Revenge of the Geezers

[peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>]

Way of the Ray wrote:
>Hmmm.  Imagine Mercer, Battie, Barros, and a future draft choice for
>Payton,
>and then adding Oakley as a power forward.  Not a bad lineup.

Yeah, for next year and maybe the year after that. But Oakley is approximately
50 years old, and Payton is, what, 34? Listen, I am not at all in favor of a
blind commitment to a youth policy -- all you have to do is look at how much
better Philly, Golden State and Toronto got this year trading youngsters for
oldsters. And both Oakley and Payton still have good years left in the tank,
unquestionably. But the important question to ask is, do they win us a
championship in the next two years? If so, then it's worth losing young
up-and-comers and picks, then going through the same rebuilding pain we've
been going through. If not, if all they do is bump us up to 50 wins and an
early playoff exit, then what have we really gained?