-tempo West Coast style employed by both teams
(and
> I suspect that there
> wouldn't be any problems with his reporting to his
> new team) and Mercer, if
> he to ever do more than scratch the surface of his
> potential, should be the
> featured player on a fastbreaking offense (the type
> of offense Pitino
> promised us before he became Pat Riley's kid
> brother).
> 
> Off the wall or what? At least Mercer would be on
the
> WC, where he could
> only torment us twice a year for the next fifteen
> (barring a Finals
> match-up, of course). What d'ya think? 
> 
> Best wishes - Tom Murphy
> 
> 

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